My God! I think I'm there!

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jackknife

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I think I've become my father.

Over the past several years, I've been on a steady downsizing journey, in knives and many other facets of my life. Karen and I have considered an alternative life style, either selling the homestead and going full time RV'ing, or maybe a house boat and cruising the inter-coastal waterway. Neither house boat or Rv has a lot of storage, hence less possessions.

I've used a heck of a lot of knives in my life, stockman, barlow, sodbusters, sak's, and more. But of late, since Jamie gifted me the damascus peanut, I haven't carried any other edc knife. Except for the ever present classic on my keyring. I've been going on about my life, with a weird kind of lessening interest in knives as a collectable, but still as a using everyday tool. I've been fishing, canoeing, hiking, camping, and just working around the house, all with a peanut as my edc, and getting by just fine. In a very weird way, I think I've finally got to where my dad was, almost.

I still have some other pocket knives, and I take them out and look at them now and then, but when it comes to what's in my pocket as I go about the day, the little peanut is there. If I go off on a woods walk or camping, I may add a small puuko style sheath knife to my hip, but my pocket load does not seem to change. If I'm doing some rougher work around the club property, my old Frosts mora number 1 seems to handle what a pocket knife can't. Those Swedes know how to put a rugged work knife together. But for 98% of the time, the only knife in my pocket is the peanut. Is it possible that it's going to be "it"?

Only time will tell. But I find a strange new contentment carrying less.

It's been about three months since I got this little pocket jewel, and it's been a steady edc, and so far it hasn't lacked in doing the job. But it sure did lighten my pocket.

Carl.
 
Your stories and posts about the small knives have made me think. I have been downsizing too. Used to be I carried 4inch tacticals. Now I find 3inch or less more than adequate. As long as it is (very :) ) sharp, good quality and has a handle you can hang on to you'r pretty much there.

JD
 
Thanks for sharing this Carl. What Jamie did was real gentleman's gesture and that peanut is gorgeous. I am so glad you like it so much. I still have time to get that point where you are and its going to be long and expesnive joyrney but I might aswell enjoy it :D

Sometimes I go back to basics and carry only my Sak Pioneer / alox soldier.
 
jackknife said:
I've been going on about my life, with a weird kind of lessening interest in knives as a collectable, but still as a using everyday tool.
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This is pretty much where I am. I have a small box full of 8 or 10 pocketknives, but I don't consider myself a "knife collector." I love using knives, carrying knives, sharpening knives, writing about knives, reading about knives, talking about knives etc. But if anything I wish I had fewer knives. Might be time to jettison a few via that big auction site and/or a giveaway here.

As an aside, whenever I read some college kid here on bladeforums asking what sort of knife to buy, my advice is usually something along the lines "buy a SAK or Opinel, and use the extra money you would have spent to go DO something! Take a camping trip, go to Mardi Gras, fly to Montana ..... anything at all. An expensive knife is a nice thing to have, but I'd rather have memories and a yella Case than a [insert name of $350 knife here]."

-- Mark
 
I'm not sure, but it seems like I'm headed down the same road. I haven't stopped buying or trading knives yet, but I am to the point where there are a few knives that I always go to no matter what new knife I've just gotten. This being the case, lately I seem to be looking at the "new" knife sitting in my drawer, and the "old" knife still in my pocket, and feeling like I just wasted my money. I also have some pretty nice knives that have never gotten any real use and feel like maybe they should go to someone who will use them, after all, that's what they were made for.
 
Yep, I also feel that I'm almost a one-knife man. My Queen Cozy Glen Canoe has been absolutely dominating my EDC ever since I've had it, which has been at least a year and a bit now. The Queen reigns supreme as far as general EDC goes.
 
I don't see that happening to me anytime soon but maybe someday. I do notice I've been carrying a sak more and more though.
 
I still have my one hand openers, but they stay in my bag primarily. I am finding myself using this peanut more and more, and primarily going to my scout or sak.
 
For years as a younger man in my 20's I carried and used the Shrade single blade peanut sized knife. It did everything I asked of it to do. In the 90's I fell into the onehand knife phase. Since then I'm still kind of a steel snob but have really settled down to carrying 3 or 4 trad. pocket knives. All under 3.5 inches. And yes a Case peanut is one of them. If I had to pick only one it would be the Vic. Cadet. How is that for a steel snobs choice? :) JK Go for the house boat. That is a dream of mine and your from water people anyways. :)
 
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The search for "the one"...I've been through many knives in my search for the "ultimate EDC". From the big Texas Jack (too big) down through the Peanut (too small).
My most carried pattern through the years was the Barlow. I grew up on Imperial's Jack Master version. Still, I was never content.
Then I discovered SAKs. I liked the thought of having the various tools. What I found was that I seldom, if ever used those tools. Then I stumbled on to a little SAK called the Pocket Pal...Only two blades. This has been my primary EDC knife for the last 20+ years. It's the one I have always gone back to after trying out something new. Still, it wasn't "perfect". I have always preferred a proper 2-blade jack configuration.
A few years back Case came out with a new model...The Tony Bose Sway Back Jack.:cool: I was instantly drawn to this new knife but was unsure since all I had ever used were straight or more "normal" curved handles. It took a few years, but I finally caved in and ordered a SBJ earlier this year, in chestnut bone CV. It was love at first sight. Since it gets rather humid here in central PA in the summer months and my work environment gets rather hot and sticky, I knew from past experience that the CV blades were not going to be ideal. So, I now have 2 more SBJs with stainless blades (a guy's gotta have some variety) to choose from.:D
While I still carry and use a few other patterns (SAKs included) for certain purposes, I think I may have finally found my "one" pattern to accompany me at all times.:)

Sorry for the long rambling post...:o
 
No need to apologize PWork. I really enjoy hearing about people's knife journey, be it trying to find the "one" knife for them, or just the different phases they've went through over the years. I'm glad to hear that you've found one that makes you happy. I've had my chestnut cv swayback for about a year now, and while I'm amazed by the quality and f&f, it just doesn't seem to work for me. I wish it did.
 
I always enjoy Carl's take on knives and life.

At 75, I am still working and learning from Carl and BF, but life and family experience provide different choices.

I carry one SAK ALOX Pruner, and several other, generally purpose-specific, very sharp blades everyday.

Mike H.
 
Surprisingly, a case slimline trapper has been dominating my pocket for almost a year now. I never would have imagined it to be the perfect EDC, but the proof is in the use and carry (I guess). I seem to always have it with me and in all honesty I think that knife has seen more use than 90% of the knives in my collection. I too have recently evaluated the collection and have come to the conclusion that there is some dead weight there. I have begun the process of trimming the fat.
 
reader1 said:
I always enjoy Carl's take on knives and life.

At 75, I am still working and learning from Carl and BF, but life and family experience provide different choices.

I carry one SAK ALOX Pruner, and several other, generally purpose-specific, very sharp blades everyday.

Mike H.
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Pruner blades have always held a fascination for me! I really wish someone would make a high quality one. Their utility seems like a no brainer.

Btw + 100 for the expressed sentiment of learning from Carl and the others here in the trad subforum. You guys have all made me re-evaluate my choices in the knives I carry. I love that it is never an argument in here about the overall failing of one manufacturer vs another, or which lock is tougher, blade steel better, brand identity is cooler etc... It's all about these simple and effective little gems whose patterns reflect history and tradition, and whose utility has made them pertiniant tools throughout the generations.

Brandon
 
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mnblade said:
This is pretty much where I am. I have a small box full of 8 or 10 pocketknives, but I don't consider myself a "knife collector." I love using knives, carrying knives, sharpening knives, writing about knives, reading about knives, talking about knives etc. But if anything I wish I had fewer knives. Might be time to jettison a few via that big auction site and/or a giveaway here.

As an aside, whenever I read some college kid here on bladeforums asking what sort of knife to buy, my advice is usually something along the lines "buy a SAK or Opinel, and use the extra money you would have spent to go DO something! Take a camping trip, go to Mardi Gras, fly to Montana ..... anything at all. An expensive knife is a nice thing to have, but I'd rather have memories and a yella Case than a [insert name of $350 knife here]."

-- Mark
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Yeah, that's about where I'm at now, Mark. I still like to read, look, check out whats new, but I don't have the push to buy anymore. It's like while I enjoy looking, it comes down to "What will this knife do for me that my ..... won't do?". more often than not, the answer come up, absolutely nothing. And maybe as I've gotten older, I think more of my dad, my old friend and co-worker Wayne with his 20 year old Buck 309 companion, Darrel with his old well worn Schrade Old Timer Mighty Mite, and old Andy Worden with his all purpose Buck cadet. These guys did everything from fishing to deer hunting with their one knife. But the went out and did it. Now in retirement, I find myself going out and doing, and the gear seems less important than the act of doing it.
Carl.
 
I to have been wondering do I really need all these knives. My wife gave me a Case mini copperhead for fathers day and it has constantly been in my pocket. I've used it for everything from cutting fruit to cleaning fish and it performs great. Isn't it amazing how the older we get the more we realize we can get by with so much less than we thought. Thanks Jackknife for all your inspiring words and wisdom of life.
Travis
 
Carl, this line of thinking is great for the wallet, terrible for knife makers and manufacturers. When we get inundated with pictures of beautiful new knives that we don't really need, and get excited over them, the makers/manufacturers feel a little better :D.

Like I told you, it's better than cocaine, but almost as expensive :D.
 
jackknife said:
(content trimmed)...These guys did everything from fishing to deer hunting with their one knife. But the(y) went out and did it. Now in retirement, I find myself going out and doing, and the gear seems less important than the act of doing it.
Carl.
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I think this is the proverbial nail on the head. It's what gives your posts weight with me. It isn't the extreme tests of a knife but the daily and spontaneous utility of these knives. It's brilliant; I think my internal dialog for too long was missing the point, "what if .....(A) or (B) or both extreme situation happens, will this handle it?" Often to the point that my knife choice was overkill for my needs. I suppose it just youths folly of imagining crisis and heroic deeds to be quite honest. Now I have blades that will be proudly passed to my children and they will have true character, not imagined intent. .....sorry guys I got so excited by this thread that I lost all consideration of it's subject and went off on a tangent. The lost point here is that the downsizing has hit me as well and I am really excited by it. Like others have said, it will definitely be better for my wallet. Although I suspect that I will just be more directed in my purchases and not so thoughtlessly random.

Brandon
 
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silenthunterstudios said:
When we get inundated with pictures of beautiful new knives that we don't really need, and get excited over them, the makers/manufacturers feel a little better :D.

Like I told you, it's better than cocaine, but almost as expensive :D.
Click to expand...

My saving grace is that most of these knives are WAY out of my price range, so I can safely drool over them, knowing that there is absolutely no chance of me ever owning one. It kinda makes it easier on me. :)
 
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