My grandfather and his pocket knife...

My parents were born in 1923 and 1925, respectivley. My Mom has since passed away, but my Dad is still here and going strong at 86! He cuts and splits firewood for a "hobby!" He was a paratrooper in WW2, and Mom was here at home, working to make a living...both were of the Depression Era...and both were, and are, incredibly strong people. They are not referred to as "The Greatest Generation" for nothing!

I spent 22 years in the military (Special Operations), and many more years after that doing interesting things around the world...and I will never be HALF the man that my Dad is!

Great thing is, he and I both share a love of knives!

Ron
 
jk,

I agree with your observation about the Greatest Generation. But it would seem that even back then there were knifenuts who had more than the one knife. It's true that they are more common now, but even back then you had Mr. Van who seemed to treasure his pocketknives.
 
No doubt about any of the previous comments. My father was from the late depression era, not even quite old enough to remember most of it, and even he is that way. He carried the same electricians knife for years and years till it was completely worn out, then went to Sears and bought a new cheapest craftsman version they had back I'd say sometime in the mid 80s. Still carrying that one to this day.

I figure if nothing else, in this day of throw away society, we are probably by and large in the percentage of people who throw away less, and fix more. Not to the same degree as they might have in the depression, but still some. I know I try to fix anything that breaks, but stuff nowadays isn't made to last like it used to be either.

And at least with our shared knife compulsion, we have something to have and show for it. At the end of the day, we still have the knives, and they have some value if we ever need that. And quality knives will always be valuable. I don't look at them as an investment really, but it is there.

Syn
 
I seem to be having the opposite problem, I'm having a tough time jumping into buying my first knife! There's so many choices and I'd love to someday have a story that is half as great as your grandfathers.
 
gundude73 said:
so you need one knife to use for a long time. sebenza.
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I have a small Sebenza. It's well made and a fine piece of craftsmanship. That said, it's sat in my sock drawer over 3 years without being put to use. Traditionals just have better blade and edge geometry for everyday use. They cut through stuff like apples and cardboard and clamshell packaging much easier and with greater efficiency.

I can't seem to settle on just one traditional pattern--each has its strengths. One week I'll carry and Peanut and thing that's the end all, next week it will be a swayback jack or a medium jack, then I'll get out a mini-Trapper or a small Stockman.

Just too many great traditional patterns for this knife knut to ever settle on one.
 
I had to throw this in here. This is my grandfather's EDC for over 20 years. I got it after he died, along with his 30-06:D

GrandpapsQueenknife001sm.jpg


It's a Queen from the 60's I think. It doesn't really matter..I treasure it and carry it every week or so.
 
This is a great thread.
Startin' to make me all nostalgic and misty.
Makes me wish I could go back and tell my Dad that I finally learned how right he was about so many things.
And makes me wish I had been materialistic enough to fight my sisters for his stuff when he died.
Take a lesson folks!

CP
 
DallasSTB said:
I had to throw this in here. This is my grandfather's EDC for over 20 years. I got it after he died, along with his 30-06:D

GrandpapsQueenknife001sm.jpg


It's a Queen from the 60's I think. It doesn't really matter..I treasure it and carry it every week or so.
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Great photo!:thumbup:

Obvious that knife was a very treasured companion.

Of course there's another reason those old guys hang onto a knife. Sometimes a thing can have a story behind it. Maybe a special hunt, or a fishing trip with a old friend who may not be here anymore. Most of those old guys don't talk about somethings if they are painful. Not the sort of men who let things out. I've been surprised at how many of them have something amazing bottled up inside that they never speak of untill very old age. The greatest generation is to a great extent, a very stoic generation. No whiners or self pity in that bunch!

I know from family experence that sometimes an object holds a painful memory of a time they won't tell you about. It took me almost 40 years to get the story of my Uncle Mike's old Camillus stockman out of him. He carried an old Camillus that half the blades were worn away, the blades wobbly from worn out pivots. It wan't untill he was in his 80's he finally told the tale.

Sometimes it's not the object, but the memory it holds.
 
My grandfather was the same way. Carried an Old Timer and used that same knife forever. My mother and I bought him a new Uncle Henry once as a gift and he never used it as far as I know. Sat in a drawer and he continued to use his Old Timer.

I never saw the man splurge on anything for himself the entire time I knew him. He drove an old 60s model Chevy pickup with a flatbed that he made himself.

He had a 100+ acre farm with several fish ponds and I never saw him fish in them once. He was too busy tending to the stock, plowing the fields, or working on tractors and machinery to keep the farm running. He worked constantly, stopping only for lunch and church.

I never heard him whine about ANYTHING. Even the leg he had that a Japanese sniper shortened for him during WWII.

He kept his tools sharp and clean and could fix anything. Never heard him say a harm word about anyone and was friends with everyone in our little town.

He was happiest when a grandchild or two was with him working on the farm or just sitting around shelling peas. I never saw him unhappy about anything.

I try to emulate that man in everything I do and I am trying to raise my son to have some of those qualities as well. I do wish grandpa would have splurged on himself more though.

But he was happy the way he was.......and I am sure that he is in a better place now laughing at us all for owning more than one knife.
 
richdkao said:
+1:)
How can you find one knife that fit all your needs
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All you need a knife to do is cut.
If your goal IS to have just one knife, that's all it takes. Let's take a Stockman pattern, for example. Three different blades for all sorts of different jobs. What could you POSSIBLY need another knife for in your daily life!?
Now, as was the case with the older guys in our lives, the right tool for the job should be considered. If we go fishing, we should have a designated fishing knife, be it a gutting knife, fillet knife, whatever. Same thing if we go camping, or hiking, or whatever it is we are doing. I mean, you CAN use your pocket knife for all these tasks, but it is best to have a designated, task specific tool for them. A pocketknife is more of a daily companion, you know? You just need to know your daily needs are met. For most of us, one blade is plenty. For others, like computer techs for example, a SAK might be a good choice, or even a multitool. One knife is all you need, for all your daily needs.
Again, it's all you NEED.
Not necessarily all you want.
And there in lies the problem. We try to justify our addiction with some wierd, invalid reason. "This knife is too big, too small, too thin, too thick, I need another one. This is ok for the city, but I need another for dressy occassions."
One knife. It's all we need.
 
rwc53 said:
...and I will never be HALF the man that my Dad is!

Great thing is, he and I both share a love of knives!

Ron
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I'm with ya brother, I can only hope to be half the man my Dad is, or my Grandfathers were. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
This kind of stories that appear in this kind of threads is a favorit for me to read. Also what we think of the people older then us. Some of us, many here in the traditionals and for sure me, look at them as examples of a simpler life. something to long for.
There are also people that look upon this old people as very wounded human beings, suffering from the cirkumstances during the depression long after its gone, like suffering from post traumatik stress long after a economic trauma long time ago. Tend to be the way to think of this if one looks at consumtion as the way for developement of the society.

My grandparents all six of them were from poor circumstances (I now the should be four but my mother remarried after my father died so I also count my stepfathers parents).
All 3 men and 3 women had a love for their old tools, they all had knifes but I imagine they liked their axes, screwdrivers and pliers, their kitchen tools and the ecuipment for caring for their animals, horses, cows, cheep, hens and pigs, and their bicykles, the hatches they used when digging up the potatoes, the same way they liked their knifes. They just seamed to care about all the things they needed.For a man like me thinking that we use the worlds resorses quicker than nessisarry this is an examle of a better way to live.
I think that many of us dream of a simpler life with less things around us. More time that feels free to use. After all we all share the ability to se the walue in a life not driven by the need of more consumtion.

But I imagine we all would suffer if we felt the hunger they had in their stumaches and their worries that the shildren would starve to death, or die of desieses they couldent afford to get treatment for.

I myself feels balanced in a way about this but the knifes is an exeption, I have around 50 folders and 20 fixedblades. Mabye 95% at least traditional and reminding me of simple life. I bye them from a little of the extra money I dont need for anything nessisarry for the family. I dont know why I want so many knifes. I also care for my axes, showels and garagetools but I only own what I need. I much rather take some time free from work than bye new things.
Could this be the other side of the depressioncoin, accumulationg if times go bad again?

Bosse
 
I have one of my dad's old knives, and my mom has the other one (which he eventually got to replace the one I have).

It's the only knife I have which I never carry or use. It's a cheap Colonial stockman with blades sharpened way down to the point of peeking, that wouldn't be worth a dollar to a collector. But it's priceless to me. A couple of years ago, I realized it was missing, and in a panic, asked my wife if she had seen it. She had taken it to carry in her purse. She thought since it was an old, beat up knife, I wouldn't mind. I explained what it was, and told her she could have ANY of the dozens of knives I have to replace it. I think I would literally cry if I ever lost it.

He wasn't a knife nut as far as collecting a lot of them, but he did teach me how to sharpen a knife, and told me to never buy a stainless steel knife, because they wouldn't take an edge like carbon steel. He's been gone a long time now, and I'm sure steels are better now, but I still prefer carbon steel over stainless.

I recently found a letter he wrote his parents while he was away on summer vacation visiting his grandparents (probably in the 1930's), and he was bragging about the knife he bought - "the prettiest thing you ever saw." Maybe he was really a knife nut after all.
 
jackknife said:
Not the sort of men who let things out. I've been surprised at how many of them have something amazing bottled up inside that they never speak of untill very old age. The greatest generation is to a great extent, a very stoic generation. No whiners or self pity in that bunch!
.
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Well said again jackKnife:thumbup:

My father seldom said a word, and I never heard him complain. He was badly wounded in WWII, and Moma told me when I was young to never bring it up with him.
He had a huge scar running up both sides of his left arm, and I never even knew he couldn't raise that arm but halfway untill I was around 9.
He would throw the baseball with me and I noticed he wasn't very good at catching high balls to his left. I mentioned this to my mother and thats when I found out he could not lift it that high. He never mentioned it, and never would have.

He passed 21 years ago, and about 6 months before he died I asked him about his time in WWII(though my mom had told me not to as a kid). He only told me about 5 min worth, but I did find out how he was wounded.

My moma passed back on Dec 26th, and it has really got me to thinking about her and my fathers life.
Here is the Trapper he used at the time of his death. 65-69 Case Trapper.

IMG_3742.jpg
 
I would never be happy with only 1 knife,or even 100.I always tell myself after this knife I'm done buying knives for awhile.It never works,I'm a sick man!I've been an addict since early childhood.It's my Grandfathers doing,he tought me how to sharpen when I was 6 or 7.He had a Boker Stockman in carbon steel that I would keep sharp for him(only pocket knife he had).Anyway,that's what started my affliction.
 
My dad, who's in his 50s, is one of those pesky one knife people. :-) I've given him a lot of knives as gifts and he just keeps them in their original boxes. He keeps using the same two knives (one in the city, one outdoors).

Although I can't do that with knives, I'm pretty frugal when it comes to other stuff. When my old TV broke and couldn't be repaired a few months ago, I just tossed it out and never bought a new one. I don't like TV enough to spend the kind of money they are charging for a new set. The same goes for clothes, my girlfriend has to drag me to the store to get new ones every once in a while (and put up with my complaints about the insane prices).
 
lwt210 said:
My grandfather was the same way. Carried an Old Timer and used that same knife forever. My mother and I bought him a new Uncle Henry once as a gift and he never used it as far as I know. Sat in a drawer and he continued to use his Old Timer.

I never saw the man splurge on anything for himself the entire time I knew him. He drove an old 60s model Chevy pickup with a flatbed that he made himself.

He had a 100+ acre farm with several fish ponds and I never saw him fish in them once. He was too busy tending to the stock, plowing the fields, or working on tractors and machinery to keep the farm running. He worked constantly, stopping only for lunch and church.

I never heard him whine about ANYTHING. Even the leg he had that a Japanese sniper shortened for him during WWII.

He kept his tools sharp and clean and could fix anything. Never heard him say a harm word about anyone and was friends with everyone in our little town.

He was happiest when a grandchild or two was with him working on the farm or just sitting around shelling peas. I never saw him unhappy about anything.

I try to emulate that man in everything I do and I am trying to raise my son to have some of those qualities as well. I do wish grandpa would have splurged on himself more though.

But he was happy the way he was.......and I am sure that he is in a better place now laughing at us all for owning more than one knife.
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That is indeed a great story.

I have noticed that quality about a lot of folks that are 75+ years old. They are amazing.
 
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