My grandfather and his pocket knife...

Here is one of 2 Case knives my grandfather passed down to me. 06244 pattern.

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jackknife said:
We'll never manage to do it for two reasons.

The first is that we never went through the great depression. Both of my parents did, and it made an impression on them that lasted the rest of thier time on this earth. They wouldn't replace anything as long as the old one was still functioning. It goes beyond frugal, it's a pattern of behavior from a very painfull time when some folks didn't really know when they would eat next because there had no money. I don't mean no money for new knife, or not enough money for whatever they wanted, but no money period. Zilch. Zip. Nothing. I can't imagine not having enough money in my pocket for a quart of milk for my child or even a loaf of bread. That's bad. When our grandfolks came out the other side of the depression, they were not about to waste money on something that was not needed.

Today we live in a society that throws stuff away at the drop of a hat, and the mantra is to go shopping. I don't think the modern generation has what it takes to go through a really bg depression like our grandfolks did. It would be freak out time and jump off buildings. Today if a toaster or something breaks, toss it and buy a new one at Walmart. But I remember as a kid, even with his secure job in the U.S. government, dad fixing and tinkering with things. Mom had this G.E. toaster oven, and the latch holding the door shut broke. Now toaster ovens were not expencive even then, but dad sat there at the litchen table and tinkered and fixed it. Used a paper clip to make a new latch and it worked for another couple years till the while toaster oven gave up the ghost. That's the way those old guys were. And dad too had brand new knives sitting in his sock drawer that people had given him over the years, but he never used because his old Case was still servicable.
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Some of us still live the old ways, friend. Build what needs built, and build it to last. There is always a cheap way, and the right one.

The difference? Simple, really. Our family business is the installation of security doors, bars, gates and the like. Doing it the cheap way with 1" Phillips screws would be faster and cheaper. Doing it the right way with 3" Torx with a security feature is the slower and more expensive way, but it's right.

Some years ago, my father lost his old knife, a Craftsman American Eagle lockback from the late 70s. I found another on Ebay, and he almost cried when I gave it to him. It was the right piece- no need for others.
 
I have been wanting to find one knife to carry for the rest of my days. But that would not stop me from buying others. Or carrying others. But I will always have that one. And it will be the first one I pull out, depending on the job at hand.

Bill
 
Buck_Fan said:
I have been wanting to find one knife to carry for the rest of my days.

Bill
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i too would love to find a knife to carry and cherish for the rest of my days. i have carried a SAK huntsman for the past 10 years and it has been a great tool but i find myself looking to replace it with a traditional slipjoint now. something with some "personality" to it. i got one arriving tomorrow hopefully.:cool:

a few years back my brother and me got my uncle a new stockman for a christmas present. we noticed his stockman was really wore away and we thought it would make a great gift. when we gifted the new knife to him i asked him how long he had been carrying his and he said since the early 60's. that amazed me since it was his only cutting tool. i always had at least two on me at all times but with all the other stuff one feels the need to carry anymore such as cell phones, pagers... i am going to scale back to just one also. as i'm learning from the members in this forum such as jackknife "how much do you really need?"
 
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