Mystery GAW/Challenge

[Prester John]

I've been tempted to file the sides of an Opinel to give it a flatter shape. The collar would still be round, but it might still sit in the pocket a little nicer.

All you modders ruining a perfectly designed knife!

 

[CVamberbonehead]

That's why modding them is so prevalent and fun.

Well, mine is modded by me. I sanded and stained it, burned it to give a tigerstriped look and I fileworked the blade, but I didnt sand the sides flat or anything

 

[cigarrodog]

I’ve recently decided to regularly carry and use some of my vintage Traditionals. The 1-XL, after carrying it for a week, has now graduated from the store in the drawer club. Light in the pocket, sturdy, and can withstand hard use. I find the jigging and color very appealing. Thank you Mike for this fun exercise. Best wishes to. Ed @Modoc ED

Signing off.

 

[kamagong]

I've been tempted to file the sides of an Opinel to give it a flatter shape. The collar would still be round, but it might still sit in the pocket a little nicer.

It certainly won't hurt, but don't expect drastic improvement either. Opinels and other knives of their ilk are large compared to most slipjoints. The same characteristic that makes them comfortable to use also makes them very noticeable during carry. This Marjacq came with flatter sides compared to Opinels. Makes some difference, but this is still a bulky knife. Not a great choice for a pocketknife, but it comes in handy for picnics, Bastille Days, and such.

 

[Pinemoon]

Great plan, Don! I tried eating a little ginger...nope! But I do periodically enjoy gingersnaps with my morning coffee!

I did find however if I don't drink water ~:20 minutes before eating and 15 minutes after it really has reduced my acid reflux, without having to take the pump inhibitor pills.

Interesting about the water intake. Yeah, I guess you don't wanna overfill the stomach or dilute the digestive process too much. The ginger is firery. I think I've built a tolerance

Thanks a lot buddy Yeah, getting pretty popular Traditionally they were/are called catapults here, but 'slingshot' has been in use for a fair while here too. Both words are still in use, but I think slingshot probably has the edge

I like "catapult." It sounds medieval
I recently discovered the suvival-theamed ALONE tv program on History Channel. A participant on it brought a slingshot along. I was thinking he may have helped rekindle an interest in it.

2...that I don't care to carry a knife that is thick and has to reside in the bottom of my pocket, the SAK, along with many of the others that I own fall into this category. I might try the safety pin or sewing a vertical seam in the lining.

I agree 100%.
Try the safety pin method. I had to use 2 or 3 of them. It's working out pretty well


Nice posts from everyone. I will post my final write-up in a few hours. I have to meet someone in town right now.
I have spent the last hour trying to get caught up with this thread as I was busy yesterday and didn't get to check in. I still have two pages to read before writing my final thoughts. Looks like this was pretty popular Mike

 

[5K Qs]

Well, mine is modded by me. I sanded and stained it, burned it to give a tigerstriped look and I fileworked the blade, but I didnt sand the sides flat or anything

Those sound like some cool mods! I agree with several posters that reshaping the handle is pretty easy, kind of fun, and a chance to show creativity. But if you "flatten" the sides of the handle to improve how it rides in your pocket, you may find that the way it feels in hand is not as desirable as the round, fat factory handle. Another possibility is to try "slim" versions of Opinels that have thinner handles. I personally really like the #8 Garden Knife, which has a thinner handle; it also has a spearpoint blade, which I consider an improvement but YMMV.


- GT

 

[screened porch]

Well Im happy for those who had good experiences. I did not. Lol I carried my Opinel #8, and it cut just beautifully, that thin blade and acute point are great. Good carbon steel too. However, it is awful to carry in my pocket! The comfy wood handle is just too fat for pocket carry. I think I have a new kitchen knife though!

Maybe you need bigger pockets! My Opinel No. 8 is one of my favorites, and I have no trouble carrying it. Very lightweight, too. Many people nowadays carry their cell phones in their pockets, and most cell phones are bigger and heavier.
But I understand--tastes vary.

The nice thing about opinels is the ease with which they can be modded. I gave my number 8 away for the same reasons you cited, just a bit bulky for my pocket. I switched to a 6 and whittled the handle down and it carries quite well, had I done the same with my 8 I'm not sure I'd have let it go. It's always nice to see others opinions on any knife though... Perhaps you'll give some modding consideration, and find yourself with a great one of a kind carry!

That's why modding them is so prevalent and fun.

Thanks, Stuart. It sports some of the nicest Delrin I have. A good material for practical reasons, I'm usually not too impressed by the look and feel. This one is an exception, and I found myself rubbing it like a worry stone and admiring the rich color this week.


I've been tempted to file the sides of an Opinel to give it a flatter shape. The collar would still be round, but it might still sit in the pocket a little nicer.

All you modders ruining a perfectly designed knife!

Well, mine is modded by me. I sanded and stained it, burned it to give a tigerstriped look and I fileworked the blade, but I didnt sand the sides flat or anything

The 10 is the first one I bought, maybe the first one I'd seen. My picnic knife in Japan. The 8 was cheap at an antique mall, but still too big to carry, so I might as well use the 10. The Coghlan 7 (from the flea market) was a revelation. I've carried that one a lot. I tried to reproduce the Coghlan handle on the ss 6, but didn't have the nerve to get it all the way down.

Maybe what bugs me slightly about my challenge knife is that it's elegant without being slim.

 

[screened porch]

Interesting about the water intake. Yeah, I guess you don't wanna overfill the stomach or dilute the digestive process too much.

Swami Vishnudevananda (The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga) said you shouldn't drink for half an hour before and after meals, for pretty much those reasons.

 

[Hibou Canne]

 

[Jack Black]

I like "catapult." It sounds medieval
I recently discovered the suvival-theamed ALONE tv program on History Channel. A participant on it brought a slingshot along. I was thinking he may have helped rekindle an interest in it.

It does! I remember watching a TV programme many years ago, it was interesting, but also very sad, about ordinary people who become homeless. One guy, fairly ordinary middle-class, married with a family, set out to work one day, and instead of going to work, he walked into the woods. He stayed in them for a couple of years. His catapult kept him alive. He was eventually reunited with his family

 

[5K Qs]

Mike, thanks again for the entertaining GAW! This is my favorite kind of GAW on The Porch, in which participants actually have to DO something (besides write, "I'm in") that helps us all learn a little more about each other. I've been amazed and enriched by the amount of participation this week, with many participants posting periodic updates on how the challenge was progressing for them.

My summary of the week of the challenge emphasizes nostalgia, both short-term and long-term.

First, by short-term nostalgia I mean that the GAW took me back about 5 years to when I first got interested in pocket knives again, joined BF, and started accumulating some knives. I knew that many members changed their pocket knives on a daily basis, but that didn't appeal to me for a couple of reasons. First, it was too time-consuming to have to pick out a different knife to carry every morning, and second, I didn't think I was getting to know my knives very well by carrying them for only a day at a time. So I started carrying each new-to-me knife a week at a time, and that was much more satisfying and helped me learn the pros and cons of each knife. This GAW took me back to those days: even though I still carried the MANY knives my weekly rotation assigned me for the week, the pre-owned Imperial Kamp-King was the ONLY knife I used during the week. Doing that "intense bonding" was good to experience again!

By long-term nostalgia I mean that the GAW took me back almost 60 years to when I got my very first pocket knife, a Colonial Forest-Master that is very similar to the scout knife I used for the challenge. Here are photos of my first-ever Forest-Master (don't know why I didn't open the bottle opener for this old shot ) and the Kamp-King, my most recently-acquired knife:



It was like going back to my youth to have a scout knife clipped on a lanyard attached to a belt loop and hanging in my RFP with my keys (except I didn't carry any keys when I was 10). The black plastic handles felt so familiar, the spear main was like an old friend, and it was great to have some tools available if needed. Surprisingly, I didn't use the awl even once during the week, while my (possibly inaccurate) memory is that I used that tool often when I was a kid; might be a difference between life on a dairy farm and life in the city. That was really the only surprise to the challenge for me; I expected that I would enjoy using the Kamp-King, and I was right!

(This really wasn't a surprise, but it's certainly a difference between my knife use in the 1960s and the 2020s: as a kid, I almost never used my knife for food (I had a Mom who basically took care of that for me ) but had myriad other occasions for knife use, while in the past week, almost all of my knife use was food-related. Stuart @Duckdog gently objected to so many of us using pocket cutlery for food prep, and I thought, "Lighten up, Stuart! If I didn't use my knife for food, I'd have almost no use for a pocket knife, as shown by my not carrying one from age 18 to 63." But, a couple of posts after Stuart's remark, I found myself hypocritically reacting to a Jack Black post with the thought, "Why in the world is that crazy Yorkshireman using a sodbuster to cut cheese slices when there are much better dedicated cheese-slicing tools??" We humans are a logically inconsistent race!)

Thanks again to Mike for getting this started and to all the participants who made the thread so entertaining!
I'll conclude with before/after shots of my Kamp-King; it definitely picked up some patina over the course of 7 days:



- GT

 

[JohnDF]

Humans are a logically inconsistent race!

 

[Pinemoon]

(Although the Spanish navaja would be better, as it locks, and looks more wicked!)

An excellent "point" Sir
That navaja is the kind of knife that, if pulled out at the local saloon, will send folks grabbing for their six-shooters while spaghetti western music plays in the background. Problema serio.You'd be jefe superior

As for a rebound knife, I'll first reward myself with totin' this Ed Fuller lockback:

Wow... That's killer
A real beauty

Swami Vishnudevananda (The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga) said you shouldn't drink for half an hour before and after meals, for pretty much those reasons.

Interesting, yeah, Swami knows more than my doctor That's for sure, lol!

. One guy, fairly ordinary middle-class, married with a family, set out to work one day, and instead of going to work, he walked into the woods. He stayed in them for a couple of years. His catapult kept him alive. He was eventually reunited with his family

That's something.
Glad it turned out ok for him and his trusty catapult.
I work at a hospital and used to be part of the Security dept. We'd spend time in the psych unit keeping things from getting out of hand, or restoring calm after someone went off the rails. What struck me is how many of us are close to the edge. If a stint in nature is restorative, and it appears to be for many, here-here! It's probably more effective that medication

This is my favorite kind of GAW on The Porch, in which participants actually have to DO something (besides write, "I'm in") that helps us all learn a little more about each other. I've been amazed and enriched by the amount of participation this week, with many participants posting periodic updates on how the challenge was progressing for them.

Well said, and my sentiments exactly
This thread has been interesting to follow. Neat nostalgic memories for you with the Kamp-King. That's great

 

[mitch4ging]

We humans are a logically inconsistent race!

 

[Jack Black]

..."Why in the world is that crazy Yorkshireman using a sodbuster to cut cheese slices when there are much better dedicated cheese-slicing tools??" ...

But I was trying NOT to use my Lambsfoot! Good report GT

That's something.
Glad it turned out ok for him and his trusty catapult.
I work at a hospital and used to be part of the Security dept. We'd spend time in the psych unit keeping things from getting out of hand, or restoring calm after someone went off the rails. What struck me is how many of us are close to the edge. If a stint in nature is restorative, and it appears to be for many, here-here! It's probably more effective that medication

Yeah, he'd definitely had some sort of breakdown, said things were piling up on top of him at work, and he just didn't want to go back. He didn't have much memory of the 2 years he spent in the woods, said he was just kind of lost. The thing that struck me about the programme is how little it had taken for these people to just slip away from their homes, jobs, and families, and ended up (for the most part) living on the streets

 

[kamagong]

If a stint in nature is restorative, and it appears to be for many, here-here! It's probably more effective that medication

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike."

John Muir, The Yosemite (1912).

 

[Pinemoon]

Well, looks like I'm finally caught up with this thread, lol!

Where to begin on my summary? I guess a pic of my carry will get it started.
The Spanish navaja by Jose' Antonio Herreros, one of my most unique pieces:


20200310_104313 by Pine Moon, on Flickr

Jose' used to have a membership here (ArtesaniaHerreros), but I think he has some arthritis/neck issues and may be retiring from the craft. I don't know. He has won several awards in his country as a traditional cutler. His website is still active.

At any rate, this knife didn't see much carry after the initial novelty wore off. There isn't anything wrong with it. It locks up great. It's just one of those pieces that didn't carry well, and I realized it lacked a spring, which kinda left me flat. I guess I like a knife with good "walk-n-talk." After not carrying it for some time, it felt like a perfect candidate for this GAW.

After five days of it as my only carry, I've come to the conclusion it's likely going to stay in my "shelved" section of my collection. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't find it all that carry-friendly. However, I'm not parting with it. This experiment taught me it's just too unique of a knife-- something I'd probably never replace. I don't want to experience "seller's remorse" with this one. Jose' made a fine piece (I still think no one makes a clip point quite like Jose) and his knives caught on with a few of us here This reminds me of my earlier days getting caught up in traditional knives; it's something I'll remember with a smile.

Ambassadors-3.0 by Pine Moon, on Flickr


My rebound knife will happily be my new Moki!
A sweet little lockback in Damascus steel


20200224_092509 by Pine Moon, on Flickr


Thanks Mike for a cool and different GAW. It sure was popular
I'm curious to see what the GAW knives will be and how the winner(s) get chosen.
I enjoyed seeing @315 's nice little Remington, @Duckdog 's Queen 31, Hibou Canne 's 35 Calf Pen, @Dschal 's & mitch4ging 's 81s All great stuff guys

Lastly, I gotta give a plug for the safety pin method
This works well. It might even stop me from drilling lanyard holes in my knives!

 

[Jack Black]

Well, looks like I'm finally caught up with this thread, lol!

Where to begin on my summary? I guess a pic of my carry will get it started.
The Spanish navaja by Jose' Antonio Herreros, one of my most unique pieces:


20200310_104313 by Pine Moon, on Flickr

Jose' used to have a membership here (ArtesaniaHerreros), but I think he has some arthritis/neck issues and may be retiring from the craft. I don't know. He has won several awards in his country as a traditional cutler. His website is still active.

At any rate, this knife didn't see much carry after the initial novelty wore off. There isn't anything wrong with it. It locks up great. It's just one of those pieces that didn't carry well, and I realized it lacked a spring, which kinda left me flat. I guess I like a knife with good "walk-n-talk." After not carrying it for some time, it felt like a perfect candidate for this GAW.

After five days of it as my only carry, I've come to the conclusion it's likely going to stay in my "shelved" section of my collection. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't find it all that carry-friendly. However, I'm not parting with it. This experiment taught me it's just too unique of a knife-- something I'd probably never replace. I don't want to experience "seller's remorse" with this one. Jose' made a fine piece (I still think no one makes a clip point quite like Jose) and his knives caught on with a few of us here This reminds me of my earlier days getting caught up in traditional knives; it's something I'll remember with a smile.

Ambassadors-3.0 by Pine Moon, on Flickr


My rebound knife will happily be my new Moki!
A sweet little lockback in Damascus steel


20200224_092509 by Pine Moon, on Flickr


Thanks Mike for a cool and different GAW. It sure was popular
I'm curious to see what the GAW knives will be and how the winner(s) get chosen.
I enjoyed seeing @315 's nice little Remington, @Duckdog 's Queen 31, Hibou Canne 's 35 Calf Pen, @Dschal 's & mitch4ging 's 81s All great stuff guys

Lastly, I gotta give a plug for the safety pin method
This works well. It might even stop me from drilling lanyard holes in my knives!

The last time I heard from Jose, he had persuaded his son to join him, and hopefully Jose's neck problems can eventually be sorted out. I do hope that the firm lives on Doesn't that knife have an external spring Darren?

 

[afishhunter]

I carried a trapper for the week.
I didn't use it much ... nor any of the others I had on me, come to that.
Truth to tell, I could probably "get by" without carrying any knife.
However, not only would that not be any "fun", but I was raised old school. I was learned a man would no more leave home without a pocket knife than he would go out the door naked.

I think carrying the trapper has taught me that I like a moose with a Spey/Budding blade that has a bit of extra belly to it more.
I'm 50 3/8% sure I do, at any rate.
I'm 100% sure a trapper (or moose) will never be able to take the place of a stockman.
I put the trapper and canoe away, and dropped a Marbles MR278 "Demo" knife and a Bundeswehr M1212 copy of the West German Cold War era issue "Swiss Army Knife" in my pocket. (The M1212 has a good saw).

I think I'll stick with these and a large (over 4 inch closed) stockman in my pocket, a Buck 110 and two blade slipjoint Folding Hunter on my belt. At least for the time being, or until I get a new/new to me knife to add to my pocket.

Good luck, everyone in the drawing.

 

[pjsjr]

I agree 100%.
Try the safety pin method. I had to use 2 or 3 of them. It's working out pretty well

I'll do that, thanks.