Mystery GAW/Challenge

GT, both your observation and your comment are well-considered, and they were recently echoed by others in this and various other threads. I simply wasn't seeing beyond my own bubble. I enjoy owning and using knives such that I have large piles of knives (and other cutters) for all sorts of pursuits: culinary, fishing, hunting, everyday duties, etc. (including castration and bloodletting). But not everyone shares this mania. Clearly, others readily use their folders for a task at hand, regardless whether another more suitable blade might (or might not) be handy, because they can. Cut with joy and cut with abandon henceforth.

Thank you. Here's today's changing of the guard:





After the photo shoot, I realized that reflection of the outdoors played strange effects, including a camo blade on the horn handled Ed Fuller lockback.

- Stuart

 

Enjoyed your post (as usual!), Gary. A scout knife just like that (don't remember the brand) was my first knife, when I was 9 or 10. With one of those, you don't really need any other knives.

 

Excellent post.

 

Yes, very appropriate
Muir is great. One of my favorite quotes of his is: “Who has not felt the urge to throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence?”

The knife has a spring, but the blade doesn't ride on it at all. As far as I can tell, the spring is only for keeping the lock engaged. I believe you have his vendetta model with similar palanquilla mechanism. I'm guessing it's the same as mine spring-wise. Perhaps Vince can chime in about his as well. There is actually very little keeping my blade held closed. I've had to be aware of this when reaching into the pocket for it. This is another reason why carrying it in a slip is probably a good idea.
I sure hope Jose's son keeps up the tradition. I'll have to reach out to Jose'.
And you may realize the error, but you called me Darren. ... close, but it's Don

Ha!
The best thing I've read all day, Sir
That'd make for a fine t-shirt

Thanks my friend; you're mighty kind

 

Yes, I think mine is like yours: the spring keeps the lock engaged. But that is fine with me. My navaja is easy to pinch open, but it stays closed. I carry it in a pouch anyway, mostly to protect my pocket, since I don't usually carry anything else with a knife. My left front pocket is my dedicated knife pocket--since I was about 9 or 10. (I ain't NEVER gonna carry a knife CLIPPED to my pocket!) I do use a belt sheath sometimes.

 

My sincere apologies Don, that's trying to do too many things at once, and posting on my phone! And being middle-aged of course!

You're quite right! I really hadn't given it much thought (the Vendetta is a pattern I like, but not a practical knife for me), and had assumed that the spring was much the same as on my Okapi knives, but as you say, it is merely a spring for the locking mechanism. The blade on mine holds closed fine, and it requires effort to open, but I'm guessing that is actually just friction, and something which might alter with wear. I do have a slipjoint of Jose's, and thought I might enjoy carrying it, but while beautifully crafted, I find it a little bulky, and worse, the nail-nick is so shallow, it is difficult to use Thank you for drawing my attention to this, and I'm very sorry about mis-naming you

Both knives:

 

I enjoyed reading your Bull Nose assessments, gents! I’m a big fan of GEC’s sodbusters (both the #71 Bull Nose and the #21 Bull Buster), and would gladly carry a Bull Nose as my only knife. I do understand your point about the height/position of the tip — it’s certainly not the ideal blade shape for piercing, poking, opening packages, etc. — but in my experience, I’ve always found a clip, spear or drop point to be a bit more versatile than a straight edge blade.

I’m with you, Vince. I like Opinels the way they come. They’re comfortable in hand, and I’ve never had any problem carrying one in my pocket. I do think the No. 6 and No. 7 are the sweet spot for pocket carry.

I’ve been carrying my little Tidioute Nifebrite #14 all week. I chose it because, while I own several #14’s, I don’t carry them all that often. So I thought I’d give one a fair shake for the week and see how I felt about it. So, without further ado, here’s my assessment:

It’s too small.

Ok, so I may be oversimplifying things a bit, but that’s certainly the first thing that comes to mind when I think about it having been my only knife for the week. Can it do most of the tasks I need a knife for in any given week? Yes. Sure, there are some tasks I can think of for which I’d want a larger blade, but they don’t come up all that often.

That said, it’s not the size of then blade that I dislike; it’s the size of the handle. It feels too small in my hand, and not my grip on the knife isn’t as comfortable or secure as I’d prefer. I guess that’s why I’ve never joined the cult of the Peanut. I just prefer something that feels more substantial in hand.

So, for my final pics for this thread, I thought I’d photograph my #14 with some knives that I’d rather carry. First is the #71 Bull Nose. Very comfortable in hand, and more than enough blade for just about anything I’d need to cut.



This #25 is actually a bit shorter (overall length and blade length; the closed length is nearly identical) than the #14, but I much prefer the #25 because its short but broad size makes it feels like a larger knife than it is. Having handled them both back to back while setting up this picture, it’s amazing how different these two knives feel in hand.



Finally, I’d like to thank Mike for doing this GAW. I was a fun experiment, and a fun thread to follow along with!

 

I'm the opposite, always have been.
I'd rather carry a knife clipped inside the pocket than carried in a sheath out in the open.

Love the Knifebrite #14, it reminds most of knives I carried as a kid.
I just contacted another member about his... but i don't think I want it "bad enough"... Lol

 

Interesting consideration of GEC's smaller knives. For me at least, it's an area where they pull up short, they haven't really mastered the art, balance&proportions of a small knife yet. I like the Jigged Bone 14 Spear I have but find no use for it really, too toy-like. Nor is this because I have a Yeti sized hand rather the opposite-long thin fingers. The 25 I'm less keen on than I used to be, I see its merits-many handles, many blade shapes but it feels trowel like The 18 Coyote is pretty but another toy like thing, the only 'small' GEC I like to use is the rare 33 Conductor and that's 3 3/8" so not exactly mini. Whereas CASE manages the Swayback, Penknife and Peanut (although the latter is not a fave on mine either) all credible users. I'd like GEC to do a Sleeveboard only not too precious in dimensions, yet compact. Let's see

Good luck to all who partook here, I can't do this type of thing as I like/need to have different knives about me, never been keen on just one pattern or type and my mood changes. Nor do I want to go back to my youth when knives for me were scarce and hard to come by

 

Congratulations to the winners!!

 

Most excellent Mike. Great week and awesome challenge... Congratulations to the winners, some great choices there.

 

Congratulations to the winners! I'm glad @Modoc ED was one of them. And some really nice knives to choose from.

This was a lot of fun, Mike. Great idea.

 

That was fantastic Mike! This has been a really fun giveaway, great prizes too Congratulations to our winners, well done, and we'll done to everyone who has taken part Thanks again Mike

 

Congratulations to the winners

 

Congrats to all the winners, Vince go play the lottery, Mike thanks for all the enjoyment of this GAW and your generosity.

 

Congrats to the winners, many great knives to choose from. I really enjoyed the experiment this past week. Thanks to @Crazy Canuck for the generosity and for providing us with an entertaining week.