Old guys and their pen knives.

[VCM3]

This is a cool thread...
My Grandfather had a Buck Lancer,the smallest of small,I watched and learned,as he used to take the squirrels clothes off with the little carpenter coping blade..

As far as workmen,I see a lot of guys around here with one of those razor bladed "Super knife" type utility knives,on local jobsites.Including my good buddy Scotty carries one of those,guess where,his Back Pocket..Now me,if anything is going in my Back Pocket,well I think you all can guess what that'll be

We painted this older fellows house,about 2 years ago,Al...an older German man,who,is very tidy & well spoken,a small guy,a member of our church.Well,one day we are doing something that required a knife,he reaches down in his pocket and pulls out this BIG honkin' stockman w/bone scales..The blade I saw was really sharpened,but this whole incident surprised the heck out of me,Al would've been the perfect candidate for the small pen,but I guess he favored the 1/2 lb.-er Whoda Thought ??

I like a small knife myself sometimes,but nowadays,I'm a full fledged knifenut,not that old yet(I'm working on it),but I dabble in a few varieties of carry,Large,small,one blade/mutiblade

Please excuse my ramblings,just thought you'd like to hear ...
Thanks,this is a great Forum
-Vince

 

[jackknife]

Good story Vince. I guess you just can't tell about some of those old guys. My grandad carried a large Hen and Rooster stockman till he passed away well into his 80's. My dad on the other hand bought a Case peanut in 1937 and carried it till the day he died because he was ahppy with it. I guess we humans are unpredictable. Did you get to eyeball the brand of stockman? I'll bet he had carried it for most of his life and just was not going to change.

While my own taste in knives changed as I got older, to smaller pocket knives, I'll still carry a larger knife now and then if the weight of the thing is not to great. Like a small sodbuster is actually lighter than a medium stockman, and the soddie carries like a much lighter knife. But in general I like the smaller knives much better now than I did when I was younger.

I think Phil may be on to something when he thinks it may be a regional thing. Like the country/urban thing, or maybe blue collar vs suit kind of life style. Grandad and Uncle Mike wore Big Smith or Oshkosh bib overalls and woolrich or Carhart workshirts and carried large knives. My dad came home from the war in Europe in a grey suit and worked out of Washington D.C. the rest of his life so he carried a smaller knife.

While we are evolving into a more and more urbanized society, the knives we carry will ultimatly be reflected in that. I feel the golden age of pocket knives is past, and those of us like on this forum are the last bastion keeping the traditionals alive. It dismays me to see most of the young kids now don't even think of carrying a pocket knife of any sort. And of the pocket knives I do see among some of the young late teens and early 20's crowd are either the mall ninja tacticals that will ultimatly be banned, or the tiny cheap keychain knives that are better than nothing. Last night we went to the Redskins-Steelers pre-season game at Fed-Ex stadium. It was the first ball game I had been to in something like 25 years as I don't like real crowded places, but Karens sister Diane had won 4 club seats and free on site parking. It was a bit of a shock to me that as the crowd very slowly filed into the stadium, male and females were shuffled into separate lines to be frisked in a pat down before being let into the game. I had a moment of panic as I had three knives on me, but the guard patted me down and felt the lumps in my pockets of the jeans and asked if I had any weapons on me. I replied that I had a pocket knife, and reached in my pocket and showed him my sak. He smiled and said its only a sak, go on through. I think thats a sign of the times. He never found the other two once I showed him one. But I saw one young man stopped with a black tactical and taken out of line.

While the small two blade pen knife was the knife of our fatheres, I wonder if years from now the knife of the new generation will be small sak's or keychain tools like the Leatherman small ones.

 

[VCM3]

jackknife,No,I did not see what it was,secifically,but it has my curiousity,sparked by this thread,I may just ask him the next time I see him.

Also,I argree about the regional theory,and the occupation dress/carry theory.
A guy in slacks is gonna look funny with a 4.5" whittler in his pocket & a tradesman,is going to be frustrated,working with the slimmest , smallest of pen knives.

On another note,in a telephone conversation once w/"sgbeskin" ,he told me,it was his grandfather I believe,these old timers did only have one or two knives,.and carried the heck out of 'em,and he couldn't believe the collection "movement",over just simple common tools (the pocket knives)

These days,the way knife Co's come out with "this series","That bone"..
Custom knifemakers,and wait lists...
Imagine what it must've been like to go into a hardware or general store,pick a pocket knife out of a possible dozen or less,on display..And that choice is gonna be your EDC carry,until either you lose it,break it,or replaced by getting a gift from someone,because they knew you wore your current pocket knife to "the nub"

Something to think about...It temps me,a lot,sometimes....Sell all my knives,keep just one,and that's it,use the piss out of just the one...
Very,Very hard theory to follow through with,this to me,is like a borderline fantasy.
Kinda like forcing youself to live in the past times of the pocket knife
-Vince

 

[jackknife]

Something to think about...It temps me,a lot,sometimes....Sell all my knives,keep just one,and that's it,use the piss out of just the one...
Very,Very hard theory to follow through with,this to me,is like a borderline fantasy.
Kinda like forcing youself to live in the past times of the pocket knife
-Vince

I've thought about that alot.

Over the past several of years I've slowly been working that way. I've got rid of most of my guns, kept a couple handguns and a couple rifles. Got rid of most of my power tools, duplicate tools, and most of all, most of my knives that I accumulated over my life. Just kept the very old ones that were in my bittersweet cigar box, (grandads, Uncle Mikes' and a few other knives) and two soddies a couple peanuts and a sak.

I don't know if I'll ever have the guts to keep just one of everything and give the rest to family and friends like I have before in my downsizing, but it fills me with admiration for my dad, grandad, and other family who
lived his whole life with just one single pocket knife and one gun.

I want to get there one day, I just have to decide what to keep. Maybe a small soddie and a .22.

 

[VCM3]

jackknife,I know,I read your posts and stories,it is a hard thing to do,I think the younger of a knife enthusiast,the harder...
This display box top level,I almost emptied recently,only to fill it back up again,I go back and fourth,like a twisted mood swing,and then there's my custom slip & fixed collection/carry fettish internal thing going on too

[/IMG]
Some of these were gifts,and hand downs,too
The one knife thing,I'm afraid,is only ever gonna be a fantasy for me.In my mind,I can pacify it by saying,the knife I carry that day,is the only knife I have,that day,yeah,that'd work...
OK,now I just have to figure out what 2 do on days when I'm gonna pocket more than one ??Lately I have been only carrying one

Trying to stick to this thread,all my small productions are on the left
Three "true" 2 blade pen knives in there,in the far left column, #"s 5 & 6 down
and the second left column,#7 down
-Vince

 

[kamagong]

A guy in slacks is gonna look funny with a 4.5" whittler...

I wear slacks at work and I carry a 4.25" stockman, does that count? I agree that there is possibly a correlation between occupation and knife choice, but I think there is more to it than that. Maybe people just carry what they like. As jackknife has said before, pocket knives might be considered male jewelry. I have one or two smaller knives, but they just don't provide the same thrill that a larger knife does, so I carry the Eye Brand stockman. Then again, on weekends I carry two knives, the EB and an even bigger knife, the Spyderco Military. What can I say, modern or traditional, I like knives as long as they are well made. When I see a person with a knife, any knife, at least I know they are a sensible person who recognizes the usefulness of a good blade.

 

[sgbeskin]

Vince,
Yep, that was me talking about my grandpa's knife and my daddy's knife. Both were carpenters. They used their knives hard everyday. My grandpa bought his Case jackknife in the 1950's and carried it until he died in 2000. He was from the "Greatest Generation" WW2 vet. He fought in the Phillipines. We didn't know, until after he died that he was awarded a Bronze Star and a CIB. We were really close with him, but he never talked of those things. We found them, with some of his things he kept in an old dresser drawer.
That old Case knife was the only knife he owned. He used it for everything. He dressed Quail, cleaned fish with it, used it at work, etc. My daddy gave it to me after my grandma had given it to him. He told me he knew I'd appreciate it. He was a serious quail hunter. The only shotgun he owned was an old Remington 1100. I also have that. He also had a Remington .22, my brother ended up with it.
My daddy carried a Case trapper all of my life. The same one, the only one he had. It was bought in 1970, after he dropped his first Case trapper in the river, while fishing.He retired the trapper a couple of years ago, after I gave him a Case Tony Bose Saddlehorn. He loves that little knife. But my daddy did have a couple of other knives. He had a Queen that his late sister gave him, back in the sixties. He also carried a buck sheath knife for hunting and skinning.
Here are those two knives, they mean more to me than any other I own.

 

[VCM3]

kamagong,Does that stockman ever feel like a sack of potatoes in the thinnest of dress slacks??No doubt,a 4" stockman,can do anything the pen knife can,with it's 3 blade useful configuration.

sgbeskin,those are some fine family heirlooms there,I know you are proud of them..
Thanks for showing them,and again,I am sorry if this discussion has strayed froim the "Old guy & the pen knife",not meant as a hi-jack,but I guess it is all inter-mingled

 

[kamagong]

To be honest, I'm not bothered much if at all by my stockman. I keep it right next to my wallet in my front pocket. It stays pretty much in place, and in that position I don't really notice it. Now my keys on the other hand can get downright irritating. Sometimes one just insists on poking me in the leg.

You know what's strange though. For all this talk about old men and their pen knives a lot of the old men around here don't seem to carry a pocketknife at all. Now granted, I don't know what is in another person's pocket, but the look of surprise I often get when using my stockman makes me think that most people, young and old, no longer use pocketknives.

 

[will62]

I knew lots of older guys when I was a kid who felt anything more than a stockman or a trapper was too much knife to have in the pocket. If it was larger it was worn on the belt and then only if it was needed for a particular task.

My father either carried a barlow or a stockman and they were used for almost everything. If a bigger blade was called for he had an old hunting knife that he used, forget the brand.

 

[VCM3]

kamagong,I can see,how,if you are a front pocket wallet guy,how that would help keep the pocket knife in it's place....interesting..

 

[will62]

In my civilian job, I deal with lots older gentlemen who carry a small knife. Most are reluctant to use one in public anymore due to the reactions from the anti-knife types. Some Senior Citizen centers tell the patrons not to carry knives on the premises. If you want to cause damage the cane is a better choice than a small knife, go figure.

 

[VCM3]

Yeah,but Will,try opening a letter,or peeling an apple with a cane.
My Mom resides in a nursing home,I keep her "armed" with a small pocket knife.
Once the nurse saw her using it to cut a thread or something,and she took it away,gave it to my sister telling her there were rules...My sister gave it back to me and passed on the nurse' warning. I brought it back to my Mom,told her to be more secretive about it.
I'm certain she won't go Friday the 13th with it,she always had a little pen knife in her purse,so why stop now.It is a faux abalone Dr knife,LarryM gave it to me....
Some rules suck...
-Vince

 

[Bob W]

my grandfather and father carried stockmen knives or 3-blade whittlers, about three inches long.

Now my F-I-L is a different sort, carries a small Old Timer, three blades but no larger than most pen knives.

I happen to really like pen knives myself, particularly equal-end pattens. Never did find a current production equal-end knife with carbon blades...

-Bob

 

[smiling-knife]

An opportunity to share a few old pen knives from my collection. I don't have any stories but I am sure they would tell a few if they could.

 

[jackknife]

Ah s-k, a great line up as usual. You say there is no story, but I look at those knives and they speak vollumes to me!:thumbup:

 

[fasteddie]

My very first knife was a Case XX pen knife with carbon steel blades and brown bone. When my dad broke the tip off one of the blades he gave it to me. I used our handcranked stone to turn that blade into a sheepsfoot. Stiff have the knife but I'll be damned if I can find it and some other Case knives of my dads.

Here's a couple custom pen knives by Gene Shadley in gold lip pearl and old smooth ground bone. I don't carry them often enough. Maybe its time to give one some exercise.

 

[smiling-knife]

Ah s-k, a great line up as usual. You say there is no story, but I look at those knives and they speak vollumes to me!:thumbup:

Thank-you jackknife. They speak to me too. Just that I have no familiar connections or specific histories to relate. I imagine the owners, the times and their use and that is a big part of the enjoyment for me.

 

[Will Power]

Here are the knives that belonged to my Grandfathers. The Boker stockman on the bottom belonged to PawPaw Ne, and the top three to Granpa Bland, who I never got to meet. Grandpa Bland must have been closer in mindset to the "penknife" guys, as his knives are much smaller and definitely not stockmans or trappers. The top is a Pal scout knife which is in pretty rough shape, then the yellow 3-1/4'' Imperial in the center, followed by the third knife, a rough black two bladed Camillus Model 50 half congress. Could the Imperial be considered a "pen knife" or is more of a small jack knife??

That yellow handle is getting me restless Really nice pattern there:thumbup:

Just got a CASE Crandall Half Whittler today and I reckon that could qualify as a compact pen-knife. Another small knife that tends to get overlooked is the Camillus Yello-Jacket series. I have a single blade lockback which is a very useful small blade, terrible shame the company went to the wall.:thumbdn:

 

[navihawk]

Coming to this forum has resparked my for lack of a better term...obsession with knives.
Lets see a pic of that Crandall. Here's my modest collection of pens.Sorry for the crappy pics. Maybe someone can tell me how to shoot 'em, anyways,I think from this thread my collection may take yet another turn...toward pens.Wait, whats that whittler doing in there...Its small enough to be a pen. Its my all around favorite so I included it.The grinds are beautiful.
Steve

Climmer
Boker
Valley Forge
Vom Cleff
Schrade
NYK