Old guys and their pen knives.

This thread has me thinking I need to put a good edge on this little half-whittler and start pocketing it for a while.

Case-half-whittler.jpg
 
Wow, those are some amazing pen knives! I'm really starting to appreciate this under-discussed pattern. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite edcs.

I've given the Buck 309 quite a workout since my last post. I plan to post a user report in a day or so.
 
I was just talking to a fellow in his late 80's. He grew up on a rural farm during the depression and war years. I asked what he carried for a pocket knife, he answered "what ever I could afford and the store had at the time." He did'nt really know the names of the brands, or the styles but he said they were mostly 2 bladed jacks, and single bladed. For butchering he used blades he made from broken carpenters, bow, crosscut, and mill saw blades. As to the size he said it depended on what he had mostly but if he had a few at the time he would carry the "best" knife for what he was doing.
Going back 3 generations in to my family my great grandfather had a small collection, but I remember him carrying a small stag handled pen knife. My grandfather had a TL-29. And my father carried a Schrade stockman. No real pattern there. The only person I know that only carries a pen knife and uses it for every thing is my girlfriend. It is a small Cammilus, and she uses it at the farm she works at, gardening, cutting up her snacks, opening mail, fishing, the list goes on........ Joe
 
My dad started making knives when he was about 8 years old. His dad was a WWII Infantry officer, who worked after the war till retirement as a brickmason, when he wasn't chasing cows around. He carried a knife EVERYWHERE. I have two of his old knives here. Both are kind of cheap, really. One looks like a cross between a tiny Texas Jack and a Navaja, about 3". Has a pearl inlaid brass handle. The other is a small lockback, also 3" or so, with chromed pot metal linings and bolsters. The shield says "All Americans" which is the 82nd ABN DIV motto -- I think he got it from an ad in the VFW magazine or something.

I remember him carrying that little Texas-ish jack when I was a kid, and my dad regrinding the blade for him 'cause he'd worn the edge too thick.

But I also remember him pulling out a folding trench knife (biggest pocket knife I'd ever seen -- six or seven inches closed) at church and cleaning his nails with it, grinning at my eyes popping out of my head. I had a little 3" jacknife, and I'd never seen anything like that before. Grandma giggled and popped him on the shoulder. He put it back in his pocket, grinning away at me.

He had a lot of pocket knives. When my uncle got done cleaning out the old house, he gave me a roll of pocket knives to share with my brothers. He did the same with most of my boy cousins. Grandpa and Grandma had ten kids, and only one of them has less than four of their own, so that may tell you something about how many knives he had. And all of them looked carried and used. The little "All-Americans" lockback is worn down quite a bit. The kick really needs to be trimmed back. Neither of them is a type of knife I would usually carry, but they are neat to me because of where they come from, and what they meant to the man who carried them.

My mother's dad is a Navy vet of WWII, but I don't recall ever seeing him with a pocket knife. He told me once when I was about 8 that he didn't own one. Don't know if that was the case for his whole life, but it was 30 years ago. He became an engineer after the war, and worked his whole career designing things for Reynold's Metals, making things out of aluminum.

My dad carries a large yellow Old Timer Stockman. That style or a trapper the same size has been his carry knife for as long as I can remember. He doesn't much care who makes it, as long as it's an American company and made in America. He carries one until it's worn out, then gets another. And he does wear them out! He usually carries one of his own sheath knives as well. Right now it's a 3" drop point, damascus blade, stag and cocobolo handle. He did used to carry a little lockback as a spare that he could open one-handed as quick as anybody can open one of their wondertacticals, but now just carries the sheath knife since he's retired and just makes knives and bows all the time.

My favorite for many years now has been a 3 7/8" Case Copperhead with a Wharncliffe main blade, 2" pen second blade that gets used more than the main blade. I do have some small blades, couple of nice little pen knives. But I'm always afraid I'll damage them if I carry them more than just Church on Sunday. I never seem to have that worry with a 3 1/2" - 4 1/4" knife like a Tinker or Trapper or jack knife of some type. Stout enough for most things. Don't have any Stockman patterns, though -- useful mix, but the sheeps foot sticking up into the hand while using it started to bug me, and after I lost my last one, I've never gotten another.
 
WEIDMANNSHEIL -- has a very small elk's head also on the tang. I think I spelled it right. Fun little knife and nasty sharp
 
Basic question here: does Damascus rust like carbon? Do you need to take rust precaution measures or does it patina??
 
willgoy said:
Basic question here: does Damascus rust like carbon? Do you need to take rust precaution measures or does it patina??
Click to expand...

I depends on the material used in the damascus billet. Some of the layers will rust if they are carbon steel. I carry a knife that has 1095/nickel and it will rust but the nickel stays nice and shiney.
 
Been collecting for over forty years, My grandfather was a street car conductor on a line running from Attalla, AL to Gadsden, AL. He died in the forties, but his knife was passed down to me, it is a Remington pen type with green handles, in my collection linked below it is in the center section, 6 shelves down and 2 from the right. I apologize for not having an individual shot, but camera is at work, and I have never gotten around to getting individual shots except for some of my new additions and the contest I ran on the forum months ago. All of you have some great stories in your knives and it has been nothing but pure pleasure reading this thread, thank you for starting it and everyone's contribution.

James
 
Amos,
I very much like that Case pen their sir!. Done up old school style. Very, very nice indeed.

James,
Yours as well is also oh so sweet, in fact, you have an absolutely stunning collection all the way around!. And, I see I am not the only one buying Mr. Davison's fine custom slippie's.. And I love those vintage Bob Cargill's too.

Thanks Guys for sharing.
 
This thread has really inspired me and reminded me of all the great men in my life who have carried a small traditional knife.
It also is a perfect illustration of why I am drawn to them. We live in a society of waste and overkill. Reality tv shows all freaking day, millionaire heiresses flaunting their superfluous wares, etc, etc.
This is off topic, but I am going to share.
About two years ago I was reunited with my family, who live in small-town PA. I hadn't seen them in 15 years, so I flew back to visit them.
Right before I left, my aunt of 73 years old handed me a package.
Now, I was VERY close to my grandma Kissinger before I left PA for Arizona at the age of 15. She died before I had a chance to see her again. Suffice it to say that she was always a bastion of love and acceptance when my parents were drugged out or fighting, etc. I would go over to her house, sleep on her couch and sit up and talk to her while she did crossword puzzles.
Grandma grew up in the depression. She was used to making due with what she had. Grandpa died of asbestos poisoning in 1967 or so, and she retired from the sewing factory when she broke her hip at 63 years of age or so. She lived off her small pittance of a retirement and grandpas as well. She NEVER had money, but I never sensed an air of lack. Her house was always warm and inviting and she always had candy, jello and some little trinket for me.
I tear up as I think of the patchwork quilts grandma K made. These were made from old shirts, pants, etc and were a mishmash of scraps that she was given, found, or whatever. It was her tradition to make a quilt for each child in the family. I, in fact, was given one when I was a baby and had it until my crackhead mother lost it in the move to AZ.
Aunt Arlene handed me a plastic bag and when I opened it I found a patchwork quilt that grandma had given her. I cried and cried.
I say all this to say that I am attracted to usefulness and practicality. I am also drawn to frugality. These knives give me the same feeling as does the patchwork sitting on the wall behind my chair as I write: they come from a time when work meant work and owning something meant it was used for something. Grandma K didn't amass anything but pictures of her loved ones and old calendars. Her philosophy was even ifyou don't have much, you have everything you need.
Thanks for making me cry and for reminding me why I respect that 'generation' and that way of life.
Hopefully this pertains enough to knives. Sorry for rambling.

Best,
Brett
 
No appology needed, Brett. This is a "folksy" forum and personal stories are shared here. Especially if its about the values of old.

You talk about frugality and the feeling that quilt gives you. That is part of the appeal of the traditionals. They date from an era where things were not as material to such a sickening degree as we see now. Working men and women from those days of quilt making did not have the affluence of people now, to just collect things for the status of having alot of posessions, and had to carefully choose what they spent their money on. Very often a tool have to have more than just one use, and it had to be funtional. Fad items were not in the budjet. I grew up with parents who lived through the depression, and they saved and used EVERYTHNG! Just like those quilts, things were made from items that would have been tossed in the trash by the modern yuppy generation. Some of those quilts were handmade works of art that would keep you warm on a cold night, made from scraps of rags. A beautifull example of functional art.

Keep close touch with your family, they are worth more than money. With good family backing you up in life, you are as rich as any clown on Wall Street, because if something happens, family is always there in a time of crisis. When I came home from the service busted up and depressed, it was family that helped put me back together as much as the V.A.

You can't put a value on something like family!:thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
No appology needed, Brett. This is a "folksy" forum and personal stories are shared here. Especially if its about the values of old.

You talk about frugality and the feeling that quilt gives you. That is part of the appeal of the traditionals. They date from an era where things were not as material to such a sickening degree as we see now. Working men and women from those days of quilt making did not have the affluence of people now, to just collect things for the status of having alot of posessions, and had to carefully choose what they spent their money on. Very often a tool have to have more than just one use, and it had to be funtional. Fad items were not in the budjet. I grew up with parents who lived through the depression, and they saved and used EVERYTHNG! Just like those quilts, things were made from items that would have been tossed in the trash by the modern yuppy generation. Some of those quilts were handmade works of art that would keep you warm on a cold night, made from scraps of rags. A beautifull example of functional art.

Keep close touch with your family, they are worth more than money. With good family backing you up in life, you are as rich as any clown on Wall Street, because if something happens, family is always there in a time of crisis. When I came home from the service busted up and depressed, it was family that helped put me back together as much as the V.A.

You can't put a value on something like family!:thumbup:
Click to expand...


Thanks for your kind words. I was looking at your profile and noticed you are a retired machinist. My pop and my oldest brother are both machinists. Both learned it in the service. Pop is retired (74 years old) and my bro still works in a shop (50 yo).
I respect both of them for the amazing work they did/do. I am proud of my heritage and am now very entrenched in their lives again. It feels good to 'be home' again.

Best to you,
Brett
 
I've posted on my father-in-law before. He is a Case stockman guy, come to think of it so is my neighbor's dad. Both are blue color, south Alabama gentleman. One is a cotton farmer the other works in shipyard in Mobile - both great men. Men who came from little, worked hard and raised great families.

My only trad. pen knife is a small Schrade that is too small. My other a slim two bladed SAK is just right. However, I opt to go Barlow size typically.
 
This thread seems to transcend the simplicity of pocket knives and focuses on the value of tradition and family. Very nice gentleman, very nice. ft
 
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