Old school carry

killgar said:
I don't know if I qualify as an "older guy" (I'm 53), but when I was a kid back in the 70's I carried a Camillus TL-29, with that big screw driver, and one of those flat, four-pointed Craftsman keychain screw drivers.

The TL-29 was my first "big" knife. My father was a civilian worker at the North Island Navy base here in San Diego, and apparently TL-29's were commonplace. He would often bring one home after using it at work all day, forget to take it back, grab another at work, and then eventually bring that one home. I collected several throughout my childhood. Eventually I started selling them to kids at school. I still have one of them that I use in my garage when I need a sharp, curved edge that I don't care about ruining (below).

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I collect tl-29s it's my favorite traditional knife pattern I'm a painter by trade and i use it to remove light switch covers while other guys look for their screwdrivers lol
 
I carried a Buck 112 or a trapper. If I needed another tool, I would reach in my tool belt or walk back to the truck, same thing that I do today. I had a friend who always carried a small pair of Snap-On pliers. He used them for everything, you should have seen the state that his old hard-tail Sportster was in. The front axle nut was secured from backing off by a hose clamp. Thinking about it, that was over 40 years ago. I wonder if they buried him with those pliers in his pocket.

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My dad used to carry either a Schrade Old Timer Gunstock Trapper or smaller old timey fixed blades (often hook knives) in his 20s and 30s, before he started carrying either a carpenter's knife and/or a small Swiss Army knife attached to his keys (with whatever airport regularly confiscating his latest one).

He was raised to use tools for logging, mechanic shop work, or electrical so he generally always had the right tool for the right job. If he needed anything more than a small knife to cut something, he'd use a hatchet, bush clearing axe, regular axe, splitting maul, sledge and wedge, various types of saws, power tools, and/or chainsaw. I tend towards using non-powered carpentry tools more than him, but that's because I've never had to tackle the scale of things he's had to (like building the family home from the foundation up).
 
brentondan47 said:
Got a question for the older guys on here... what did you carry to get you through most days before multitools came out? I was thinking about this while looking at picture of my dad when he was in the Army. I know he carried a 3 bladed stockman for almost 40 years during and after the Army
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My dad never carried a pocketknife or any such tool, just lugged his toolbox to the place where he needed to be and set to work. But I always loved knives and gadgets so when I was ten he brought me an SAK Huntsman back from one of his business trips (he always brought us some trinket; this was a biggie for my birthday).

I carried it daily until I lost it sailing in Okracoke Harbor seven years later.

Zieg
 
The younger people at work think I’m old but at 54 I don’t think so. I carried a stockman and a Victorinox Small Tinker. As a kid working on a dairy farm I had an Uncle Henry 127 and a pair of pliers on my belt. Bob, the owner, told me don’t ever come to work without those pliers. They did come in handy but most tractors and farm trucks always had other tools in a tool box.

I know my one Grandad carried a 4 inch stockman in his pocket. He was a mechanic and had tools everywhere so he usually didn’t have to go far to grab something. The other was a farmer and carried a small Case knife and maybe a pair of pliers but tools were readily available. Dad always carried a small pocket knife and a little Sears 4 way screw driver on his key ring. I bought him a Leatherman in the early 90’s but it’s been in his dresser drawer since he received it. I was home visiting once and asked him why he didn’t carry it, as he worked in an auto auction and would’ve come in handy. He said “you gave that to me, I don’t want to lose it”.
 
A small tool role, tool box or canvas tool tote was always in the back of the car. (and my wife still carries a canvas tote with tools in her car). If you know you are going to need a tool. For a daily carry knife. either a scout knife or just a pen knife.

Tools seemed to be a bit more important for every one 50 years ago. Now, the most important tool I carry is my cell phone.
 
I'm 55. I carried a Champion (c) from 1982 until I bought the updated SwissChamp in 1986. I carried the SwissChamp for almost a decade. I bought the original Leatherman in 1985 but I found SAKs to be far more useful than any pliers-based multitool...and I tried a half-dozen different models.
 
brentondan47 said:
Got a question for the older guys on here... what did you carry to get you through most days before multitools came out? I was thinking about this while looking at picture of my dad when he was in the Army. I know he carried a 3 bladed stockman for almost 40 years during and after the Army
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I’m semi-old, 44, but I am in reverse gear when it comes to carrying knives. I used to carry a Vic SAK but now I prefer old school pocket knives. Today I carry a Case trapper. Tomorrow maybe a Stockman, or a Barlow. We’ll see 😊
 
71rockstar said:
I'm about to turn 52, pretty sure we're on the "old" end of guys...
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I SERIOUSLY doubt that. I think more likely there is a gulf between the younger members and the older members. Looking at their references, their remembrances and how they express themselves I would bet that on the traditional side of this forum which is quite active the medium age is probably middle to later 70s.

Then take another look at the posting patterns themselves. There are people here that post all day long regardless of the time of day. What does that mean? Are they on BF all day long while they are at work? Are they retired and have nothing else really to do? And what about these guys that post a thousand or more times a year? Who in the heck has that kind of time unless you are retired or independently wealthy?

I would put my money on the fact there's a lot of younger guys, and a lot of older guys, with a sparsely populated area in between the two.
 
I'm old. I bought this in the 70s while working with an electrician in the summer when going to college.
I still use it fairly regularly and, as you can see, never babied it. It's actually a Craftsman.
I've posted it before but always like looking at it.
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My first knife, which I still have, was a Victorinox small Tinker. I got it for my 10th birthday in 1987. In the early 1990s i discovered Spyderco and as far as one hand openers go, you can’t beat the opening hole and pocket clip, both Spyderco firsts.
I have carried and used almost everything from slipjoints to multi tools to tactical folders to traditional lockbacks over the last 36 years.
I have an interest in all kinds of knives and have gas station slash and dash specials to highly collectible (now) Spyderco and Benchmades. I can get by with any kind of knife from a keychain size knife to a medium sized fixed blade.
Old school will be different for every generation. For me, the Buck 110 or Swiss Army Knife or original Leatherman multi tool or Gerber Mark 1 would be old school with the advances in knives since the late 1980s.
 
Pete1977 said:
The Hunter is one of my favorite Spyderco designs with its pure simplicity.
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It surely was a good blade. When I chose it, I was considering size mostly. It was under 3 inches so I could keep it with me in the barracks. “Kill! Kill! Kill! With ice cold steel!” What BS! It was more like “You can’t have that cause you’ll hurt yourself.” 🫤 My command was more strict on knives than my Mom! 🤔
 
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