Daniel Dorn
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 1999
- Messages
- 5,322
Cool Beans!
My dad is an architectural engineer by training, but he was a fix-it man who could design your house, build it, and keep everything in it working, including the car out front. He had so many tools that he had to build a shed out back to house them all. I don't know that I ever saw him buy a knife, but he always had one or two handy, as he was always finding them on the job site. He had a worn-out piece of black stone that he used to sharpen them, and I can still see/smell/hear the process of putting a fine edge on a blade.
I grew up 'out in the country' and spent the majority of my time outdoors. A sharpened stick was a necessity, and a beaver-stripped piece of green wood was easy to find down by the river. I remember ordering from the 88-cent section of the Fingerhut catalog, a cheap Swiss-Army-style knife, a bag of marbles and a tiny "solar powered keychain flashlight." My brother ordered the same thing, but it was a Buck 110-style locking folder that he ordered instead of the SAK. We beat those poor things to death in our adventures. I still remember how poorly the scissors worked on that thing.
Ever since that time, I was on the lookout for better knives. I remember a friend who brought a really fancy Out the Front style manual knife to school that was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, in 6th grade. He pulled it on another friend, and it was quickly confiscated and never seen again. About this time I had enough money to buy one of those cheap Rambo-styled survival knives, and this knife lasted me for several years. It was actually much better than the stamped-bladed things that came out later, and was well worth the $13 I spent on it. I could name literally EVERY KNIFE I HAVE EVER OWNED, if you want, but that would take up too much time and be boring as heck, but for most of my life it has been a traditional style knife, with only the last 15 years involving anything different. It has been about a year since I re-discovered the traditional knife, and it has been a pleasant reawakening.
THanks for the chance. I wish I could pull up a picture of the place I grew up. I think my mom is in the process of digitizing all her negatives she has from back then, so it won't be long 'til I can do that.
My dad is an architectural engineer by training, but he was a fix-it man who could design your house, build it, and keep everything in it working, including the car out front. He had so many tools that he had to build a shed out back to house them all. I don't know that I ever saw him buy a knife, but he always had one or two handy, as he was always finding them on the job site. He had a worn-out piece of black stone that he used to sharpen them, and I can still see/smell/hear the process of putting a fine edge on a blade.
I grew up 'out in the country' and spent the majority of my time outdoors. A sharpened stick was a necessity, and a beaver-stripped piece of green wood was easy to find down by the river. I remember ordering from the 88-cent section of the Fingerhut catalog, a cheap Swiss-Army-style knife, a bag of marbles and a tiny "solar powered keychain flashlight." My brother ordered the same thing, but it was a Buck 110-style locking folder that he ordered instead of the SAK. We beat those poor things to death in our adventures. I still remember how poorly the scissors worked on that thing.
Ever since that time, I was on the lookout for better knives. I remember a friend who brought a really fancy Out the Front style manual knife to school that was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, in 6th grade. He pulled it on another friend, and it was quickly confiscated and never seen again. About this time I had enough money to buy one of those cheap Rambo-styled survival knives, and this knife lasted me for several years. It was actually much better than the stamped-bladed things that came out later, and was well worth the $13 I spent on it. I could name literally EVERY KNIFE I HAVE EVER OWNED, if you want, but that would take up too much time and be boring as heck, but for most of my life it has been a traditional style knife, with only the last 15 years involving anything different. It has been about a year since I re-discovered the traditional knife, and it has been a pleasant reawakening.
THanks for the chance. I wish I could pull up a picture of the place I grew up. I think my mom is in the process of digitizing all her negatives she has from back then, so it won't be long 'til I can do that.
