Picking your favorite pattern

Rsmith_77

Rsmith_77

Joined
Jun 4, 2010
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How DO y'all go about picking your favorite pattern
I don't mean favorite to collect, I mean your favorite pattern to actually use and carry on a daily basis

I see some folks have gravitated to a lambsfoot, others to whittlers
I ...on the other hand seem to have the mindset of a squirrel with ADD.

Always envious and eyeing what others have. Carry a stockman and I long for the simplicity of a single blade with beautiful scales. Carry a sodbuster or an opinel and I keep thinking the greatest advantage of the traditional knife world is the multiple blades of differing shapes and uses in a small package.

Then there is Carl's point that a sak offers sooo much more in tools, more so than any dedicated knife ever could...which is true, but they often lack the ...soul of old bone and carbon steel.

I kinda feel like I am at a AA meeting. My name is Ryan and I have a knife problem 😂
 
Barlow. Single-blade. Spear point preferred, but clip is OK.

Usually.

Also like Tear Drops, large Pens, single-blade Stockmans, medium Jacks, Tribal Locks.

From a utilitarian point of view, if I had to choose one and only one knife pattern, it would be most likely a SAK Tinker Small.

edit - nothing other than "I likes what I like" for what patterns I like.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
How DO y'all go about picking your favorite pattern
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I just started acquiring knives that appealed to me until I discovered what I like.
I don't really have 1 definitive favorite pattern, but I do have a general type I suppose.
My favorites are 3.25 or less, and generally with 2 blades in Jack or pen configuration, secondary smaller than main.
Straight edged secondaries are preferred but not a real must.

I will also add that I only semi collect with everything I buy intended for use, so if i have multiples or a " collection " of a pattern or model they are all used.
 
I think you have to handle a good number of knives in different configurations until you know what works for you. I have settled on preferring a two blade jack between 3.5” - 4”. In terms of blades I love a clip main, and a coping secondary. I also like the secondary and main to be accessible from the shield side, but that isn’t a deal breaker. So to me that translates to a GEC 44 and a GEC 86. I have had other GEC’s, cases’s, etc but n different patterns but keep falling back to these. Overall, I love a good Gunstock Jack. Hence my regular WTB post in that forum.
 
My favorite pattern as for as what a knife should look like is the GEC 73 pattern and the 23 , 42 , 43 , 72 , and the 74 .
But my favorite pattern to use day in and day out is the GEC 86 pattern 2019 Blade Forums knife for a couple of reasons . I like the straight edged blade of a Lambfoot and Sheepfoot but the Lambfoot blade is Pinchable . If I used one of my 93's with the Sheepfoot Blade , I might change my mind because of the slightly curved handle , but I want to keep them as Safe Queens .
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Edited to add : GEC 93 with Sheepfoot Blades
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Harry
 
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Easy - I don't have a favorite pattern. Or, depending on the point of view, I have lots of them.

You know when you are a little kid, adults always ask you insightful questions like "what is your favorite color?" So you get in your mind you should have a favorite color. So you pick one. Mine was blue. So now you are locked into blue stuff. You buy into the idea yourself. Then, at some point, between age 12 and 92, you realize - Hey, waitaminit. I like lots of different colors. This whole 'favorite color' thing was a scam!

That's me with pocket knife patterns. Different patterns and sizes serve different purposes. I have a variety sitting out on my desk. All are favorites.

Remember, Ryan, that thread you started years ago where you were just gonna carry a Case Small Texas Jack for 3 months? I did that one with you, as you recall, and kept going. Carried that one knife for a good 6 months. And by then, the knife fever was gone. That was the end of my "gotta get the next thing" phase. Because I no longer did "gotta have it". That little Texas Jack was plenty. Well, that plus a Vic Cadet, I ain't crazy. ;)

I did not immediately become a one-knife guy, nor did I completely stop buying new knives right then, but it was the beginning of the end.

Of the 6 or so pocket knives I have sitting on my desk right now, that Texas Jack and Vic Cadet are among them, and still used more than many others.

So I guess another answer to your question - how do you find a favorite - maybe carry the same knife for 6 months, then try another pattern for the next 6 months. Within a couple of years, you'll either find your favorite, or decide you have more than one.
 
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In a traditional I want at least two blades. My own preference is for a whittler but the bunny knife is going to see a lot of pocket time.
 
I don’t have a favorite pattern to carry. It’s fun to carry something different all the time.

My favorite to collect is the Sod Buster though. For collecting it’s alot of fun to have a specific pattern in a brand to try to collect every variation of. Plus the Sod Buster is just really cool. I think I’ve got 150ish of them but funny enough I don’t carry them that often.
 
My favorite patterns is the stockman, Jack, Barlow, in about that order. I prefer a 4” knife with square bolsters and bone scales. Like the case jumbo stockman, or 92 Jack, and I’ll settle for a good Barlow.


How did I figure it out? Well by carrying and using various patterns for various lengths of time. I carried a stockman most of the time. Then I carried only a mini copperlock a while. Then back to a stockman. Then a trapper. Back to the stockman.

I hit the nail on the head when I got the case 75 jumbo stockman. It’s been in pocket 3 years. I supplement it with a smaller knife in the watch pocket or when I had Merle, in the same pocket but in a slip.

I don’t particularly like straight blades or single blades knives. How anyone can get by with only a lambsfoot blade is beyond me.

But see I ain’t close minded. I’d give a lambsfoot a try just like anything else. Might be I’d love it. Ya don’t know till ya try it out. I didn’t care for the swayback, but I love the feel of a teardrop in the store. I ain’t had one yet.

I tell one thing, I’m resisting that case stainless from now on and going for carbon.
 
Currently going through this myself. I love the look and feel of traditionals, with the current favourite being a Case mini trapper, but I know the more used pattern is a Victorinox tinker small , with it's many functions .
Just trying them out in various combinations till I hopefully get like some of the fine folk around here who have found "the knife" and can ride off into the sunset happy with their choice .
 
I prefer 2 full-size blades and use a dirty blade/clean blade policy. The clean blade does anything related to food and I keep it clean enough to slice my food if I want. The other blade does pretty much everything else and since that includes opening boxes and cutting cardboard, it will likely end up with glue residue which I absolutely don't want on my food blade.

From there, it's trial and error. The GEC bull moose has remained in my pocket the longest since I started becoming more fanatic about my knife options. A trapper pattern is pretty great as well.

I also found I don't like half-stops so that helps keep me from collecting slipjoints these days.
 
jc57 said:
Easy - I don't have a favorite pattern. Or, depending on the point of view, I have lots of them.

You know when you are a little kid, adults always ask you insightful questions like "what is your favorite color?" So you get in your mind you should have a favorite color. So you pick one. Mine was blue. So now you are locked into blue stuff. You buy into the idea yourself. Then, at some point, between age 12 and 92, you realize - Hey, waitaminit. I like lots of different colors. This whole 'favorite color' thing was a scam!

That's me with pocket knife patterns. Different patterns and sizes serve different purposes. I have a variety sitting out on my desk. All are favorites.

Remember, Ryan, that thread you started years ago where you were just gonna carry a Case Small Texas Jack for 3 months? I did that one with you, as you recall, and kept going. Carried that one knife for a good 6 months. And by then, the knife fever was gone. That was the end of my "gotta get the next thing" phase. Because I no longer did "gotta have it". That little Texas Jack was plenty. Well, that plus a Vic Cadet, I ain't crazy. ;)

I did not immediately become a one-knife guy, nor did I completely stop buying new knives right then, but it was the beginning of the end.

Of the 6 or so pocket knives I have sitting on my desk right now, that Texas Jack and Vic Cadet are among them, and still used more than many others.

So I guess another answer to your question - how do you find a favorite - maybe carry the same knife for 6 months, then try another pattern for the next 6 months. Within a couple of years, you'll either find your favorite, or decide you have more than one.
Click to expand...
.....am with John..!

Over the years of my knife use and later, collecting, my mood/desires alter and there isn't one particular pattern that I would only want.

If there's one pattern I have more of than another, it's the Lannys Clip.........but there are so many others I drool over and use too.

Guess some would call me a knife tart ;)
 
Lol I know I prefer jack knives over pen knives.
I know I prefer larger knives 3 5/8" at a minimum but I have big hands so 3 7/8"- 4" is about perfect for me

Aesthetically I love jigged bone scales but I am a little leery of dropping and breaking bone scales so I I've gravitated towards micarta or hardwood (delrin is tough stuff but it's not the same)

I adore a sheepsfoot blade but I am not positive it works as a single blade only carry knife (I want to pair it with a pen blade or something).

Mostly I think I just have knife ADD or knife envy
Hanging out here it's always ...ooh that's purty

Edit*. And I just can't seem to find no purpose for of any real appreciation for a spey blade.
 
I only get the envy when someone posts a sweet case jumbo stockman in CV or one of those 92 jacks. The stockman is probably my next knife as they are still in production and easily found in amber bone. Not so hot on amber bone but... it’ll grow on me.

I didn’t care for 6.5 bonestag... til I dyed it black.

I guess I kinda equate it to if you like blondes, redheads, or brunettes; make sure you don’t forget to ask the most important question... can you cook?
 
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