Picking your favorite pattern

Rsmith_77 said:
Edit*. And I just can't seem to find no purpose for of any real appreciation for a spey blade.
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Odd eh?

I find the spey blade great for close to hand work when whittling. I also of course use it for hollowing bowls on spoons. I love a deep belly for cutting against a board.

I’d rather omit the sheepsfoot blade on my stockman than be without my spey believe it or not.
 
Jack Black said:
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Man that thing is sweet. It’s got just the right look and patina.
 
Been carrying since I was 7 or 8 years old, so a good 60 years now. My favorite pattern found me, took a number of decades to zero in, but after carrying a Boy Scout Knife during my youth and early teen years, Premium Stockman (Buck 301) for 18 years, followed by a couple of small Stockman (Schrade 108OT & 807UH) for another ten years and a couple of SAK Huntsman, I ended up in the late 90's with a Kabar Medium Stockman - been my prefered EDC size every since. That said I really like pocketknives and have many Scouts, Jacks and Pens that get carried as well. But when it gets down to the "favorite" I'll take a Case 18 pattern or the virtually identical 98OT/897UH from Schrade. OH
Ps to me the 93OT is the same knife, just missing the one blade I have little use for.
 
A little clarification to my post from yesterday evening.

I likes what I like - there are just some patterns and blades I don't like, no real reason. Some I thought were odd turned out to be some of my favorite patterns (Tear Drops). So for me, there is a period of time trying patterns and blade profiles and my thoughts can change over time.

There are patterns that I like, but they just don't work well for me. Peanuts - love the pattern, but they're just too fumbly for my fingers. Single-blade Pocket Hunters are about the same size, but shaped different and fit my fingers well. Case medium Jack is like a larger Peanut, works well for me.

Spey, Ram, Sheep, Lamb, Hawkbill/ Pruner, Wharncliffe - all blade styles that have a purpose I can understand, they just don't' appeal to me or are a profile I'll never really use.
 
I love the theoretical appeal of different blade shapes. I want a knife that’s relatively small and doesn’t have a lot of bulk and weight in my pocket, that has a nice long spey blade for eating, a nice pen blade for detail cutting, a wharncliffe for those delicate jobs, a big stout sheepsfoot for everyday cutting, a clip main because they look good and are traditional….

In the real world I seem to get by just fine with a single blade, and could quite happily carry a single blade GEC 73, but I love the appeal of having a second blade available. My favorite patterns for practical use are single spring penknives, both because they look elegant and because they are relatively unobtrusive in the pocket, and have plenty of cutting power. A big stockman is pretty ideal, but also really overkill for my everyday needs (and I find most of them to be not very good looking.) I like two blade jacks as well but mostly find them either uglier than a pen or better looking -but less practical because bigger. So for now I bounce between various ~3.5” two blade knives.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
Edit*. And I just can't seem to find no purpose for of any real appreciation for a spey blade.
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I have 5 kids. Nothing beats a Spey for cutting up food with an infant on your lap.
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As far as patterns in general…
Some I like for sentimental reasons, like my grandfather carried one, but mostly I’ve found what I like through trial and error - mostly encouraged by the enablers on this subforum…
 
How DO y'all go about picking your favorite pattern

I try not to play favorites. :) Instead I select the pattern, blade shape and configuration suited best for the task.
Although hanging out here has caused me to expand from what is necessary for the job on hand to what I like to look at and beyond. Then comes what feels best in pocket and hand. Also, I've participated in the mental exersize, " if you had to choose only one" so many times, I've come to those conclusions as well.
To sum up, my criteria for choosing what I'm using is to consider the following factors; 1) what works best, 2) what's most comfortable, 3) what do I enjoy looking at and 4) what don't I want to be without.
Works for me though YMMV and I'm OK with that. :D
 
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In life as a whole I am a very analytical guy. But as a knife user/collector I'm a complete ho. My favorite pattern is the stockman, and analytically I can say that the melding of three very different blades into a very pocketable folder is a masterpiece of design and function. But that doesn't mean that I only carry a stockman. I also like and applaud the design of a clip/straight-edge combo in a two-blade jack. There are at least 7-8 different patterns that I carry in this configuration. Then there is the single blade. The lambsfoot is a clear winner, with so many enjoying the carry thereof. But a slight belly to an otherwise straight-edged blade makes a superior, slim, single-blade choice for ultimate utility. When you add in different cover choices as well as sizes, the choices are too numerous to contemplate. I am a knife ho, and I carry many, many different knives, based solely on my desires of the day. Viva la différence!
 
677D2E9C-D344-40BC-9606-114D4EC6158E.jpegIt just depends on my mood. I started carrying a pocket knife of some sort when I was about 9. Back then it was stockmans (Buck 301 and 309) and cheap flea market lockblades.

Up til about 2005 I still basically carried a stockman of some sort. Then in 2005 I seen a mini trapper and tried one. I can’t explain it but there is just something about a mini trapper that I love. I do go back and forth between mini trappers and stockmans with a few others thrown in the mix occasionally.

It really does depend on my mood. Sometimes I like a larger folder but most days a mini trapper or medium stockman the size of a Case 18 or 47 fits the bill.

I have been a little more adventurous lately and been carrying a full size trapper or moose a little bit.

Truth is there’s a lot of patterns I like and may end up trying.
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In theory, I prefer a knife with one straight blade, and one with a bit of belly. I came to that conclusion after finding that a $6 Improved Muskrat suited me so well. On a parallel track, I learned that I prized unobtrusiveness in the pocket above all else, which ultimately let me to the Opi 6, suitably slimmed to minimize its profile. I could get along with just that one knife, but I don’t have to, so I also carry an Alox Electrician. In fact, those two take up so little space, that I can add a third if I feel like it. A lambsfoot or a Queen Hawbaker, both gifts from forum members, are frequent selections, along with the Okapi Biltong, which I scared up on my own.
 
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Old Hunter said:
GOOD LUCK!!
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Thanks

I am noticing another issue. Fear of breaking or losing a nice knife and being unable to replace either due to rarity or cost or a combination of both.

This is the least logical variable but I cannot deny that it exists. Id be horrified if I damaged or lost my new camel bone 15 I just recently acquired in a trade

But talking this out like a knife therapy session is helping me, hope it's not irritating y'all 😜
 
I'm also noticing another issue
And I am starting to realize that -I- am the issue 🤣

I see a knife
It looks Sooooo friggin cool!

Oh I have that knife (maybe in different pants). Mine doesn't look nearly as cool

Ohhhhh
It's their photography
 
Old Hunter said:
Been carrying since I was 7 or 8 years old, so a good 60 years now. My favorite pattern found me, took a number of decades to zero in, but after carrying a Boy Scout Knife during my youth and early teen years, Premium Stockman (Buck 301) for 18 years, followed by a couple of small Stockman (Schrade 108OT & 807UH) for another ten years and a couple of SAK Huntsman, I ended up in the late 90's with a Kabar Medium Stockman - been my prefered EDC size every since. That said I really like pocketknives and have many Scouts, Jacks and Pens that get carried as well. But when it gets down to the "favorite" I'll take a Case 18 pattern or the virtually identical 98OT/897UH from Schrade. OH
Ps to me the 93OT is the same knife, just missing the one blade I have little use for.
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Similar to Bruce I think those middle sized Stockmans are about my favorite, even though I have almost as many larger Stockmans. But I think the mediums are about the perfect size for a do it all, any time or any location kind of knife. I also dearly love a Swiss Army Knife. I think picking my favorite really came from what I carried and used the most. Dad got me some 2 bladed knife about as sharp as a butter knife when I was around 7 or 8. Soon after came my first quality knife, a Camillus made Cub Scout knife. The extra tools made it practical. It went scouting and on other adventures through woods and farmland. The other tools got used, not because they were the best for the job but because that’s all I had on me. In my very early teens I picked up a Schrade 34OT. The sheep’s foot was pinchable with gloves on and even though I’d carry a folding belt knife the Schrade got used a lot working on farms. I used all the blades depending on what the task was. Didn’t matter if it was cutting, scraping, light prying or anything else.

I lost that one in the Marines and picked up my first Swiss Army Knife, a small Tinker. That knife had every blade and tool used constantly for a multitude of tasks.

Work today is far from farm work or being in the Marines and I shine the hell out of a seat with my rear end, but I do get out in the field with some crews on a semi regular basis. But I still carry a stockman or SAK the majority of the time. I guess you just never know what task will present itself and let me save the day with a little bit of Cheese head know how.

7607A7AD-8951-4445-B89D-90D26EBB3FF9.jpegEF561129-600F-496B-9863-02300A2CAF1D.jpeg
 
As an air force vet
I gotta ask ya 315 315
What was your favorite flavor of crayon? 😜

Lol I carried a Gerber gator in a belt pouch as my knife. But I was security forces (aka air force military police) so I wasn't in no chairs in my time
 
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