Pocket Knife Christmas Gift for Dad or Grandad

knifeswapper

knifeswapper

Knife Peddler
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I have lost my father and both grandfathers over the last 25 years to the company of our Father. But I was just sitting here wondering; since they all carried a trusty old pocket knife - what 2013 made knife would I get them as a treasured Christmas gift?

My dad used a stainless Case 47 model stockman. He needed the spey blade to do its intended job if the bander didn't; and a carbon blade seemed to rust before he could get home with all the sweat he would put off in a day. His dad carried Old Timer or Schrade stockman as he would break blades often doing things you shouldn't do with a blade. And my mom's dad carried and old red bone Case trapper. The spey cut a million plugs of tobacco and the main did everything else.

If you were getting a pocket knife for your dad or grandad as a Christmas gift; what 2013 knife would it be?
 
I have my grandfather's barlow. So I would buy him a Toms Choice barlow. I have purchased my own dad a 25 barlow and a S&M grandad barlow.
 
My maternal grandfather carried a Joseph Rodgers 'Bunny Knife'. He'd have been bowled over by most of my knives I think, but perhaps my GEC 66 Serpentine Jack would have suited him best.



My paternal grandfather, I think would have loved this Sheepsfoot Charlow, but like my other grandfather, he'd have been happy with any knife I gave him.



Sadly, they both passed away a long time ago.
 
My father was never a knife guy during my lifetime. He'll have been gone 13 years this December. Both of my grandfathers were gone before I was born.

I'd probably not in reality get my Dad a pocket knife. It just wouldn't get any use. If forced to choose a knife, then it would be a Victorinox Classic or Rambler, or perhaps a Cadet in Alox. And it would depend on what time warp I went through to give it to him. Would I be giving this to his 55-year old self (my age now) or his 85-year-old self? Different times and different needs.

If he were still alive today he'd be 101 and probably wouldn't get any use out of any pocket knife. Like I said, he was never a knife guy.
 
My dad has been using a Vic Classic for as long as I remember. If I were to give him another knife it be a small multi-tool with pliers and screwdrivers. I bet he would carry that, it be iffy if he carry a pocket knife that wasn't on his keys.

My grandfather still loves to work with his hands and loves his tools so it have to be a multi-tool.
 
Jack Black said:
My maternal grandfather ... perhaps my GEC 66 Serpentine Jack would have suited him best.

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My dad's dad was an old-school two-blade jack, carbon steel kind of guy. The knife above would have been a VERY welcome gift. (And I would never tell him how much I spent on it!)

My mom's dad came home from WWII with just one arm, so he never carried a pocketknife. For him, I'd pick up a nice traditional sheath knife with a blade of no more than 6" or so. He always kept a few fixed blades around. I had the GREAT privilege of riding cross-country with him twice as a kid, all the way from south Florida to southern California! Just Pop and me on the road for 2-3 weeks. We prepared countless picnic lunches and evening snacks in our cheap roadside motels with his Case 216-5. I have it in my desk drawer right here.

My dad is still here, thankfully. Next time he loses his knife -- and he WILL lose it, it's what he does. :D -- I'll get him yet another Victorinox Classic. He loves them. Always has one on his keys and uses it all the time.

-- Mark
 
I guess I'd have to give him back his Schrade "Old Timer" stockman. Or his old Imperial Barlow. As for a "New 2013" model, I'd probably get him a smallish Case Bone handled Jackknife. Harvest Orange or Chestnut colored.
 
Probably something like this, he loves a Cali clip blade for gutting fish and skinning squirrels. Used a Schrade 897 for years.

IMG_5097_zps54f15a6a.jpg
 
mnblade said:
My mom's dad came home from WWII with just one arm, so he never carried a pocketknife. For him, I'd pick up a nice traditional sheath knife with a blade of no more than 6" or so. He always kept a few fixed blades around. I had the GREAT privilege of riding cross-country with him twice as a kid, all the way from south Florida to southern California! Just Pop and me on the road for 2-3 weeks. We prepared countless picnic lunches and evening snacks in our cheap roadside motels with his Case 216-5. I have it in my desk drawer right here.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a priceless experience Mark :thumbup:

mnblade said:
dad is still here, thankfully. Next time he loses his knife -- and he WILL lose it, it's what he does. :D ...
Click to expand...

That sounds like MY dad too! The only way he avoids losing anything is to hide it in his sock-drawer! And if he doesn't lose something, he'll likely break it. I bought him a decent wrist-watch years ago, and told him where to take the bracelet to get it adjusted. Five minutes later I saw him fiddling with it and a spring go flying across the room, so I frog-marched him down to the jeweller's to get the bracelet fixed there and then. I never met a man who was more incompetent with tools or machinery, or using his hands, than my dad. Yet, he spent his life as a machine-tool fitter!
 
A spear bladed EO Jack in wood scales would fit my grandfather nicely, a hard working man who still refuses to stop working 15 years after being retired.

One of my great grandfathers, and one of my 2nd great grandfathers were more flashy and I guess I could call them "Dandys" Something in Pearl Scales, maybe a conductor or a stiletto shaped knife in pearl or ivory. :)
 
My dad doesn't like pocketknives. He was mugged by some criminal trash wielding a blade when he was younger so he doesn't appreciate a pocketknife's finer qualities. Pity. I'd get him whatever knife he wanted. I wouldn't care what it was. I'd find him an ivory handled Tony Bose Lanny's Clip if that's what it took.

I don't know if my grandfather ever carried a knife. He was a Presbyterian minister, so a pearl handled beauty along the lines of Reverend Harding's penkknife would probably be fitting. I'd also get him a nice fountain pen, one he could use to write his sermons. He'd likely get more use out of that.

- Christian
 
I am glad I still have my pop, he's only 60 but still. My mother lost her father when she was 10, and my fathers father passed about ten years ago. My father has always liked small knives, he's getting a Schrade serpentine pen knife for Christmas, but they went out of business, so I guess I'd get him a Pemberton from GEC. He'd have a heart attack if he knew how much I'd pay for it.

My fathers father (jogie/zdadjie/dziadzie in Polish) was a salesman in his later years, and had a soda/candy route. He got a few of the Coca Cola and Pepsi novelty knives, probably Colonial. He might take a shine to a clip point Charlow or #15 single blade jack, but he would definitely want one with a cap lifter ;). Hopefully that knife comes out later this year.

My mothers father was a salesman also, he sold buses, and he loved music. He could sing, and play his harmonica. His harmonica was like a pocket knife, it went everywhere with him. So, I have to think about a knife going in the pocket, or other side pocket, with a huge Hohner harmonica (wood and metal, I have it, big honking harmonica). He was a Marine in WW2, fought in the Pacific, so I'm guessing he carried a knife. Maybe a demo knife, maybe a linemans knife. He sold all over the Eastern Shore too. He was Irish, Scottish and American Indian, let's go with the Charlow or boys knife, we were both a lot alike in temperament and habit. He liked a touch of the drink, so let's get both granddads a 15 with a cap lifter!
 
My dad's still around. I would just mod him something. I know, that doesn't really answer the question at hand.

My father's father lived in Montana, fished and hunted, I would get him a folding hunter pattern, something he could carry in a belt sheath, like the ones Schrade and Case made.

My mother's father had a farm stand for years, and would sell flowers, apples, cider, etc. Probably a soddie, or a one-blade jack of some kind...
 
My Grandfathers were gone when I was born, and my father passed in 1989, but I would just give him back the knife of his I got when he died. Well, you did say what 2013 model though, so I would get him one just like it or a Case Mini Trapper in CV. He used both the regular and Mini, and would not use a stainless.

 
My father wasn't interested in knives at all, the war may have played a role there...

My grandfathers, both dead before I was born would've had gents type knives. I have a W.Nowill Equal End in ivory, sunk joints, was 4 blades but only two barely left, that was the Paternal G's knife. My choice would be a GEC Conductor or Northwoods Norfolk for them, might be why I like the pattern so much!

For Mike's late family I'd suggest for his dad another CASE stainless Stockman, perhaps the Humpback for variety or a Queen D2 Stockman in Zebra, a very nice handle. For this grand Ds how about a GEC Abilene Stock Knife in Orange Osage(they do look special yet tough) and as a Trapper alternative a Böker Copperhead or GEC Bullet End 85. The fact is friends, we really do have a wealth of choices right now, I'm thankful for it!
 
Dad has been gone 10 years now. He always carried a small cheap company give away folder (last one was stamped "Barlow" made in China). Every time I saw him I would grab his knife and spend a while sharpening it. He used it for everything from cleaning his nails to scraping crud off battery terminals. A few years before he died I got him a small custom lockback. He put it into his drawer and kept using the cheap ones as the new one was too pretty. When he died I got it back. If he was here today I bet he would love a yellow case peanut! Steven
 
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