Same carry since July.

[jackknife]

Like the song goes, its been a long strange trip. I left for California on the morning of the 31st of July with a classic and Leatherman squirt on me, with a Wenger SI on standby. Now, with the first week of September through, I'm still carrying the same pair. The Wenger SI has gone back in the sock drawer after the cross country trip, and the classic is in its regular place on my keyring in the leather pouch sheath I made for it. The squirt is on the key8ing on a quick release Nite Ize S-biner, ready for the heavy duty stuff that the classic is not up to.

For my life as the urban old guy in an urban surrounding, I've become like our Mr. Coper, who figured out he didn't need all that stuff. Maybe this has been the final nail in the whole knife nut thing for me, but in the two weeks we were either on the road across New Mexico, Arizona, and west Texas going to and coming back from Mission Viejo California, the Wenger SI wasn't used at all. But the 58mm classic opened all kinds of packages, while we were in California and I was doing a lot of cooking for the family. Daughter Jessica has a well equipped kitchen with chores of Victorinox cutlery from paring knives to chef's knife, and it was all I needed. My pocket knife is a package opener and the thin little 58mm blade does excel at that. The SD tip did some repairs/maintenance on the house in Cali, and the scissors helped keep the beard trimmed while away from home. The nail fine kept the fingers well manicured.

The gun nut thing died as I got older, then the motorcycle thing, then the knife nut thing.I feel kind of liberated.

 

[afishhunter]

In a way though it's a little sad when things and activities that once interested you no longer do.

I  think I've ... "out grown" ... the gun-nut era of my time. Admittedly, I wouldn't be unhappy if I were to get a .22 rimfire rifle, and a few bricks of ammo for it, and be able to visit the range. Not going to happen though, and I'm o.k. with that ... come to terms with it, anyway. I would like to use up the black powder, percussion caps, round balls and conicals I have with my muzzleloaders. Perhaps "someday" I won't get quarantined if I go to the range, and am not the only one there. If not, my nephew will use them. (provided I don't take them with me, after all.) Maybe he'll get a deer or three over the years with them.

Accumulating more knives? Nah. No more buying just to have it, not unless it is something really special and fills a role I don''t have covered.
I've had a hankerin' for a Daddy/Grand Daddy Barlow for a year or so. Then decided "Why bother? I have a couple knives with the same basic blade."
As it is, I have more than enough knives to last me the rest of my days ... even if I was in my 20's.
I won't sell off any of the accumulation. I (still) enjoy having them on display in my room, to remind me of "better" times, and a few folks who are not on the census any more.
Tho I might gift a Rough Rider or offshore Old Timer, if I come across someone who needs a good knife.

My knife carry has changed over the last couple years. A Leatherman Charge+ TTI and three SAK (Mini Champ, Evo Grip 14, and Hercules, on my belt or clipped to a belt loop) have been a constant companion on my belt since June or July. The Toferner neck knife for about a year. I still carry other knives such as a large stockman in my pocket, even tho I may not use it every day.

I still enjoy it, but I haven't done as much archery this year, or ridden my adult trike more than a couple miles total in the last two years. (We've had a  lot more wind this year to move the arrows enough from hitting the arrow stop, to becoming lost in the vegetation. The Guv'ners lockdown had a lot to do with the trike staying parked and locked up. Poor excuses, I know, but I'm sticking with them. )

I'm not sure if it is a "good" thing our interests, tastes, and recreational activities change as we get older, or not.

 

[TrapperMike]

I am finding the little classic is a handy little tool. Yesterday i was installing an ignition switch on my lawnmower. The terminals on my new switch were in different positions then my old one so i had to remove the wire terminals from the connector and move them around. The classic was all i had with me that had tweezers and the tweezers worked perfect for releasing the little tabs on the terminals. Worked great and got the new switch installed. It was also my most used knife on vacation back in July because of the scissors. I used them for snack opening and trimming. It may be small but it is a very useful tool.

 

[jackknife]

In a way though it's a little sad when things and activities that once interested you no longer do.

No, not sad at all. We liver lives in stages, and what is good for a young guy full of piss and vinegar, is way different than a middle age man with a family and soccer dad duties on weekends. And thats way way different than a senior citizen granddad who spends a lot of time fishing and being the family patriarch. The old guy has no need of tools for a fire fight or playing Jeremiah Johnson in the back country. At my age, I know I will never see the real wilderness again, and I'm okay with that. I've ridden coast to coast on my Motorcycle and camped in all the big national forests. Been there and done that.

BUT...that huge three letter word, I don't want to do it again. I've reached a point where I like riding the tourist rain around Yosemite, and sitting on the veranda at Yellowstone and watching Old Faithful do its thing with a cocktail in hand and the waiter is bringing a tray of canapés around. Or sitting on the patio at Key West with a cold vodka tonic and using my little SAK to trim the end off a nice hand rolled Dominican cigar.

The only thing I need a large blade for is kitchen/food duty, and no matter if in my own kitchen or Jessica's out in California, theres a nice rack of Victorinox kitchen cutlery at hand. Eating out, there is usually a decent selection of eating tools on hand.

No, not sad, but extremely liberating. I don't have to worry about who's gonna get what after I keel over. Its already done and given away. In this stage of my life, I just don't need much at all. Living the life of a retired gentleman of leisure, enjoying fishing and traveling, a small keychain cutter is all I really need. I've always been a minimalist, but as I got older I embraced it more fully and saw how my life was over cluttered with sh...stuff I just flat out didn't need anymore. Maybe the testosterone fed fantasies of youth die off and the new pragmatic and unclouded view takes over. By shedding all the guns and knives and gear that I had in duplicate, I feel like a ball and chain has been removed from my ankle. I feel light and mobil. It feels great.

Theres an old Chinese proverb that goes something like; "When you own too many possessions, your possessions own you."

With the last fading of the knife nut thing, I feel free. Only now do I fully understand how my dad felt going through life with his little Case peanut and a Christy knife. I only wish I had learned from him at a much earlier age.

 

[sixgunner455]

I’m not there. I don’t know that I ever will be, but there is time. My dad asked me the last time I was visiting if I want his 1911 when he’s ready to give it up, and which of his anvils he should give me vs. my brother and BIL when he’s ready to hang up the hammers. Ten years ago, that would never have been part of a conversation.

My brother and I are hunting deer this fall. He’s flying in from out of state and debating bring his rifle vs using one of mine. I’m glad i have a rifle i could loan him if he can’t or doesn’t bring his own, but i can also see the attraction to dumping any and all guns I never use and don’t want to keep around.

 

[shopdoc]

Taking a trip really tells one what is truly needed. When you are away from your kitchen/garage that has all the necessary tools/sharp things. In reality most of us can survive just fine with a SAK classic and in fact better than a larger one hand opener. I say most. I know there are still those who need more than a tool to cut off shirt tags, open amazon packages, cut cheese and sausage on a picnic, trim beard hair, sharpen a pencil, fix a loose cabinet screw…but most of us suburbanites need little else. I bought a Classic while on a trip to Munich with my son. I wasn’t 100% sure about the knife laws and they had some interesting classics in Austria that included the leather slip. That classic took care of all of our needs. That little blade wasn’t ideal for cutting up bread while we had our daily sausage, bread, cheese, berry lunch in the farmers market in Munich, But it got the job done nonetheless.

I will say that on a trip to Mexico I brought my Compact and the needle came in handy to remove a splinter from my son’s foot. But this was before I started carrying a safety pin in my wallet.

-Dean

 

[A.L.]

I’ve done so gangsta moves that I have even travelled overseas with carry on luggage.. and survived!

 

[shopdoc]

I’ve done so gangsta moves that I have even travelled overseas with carry on luggage.. and survived!

That’s the only way we travel now. So much simpler. No waiting in long lines. No worrying if your baggage made the connection flight.

But… I buy a classic when I arrive at my destination

 

[A.L.]

That’s the only way we travel now. So much simpler. No waiting in long lines. No worrying if your baggage made the connection flight.

But… I buy a classic when I arrive at my destination

Exactly - so much simplier and stress free.
And totally understand the classic part.

 

[jackknife]

That’s the only way we travel now. So much simpler. No waiting in long lines. No worrying if your baggage made the connection flight.

But… I buy a classic when I arrive at my destination

I send a classic ahead in he mail to where we'll be staying. Flying out, I'll gift it off to the airport shuttle driver or grounds keeper at the guest house we stay at. Usually we travel by car, but fits more than a day and a half to two day drive, we'll fly. Carry on is the way to go, and if we need something that didn't get packed, we'll buy local.