Show me you old, dead, weary & weak..

[RetiredGuns]

Some of us have some nice old knives and some both old & pretty worn out. I haven't kept all of them but for one reason or another I have kept a few. The blades have either been broken or sharpened a thousand times. The 2 below are the first 2 pocket knives my Grandpa gave to me back in the mid-sixties. They were already half-dead and old at the time but I cherished them and keep 'em for sentimental reasons. Grandpa said he had the Iroquios during the Depression and skinned rabbits with it. A recent copy of Knifeworld shows that it was indeed around as early as 1922 under the Utica cutlery family. The Keen Kutter Grandma got at a yard sale in the 50s.

 

[pipedreams308]

This 80's Case Trapper belonged to my wife's Great Uncle Bob and was his companion during his frequent hunting and fishing expeditions. He was a machinist and worked most of his career building parts for Titan rockets. I rescued it from the trash when his house was being cleaned out after his death. He was in his eighties.

 

[thawk]

Most of these still have a good life left.

But here is a mixed bag of nice users.

 

[Bob W]

This was my grandfather's. The blades are heavily worn, the scales are loose, and the brand has limited collector interest. Still, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

 

[thejamppa]

Near dead german slippie. Unknown manufacturer and year. Main blades back spring has worn and there's itty bitty snap. Other blades still produce snap. There's not that much rust anymore. Older picture:

 

[comoha]

Whoa, talk about played out.
I can barely feel a heartbeat on a few of those.

 

[300Bucks]

Everything doesn't have a B on it, I run a old soldiers home like almost everyone else. Grandfathers was yellow Schrade, minus shield. That pearl whishpers to me about new blades.
300Buck

 

[Modoc ED]

This knife belonged to my Grandfather. He carried it in the Spanish American War and it was in his pocket when he died of a heart attack in 1952. He broke the blade off himself so that he could use it to clean his pipe/pipe bowl with. He was always using this knife. It was made by Hibbard Spencer Bartlett.

 

[Triq]

Whoa, talk about played out.
I can barely feel a heartbeat on a few of those.

I know i have posted this old Boker & co'c improved cutlery jack before but thought it fits perfectly in this thread.

 

[Mack]

This knife belonged to my Grandfather. He carried it in the Spanish American War and it was in his pocket when he died of a heart attack in 1952. He broke the blade off himself so that he could use it to clean his pipe/pipe bowl with. He was always using this knife. It was made by Hibbard Spencer Bartlett.

Can you imagine intentionally breaking off a blade today? It makes perfect sense to "customize" it for your needs but I'd sure have a hard time doing it to one of mine.
That said, the broken blade on my Old Timer gets a ton of use because it works so well.

 

[yobbos1]

Poor old fella has been worked almost to death.

 

[Berkley]

This Standing Liberty quarter and Western States jack knife were both handsome in their day, but hard work has taken its toll.

 

[Campbellclanman]

I have posted this old pic before..its an old WRAGG, and an old J & S Kelly, the Wragg has been re-handled, but this old girl is great...i kinda have a soft spot for it.

Also, here is an older Sheath ( not a knife I know...but..kind of fits? ), ...Ed Fowler liked it, so it flew over to his house to roost for the rest of it's life.

 

[TwoDogs]

Great thread......LOVE 'em all, now that's what I'm talking about, knives that have "earned" a history!!

Some will think I'm crazy I know, but I would rather have one of these than a safe queen any day.....my personal opinion, not faulting those that have them.

 

[Modoc ED]

Can you imagine intentionally breaking off a blade today? It makes perfect sense to "customize" it for your needs but I'd sure have a hard time doing it to one of mine.
That said, the broken blade on my Old Timer gets a ton of use because it works so well.

He used the bolster end with the broken blade of the knife to tamp down the tobacco in his pipe and I think the reason he broke the blade off was to have a blunt ended tool to clean/scrape the bowl of the pipe. Most pipe smokers like to build up a crust in the bowl of the pipe and if he'd of left a point on the blade, it would have damaged that crust.

Sometimes, when nothing else is at hand, the only remedy to solve a problem or fix something is to improvise a tool out of a tool.

Anyway, good thread. Nice to see some oldies but goodies that actually had to work for their keep.

 

[moonwilson]

My grandfather used to intentionally break the tip off of one of the blades on all of his stockman knives, and grind it into a flathead screwdriver. That way he had a screwdriver in what was otherwise a regular stockman knife. I saw him do this a couple of times, he was a tough old coot, and hard on knives. I saw him pry fencing staples out of fenceposts with his pocketknife many times- using the intentionally broken-off tip to do so. To him, knives were tools, meant to be used as such. He favored the Buck 301. I really wish I could have saved one of his old knives, I have many memories of watching him work around the farm with them.

 

[Bad Monkey]

My first pocket knife.

This was given to me by my grandparents for my 9th birthday....long time ago....unfortunately the main blade backspring has been sprained, so the blade now rattles about rather than staying open under tension

Richards sheffield scout/camp knife

As a young boy this knife went everywhere with me, it's long since been retired due to the backspring, but i can't bring myself to get rid of it.

Craig.

 

[buckgen5]

that jack knife although rusted still looks pretty prime though. it has enough "meat" on the blade it could probably pull through for at least another century if given the tlc.

 

[buckgen5]

Great thread......LOVE 'em all, now that's what I'm talking about, knives that have "earned" a history!!

Some will think I'm crazy I know, but I would rather have one of these than a safe queen any day.....my personal opinion, not faulting those that have them.

knives were meant to be used. people who spend thousands on knives just so they can sell them are not collectors in my opinion. if i want to mod my knives so they do what i want or so they last longer it's because i am not worried what the resale value is going to be afterward. in my opinion the only value in a knife is what it means to you and what memeories it brings back and the smile on your kids face when he inherits your collection or even when he gets his first one. i'm not worried about what my knives are worth because they are not for sale.

 

[buckgen5]

if i had one of those 4000 dollar custom knives i would get tons of use out of it. that thing's gonna see some work not sit on a shelf. like the old saying goes "use it or lose it."