Some thoughts about carrying a pocket knife...

dalefuller

dalefuller

Joined
Feb 2, 2005
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A knife & gun buddy of mine from down the street shared this with me today. It was interesting, since I grew up in a time when a pocket knife was as indispensable for daily carry as a cell phone is today. So I thought I'd share the link with the BF community. I couldn't really decide between GKD and the Community Center, but it's knife related, so GKD won.

https://thenaturalsouth.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-kind-of-men-who-carry-pocket-knives_4.html
 
I grew up in a time when all the boys in school had pocket knives and the teachers did too. It was not unusual to go to the parking lot during lunch to see the new firearm that someone had received for birthday, etc. Teachers came out to admire them as well. Good times for sure. I carry two knives with me at all times.
 
What a great story, I wholeheartedly agree!
 
I was born in '48 in central FL. A lot of dad's WW 2 army and AAF buddies settled in that area when they were discharged, so being raised by dad meant being raised by them, too. They were certainly an independent bunch and they taught their kids, me included, to be the same way. A pocketknife was like underwear. You just didn't go anywhere without it. I'm still like that, and I'll have a couple of knives in my casket when it's time to go.
 
I received my first knife when I was 5 or 6. When he came home on leave in 1960 after serving a tour in Viet Nam, before being sent to Germany for four years, my uncle gave me the "Demo" knife, and the Ontario 499 "Jet Pilot Survival Knife" the Army had issued him when he enlisted. (I still haven't figured out why the Army issued him an Air Force knife. He was a Army grunt, not one of the CIA "Advisors")

I've had at least two or three knives in my pocket every day since. I've also had a Buck 110 or Old Timer 7OOR or 6OT on my belt every day since 1969. (8th grade)
From 1st or 2nd grade, the school district (and I suppose law enforcement) took it for granted that every boy in school had at least one pocket knife on him. (and that roughly 85% of the girls had one in their purse or pocket on the rare occasion one wore blue jeans or pants)
The teachers usually had one too. Well I remember the teacher asking if he or she could borrow a knife when they "forgot" theirs.

I was not the only one in second and third grade who brought their .22 rifle in for Show and Tell. (and it was not just the boy's that brought in their .22 rifle or pistol/revolver :) )
In High School, you could tell when it was deer and waterfowl season from all the shotguns in the back windows of the pickup trucks (and rear side window of the SUV's) In Archery Season some had a bow and arrows.(compound bows had not been invented yet back then. At least no one I knew or who went to that school had one, if they were invented.)
Squirrel and rabbit seasons had a .22 or shotgun there.
If you were taking a Shop Class, you were expected to have a knife on you. Many had a Buck 110 on their belt. I did not take the class, (I already knew how to read and draw a blueprint) but I think you were expected to have a knife in Drafting Class, as well.

Times have certainly changed, and in IMHO, not for the "better".

I remember more than once during a job interview to present my pocket knife
The condition of your pocket knife was a determining factor in if you got the job or not.
No pocket knife ... You were untrustworthy; you did not get the job.
Dull Blades(s) or active red rust ... You did not take care of your tools. You did not get the job. (a patina was ok)
Broken or chipped blade(s) or broken tip(s):You did not use the right tool for the job/task at hand. You did not get the job.
Sharp blade(s) without broken tips or blade(s) chips and/or active red rust (again, a patina was O.K.) if you were qualified (education and/or experience), you got the job. Usually that same day. If you didn't have the education/experience, and they were training, you also got the job, again, usually on the same day as the interview.
From my experience, if I wasn't hired at the end of the interview, I didn't get the job, no matter what the job was.
When I had my own business (lawn care/grounds keeping, tree trimming/removal, firewood sales, lot clean-up, and fence building. Also did some minor demolition, and painted a "few" houses inside and out) I asked to see the applicant's pocket knife.
 
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I think the idea that you can glean any useful information about someone's character and competence from the fact that they carry a knife is immensely laughable and that article is purely designed to stroke the egos of the writer and the author from that point of view. The memories were interesting to read about, though, I suppose.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I think the idea that you can glean any useful information about someone's character and competence from the fact that they carry a knife is immensely laughable and that article is purely designed to stroke the egos of the writer and the author from that point of view. The memories were interesting to read about, though, I suppose.
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What are you talking about? Everyone knows that carrying a knife makes you super trustworthy, a hard worker and just generally someone you can depend on in a pinch.

I mean, if my tractor broke and my horse was bitten by a rattlesnake I can't think of anyone I'd rather have by my side than @NickShabazz!
 
Come to think of it, romanticizing knife carrying aside, I wonder what the fellas of yesteryear would have thought about our beloved forum member's of today? Afterall, a lot of us real men have a particular knife for every occasions, safe queens vs users, flickable easy open knives that don't hurt our thumbs or break our nails. In truth, maybe they would have thought that we were all "dandies."
 
I carry a knife, and I'm awesome, therefore... :D

However, when doing a charitable outreach thing in Ottawa, some sketchy douchebag came up to the girl in our group and started flicking his crappy assisted opener open and closed, open and closed; he was not cool. He also was not a great conversationalist.

She though it was a switchblade and was debating calling the cops after he left, but I explained that the knife was legal, and that he was simply a complete waste of a human being.

The rest of the day went well, but that idiot with his stupid knife did not impress anyone favourably. :thumbsdown:

So don't attribute positive attributes to someone simply because they own a similar object to what you like.
 
cchu518 said:
Come to think of it, romanticizing knife carrying aside, I wonder what the fellas of yesteryear would have thought about our beloved forum member's of today? Afterall, a lot of us real men have a particular knife for every occasions, safe queens vs users, flickable easy open knives that don't hurt our thumbs or break our nails. In truth, maybe they would have thought that we were all "dandies."
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My late dad was blue collar all his life and always had some type of pocketknife on him. But he always used the heck out of them, and didn’t get a new one until the current one was almost unusable (blades sharpened way down etc.). Then he’d toss the remains into a toolbox and buy another one.

One time, my dad saw that I had about 5 to 7 pocketknives sitting on a stack of my books. He said, “What the heck you need so many pocketknives for?” If only he had seen all my other ones. :D


Jim
 
stabman said:
I carry a knife, and I'm awesome, therefore... :D

However, when doing a charitable outreach thing in Ottawa, some sketchy douchebag came up to the girl in our group and started flicking his crappy assisted opener open and closed, open and closed; he was not cool. He also was not a great conversationalist.

She though it was a switchblade and was debating calling the cops after he left, but I explained that the knife was legal, and that he was simply a complete waste of a human being.

The rest of the day went well, but that idiot with his stupid knife did not impress anyone favourably. :thumbsdown:

So don't attribute positive attributes to someone simply because they own a similar object to what you like.
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This is common as dirt. Kinda bums me out, but so does alot of behaviour in our youth.

There are unfortunately other sorts of folk who carry knives.... douchebags, punks, wannabe gangstas, mall ninjas....

Clothes don't make the man, and neither does anything in the pockets of said clothes.
 
Interesting topic. While I am not as wizened as some of y'all, (just turned 41 last week) I grew up carrying a knife. My great uncle gave me a Wenger Nomad for my 7th birthday. Had it for nigh 30 years.

Carried a Sog Pentagon Elite (liner lock) my last two years of high school. No ever looked funny at me or said anything. It was assumed most men and boys carried a knife. After Columbine, Atlanta, OKC, and finally 9/11, one had to be much more discreet.

I hide a knife under the insole of a shoe in my checked bag. I never fly carry on only. I wear a size 14 so carry bags don't work too well.
 
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