State of My Collection and My Collecting

[leghog]

A couple of years ago I gave away most of my folders here and elsewhere so I could focus my collection. I believe I might be done with the exception of maybe three folders which I just can't seem to capture.

 

[Frailer]

First, thanks very much for sharing.

If and when you find the time, would you mind sharing more details about your approach to collecting?

Some years ago a friend of mine shared his outlook on “collecting” (tobacco pipes of a very specific sort, in his case), and since then the relationship between collectors and the things they collect has fascinated me.

I see a large number of scout knives, and the connection between them and the Swiss Army knives isn’t a stretch, but I also see marlinspikes, rope knives, and perhaps a hawksbill or two. Then there’s the lone Opinel and a solitary Barlow and a handful of “traditionals” in the stockman or “pen knife” vein. Are these all connected in some way, or do they represent separate groupings within the whole?

If you’d like to share, I’m sure many of us would be interested.

 

[Buzzbait]

A couple of years ago I gave away most of my folders here and elsewhere so I could focus my collection. I believe I might be done with the exception of maybe three folders which I just can't seem to capture.

So much win in this picture, and by win I mean bails. Most all of my favorite knives have bails. It’s almost a prerequisite for me. That’s a heck of a scout collection. I see some wonderful WW2-era knives.

I’m actually surprised that I don’t see any wooden or jigged bone TL-29’s.

 

[leghog]

So much win in this picture, and by win I mean bails. Most all of my favorite knives have bails. It’s almost a prerequisite for me. That’s a heck of a scout collection. I see some wonderful WW2-era knives.

I’m actually surprised that I don’t see any wooden or jigged bone TL-29’s.

There's a PAL jigged bone electrician knife, bottom row seventh from the left. During WW2 they were issued as part of the General Mechanics Tool Kit.

 

[leghog]

First, thanks very much for sharing.

If and when you find the time, would you mind sharing more details about your approach to collecting?

Some years ago a friend of mine shared his outlook on “collecting” (tobacco pipes of a very specific sort, in his case), and since then the relationship between collectors and the things they collect has fascinated me.

I see a large number of scout knives, and the connection between them and the Swiss Army knives isn’t a stretch, but I also see marlinspikes, rope knives, and perhaps a hawksbill or two. Then there’s the lone Opinel and a solitary Barlow and a handful of “traditionals” in the stockman or “pen knife” vein. Are these all connected in some way, or do they represent separate groupings within the whole?

If you’d like to share, I’m sure many of us would be interested.

Not much to it. Scout knives and (mostly WW2) military issue. The marlin spike (only one) knife is a WW2 issue UK Army knife. The knife to the left is a two-piece UK Army knife.

The Rope knives are liferaft knives approved by the USCG in 1944. No hawks bills.

The Opinel #8 was a gift from a sister in the 1970s.
The Case barlow is the knife I bought myself when I graduated HS.

The other small knives are a Boker pen my mother in-law bought me and that I carried for about 10 years, and two Case and two Craftsman (the third is in my pocket) from the collection I pretty much off loaded by giving them away piece by piece a couple of years ago. I like those Craftsman (two Ulsters and a Schrade from late '59-mid-'60s) very much, so kept them. I have a few other folders stashed away. My grandfather's Case and my father in-law's Case. I keep them in a corner curio cabinet in the study.

 

[Frailer]

Thanks very much for the additional background information.

I considered starting a new thread along these lines, but before I do so I need to do some searching to see what’s already here before I re-invent the wheel.

Thanks again!