StockMan.

Congratulations to you and your wife on your new addiction! Johnny, I always enjoy seeing your Stag collection! They have that character that can only be gained by use! Lots of use during hunting season on those big ole PA Whitetail certainly helps a lot! :)
 
What a beautiful baby boy, Caleb! Congratulations! I enjoyed reading your knife evolution. I think many of us go through similar evolutions. I flip-flop between single blade and multiblade knives all the time. For me, it has more to do with what pants I am wearing, LOL. Many days I am wearing slacks at work, so I can't really stuff some multiblade tank or large single in my pocket. The variety of EDC is nice also.

Regardless, I think it's great that you are reflecting on the past and looking toward the future!
 
Congrats on your beautiful baby boy!!! Interesting read, thanks for sharing.

My grandfather had a long time influence in my knife choices. In my youth the only knives I saw were trappers, pens and barlows. I remember asking my grandpa, "Why do knives always had 2 blades?" He said, "Use one keep the other sharp... even if you brake a blade you can still finish the job." So two blades and two blades only was it for me for quite sometime. When I discovered Buck lockbacks I changed my mind about single blades and SAKs help change my thoughts on multi-blades. Of course now that I have a few knives I try to tailor the knife to the task at hand and I like to think Grandpa would be alright with that. :)

Back to the OP, God bless your growing family.
 
Last edited:
johnny twoshoes said:
My grandfather hated stockman knives, his feelings were that too many blades complicated the situation and most everything could be taken care of with one sharp one clip point. I wanted to be like him so I adopted that mantra when I was a pup, but eventually the life I started to experience differed from his and my mind was changed for me.


Working as a field hand on a produce farm taught me a lot about life and the way the world works, it also taught me that one clip point blade wasn’t going to suit my needs.


I carried a large Case stockman for the next fives years and never came across a job where I needed more, the amount of steel I knocked off those blades in that time made me wonder how much of a toothpick would be left off of a single blade.


The old man was still around when I left that farm and got real work, but I guess the pup inside me still wanted to be like Pappy so I retired my stockman for a single blade once again.


One fine Christmas morning my mom gifted me a beautiful stag Abilene stockman, I dropped it in my pocket that morning and it rarely left for the months to come, things felt right again and nothing could kick it out.


Years passed and the stockman stayed in the rotation, but the flavor of the month started to take affect and soon my pockets were filled with trappers, sodbusters, camp knives and little jack knives, nothing ever stuck though.


When my wife and I got married we visited GEC on our honeymoon, they let us pick out a knife as a wedding gift and a beautiful little stag #66 Calf Roper followed us home. In short time I fell in love with the little stockman, but it wasn’t meant to be, well it wasn’t meant to be mine forever. We soon found out that we had a son on the way and our wedding knife would be dedicated as his first pocket knife. I carried his knife while my wife carried him and I’ve fallen in love with the pattern, so much so that I ordered one for myself for when I retire his.


In a way I think the stockman pattern has taught me to be my own man, I’ve learned a lot with one in my pocket that’s for sure.

My Abilene with my son’s Calf Roper.
View attachment 923224
View attachment 923225
View attachment 923226

My Calf Roper.
View attachment 923227 View attachment 923228

My happy little one.
View attachment 923229
Click to expand...

Congrats, Johnny! Great post! Beautiful baby!
 
Thank you all for the compliments and congratulations! My son looks a lot like I did when I was little, so the poor boy is cursed in the looks department.

I think my grandfather’s main dislike of the stockman was the added bulk of the extra blades, but I never had an issue slipping even my full sized stockmans into a watch pocket for easy access on the farm. The smaller #66 makes the prospect of watch pocket carry much easier.

Growing up the right of passage from being a boy to becoming a man revolved greatly around pocket knives, trout rods and old shotguns, I’m excited to carry that on with my children and even my nephews.

0A1F0513-E73B-425D-9DBC-484A45D3D765.jpeg
 
Johnny, congratulations of the birth of your son! I know your life has changed (and for the better). I've been a Stockman fan since my grandma let me pick out a Buck 301 at the local hardware store when I was in HS (replaced my BSA Scout-Knife with it) - been carrying one nearly everyday ever since. OH
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top