Darn and I just finished addressing this on the vote thread. I'll skip reposting and just add a wee bit here.
If you are talking about them being boring simply because they've been such a standard of carry in this country for decades and have seen a LOT of working use and aren't "different" and unusual then you won't understand the appeal these have as a special issue knife for those very same reasons.
The history, the many duties it has done in the pockets of I dare say millions over the last century, working hard, day in and day out, the values of the men who carried them as their only knife, these are the very qualities that appeal to many here for selecting it as their choice for a special issue knife. It represents all those intangibles that make make us feel a bond on here. It carries the same song we hear when we're reading one of Jackknife's tales. It is a heritage and a common bond we can reach in our pocket and touch. I find nothing boring in that.
As I mentioned I don't have but three stockmans. I don't carry them either. However, a stockman with a punch that was a our special knife. That I would probably carry. There are way too many collector knives out there. So many that it could be construed as boring to someone who cherishes a knife for all those intangibles. I get immense pleasure in handling a well made knife and using it, knowing that generations before me have used this same type knife. Knowing that a well made knife in a working pattern was a constant companion to a man who may have only owned and used one pocket knife during a time when it was an essential piece of kit is one of those intangibles.
To be fair, some people primarily collect knives as collectibles, objects, and don't really care about all the rest. For them it would make little sense to for a SFO to be anything but that which would be visually unique and have more chance of gaining value over the years.
The stockman pattern is common, for a reason, but it is anything but boring to those who can listen to it's stories.
