The games we played as kids with traditional pocketknives

[John L]

I remember two games played as a kid...mumbly peg...a game of holding your knife in various positions, letting it fall and requiring it to stick in the ground. First guy not to stick the knife looses. The second and I do not remember the name of the game....something like "stretch" where you stand face to face with your buddy about a foot apart and throwing the knife to the left or right sticking in the found and making your partner then stretch with one foot to that point in the gound..he then must take the knife out of the ground, throw and stick it making you stretch to the knife and so on until someone either falls, fails to stick the knife in the ground, or cannot reach the knife. Any others?

 

[BJE]

It is sad to hear about what todays kids are doing with knives. I never really played any games with my knife when I was a kid, I always took great care my knives and didn't want to risk damage. I did find many things to cut up, even things that didn't need to be cut.

 

[6.0stroker]

I remember two games played as a kid...mumbly peg...a game of holding your knife in various positions, letting it fall and requiring it to stick in the ground. First guy not to stick the knife looses. The second and I do not remember the name of the game....something like "stretch" where you stand face to face with your buddy about a foot apart and throwing the knife to the left or right sticking in the found and making your partner then stretch with one foot to that point in the gound..he then must take the knife out of the ground, throw and stick it making you stretch to the knife and so on until someone either falls, fails to stick the knife in the ground, or cannot reach the knife. Any others?

Second Game you speak of "CHICKEN" is what we called it!! and yes MumblyPeg 1984 grad here!!! Played in middle school w/ the Principal!!!:thumbup:

Today just a butter cutter would get a kid in DEEP DOO DOO!!!

 

[RobbW]

Yep, we played both mumbly peg and stretch. My dad was a history teacher and said that mumbly peg was played way back in colonial days. I think they called it mumble peg or mumblety peg or mumbledy peg. Probably for as long as there are knives, there have been men and boys challenging themselves to better their skills with them.

 

[RobbW]

Here's a link to a description of the game:

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/games/beard/mumbly_peg.htm

I remember most of these "feats", but we didn't know about the looser pulling a peg out of the ground with his teeth. That certainly raises the stakes, especially when the peg is embedded all the way in the dirt!

 

[neeman]

Mumbly Peg...

Our version in England was with sheath knives.
You moved your foot to where the knife stuck in the ground.
Till the gap got smaller and smaller...

You lost if:
The knife did not stick (poor show)
You hit the guy's shoe (ouch!)
You would not let the guy throw if the gap was too narrow (Chicken!)

Note:
In Scouts, if you were caught playing Mumbly Peg, you lost your Knife and Axe badge!

 

[stockdog]

In the hills we all played as neeman explained, started wide until you were close enough that you did not trust the next throw of the pig sticker.

 

[popedandy]

When I was in elementary school - I think maybe first, second and third grade - I remember playing both stretch and mumblety-peg the way neeman described it, although we played with slipjoints instead of fixed blades.