Life is interesting. You raise kids, and sometimes the kids learn from you, and other times they actually use their own brain cells to come to their own conclusions. Like the knife nut gene.
I was a knife nut in my younger day. For a while there in my younger and early middle age, I was bit bad, and collected a lot of knives, to include some customs like a number of Randall's, George Stone, Harry Morsheth, Jay Hendrickson, and others. Some higher end folders got accumulated for coon fingering and chicken eyeing. It was interesting because I was basically a multitool guy from an early age. My dad gave me a Boy Scout knife when I joined the boy Scots, so early on I got used to having some tools on my pocket knife. In the army I used the issue demo knife, and then got bit by the SAK bug in a small knife shop in Rothenburg Germany. They had a giant moving SAK in the window and I was attracted. I left the shop with a Huntsman and a Wenger SI that I still have. Over the next half a lifetime, no matter what wonder knife I had on my, there was a SAK on me someplace. For a while there, my go-to woods/camping/backpacking knife was a Randall number 14. Only as I got older, did I realize how over weight and over doing it was this knife.
Being a little on the slow side, it took me a while to see that most the time, like 98% of it, the SAK in my pocket was enough. Raising three kids meant a lot of being the soccer/lacrosse/Cub Scout/brownie dad with the mini van. Lots of running repairs on stuff. Having three kids meant a responsibility of setting some kind of example. In spite of me being the knife nut, only one of my three kids turned out to have the knife nut genes. My oldest son and middle child daughter Jessica were and are to this day, dyed in the wool Sakkists. (No, I don't think thats a real word, but I'll use to to denote a real fan of the red handle wonder.)
When the knife nut thing began to fade for me, and I invited the family over to give away my stuff, I was a little surprised at how little the knives were desired. Kids, grandkids, Niece, nephews, only seemed to care for the ones that had some personal connection. Like they had seen me use it on a family fishing or camping trip. Most got shipped of to the forums for giveaways, and the custom stuff was sold off via A.G. Russell.
My older son John is a globe trotter. His job for his company had him off to Spain, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Argentina, The U.K., and other places. Traveling, he always had a SAK with him, and if he didn't, he'd fly with carry on and buy a SAK classic when he got to where he was going. On leaving he'd give it away. I asked him once why didn't like any of the"other" knives I had tried to give him and his answer was simple. "Dad, all those times I watched you fix stuff around the house, you always used your Swiss Army Knife. And when we were camped out, you opened all those cans, and cooked diner using the same pocket knife. What else do I need?"
Okay, I guess all that money we spent on his college education wasn't a waste. To this day, John is definitely not a knife person, but he keeps a classic on his keys for just in case. His sister, our middle child, is the same. Jessica carries a classic on her keys, and she says its the handiest knife she has. She's been through a few of them over the years, her last one was a pink breast cancer one bought in 2018 when my wife and her mom had breast cancer. Jess flew out and was a huge help when Karen was in chemo, and I was glad for any help I could get. Only last fall, Jess dropped her keys in the parking lot to their condo, and when she went back to pick them up, someone had already turned them in to the office, minus the little pink SAK. But Jess moved on, and blue being her favorite color, ( her car, most clothing, her Ruger LCP .380 pistol, and personal accessories and watch band are all blue) she replaced it with a blue SAK in something Victorinox calls mountain lake or something like that.
Only our youngest son, Matt, is a knife nut. He's where I was at some time ago, but is slowing down. He recently got rid of a bunch of knives and I noticed that he carries a large SAK in a belt pouch. I think its my old huntsman, but not sure. Last time we visited Maryland, I saw a rambler on his car key fob.
Two of my grandchildren are sakkists. Ryan is a IT security guy and always has a small SAK on him. Classic is always there, with a larger one in his work bag. Ryan is a fanatic fisherman, and the SAK deals with fishing reels and monofilament line well. His fishing knife is an old beat up Wenger patriot he found at a flea market, and he keeps it very well honed on the bottom of a coffee mug. My granddaughter, Christina, is a vet tech, and carries a mini champ everywhere. She loves the versatility of having all the tools, which are often used for other than intended propose. But that's the beauty of the SAK tools; they are odd shaped bits of metal that can be used for many things. Granddaughter Briana loves her SAK, but also shows a leaning to the traditional side of knifes with a Camillus peanut I gave her a few years ago. But with her after school job at a riding stable, ( the girl is nots over horses) she admits the SAK is handier.
By my two great grandchildren are too young for a pocket knife yet, but I can only wonder if something with a red handle is in their future?
I was a knife nut in my younger day. For a while there in my younger and early middle age, I was bit bad, and collected a lot of knives, to include some customs like a number of Randall's, George Stone, Harry Morsheth, Jay Hendrickson, and others. Some higher end folders got accumulated for coon fingering and chicken eyeing. It was interesting because I was basically a multitool guy from an early age. My dad gave me a Boy Scout knife when I joined the boy Scots, so early on I got used to having some tools on my pocket knife. In the army I used the issue demo knife, and then got bit by the SAK bug in a small knife shop in Rothenburg Germany. They had a giant moving SAK in the window and I was attracted. I left the shop with a Huntsman and a Wenger SI that I still have. Over the next half a lifetime, no matter what wonder knife I had on my, there was a SAK on me someplace. For a while there, my go-to woods/camping/backpacking knife was a Randall number 14. Only as I got older, did I realize how over weight and over doing it was this knife.
Being a little on the slow side, it took me a while to see that most the time, like 98% of it, the SAK in my pocket was enough. Raising three kids meant a lot of being the soccer/lacrosse/Cub Scout/brownie dad with the mini van. Lots of running repairs on stuff. Having three kids meant a responsibility of setting some kind of example. In spite of me being the knife nut, only one of my three kids turned out to have the knife nut genes. My oldest son and middle child daughter Jessica were and are to this day, dyed in the wool Sakkists. (No, I don't think thats a real word, but I'll use to to denote a real fan of the red handle wonder.)
When the knife nut thing began to fade for me, and I invited the family over to give away my stuff, I was a little surprised at how little the knives were desired. Kids, grandkids, Niece, nephews, only seemed to care for the ones that had some personal connection. Like they had seen me use it on a family fishing or camping trip. Most got shipped of to the forums for giveaways, and the custom stuff was sold off via A.G. Russell.
My older son John is a globe trotter. His job for his company had him off to Spain, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Argentina, The U.K., and other places. Traveling, he always had a SAK with him, and if he didn't, he'd fly with carry on and buy a SAK classic when he got to where he was going. On leaving he'd give it away. I asked him once why didn't like any of the"other" knives I had tried to give him and his answer was simple. "Dad, all those times I watched you fix stuff around the house, you always used your Swiss Army Knife. And when we were camped out, you opened all those cans, and cooked diner using the same pocket knife. What else do I need?"
Okay, I guess all that money we spent on his college education wasn't a waste. To this day, John is definitely not a knife person, but he keeps a classic on his keys for just in case. His sister, our middle child, is the same. Jessica carries a classic on her keys, and she says its the handiest knife she has. She's been through a few of them over the years, her last one was a pink breast cancer one bought in 2018 when my wife and her mom had breast cancer. Jess flew out and was a huge help when Karen was in chemo, and I was glad for any help I could get. Only last fall, Jess dropped her keys in the parking lot to their condo, and when she went back to pick them up, someone had already turned them in to the office, minus the little pink SAK. But Jess moved on, and blue being her favorite color, ( her car, most clothing, her Ruger LCP .380 pistol, and personal accessories and watch band are all blue) she replaced it with a blue SAK in something Victorinox calls mountain lake or something like that.
Only our youngest son, Matt, is a knife nut. He's where I was at some time ago, but is slowing down. He recently got rid of a bunch of knives and I noticed that he carries a large SAK in a belt pouch. I think its my old huntsman, but not sure. Last time we visited Maryland, I saw a rambler on his car key fob.
Two of my grandchildren are sakkists. Ryan is a IT security guy and always has a small SAK on him. Classic is always there, with a larger one in his work bag. Ryan is a fanatic fisherman, and the SAK deals with fishing reels and monofilament line well. His fishing knife is an old beat up Wenger patriot he found at a flea market, and he keeps it very well honed on the bottom of a coffee mug. My granddaughter, Christina, is a vet tech, and carries a mini champ everywhere. She loves the versatility of having all the tools, which are often used for other than intended propose. But that's the beauty of the SAK tools; they are odd shaped bits of metal that can be used for many things. Granddaughter Briana loves her SAK, but also shows a leaning to the traditional side of knifes with a Camillus peanut I gave her a few years ago. But with her after school job at a riding stable, ( the girl is nots over horses) she admits the SAK is handier.
By my two great grandchildren are too young for a pocket knife yet, but I can only wonder if something with a red handle is in their future?
