I've had a lot of knives in my life.
Being a knife knut, I guess it was inevitable that I would buy lots of knives. I don't know if I've had as much as some here, but enough that some of my non knife knut friends and family wondered about my metal state. I've had big knives, small knives, yella handle knives, sak's, barlows, stockmen, jacks, and sodbusters. About the only knife I didn't have was the Buck 110. I admit that I'm maybe the only person on the planet that didn't have one, at one time or another. I remember seeing my first one, and wondering why somebody invented a boat anchor with a blade on it.
But most of my knives ended up going down the road. Oh, I;d keep them for a while, play with them, then they'd go to a worthy cause. Someone who didn;t have a knife, or a good one. Or given to a local kid who was in the scouts. Looking back, there was only a very few that I kept for long periods of time. And they all had one thing in common.
I don't seem to have kept any knife longer than 3 and something inches. Or without at least two blades. My two longest used knives, overlapping about 25 years, with some use still in rotation, were 3 1/2 and 3 7/8ths inches. A sak and a Stockman. But even that has changed. Over the last 20 years, I seem to have went down to just an even 3 inches or so. A Victorinox bantam, Victorinox classic, Buck cadet, and my old standby that I seem always to come back to, my Case peanut. I even found myself eying an Eisenhower.
I just don't seem to need as much knife these days. It can't for lack of need. Being a retired old fart, I have time to go fishing, shooting, canoeing, scooter riding, woods rambling, and tent camping more than ever. Karen and I love our camping trips to Assateague Island, and combine the camping with canoeing to a canoe in only camp site. Certainly I use a knife more now than ever. But 2 inches or so of blade seems to be enough for me these days.
It seems to be enough for whittling a few extra tent stakes on a windy day to hold the tent down better. It seems enough to slice up the steak, onion, and bell pepper for the kabobs to go over the coals. Certainly seems enough to gut and clean some fish. There's something so right about a yella handle peanut with a nice dark patina gutting a pan fish. Folksy, you might even say. Not to mention being retired, now I have no excuse for those home projects Karen likes to come up with. The honey-do list. Slicing open bags of mulch, trimming the rough ends of the piece of lumber I just used a saw on, cutting some jute twine for the garden lattice work out back.
I feel a little shocked that I've become the old guy with the pen knife syndrome I never understood when I was a young stud. Heck, I'm not sure I understand it now, either. But then I didn't understand whiskey when I was young either. And once upon a time, I said I'd give up motorcycling when they pounded that last nail in the lid.
So, how many of you guys have noticed a change of taste as you got older?
Carl.
Being a knife knut, I guess it was inevitable that I would buy lots of knives. I don't know if I've had as much as some here, but enough that some of my non knife knut friends and family wondered about my metal state. I've had big knives, small knives, yella handle knives, sak's, barlows, stockmen, jacks, and sodbusters. About the only knife I didn't have was the Buck 110. I admit that I'm maybe the only person on the planet that didn't have one, at one time or another. I remember seeing my first one, and wondering why somebody invented a boat anchor with a blade on it.
But most of my knives ended up going down the road. Oh, I;d keep them for a while, play with them, then they'd go to a worthy cause. Someone who didn;t have a knife, or a good one. Or given to a local kid who was in the scouts. Looking back, there was only a very few that I kept for long periods of time. And they all had one thing in common.
I don't seem to have kept any knife longer than 3 and something inches. Or without at least two blades. My two longest used knives, overlapping about 25 years, with some use still in rotation, were 3 1/2 and 3 7/8ths inches. A sak and a Stockman. But even that has changed. Over the last 20 years, I seem to have went down to just an even 3 inches or so. A Victorinox bantam, Victorinox classic, Buck cadet, and my old standby that I seem always to come back to, my Case peanut. I even found myself eying an Eisenhower.
I just don't seem to need as much knife these days. It can't for lack of need. Being a retired old fart, I have time to go fishing, shooting, canoeing, scooter riding, woods rambling, and tent camping more than ever. Karen and I love our camping trips to Assateague Island, and combine the camping with canoeing to a canoe in only camp site. Certainly I use a knife more now than ever. But 2 inches or so of blade seems to be enough for me these days.
It seems to be enough for whittling a few extra tent stakes on a windy day to hold the tent down better. It seems enough to slice up the steak, onion, and bell pepper for the kabobs to go over the coals. Certainly seems enough to gut and clean some fish. There's something so right about a yella handle peanut with a nice dark patina gutting a pan fish. Folksy, you might even say. Not to mention being retired, now I have no excuse for those home projects Karen likes to come up with. The honey-do list. Slicing open bags of mulch, trimming the rough ends of the piece of lumber I just used a saw on, cutting some jute twine for the garden lattice work out back.
I feel a little shocked that I've become the old guy with the pen knife syndrome I never understood when I was a young stud. Heck, I'm not sure I understand it now, either. But then I didn't understand whiskey when I was young either. And once upon a time, I said I'd give up motorcycling when they pounded that last nail in the lid.
So, how many of you guys have noticed a change of taste as you got older?
Carl.
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