The "Little" Pocketknives in My Life

20 years ago, I carried a large Vic Swiss Army in a sheath. Now I just need something small and sharp for easy pocket carry. I have a Case yellow handled pen and an amber bone peanut, but I tend to reach for my Vic Cadet II every morning. It's just about perfect for my needs on the job. As a computer technician, I've used the Vic cybertool 41 and the 29. Both have handy tools, especially the driver and bits, but they are too large for the pocket and my days for carrying in a sheath are over.

I have a couple large stockman and some modern, one handed, locking knives too, but they feel too big for most jobs and to use in an office environment.
 
ElCuchillo said:
My Peanut handled cutting chores at work WAY better then my co-workers' bigger, badder blades, and with a FRACTION of the effort. I've cut rope, netting, cardboard, denim, fruits and vegetables, all kinds of things, and I got through everything faster and better. As a matter of fact, as the ULTIMATE test for the cutting ability of a knife, my knife out cut anything but a utility razor when we had to skin a big, 10 foot alligator. Yes, my PEANUT skinned an alligator better then much bigger trappers, tacticools, and fixed blades. While they were pushing and pulling on their knives to penetrate and cut, my knife devoured the tough, leathery skin and all I had to do was strop it a few times and the razor-sharp shaving edge was back. Remember, a knife doesn't have to be BIG to work well. It needs to be thin and sharp, and most smaller knives can get like that WAY better then the bigger blades. Not that big knives don't have their place, but when push comes to shove, in a straight up cutting competition? I'd have to give it to the little guys.
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If there is anyone qualified to be the official Bladeforums ambassador for the little guys, it's ElCuchillo. Anyone who skins a gator with a peanut has my total admiration. I salute you sir! And in doing so you got back to our ancestors most ancient cutting tool again-the single stone flake. Any study of anthropology tells you how much skinning, scraping, and whitling can be done with a sharp flint or opsidian flake. Over the last year a friend of mine has been getting into knapping. It's facinating to me on a couple different levels, and I want to learn. After seeing how well a small knapped piece of obsidian sliced through a large fish, a flank steak, and different kinds of cordage, I was impressed. Chester made a nice little obsidian knife he carries with him, and the blade is only about 2 inches if that. It was that little knife he sliced up a flank steak at a backyard bbq. From what I've seen in museums like the Smithsonian here in Washington D.C., and at Mesa Verde in Colorado, most of the stone knives our ancient ancestors used were only about 2 inches in length not counting the wood handle lashed on with rawhide bindings.

The park ranger at Mesa Verde who was giving the demo on the life styles of the cliff dwellers was using a small flint knife to cut a deer hide. When I got to examine it, I was surprised at how small it was. I opened my small 84mm sak tinker (not the 91mm tinker) and the tinker was a bit bigger.

It seems as though anciet man was getting by skinning game, making yukka sandals, deerskin clothing, with a blade not much bigger than a peanut. Food for thought here.
 
jackknife said:
Any study of anthropology tells you how much skinning, scraping, and whitling can be done with a sharp flint or opsidian flake.
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It sounds like we have the makings of a new sub-forum--the "Really Old-School Traditional Knives". :D Makes this forum seem downright contemporary.
 
RobbW said:
It sounds like we have the makings of a new sub-forum--the "Really Old-School Traditional Knives". :D Makes this forum seem downright contemporary.
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:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I love it, do ya think the big Kahuna would go for it?

On the semi-serious side, I guess I was using the analogy to show how spoiled we have gotten. Now the modern young knife knut thinks he has to have 5 inches of tanto tipped axis lock tackikool knife to cut something, when we have gotten by with a lot less under much more primitive conditions. Theres no separation of want vs need anymore. Kind of like a 5'2" woman driving around in a 4000 pound SUV to go down to the store.

Really Old-school traditional knives, I love it!
 
Hey, jackknife, I "resemble" that remark! My 5'2" lovely wife drives a 4,000 pound Ford F-350 to go to the store :eek:...but then again, we do live in Texas! :D

Ron
 
While I rotate a Strider SNG or SMF or large Sebenza in my EDC, I always have my Camillus demo folder on me. I find myself using my electrician Craftsman knockoff at home more and more. I also have taken to carrying my Camillus stockman or Queen trapper with me when I go on a walk near home. I love my Striders, my Sebenza, and God help me, I foresee a large wood inlay Sebenza in my near future. But those old timey folksy ;) knives serve just as well.

In some areas even better! An old stockman style advertising knife got my grandfather along his entire life (my little brother has it now).
 
I just found a Pocketworn Case Small Redbone Stockman listed at Shepherd Hills Cutlery. I just might have to order one of those and try it out in my pocket.

Ron
 
jackknife said:
It took me most of a lifetime to come to the realization of one very important fact. That is, that our fathers and grandfather knew what they were doing. Period.

They had to deal with everyday life, 10 years of the great depression, they had no money left over for collection stuff, let alone knives. To them a pocket knife was a everyday tool. They were not knife knuts like us, who just loved knives so much we had huge collections. For some of our familys it was enough of a chore to put a loaf of bread and something to go with it on the dinner table.

As a result, you had a whole gneration of men from 1900 to WW2 who learned to carry just what was really essential to every day life. If they picked a tool, it had to get the job done. And these men learned how to get the job done with vey little. I think thier minimalist use of small pocket knives had a lot to do with the fact that pre-WW2 life in general was minimalist. One bought just what was needed. A very stark contrast of life today in America. By our fathers and grandfathers standards we're pretty spoiled. Now the kids all have their own TV's and sterios and computers in their rooms, they get a new car when they get to high school, and they demand the lastest and greatest new techno-toy that comes down the road.

We can learn a very important lesson from the old ones who had one gun, one knife, and got by very nicely.
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Very well said. It is amazing how our society has changed.
 
ELC,
The knives you went up against"had"to be dull....or you have string confused with rope!!:DTell you what....go ask a working cowboy,if he will trade his stockman for your RUNT!!Try it when they are nicking cattle! THE DEFENCE RESTS!!(LORDY... NOW THE "over the hill gang"Ron,ELC,& Jack are gonna be upset)!!
Jim
 
Well the best part about America is that for the most part we can carry and use the pocket knives we see fit, and the styles are endless. I carry both medium/ large knives, and also small ones. A lot of the time I use my peanut or small stockman for daily utility work. Just in the past few days I skinned and cut up 3 large Grey squirrels, a few pieces of fruit, cut 3/4" hemp rope with it, and finished the work on a walking stick. It will never replace my folding hunters, or other large knives, but it is one heck of a good edc for small to medium sized chores. I am a blue collar guy and am working with my hands and tools 7 days a week, and the peanut is there with me for all of it. Joe
 
Ron53 said:
Hey, jackknife, I "resemble" that remark! My 5'2" lovely wife drives a 4,000 pound Ford F-350 to go to the store :eek:...but then again, we do live in Texas! :D

Ron
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Thats okay Ron, Karen is a Texas girl and I'm familiar enough with Texas from my Ft. Sam days to know that Texas is a reality unto itself!:D
 
jackknife said:
:D:D:D:

I love it, do ya think the big Kahuna would go for it?

On the semi-serious side, I guess I was using the analogy to show how spoiled we have gotten. Now the modern young knife knut thinks he has to have 5 inches of tanto tipped axis lock tackikool knife to cut something, when we have gotten by with a lot less under much more primitive conditions. Theres no separation of want vs need anymore. Kind of like a 5'2" woman driving around in a 4000 pound SUV to go down to the store.

Really Old-school traditional knives, I love it!
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And over here (Old World) I always was told that Americans always went for more and bigger :eek::eek::eek:. Another certain value down the drain :rolleyes:
 
Kukri,

This "over the hill" guy is now, and has been working for 3 years in Iraq...in a combat role...at age 54. I spent 21 1/2 years in the military, a good portion of that (the latter half) in Special Operaitons, carrying knives both big and small, in more places than I can name, or you could find on a map. Since retiring from the military almost 15 years ago, I have lived, fought and worked in countries from South America to the African Continent, to the Middle East. I own, and use, many knives, most of them larger than the small pocketknives I speak about here. Additionally, I own a small ranch in Texas, complete with horses, cattle and quite a bit of fence and some outbuildings. If you have read any other of my posts, you will know I like larger knives as well, and carry and use them.

I believe you will find I do know a few things about knives, their uses and how well they work in a given situation.

Ron
 
Personaly, I prefer medium sized knives. Something in the 3 3/8 to 3 7/8 range. Its not that I think small blades aren't capable, its that, for me, small handles aren't. With peanuts, for instance, there just isn't enough to hold onto. Using them for anything more than a minute or so is just too uncomfortable.
Now don't get me wrong, I like small knives. A well made small knife is a beautifle thing. I just don't like to use them.

Leo
 
paragraaf said:
And over here (Old World) I always was told that Americans always went for more and bigger :eek::eek::eek:. Another certain value down the drain :rolleyes:
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No, not all of us. There are some here that are concerned about the unchecked use of non-renewable fosil fuels, and we try to leave a little less of a carbon footprint on the earth. And amazingly enough, some of us drive four banger Honda's and Toyota's. :D
 
The big reason we have that Ford F-350 is to haul things fror the ranch and livestock. We also have something a little more "environmentally friendly" to drive as well.

Ron
 
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