The old man and the friction folder.

I finally found the time to read your newest, Carl. Very thought provoking. Thank you.
 
Enjoyed your story Carl. The spring on your peanut isn't that strong is it? It's sad but time does march forward. You look forward to the passage of time until your 30ish. You have often been there and done that and you move into a great period in your 40's and for most 50's. One day, something happens and and something you always did so easily and without thought all of a sudden becomes a struggle. We're all headed there. Enjoy the ride folks.
 
22-rimfire said:
Enjoyed your story Carl. The spring on your peanut isn't that strong is it? It's sad but time does march forward. You look forward to the passage of time until your 30ish. You have often been there and done that and you move into a great period in your 40's and for most 50's. One day, something happens and and something you always did so easily and without thought all of a sudden becomes a struggle. We're all headed there. Enjoy the ride folks.
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You are so very right!!

Thankfully, our attitudes sometime change with our bodies capabilities. I used to love backpacking and roughing it. In my 20's and 30's I loved getting out on the Appalachian Trail, but after the early 40's the old service injury put an end to that. Once I was lamenting that fact and Karen brought it into perspective for me. She asked me did I really want to do it again. I thought about it, and in my 50's at that point, I'd been there and done that, and I had moved on to where I realized my desire had greatly diminished, and maybe I didn't really want to lug a pack up and down mountains anymore. Instead, Karen and I took the easy way, that we now could afford, and stayed at mountain lodges, enjoyed the day hikes and car touring, and at night had a nice snug cabin with a fireplace to enjoy a bottle of wine in front of. Age brought me a new appreciation of the finer things in life that as a young couple with kids, we couldn't afford, or even wanted. And a longer list of having been there and done that, I really didn't want to anymore.

My taste in knives has went the same way. Where once upon a time I'd never go out of the house without my three blade Buck Stockman, and my woods knife was a Randall 14, now I don't mind a nice light resolza or Opinel, and if I need to cut some wood, an Opinel folding saw does well with a lot less shock to my arthritis hands. I feel no shame at all splitting wood with a light folding saw and hardly any effort, than bang away batoning the wood like some survivalist on a youtube video. I've been leaning toward friction folders for a few years now, and I think that may be the way I'm going for now on. Karen is smarter than me, and when I have the smarts to listen to her, I find the way much easier. She reminds me that we're retired old folks now, and have earned the right to take it easy. Now she's been making noise about maybe wanting a resolza, although she does love her Opinel number 8 that has the hearts all one fit that I gave her one Valentines day. There may be a Sardinian connection in the future. :eek:

We live and learn, and sometimes the learning is out of necessity brought about by aging.
 
Great story Carl and you have one wise woman;)
And hey, you could always change up your rezolsa with your #15. Mine has a rather easy pull and is not that hard to pinch open :cool:
 
spydutch said:
Great story Carl and you have one wise woman;)
And hey, you could always change up your rezolsa with your #15. Mine has a rather easy pull and is not that hard to pinch open :cool:
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The number 15 is actually easier for me to deal with on a bad day than the peanut. nd while the peanut weighs just a tad under 2 ounces on the cheap little scale I have, the number 15 is just a tiny tad over 2 ounces, and the number 8 Opinel is 2 ounces exactly. They all are a hairbreadth in weight from each other. The small resolza is only an ounce and a half. So now I'm wondering how much does a resolza the size of an Opinel number 8 weigh in at?

Interesting.
 
jackknife said:
So now I'm wondering how much does a resolza the size of an Opinel number 8 weigh in at?

Interesting.
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Hey Carl, I just weighed my Resolza, it is 5" closed, a full 3/4" longer than my Opinel no8. and the scale said 2.74oz. Not to shabby for such a knife!
 
Wow, 2.74 ounces! Not shabby at all, and with that contrasting light and dark horn it's an eye popping beauty!

Yes, I may have to go with another Sardinian connection. Thanks for the info!!!
 
Very thought provoking post jackknife. Since getting out of the Army and losing use of my left arm & hand I've had to come to terms with a lot of stuff I can no longer do. It stinks, but it is what it is. Like we use to say in the Infantry "Always forward, never back".

And by the way you are a horrible enabler, I now want a little Resolza like yours.
 
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Time marches on...relentlessly. I've had trouble with slipjoints for a few years; friction folders, fixed blades, lock backs for more traditional fare now. I hate it, but that's the way it is (to steal a famous Roger Mudd sign off).
 
Halfneck said:
Very thought provoking post jackknife. Since getting out of the Army and losing use of my left arm & hand I've had to come to terms with a lot of stuff I can no longer do. It stinks, but it is what it is. Like we use to say in the Infantry "Always forward, never back".

And by the way you are a horrible enabler, I now want a little Resolza like yours.
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Yeah, always forward, never back. Good mantra to remember. Or as Teddy Roosevelt said,"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

My friend Don came home from Vietnam with his right arm ending just above the elbow. He says the last he saw of his arm, it was laying in the edge of a rice paddy, with his I.D. bracelet his mother gave him still attached to it. But he got on in life learning to do everything with his one hand, and his left one at that. He'd been right handed.

But Don still likes to keep a sharp knife on him, but hates the modern stuff. So he has a small selection of sheath knives with 3 to 4 inch blades. Some stag handle Edgebrand from Germany, a few old stacked leather little finn's from Case, and a few curley birch handle small puuko knives that hang on the left side of his belt. Works for him.

And, you know you need a resolza! Come on, don't fight it.:D
 
Your friend Don sounds like my kind of people. I still say I'm left-handed - even though it no longer works. Who knew all those times that Nun whacked me with a ruler so I'd use my right hand it would pay off.:D

I plan on keeping my eyes open at BLADE for a resolza this year. I prefer to coon-finger things before I buy them.
 
Another great story and a great pic of some beautiful knives. When it comes to knives and women, you obviously have great taste!

Thanks!
 
Halfneck said:
I plan on keeping my eyes open at BLADE for a resolza this year.
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A couple years ago, I had a conversation with a known Sardinian knifemaker about going to Blade. He said that someone from the organization team had contacted him, but in the end he said no. Basically, he said his waiting list was already too long, and he couldn't get to Blade with a decent number of knives to sell. On one side, I understood his point...on the other side, I would have loved to take part of the show as a knifemaker :) anyway, some Italian companies will attend the show, so maybe with some luck you could get a production model.
It's quite interesting to see how perspective changes everything. Here in Sardinia, most people (just like me) would cringe at most US made slipjoints, considering them far too stiff to open, and unsafe, and would never consider friction folders as knives for people who have some sort of physical problem (arthritis and such).
It's always interesting to see how much things can change, depending on where you're standing :)
Oh, and Carl: I'm proud to have started an avalanche that lead Karen to wish for a resolza of her own :p

Fausto
:cool:
 
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