The pattern that crept up on you

T

thatotherguy

Joined
Oct 9, 2011
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What's the pattern that you never thought you would like, but ended up loving? Mine was the Peanut, I thought it was too small to be useful, and boy was I wrong! The turning point for me was reading Jackknife's excellent stories about his peanut and what it could do, and I decided to drop one in my pocket for a day to see what it could do. It hasn't left my pocket since, and that was six months ago. It's just so small, so I forget I have it until it's needed.
What's the pattern that crept up on you, and why do you love it now?
 
May sound heretical to say it here, but the stockman.

I tend to prefer smaller, thinner knives, but my participation in the June TOTM got me carrying one every day last month. I still like smaller knives, so the Craftsman small stockman (2.8125" closed), and the Case 6344 HE (3.3125" closed), were my choices. Nonetheless, I was a bit surprised to discover how much I enjoyed carrying and using those two, especially the Craftsman as it saw more pocket time and therefore more use.
 
Doug Add said:
May sound heretical to say it here, but the stockman.

I tend to prefer smaller, thinner knives, but my participation in the June TOTM got me carrying one every day last month. I still like smaller knives, so the Craftsman small stockman (2.8125" closed), and the Case 6344 HE (3.3125" closed), were my choices. Nonetheless, I was a bit surprised to discover how much I enjoyed carrying and using those two, especially the Craftsman as it saw more pocket time and therefore more use.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY!
it was too big (301) and i had no need for the 3rd blade

but i bought one for work and i have edc'd it every day for like 3 months now...
who'd have thunk it :D
 
I've been carrying larger traditionals for most of my life, though I could never get used to carrying the Buck 301/371 type knives. I do love a good trapper though, and that's what I was used to carrying. That's why the peanut was such a surprisingly perfect carry for me, and it was a huge transition from a large soddie or Trapper to a Peanut.
 
I always liked a stockman edc one for years and larger knives like the moose pattern, but as of late my peanut(7 months+) small Schrade stockman ( Doug got me hooked ), but the knife that I never liked never gave a second look at was the Barlow, I picked up one last Sunday at the flea market, a Camillus for $7 had a broken tip, I reshaped it and in the pocket it went and I'll have to say I really like it. The Barlow is small enough and big enough at the same time, it has surprised me cuz I never liked the looks of the Barlow, but it is a little workhorse. So of all the knives I would say the Barlow crept into my pocket unexpectedly?
 
for me, it's the muskrat

I carried a small case pen knife for about 7 months and really liked it, but then one day it got lost so I was looking at new pocket knives. the muskrat pattern was one that I never had any interest in, never saw any use for two clip blades. But for some reason I just fell in love with it so I bought a case mini muskrat with dark red bone scales and CV steel. I try to convince myself that the extra clip blade can be useful for me and everything... but the truth is, I just like the pattern for no paticular reason! so I've bee carrying that for the last month and do not plan on switching any time soon.
 
I have a GEC Farmer that I bought used because I got a good deal. I tend toward smaller traditionals but figured I'd give this one a try and it was a good match for my ebony 72 wharncliffe.

To my surprise I've found I carry the Farmer more often than not. It has those little touches that I can appreciate--lanyard hole for one of my stag beads, long matchstrike nick, very tightly grained ebony, and my favorite cloud shield. The fact that it's a spey blade is repellent to some knife knuts, but since most of my cutting tasks in a given day don't require any point, it works perfectly (and the point it does possess will do in a pinch.) FWIW it also appears non-threatening to most people, sort of like a pretty butter knife (the blade is also right at 3" which is the limit where I live.) In order to get it cutting the way I liked, I had to really take the bevel back with a coarse stone, but now will wipe hairs off your arm and peel an apple with ease. And I love the flush tangs on the 23 and 73 slipjoints. :D

This reduces my preferred carry knives to a Peanut, the Farmer, and a 56 dogleg Weaver Jack. Quite the menagerie.
 
thatotherguy said:
What's the pattern that you never thought you would like, but ended up loving? Mine was the Peanut, I thought it was too small to be useful, and boy was I wrong! The turning point for me was reading Jackknife's excellent stories about his peanut and what it could do ...
Click to expand...

Peanut for me too. But with a twist. Like you, jackknife's stories planted the bug in my brain ...... but the real turning point was comparing my 'nut to my 33OT Old Timer Middleman jack and realizing that its main blade and that of the peanut were basically the same size. I never thought of my 33OT as a small pocketknife, so holding them together made something click in my mind. I've been toting a peanut ever since. This one since Nov. 3, 2010.

-- Mark
 
I would say the pen knife (which I include the GEC #33 Conductor.) I wanted something slim while in dress pants at work so most of my carrying collection had been single blade knives. I found I liked having 2 blades so I started carrying 2 single blade knives (like a Half Moon Trapper/Queen #11/GEC #48 and GEC #25/Peanut). While this works, it does clutter up the pockets pretty quick. After trying a bunch of different patterns, I found pen knives like the #33 give me enough blade to handle what I was using 2 knives for about 90% of the time. I tried carrying different sized jacks but most can't match the single spring design's thinness while packing that much steel (although my Alsdorf trapper is only 1 or 2 mm thicker.) It surprises me to say this but carrying the #33 has helped me slim down the rest of my carrying collection. I still have tons of options (which I like) but find myself reaching for only a few for those times when I don't need something small like a pen knife.
 
Ive always liked larger knives, but the GEC bug bit me and I grew to love the Conductor and easy pocket Congress (2 blade patterns).
My Case black G10 peanut still doesnt get much love even though I like the looks.
 
The GEC single blade scout.
It was my first GEC, I wanted to try out a less expensive one to see what all the fuss was about, and tractor green bone seemed like a nice color. Turns out that little green scout is possibly my favorite of all my knives, considering the cool introduction to GEC (now I'm hooked), the beautiful natural patina that's evolved on the blade, and the practicality and usefulness of the knife itself.
 
None of them!!! i am forever vigilant always ready to fend off new patterns:D
in all seriousness, it'd be a toss up between My seahorse whittler and sowbelly, particularly the sowbelly, never cared for the look until i got one, fits the hand nicely like a chunky stockman
regards
gene
 
I like most of the patterns I have seen, have stayed with stockmans, one and two blade jacks, and some of the smaller trappers. However, I don't like small knives. The smaller the better is my father's opinion, he thinks my Buck 301 stockman was too big. I read all of the hype on here about the peanut, and didn't care for it too much. I saw Carl's peanut when I met him at a BBQ place last year. WTH, I'll go for it. At first, I was ready to throw it up for trade. Now, after spending two summers in a fat guy's pocket, it is definitely mine. The blades have more than a patina, they are black. I have to blow the lint out of it every once in a while. I had it touched up by Scott Gossman, and he barely touched the belt. It is a razor, and whenever I am wearing jeans or jean shorts, I strop it on the pants leg. I have really been surprised.
 
In traditional knives I used to prefer the mid-sized Stockman patterns for day to day stuff. I have always prefered a single blade in some slim pattern for dress slacks (a "gentleman's knife" as it were). I had moved a little towards the whittlers (prefering a slim Seahorse) until I got my first Swayback Jack. Recently I've found a couple Congress patterns that are 100 years old and have been taken by the size and shape.

What I find problematic is that most modern knives are much thicker than the older patterns. I have a 4 blade Congress that's thinner than most 3 blade modern knives. Older knives have taught me a couple things; first, thin blades are better; they cut and sharpen easier than thicker ones do, and second, the actual steel doesn't make that much difference; knives with steels over 100 years old still get razor sharp and cut things. Even more evident is the growing realization that every day I grow older there's less chance I'll ever actually wear out a knife.
 
For me it was the peanut.

I was not always a fan of the little thing. In fact, I used to kid dad about his folding toothpick on a regular basis, and I was a die hard fan of the three blade stockman. To me, my Buck 301 was the perfect knife. Three blades to choose from, good size for 'hard use' that in my youth I thought I'd need. I experimented with sodbusters, and SAK's, but my true loyalty was to a stockman. Then my dad passed away, and that loyalty was put to the test. I had his stuff, and for months, maybe even a year, his old peanut sat on top of my dresser. Then one day, for reasons I still can't fathom, I slipped his knife into my pocket before leaving for work. It was a seduction.

Over the next few months I found myself using the little thing more and more, then one day I found myself ordering a yellow handle CV peanut from a catalogue dealer. It came about a week later, and I got hooked. I waffled back and forth for a while, then came the day I left my regular edc home and walked out the door with a nut in my pocket. The hook had been set, and I was reeled in. I've been 'nuts ever since.

Carl.
 
Hi guys!

To me it was the 'nut, too.

I read some of Carls posts about the mighty 'nut and thought - it can´t be that bad. So I ordered one. A Case Peanut with blue bone handles. It arrived after two weeks. I opened the package and was a little ... well felt strange. That tiny thing should be a good EDC?! But I´m a tolerante person, so I carried it as a second knife. Then it went away into the drawer, for some times.

I gave it a second chance. So I carried it on and on. I remember while carrying a medium sized stockman, and opened the two clip blades for comparison, I first realized that the blades have nearly the same length, with a much shorter handle. So I carried it on and on, even outdoors.

Now it´s always a good choice when I don´t know what other knife to carry. I really like it, because of the size and the shape it has. It became a great fellow for some months already. I can´t really explain my relationship to that pattern in good words, so I try it at my own way. - It´s like an guy in his eyes when meeting that person first and thinking he´s a little strange and won´t become a good fellow or even good friend. Working together with that person to do the job. In case of emergency, that guy is there when you need him. So you see, that you change your thinking of him. While time passes by, that guy becomes a friend. You meet him for a cold beer and so on - that´s how it gets with the relationship to the Peanut.

Kind regards
Andi
 
Definitely the muskrat. I ignored it for years, but it's pure usefulness just pulled me in.
It's a very handy pattern for fishing too.
 
Opinels for me. I found them lacking asthetically and assumed they weren't too grand. Then I bought one and used and sharpened the heck out of it and greatly changed my view of the Opinel.
 
I have to say the stockman.

I hated them, mostly for their popularity. I never understood the attraction of such a "cowboy" knife.
I started working on a farm and used a Case 75 for four years, it opened my eyes to the wonder of a stockman. I enjoy having a few of them laying around and I still pocket one from time to time.
 
Whittler. I can't carve, no skill but I try...Then I found the 3 blades in a very compact serp frame amusing, easier to hold than certain Stockmen which can be a handful of blades with a high-rise Sheepfoot.

The other knife I initially disliked or rather, disdained was the Laguioile. Too thin I thought, not enough grip. Well wrong, the handles usually have thick well rounded scales that offer amazing grip. Thin scaled knives of any type don't offer you much. The blade in these knives occupies the whole handle, an important plus point, I dislike short blades in a relatively long handle. Now I carry and use a Fontenille-Pataud almost every day, beautiful knives and ergonomic.

Thanks, Will
 
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