The question of loyalty.

Be loyal... to your whimsy. That's been my knife accumulating philosophy for some time and the buzzards circling my checking account must agree; why else would they come around? ;)

Seriously, though. Give that Mini Copperhead a shot. Maybe try out a GEC Conductor on the side -we need a reasonable man to illuminate the path to pocket knife perfection :thumbup:
 
I don't stress too much about cuttlery manogmy........ I like options and varriety!

Occasionally I feel a bit guilty about neglecting a knife or two........and sometimes I carry more hardware than I will ever need (often two folders and a fixed blade) just because I can, not because I need to!
 
Jackknife,
most britches have more than one pocket , so keep your peanut close and fill the rest of your pockets with a little bit of knife cheating pleasures!
God Bless
Tracy
 
Hey Carl,

Well I go even further some time.;)
Despite giving up on my "one handed Spyderco wonders" for the most part, I sometimes swap my Chestnut Peanut for a Spyderco jigged bone Kiwi.
I got this knife as a gift from a fellow forumite :thumbup: and the knife is just perfect in fit and finish, fits my hand great and it's almost traditional( or cross over).
Not buying new knives is easy for me.
Simply no cash:grumpy:
 
For me, it all comes down to roasted chicken.


When it comes to equipment and tools, loyalty isn't a word I tend to use. I'm loyal to my wife, my friends and such. But tools like knives, skis and bikes need to earn their keep.

I'm not a full blown collector but I do have more knives than I need. I'm at peace with it to an extent. I recall reading an essay in a magazine once that talked about the virtue of a man having a drink that he considers his drink [1]. The author advised working your way through the bar (slowly), trying things you might not otherwise think of trying and paying attention to what you actually like or don't like. After that you can settle in and learn the ins and outs of the drink that emerges as the favorite.

Several years ago I picked up a used Opinel #8 on a whim off of a cycling mailing list from a guy I was buying some bike parts from. I had several slip joints and multi-tools and a big Buck 110, but I had fallen out of the habit of everyday carry. Somehow or another, that Opinel stayed in my pocket. Since then, I've slowly added a few knives to the collection and have pretty deliberately been working my way "through the bar" of knives on the top of my dresser. I don't think it disloyal at all. It's a chance for a knife to earn it's keep. There are some knives that I "love" for emotional reasons but realistically never get carried. Others get carried more than others, but in the end, I've pretty much become a one knife person.

An example... Today I pocketed my Schrade Old Timer 5OT. It's Sunday and the thin profile pockets nicely for church. It's among my favorite knives. But when I got home I had kitchen duty and needed to carve up a left over roasted chicken from our dinner last night. I reached in my pocket, opened the 5OT and looked at its comparatively short blade and went and got my Opinel #8. The Opinel handled that with ease and is back in my pocket.

I should note that I'm not suggesting the Opinel #8 for everybody. Everybody has a different sweet spot. But I am what might be considered a loyal Opinel user. It's not really loyalty, per se. It's different. It's more the conviction of having tried a bunch of other knives and continuing to do that from time to time and finding that, for me, the Opinel is my knife.

[1] - I'm mortally embarrassed to admit this but the magazine was GQ and the only thing I can say in my defense is that I was in college and very stupid.
 
Pinnah, it seems like yours is not really a question of loyalty. You seem to consider it for what it is: a choice.
And it's natural that, since you've tried many knives, and gone a long way, the reasons that keep you choosing your Opinel (for your beloved roasted chicken :D ) have become pretty strong ones. Sometimes these tings just happen to you, come unseen, and the one day you wake up and find out that it's been months since the last time you carried anything else.
That's why we're all curious to know if Carl will try something new (I'm pretty sure he will, eventually), and whether he will come back to the peanut, or discover that some other knife works better for him.

Fausto
:cool:
 
Since going back to slipjoints almost exclusively I have gravitated in the direction of smaller works just fine most of the time. I recently purchased a small copperhead that the clip blade locks and unlocks by depressing the wharnecliff secondary blade. I must say I have truly enjoyed that little knife. I constantly change up and I am a newby....so surely a leader such as yourself may set any example he pleases and we shall follow and listen. Nice post Carl....Herb
 
Carl, tongue and cheek or not, you've asked a great question. One that has been rattling around my addled mind for several days now. And on further reflection, I'm going to have to take back what I said. Loyalty of a sort is important to me.

Fausto, I hope that I've not implied that there is any one knife for everybody, or even that there is one best way to go about choosing! Lot's of ways to come at this.

I have to admit that fashion (or pure aesthetics) are as important to me as function is, or that the very least, both are working in my mind at the same time. More to the point, I am loyal to some of my aesthetic choices. I collect older bicycles as well as knives and there are strong parallels in my aesthetic (or fashion) choices. I really like mass produced knives that were meant to be affordable yet decent in quality. There's a reason why the brands I own include Camillus, Ulster, Schrade and Buck (as well as Opinel) and not GEC. My tastes in bikes (old production Trek, Raleigh, Fuji) and bourbons (Wild Turkey) are similar. Good quality mass produced stuff fascinates me.

I really like some regionally produced things over others. There is something about learning of the history of the New York state and Providence RI area knife makers that I find really, really compelling. I like my Ulster Camper because it is an Ulster. Noticing a parallel with my bike collecting, I like British and US made bikes and prefer US made knives, at least in terms of aesthetics. I know others who are equally enamored with older Italian racing bikes. I should mention here (and this bears directly on my surprising love of my Opinel) that I really dislike older French bikes. Nothing on them is compatible with anything else in the world and there is something about French cyclo-culture that rubs me wrong. Not a judgement, just noting that I definitely have collecting loyalties and anti-loyalties. I'm pretty biased against European knives as the cultural song that they sing sounds unfamiliar to my ears. I'm not Spanish so Spanish knives don't move me in the same way that a Buck 110 does. In terms of my Opinel, not only is the cultural significance of the Opinel lost on me, I have to admit that my bike collecting has actually biased me against French stuff like the Opinel.

Another aesthetic bias I have (and this is moving closer to function) is that I prefer "jack of all trades" designs that are decent at a lot of things but perfect for very few. The style of bike I prefer was once upon a time called a sport tourer. Not a specialized race bike. Not a fully loaded touring bike. Something in the middle. The style of cross country skis I prefer are similarly jack of all trades. Not race ski. Not downhill skis. Somewhere in between. And this brings me to my surprising Opinel #8.

The Opinel is traditional. Check.
The Opinel is mass produced. Check.
The Opinel is French. No check.
The Opinel is a jack of all trades. Check, check, check mate.

So, I guess for me, loyalty to several things is important to me, but the Opinel proves that (for me) function can trump my aesthetic loyalties.

Man, I hope some of this makes some sense....
 
pinnah said:
Carl, tongue and cheek or not, you've asked a great question. One that has been rattling around my addled mind for several days now. And on further reflection, I'm going to have to take back what I said. Loyalty of a sort is important to me.
Fausto, I hope that I've not implied that there is any one knife for everybody, or even that there is one best way to go about choosing! Lot's of ways to come at this.
The Opinel is traditional. Check.
The Opinel is mass produced. Check.
The Opinel is French. No check.
The Opinel is a jack of all trades. Check, check, check mate.

So, I guess for me, loyalty to several things is important to me, but the Opinel proves that (for me) function can trump my aesthetic loyalties.

Man, I hope some of this makes some sense....
Click to expand...

It does make sense, and I think I understood what you were saying; actually, I find your point of view somehow close to mine (maybe my previous post wasn't clear enough about this).
You know, thinking about this (Carl's posts always make us think a bit more, don't they?), I guess that the line between choice and loyatly is very very thin, if there is any. No matter if the choice is based on looks, functionality, emotional reasons, or any mix of the above.
My guess is that there might be a "perfect knife" to be loyal to...but not everyone finds it, or has it produced, and most of all, that "perfection" that brings to absolute loyalty is something temporary. Might last for years and years (like for Carl's dad, or 1scooter), or just for a few months or weeks.
I know people who are loyal to their knives...a different one every day
And if there is such knife, at least for the very moment, you will eventually get back to it, no matter how much you look around and try other things (maybe something like that happens to you and your Opinel). But, at the same time, if something doesn't really get to the 100% satisfaction, sooner or later we'll end up looking around, and if we're lucky enough, we can find something better...till the next station.

Fausto
:cool:
 
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