AC and the rest of you, you sure took me back and got me to thinking. My grandfather was also the one who influenced me in many ways over the years. My first knife was a three blade 4 inch stockman, some kind of carbon steel blades, markings say Sabre and Japan on it, jigged bone or some other mystery material. Talked my father into getting it for me when I was about 7 or 8 (I'm 45 now). It was on sale for $1.99 and I was allowed to carry it when we went camping and to my grandparents house.
My grandfather (mothers side, deceased over 20 years now) was a mans-man, scrappy short guy from Kansas, a true sportsman, fishing, pheasant, deer, raised his own vegetables, pigs and chickens. I remember his knives were always very, very sharp. I can still see him with this big oil stone and him sharpening his knives by hand. Never took him more than a couple of minutes. My dad would instruct him to not make mine so sharp and he would ignore that and tell my dad that a dull knife was useless as stick. He'd go on to tell my dad that a sharp knife was safer and asked how was I to learn anything with a dull knife? My dad never argued with my grandfather. My grandfather showed me with my knife how to clean fish, properly cut all manner of things and most importantly how to use it safely.
I still have that knife and it's exactly like the knives AC told us about, stained blades and all the characteristics of having been well used. I carried that knife until 1982 when I replaced it in my pocket with a Cratfsman 4 inch stockman because I didn't want to risk losing it. I still have that one too. In fact I'm looking at both of these knives right now. I'm thinking, why did I ever bother to get anything else? They did everything for me that I needed doing for what seems like forever.
I think my grandfather looked at knives as true tools. You used them, sharpened them when they became dull and kept sharpening them as long as there was enough steel to put an edge on. He never worried about the appearance, it was a cutting tool after all. Why have it in your pocket if you weren't going to use it? Somewhere along the line we (maybe just me) made it all complicated with words like "tactical", additions of thumbstuds, different locking mechanisms, improved steels (which is good) and came to the point of being reluctant to use these "newer" and "better" knives for their intended purpose. Always that hesitation where before with my stockmans I never hesitated and I can guarantee you my grandfather never did either. Use it, sharpen it, seems like pretty basic stuff.
I've been getting back to basics with many things in my life and what I carry in the way of a pocket knife is one of them. Sorry for being so wordy, this is a great thread, thanks AC for starting it and the rest of you guys for adding to it.
Mike
