The Traditional Knife of 2016

[redsparrow]

SSS, you are very fortunate to have those to chose from for this year's nomination. Great knives from a talented builder! Is the fixed blade pic from before or after your modification? Either way I like it!!

 

[swaybacksteve]

Redsparrow..just took the pictures today, the clip was way shorter before.

 

[redsparrow]

Thanks, nice job Sir.

 

[AShearer]

I'm new to this forum, but not new to Knife Collecting. As I posted in another thread, I used to be an avid collector in years past. I had some other priorities come along and had to sell much of my collection. I still owned a fair number of workers and EDC's, but was not "collecting". This year something in me snappedI felt it was important that my son start carrying a small pocketknife and as a result, bought a couple Case knives, one for him and one for me (of course). I should say, my son is 30. This is not the first time I have mentored on this topic of always having a knife in your pocket. But, this time it stuck. Anyway; I got my little Bose inspired teardrop and that prompted me to look at another one, and then I found this pretty good deal on a Case/Bose Cattleman's Stockman. This was before Thanksgiving. This knife inspired me to get back into collecting traditional knives. So now, literally a few weeks later, I have 4 GEC's on hand. It's clearly a recognizable "condition".

And here is the one that inspired me this year.

And: Thank you Jack for starting this interesting thread.

Alan

 

[MT Damascus]

I acquired a few nice knives this year, but my drop point hunter made by Bob Loveless was a pinnacle for me. I thought a lot of Bob, and now have a piece of him to carry with me. If I would have been asked a few years ago if I thought I would own a Loveless, I would have thought no way. This knife came from the Al Williams collection and was hand made by Bob in the late 1970's. Steel is 154cm and has beautiful Lignum Vitae handles, with maroon liners. This knife will serve my daughter well, when her time comes to own it.

 

[knarfeng]

I'm too fickle to pick out a "best".
The knife in my pocket is always my best knife. That day, anyway.

 

[joeradza]

Chin, my 15 tortoise shell and I will be reunited tomorrow. I had mailed it to myself in Florida and its round trip is almost complete. I'm pretty close to figuring out my 2016 knife. I've bought many more this year than I would have imagined, some extremely special. However, it looks like it's down to two. After all, those that are really special are the ones that are with you and work with you. As some on the forum have put it, they become worry stones. It can be comforting just knowing they are there.

As to my flint knapping, not well done. It was part of my graduate education in archaeology. I was able to form cores, flakes, and quite usable bifaces. I was never quite proficient enough to make fine projectile points. My knapping is similar to my knife sharpening usable but not top notch.

 

[TLARbb]

This is my traditional knife of 2016. I don't remember if I got it in 2016, but I think I got it in 2015. Anyway, it is a knife that has a history here; I am its fifth BF owner if I am remembering it correctly. The fourth if I'm not. In any case, this knife means a lot to me and unless I'm going to be doing really stupid stuff to do with a knife, it has a good chance of being the one chosen. Not quite kicking my mini copperhead out, but a real favorite of mine this year. Anyway, you folks have seen it here before, several times, posted by myself and its previous owners - GEC 66 Jack in Rotten Banana bone. Just a wonderful knife.

Ed J

 

[Cambertree]

Chin, my 15 tortoise shell and I will be reunited tomorrow. I had mailed it to myself in Florida and its round trip is almost complete. I'm pretty close to figuring out my 2016 knife. I've bought many more this year than I would have imagined, some extremely special. However, it looks like it's down to two. After all, those that are really special are the ones that are with you and work with you. As some on the forum have put it, they become worry stones. It can be comforting just knowing they are there.

As to my flint knapping, not well done. It was part of my graduate education in archaeology. I was able to form cores, flakes, and quite usable bifaces. I was never quite proficient enough to make fine projectile points. My knapping is similar to my knife sharpening usable but not top notch.

Ok, I'll look forward to seeing your choice for the year.

Thanks for the info about your flint knapping too. It's something I've resolved to learn more about in the coming year.

 

[Jack Black]

Have you got it figured yet Alan?! :thumbup:

 

[Emspop]

2016 was a complicated year for myself and knives.
The year started out like the 18 or so years before it, with a Benchmade/Emerson cqc7 clipped to my right front pocket and a Buck 303 in my left with my keys. That cqc7 gave up the ghost in the second week of January when I finally figured out a way to break it ( a different and long shameful story) so I naturally bought a new production CQC7 from Emerson and what a piece of crap it was! So the journey started and over the next 11 months my right front pocket saw 2 more emersons, several benchmades, crkt, ZT and a large and small sebenza....and riding shotgun was always my Buck 303.
I started thinking about a more traditional pocket knife. I then saw the CRK Mnandi and fell in love. It was the perfect combination of modern and tradition and I was sure it would scratch the itch I was feeling for the old days...400 dollars and two weeks later showed me the error in my thinking! Beautiful knife but not the slippie I was yearning for so the search continued and I found the porch. The next month was a wirl wind of Case, GEC, cat, cami...and the simple 303 kept being there when I needed a knife. Then I realized that I didn't need or really even want fancy I only needed the humble Buck 303 that had never once not been up to whatever I needed it for and at last I was at peace! At least until I started collecting 303's but that's a different story.
This is about my 2016 knife of the year. The knife that made the most impact on me so of course I choose...

This 1965-1969 Stag Case 53087 that my daughter gave me for Christmas. She picked it out herself and bought it with money she earned the hardway( cleaning up dog poop from the neighborhood)
It is the one knife that I know I will never sell/trade/give away. It's the knife I will have in my pocket when I walk her down the aisle. It will be in my pocket as I look thru the window at my first grandchild. This treasure will share the remaining special occasions I have left before God calls me home and then it will go back to my beloved Daughter, a reminder and a memory that she can hold in her hand, perhaps she will pass down the old mans knife or perhaps she will carry it a while first but either way she will know what it and she meant to me.

Thanks for listening.


Clay

 

[5K Qs]

Great post, Clay! That Case is a fabulous knife on its own merits, but the sentimental attachments make it irreplaceable! :thumbup:

Thanks for starting this thread, Jack; I think it's a wonderful end of year tradition! I thoroughly enjoy everyone's posts here presenting their personal Knife of the Year. :thumbup:

I thought I'd be following a fairly common format in my 2016 KotY post, where I introduce a slate of candidates and list their pros (mostly) and cons, before revealing my final decision. And I've most certainly acquired lots of wonderful knives this year! But when I started giving the question serious thought, I discovered that my KotY choice this year was a "no-brainer".

This humble little Rough Rider stockman has been in my pocket every day since it arrived (and I can't imagine that I'll ever not carry it if it's legal to do so). No other knife's arrival made me so giddy; I don't think I've shown off any knife to more people who really don't care about knives than I have shown off this one; it still gives me a silly grin almost every time I take it out of my pocket! :thumbup:

What makes this knife so special to me? Well,
- it's a surprise gift from r8shell, and I like gifts as much as anyone, but this year has brought me several wonderful gift knives from several fantastic people.

- Probably one feature that makes this particular gift stand out is that the scrimshaw on its covers was done by r8shell; she put some of her special talents into the knife that she gave me. Of course, others have done something similar, either just in thinking up a knife I'd really like, or doing some kind of physical modification (new covers or EO notch or modified blade etc.).

- Another part of this knife's appeal to me is its uniqueness. As one of my students remarked when I showed the knife to a class soon after I received it, "I'll bet there's not another knife like that in the entire world - well, the whole universe!" So true, although I suppose it's not that difficult to make a knife totally unique (like EARL, for example).

- What really pushes this knife into the KotY stratosphere is how the knife brings together 1) my 45 year professional career/vocation that I've loved with all my being, and 2) my relatively-new but incredibly absorbing pocketknife hobby/avocation. I've never been particularly good at compartmentalizing my life, and my family, my away-from-work interests, my religious faith, and my professional life all seem to intermingle and mix together and influence each other to various degrees. This knife is a perfect symbol of that.

I hope that makes some sense.

- GT

 

[BigBiscuit]

Makes perfect sense to me Gary. And a very nice pick for KotY.
Happy New Year buddy.

 

[Dschal]

Very tough question! I'm running out of time, so I'll say the 2016 forum knife. I've greatly enjoyed collecting traditionals this year, and have many contenders, but this is the winner by a whisker. Maybe my favorite book of 2016 too.
Happy New Year to everyone on the porch!
Dave

 

[Railsplitter]

Clay, that was a great post. Thank you so much for sharing that. Mighty fine lookin' knife too!

 

[Trout Hound]

My knife of the year has been the Case 6318 CV in Amber Bone. I bought it just after Christmas last year, and it quickly became my EDC. It comes pretty close to being the ideal knife for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Emspop]

Gary you are too kind my friend.
I think your reasoning behind your choice is flawless ! Great post


Clay

 

[Half/Stop]

My knife of the year for 2016 actually came to me way back in February of 2015. At that time I was reading the Traditional forum one evening when I noticed a GAW that was started by my friend Bob, aka BigBiscuit. This GAW was to raise awareness and raise funds for Jimmys Fund. Another friend Brett, aka KBA, had donated a knife to the GAW to help raise donations for St Jude's. Since I live in Tennessee I was very familiar with St Jude's and the wonderful work they do. Pam and I actually donate to St Jude's every year. I was more than glad to make a donation and enter the GAW. I was totally blown away when my name was picked as the winner of KBA's donated knife. Who wouldn't have been excited because the prize was a beautiful TC Barlow. A single blade spear with Ebony covers, just a classy Barlow by anyone's standards. I started out throughout 2015 carrying my TC on a regular basis, but always in a pocket slip. I never cut anything much with it except paper and opening mail and the occasional package. Early in 2016 I was looking at my EDC knives doing some sharpening and oiling the joints and such. I was looking at this beautiful Barlow and thinking about the fact that I have a mint example NIT in my safe when I decided that I would start enjoying my prize, just as it should be. At that time I left the slip off the TC and started cutting apples and anything else that would be needed on a daily basis. I have carried this knife more than any other in 2016 and enjoyed it very much. I do usually carry two knives so I rotate my other choices between different patterns and makers. So a special thank you to my friends Bob and Brett. Here is one of my latest photos of my TC.

 

[leghog]

SWIZA D04, though it couldn't break through as an EDC which has remained unchanged for months now.

 

[leghog]

This one of my knives of 2016. It is WH Morley, that belonged to my father-in-law. He passed away earlier this year. He wasn't much of a knife guy, but I did find a few that he had, and this one I liked the best. Gonna be a tough Christmas this year...

Great heirloom knife!