The Yeager effect.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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Theres many things that have an influence on our lives. As young people theres family, friends, books about heroes. I now I had lots of influence from my dad, Uncles, Mr. Van our mud Marine scout master. As a kid, I learned like a pup watching the old dogs, and then there was the book reading. As a kid, I was intrigued by airplanes. I was intrigued by Charles Lindberg among others, and read everything I could about him. He was a definite practitioner of maximum minimalism as I knew it, and he was in influence for me to take lessons and learn to fly on a Cessna 150 while I was in the army.

Then there was Chuck Yeager. I read both his books and was impressed at the down to earth common sense approach to things he had. Good old boy from West Virginia, and a lifelong outdoorsmen. His book "Press On" was both hilarious, insightful, and thought provoking.

Today the executive was my only knife of any kind as Karen and I did a 5 mile hike in the wooded Williamson County countryside. As I was going out the door this morning, I purposefully left my other knives home and with a few items in the fanny pack, we had a nice time off in the cedar filled hill country of Central Texas. I figured if Yeager can survive the mighty Sierra Nevada mountains for two weeks at a time, an afternoon in Texas woods can't be that bad.

We survived with no major problems. The executive delt with a nice Havarti and olives for a light trailside snack stuffed into some pita bread, and cut a brownie in half for us to share.

The CYS knife is a great pocket companion. If I were camping, I'd be tempted to take along my Wenger SI for a just in case item for my own needy psyche.
 
jackknife said:
Theres many things that have an influence on our lives. As young people theres family, friends, books about heroes. I now I had lots of influence from my dad, Uncles, Mr. Van our mud Marine scout master. As a kid, I learned like a pup watching the old dogs, and then there was the book reading. As a kid, I was intrigued by airplanes. I was intrigued by Charles Lindberg among others, and read everything I could about him. He was a definite practitioner of maximum minimalism as I knew it, and he was in influence for me to take lessons and learn to fly on a Cessna 150 while I was in the army.

Then there was Chuck Yeager. I read both his books and was impressed at the down to earth common sense approach to things he had. Good old boy from West Virginia, and a lifelong outdoorsmen. His book "Press On" was both hilarious, insightful, and thought provoking.

Today the executive was my only knife of any kind as Karen and I did a 5 mile hike in the wooded Williamson County countryside. As I was going out the door this morning, I purposefully left my other knives home and with a few items in the fanny pack, we had a nice time off in the cedar filled hill country of Central Texas. I figured if Yeager can survive the mighty Sierra Nevada mountains for two weeks at a time, an afternoon in Texas woods can't be that bad.

We survived with no major problems. The executive delt with a nice Havarti and olives for a light trailside snack stuffed into some pita bread, and cut a brownie in half for us to share.

The CYS knife is a great pocket companion. If I were camping, I'd be tempted to take along my Wenger SI for a just in case item for my own needy psyche.
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My CYS is in the left hand pocket covered by a bandana as I type this message. I ordered “Press On” a week ago. Was supposed to arrive yesterday but “There’s been a delay” according to Amazon. I can wait. Still finishing Man’s Search For Meaning written by a psychiatrist who labored in four different concentrations camps. I can’t wait to read Yeager’s book. Yeager, Buzz, Armstrong...talk about some guys with grit!

My 4 year old hates clothing tags. One of the reasons my knife has to have scissors. I cut off several today. Used the blade to open some painting supplies for him and to trim up a click and ship label for a package I was mailing. The package contained a knife I sold. I then sharpened the blade. Just a few swipes. I used to worry way to much about getting my blades razor sharp. I have too many sharpeners. I then realized I don't shave with my knives. If they catch on my thumbnail, that’s good enough.

Glad you made it out for a hike.
 
shopdoc said:
My CYS is in the left hand pocket covered by a bandana as I type this message. I ordered “Press On” a week ago. Was supposed to arrive yesterday but “There’s been a delay” according to Amazon. I can wait. Still finishing Man’s Search For Meaning written by a psychiatrist who labored in four different concentrations camps. I can’t wait to read Yeager’s book. Yeager, Buzz, Armstrong...talk about some guys with grit!

My 4 year old hates clothing tags. One of the reasons my knife has to have scissors. I cut off several today. Used the blade to open some painting supplies for him and to trim up a click and ship label for a package I was mailing. The package contained a knife I sold. I then sharpened the blade. Just a few swipes. I used to worry way to much about getting my blades razor sharp. I have too many sharpeners. I then realized I don't shave with my knives. If they catch on my thumbnail, that’s good enough.

Glad you made it out for a hike.
Click to expand...

I can identify with your 4 year old. I don't know why, but there are some brands of clothing that is okay, but others use what feels like a patch of sandpaper for labels. Last summer, Karen and I, and our friends Felix and his wife Shirly took a three day trip down to San Antonio. Stayed at the old Hotel Havana, a great classy old hotel that has been there literally like a hundred years. It's like going back in time. We did the river walk, ate our and had a ball. Karen bought me a new shirt that was similar to Tommy Behama shirt and was nice, but the label....ahhhh!

After a while I slipped into a mens room and took the shirt off and broke out the exective scissors. In a few short moments I had the sandpaper label off and shirt back on and out and about in comfort. I've got to have scissors on my SAK. I don't need a saw, awl, hacksaw, metal file, chisel, sonic disruptor, or a tool to hold half a dozen different size torx heads. I'm not Macgyver or the Caped Crusader, just an old guy going about life in retirement. But aside from a nice sharp little blade I need scissors. Too handy too many times a week if not a day. I even saved the life of a Texas spiny lizard with my CYS knife.

Thats my story and I'm stickin to it!
 
Gurdygurds said:
Carl I am THIS CLOSE to pulling the trigger on a used Executive. I've never had a 74mm in hand and I'm not sure I go throughout life knowing I never gave one a go.
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Gurdyguards, as much as I loved the little classic, I often had to have a second knife on hand with a longer blade if I had to deal with food/snacks out someplace. With the executive, I can drop it in my pocket like the classic and forget about it, and have a choice of two blades, a little bigger scissors, and the little Phillips screw capability.

As much as I love the classic, I find the executive has just that little skoash more capability that makes it a much better sole EDC carry.

If it seems a little too much, theres always the ambassador that has almost the same set up as the classic, just a bit bigger blade that actually cuts a dinner roll or slices a baguette. Its a tough choice, and even though its been a year and a half, I still have an always will have a very soft space in my heart for the classic. In fact, even after I got the executive, when we flew to Key West for a family vacation, it was a classic I sent to myself to where we were staying and got gifted off to the shuttle van driver when we left to go home.

I still have wavering tendencies to the classic, and always will have one on hand. The small blade of the executive does like 98% of my package and mail, opening, string cutting. Large blade is snack use mostly. Just cut a slice of Swiss cheese this morning. Would have been harder with a classic. Go and give it a go. At least you'll know. ;):thumbsup:
 
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Before I got my Executive back in 1999, I carried a Classic for a while with my older Spartan, and it proved to be a fine knife. But once I discovered the Executive, I never looked back. For me, even the Executive’s small pen blade feels better/a bit more stable in use than the Classic’s blade, even though it’s shorter than the Classic’s. The Exec’s larger scissors serve me better than the Classic’s. And finally, the Executive feels better to work with in my hand than the Classic, due to its size.

Jim
 
I know full well that I can get by without a number of things I carry, but I'm still at the stage where I wanna be prepared for things.

My grandfather carried just a Vic classic, rayovac pen light, handkerchief, and carpenter's pencil.
That's not quite enough for me, but this could get me through just fine when I eventually start downsizing in 30 years or so.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I know full well that I can get by without a number of things I carry, but I'm still at the stage where I wanna be prepared for things.

My grandfather carried just a Vic classic, rayovac pen light, handkerchief, and carpenter's pencil.
That's not quite enough for me, but this could get me through just fine when I eventually start downsizing in 30 years or so.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your grandfather and my dad may have known each other!:D
 
A SAK Classic would have been useless to my late dad (who, if he were still alive, would have been 98 years old now). He grew up the youngest of 8 children on a farm, then worked for many years on a professional tuna fishing boat, and finally as a gardener. His fingers were super thick from a lifetime of work. I remember in my late teens putting my hand next to his, and his little finger was as thick as my middle finger was, and I was bigger and taller than he was. He lacked fine dexterity because of it. He would not have been able to even open a Classic, much less something like a Peanut.

His toolbox had the remains of old pocketknives he’d used until they were unusable anymore...blades sharpened all the way down, etc. Most were medium-sized jack knives or scout-type knives with carbon steel blades, usually by Camillus. The one pocketknife I discovered that was virtually pristine was a medium-small Camillus 2-blade jackknife. I suspect he’d gotten it fully planning to use it, but in the late 1970s he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and maybe he realized that its size and design made it too difficult to open for him. He also left behind a Buck 110 with a convex edge grind that was in good condition but had been used pretty heavily. I’m assuming he got that because at that point it was easier to operate; he could easily pinch and pull the blade open without fumbling for a small nail nick (his 110 may not have even had a nail nick). He’d also had at least one Christy knife. It appears to me that he was trying different designs to get around the combination of his thick fingers and his developing condition.

Otherwise, my dad only bought only what he needed. He wasn’t a knife collector at all, and wouldn’t have understood the concept of it. A neighbor who was a cop had even given him an old orange-handled Camillus switchblade that also had a second, cord-cutting hook blade (possibly for paratroopers?), but it appears that he never carried it. The 110 appears to have been his last work knife before he retired and stopped carrying knives altogether. So out of necessity, the knives my dad carried had gotten bigger over the course of his life, which appears quite different from a lot of people who seem to go for smaller designs as they get older.

Jim
 
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