Using One-of-a-Kind Custom Folders

I use all three of my custom slipjoints regularly. And I like them more now than when they were new.

- Christian
 
I've been thinking about this question some. Knives can be both tools and art objects. I appreciate looking at art.

I have several, pretty expensive, Tim Wright kitchen knives that I use happily, daily. They cut madly.

That said, I have custom folders that, at this point, regardless of their original cost, are too valuable to use as tools. I don't need to USE them that way. I'm sure they would open an envelope, or a box, just fine. Some things are meant to be under glass and looked at...............

I have no compunctions about using a Spyderco, Emerson, or CRK, that can be replaced with a phone call if needed. I regularly use many of my "vintage" knives without a second's thought.

Syn
 
I carry and use more than others, I didn't plan it that way, It just happens. Once you
use a custom slip joint, You'll use one everyday. I never leave home without one. It's
a sickness...lol.

Jason
 
I usually go through a period with a new custom where I just CE and CF them for a couple months.

After a while I just can't stand it, and I start using them. These are two in my regular carry, although not all the time.

LloydTrapper-1.jpg

John Lloyd 52100 single-blade trapper

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John Howser stainless damascus lockback
 
I use them or I "lose" them. By that, I mean they go on the chopping block and get sold to someone else.
 
I have two that I carry frequently. The Ohta is a joy to hold and use. If I had to describe it in a single word, that would be "crisp". The Nowland is dense, complex, and satisfying in a way that is hard to convey with words.

edcslipjoints.jpg
 
Blues said:
I haven't carried or used all of them but there are many that see regular use. It becomes much easier after the first sharpening.
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What he said.
Current customs that I carry, and enjoy using (R. Rogers, J. Chamblin, R. Bose, T. Bose, K. Erickson, K Coats, K. Hampton, B. Cramer) As a rule the larger and or more fancy pieces do not get used.
 
jackknife said:
Yes.

A nice knife is a tool to be used. I once had a Bob Ogg knife that I had. It was a simple big single blade jack, and it was a pleasure to use. I don't believe in safe queens. I used the heck out of my Randall 14 that was my woods/camping/whatever knife back in my younger day. I had a good chuckle when a Randall collector saw it and was flustered that it looked a bit worn. He said I had ruined the collector value of it. I told him that didn't matter as I was no collector. He didn't see the humor of my comment.

Carl.
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My best friend at Fort Bragg was an old SF guy who had been in for 9 years, got out for 9, then came back in. He had a Randall 14 from back in the day when Bo made them himself. He carried that Randall for what it was meant to be. A knife you could bet your life on. I managed to trade it out of him once, but he was missing it and I let him trade it back. I'd love to have it back myself.

I recall Tony Bose making a statement on here a few years back that he built every knife to be used and that it gave him the most pleasure when someone used his knives. That's what he built them for.

Me, I'll probably never have a fine, custom folder. Just too far out of my price range. If I could manage one I would definitely carry it. I did manage to get one of Eddie White's fixed blades as a 50th birthday present for myself four years ago. I've had that knife on my belt plenty of times. The only reason it doesn't still get belt time is the pouch sheath doesn't grip the knife as well as it used to and I've had it fall out a few times.

Any custom knife built by a real knife maker will be made from the ground up first and foremost as a cutting tool. It may be a very beautiful tool, but at the heart it is a fine a cutting tool as they can build. In some art history classes I learned the difference between artist and artisan. Art is created for its own sake. Just to look at. Artisan created works are works created that are not only visually striking, but also have a practical use. Think Greek urns, etc..

If a knifemaker is an artist then he is just creating knife like objects to be looked at. An artisan knifemaker is creating the highest level of the knife, in fit, finish, materials, beauty, and usefulness.

I would think that to cherish and use a custom knife, to appreciate the elevated feel and function as well as the beauty of the knife is the highest compliment you can pay to the maker.
 
Heres one of my favorite pictures. A good friend that carrys and uses one of my 2 blade trappers on a daily basis. Right now he is re-plumbing the Old Faithful Inn in Montana.

firstknivesCurtandStrauss009.jpg
 
Guess I'm in the minority here, but I use a few of my more affordable customs and generally keep the fancy and/or expensive ones pristine. I already have far more redundant cutting tools than I need by any stretch of the imagination, but I still enjoy acquiring a new knife every so often. To me, it makes no sense to scratch up everything I get my hands on.

I enjoy carefully handling and preserving fine knives almost as much as I do using 'em, so it's a win/win as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention the obvious benefit of the piece retaining or even increasing in value if I eventually get tired of it or change direction in my collecting; something that's bound to happen once or twice when you've been collecting as long as I have. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I had significant disposable income, but I doubt it.

Given how just about every "do you use it?" thread at BF plays out exactly like this one, wherein the majority of the respondents invariably say "Use it, man." "I never buy a knife I don't intend to use" etc., I find it ironic that a large majority of knives offered for sale on the Exchange, particularly the customs, are described as "never used, carried or sharpened." :p
 
Rick said:
Guess I'm in the minority here, but I use a few of my more affordable customs and generally keep the fancy and/or expensive ones pristine.
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Got a good snort out of that one.... I sincerely doubt it. Most of the knives I see here are nothing less than museum quality. Although I have only been around here about three years, I have NEVER seen a well used custom. A knife that has a few pits in the blade from cleaning game and not immediately having water to clean, rust spots from getting caught working in the rain with your knife in your pocket and no dry place to go for several hours, a few stains from who knows where.... a nick from something unexpected that was too deep to get out with a couple of sharpenings... scratches on the blades or handles...

I'm not saying I would use a really nice custom as a work knife, but I have never seen anyone here do it either. Heck, the customs posted here as favorites don't even have mustard swabbed on them to make them look like they were used at some time.

Rick said:
Given how just about every "do you use it?" thread at BF plays out exactly like this one, wherein the majority of the respondents invariably say "Use it, man." "I never buy a knife I don't intend to use" etc., I find it ironic that a large majority of knives offered for sale on the Exchange, particularly the customs, are described as "never used, carried or sharpened." :p
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Nailed it.

Again, I am not being critical as I don't think I could use a $400 knife for regular work either. But a long, admiring look at the customs that are routinely trotted out here show little or no wear at all. And I have seen the same situation in the exchange on this forum. But it isn't just here as other venues have the same descriptions in their sale areas.

Maybe some of us have different definitions of "using" a knife. I'll bet that guy in an earlier post using Bruce's knife has the same definition I do, though. :D

Robert
 
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midnight flyer said:
I have NEVER seen a well used custom. A knife that has a few pits in the blade from cleaning game and not immediately having water to clean, rust spots from getting caught working in the rain with your knife in your pocket and no dry place to go for several hours, a few stains from who knows where.... a nick from something unexpected that was too deep to get out with a couple of sharpenings... scratches on the blades or handles...
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They do exist...

tbose-blacklinentrapper-fred1.jpg

Image by KnifeHead

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Image by cnas122

- Christian
 
kamagong said:
They do exist...

tbose-blacklinentrapper-fred1.jpg

Image by KnifeHead

SNIP of pic #2

- Christian
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Wow! Now there's a couple that have seen some real lovin' !! Did you do all of that to them? If so, that Bose must have taken years and years to get to that level of metal removal.

I have to say, if I did that to a custom knife, I certainly feel that I got my money's worth out of it in utility and enjoyment of use.

Great pics!

Robert
 
They're not mine. The swayback is owned by Campbell and the trapper by a friend of Tony Bose.

I have three custom slipjoints. I chipped the scale on my KHnutbuster when I dropped it on asphalt once. I've been able to take better care of my Ohta and Dowell knives, but part of that lies in the fact that those two are my gentlemen's knives, so they don't get assigned the gritty work. But I wouldn't hesitate to use them if I needed to.

- Christian
 
I just got an Big folder made by Alan Davis. It's the size of a Millie and almost twice the weight....I love it, been edc it since I got it about a couple of weeks.

It has cpm m4 with a brownish blade, damascus bolsters, file work on the spine, tasmanian eucalyptus burl scales and it's a great flipper. It's definately a a one of a kind !

Yes it's a user not a show piece. I have 3 other customs but not one off tho.
 
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