What is a hobo knife?

[Jenniffer Ann]

What do Hobo Knives look like does any one have pictures?

 

[yablanowitz]

Welcome! Hobo knives vary quite a bit. Here is my one and only Case Hobo.

 

[knarfeng]

I have moved these posts, which had reawakened a 2002 thread, to their own new thread. We shall let the past stay there.

Onward and upward, excelsior...

 

[zippofan]

I do love the Hobo, it's a great knife for a Boy Scout and anyone who does a lot of camping. It's a bit heavy for backpacking though, the LightMyFire Spork goes in the pack for that. Those ounces and pounds add up when you're carrying everything on your back!

The newer BSA tan caliber Case Hobo is a bit lighter than the bone version though.

 

[meako]

hobos rode on trains though-the railway bulls have wooden legs and the dogs have rubber teeth..

 

[billym]

On big rock candy mountain.

 

[whetrock]

I love the Hobo pattern and hope eventually to add one to my collection of traditonal folders (especially the Amber bone Case) but I kind of doubt that a real Hobo could afford one of those beautys; just sayin'.

 

[tiguy7]

Knives of Alaska markets a Titanium hobo which keeps the weight down. Most of the hobo knives I have seen suffer from a tiny spoon. Don't get one if you are in a hurry to finish your soup.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

I have a whole slew of hobo knives.

Some of them are big and clunky, some of them are slim and svelte (Linder, Ka-Bar), but on the whole I find the quality of the knife blades to be . . . below par.

However, I believe I've found a solution I can work with.

Light My Fire makes a unique spork, with the fork at one end and the spoon at the other. The fork end has a crude knife edge on one side, but I pretty much dismiss it. The first ones I saw were plastic, but quite durable. Then a couple of years ago, my wife bought me one of these:

Or, somewhat larger . . .

They're made of titanium, they're very durable, and they weigh essentially nothing.

I can take two of these and tie them together with a rubber band, and they'll slip into just about anything -- hip pocket, backpack, fanny pack, whatever -- and then I can carry a real knife, like a SAK (or, have you seen the FireKnife from Light My Fire?) and have no more total weight than I would have carrying a hobo tool.

And the spoon is generous enough that you can enjoy your soup or your Mountain House meal in comfort. A decent SAK will get the cans opened, the Ti spork will let me enjoy what's inside.

ETA:
Seems not everybody dismisses the crude knife edge on the spork . . .

And here's the plastic one that I started with (I have a dozen or more) . . .

​

I see, now that I've written all that, this gadget isn't truly traditional in the spirit of older classical designs.

Still, it preserves the spirit of the classical hobo tool application.

Perhaps the mods will be kind and let it stand.

 

[LKJW]

These aren't to hard to find, and I sure like mine.

...got it used (barely).