What is the appeal of traditional folders?

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Tradition, beauty, usefulness, and appreciation of hand workmanship.

They do seem to have more soul than futuristic designs and screwed-on G10 handles.
 
i like how natural handle material and carbon steel ages and takes on a personality all of its own. there's something very organic about a knife blade and a wooden/bone/etc handle. it's like they were made for each other.

i appreciate the craftsmanship.

i do appreciate modern knives for their utility(ease of access, ease of opening/closing, steels) but nothing beats using and admiring a traditional
 
I like the selection of multiple blades in a single knife. Not many modern styled knives have this feature.
 
I think a big part of the allure is that they are made by hand. Modern folders are held together with screws. Anyone can assemble them.

A nice slipjoint is the hand-work of skilled craftsmen.
 
I have carried both new wave and traditional knives over the years and my full circle has lead me back to traditionals. I really feel that traditional knives have a way of attaching themselves to their owner.When I put my 75 stockman and peanut in my pocket there seems to be a warm feeling to them. The new wave knives seem to be cold and don't give me that feeling.
I remember when I was 4 or 5 years old getting to hold my fathers barlow, I remember the heft in that knife and the only way for me to open it was with my teeth (not advisable). I guess my point is memories like this and to each and every person there is a certain traditional knife that calls to them and will be the one that forms those memories that last a lifetime and can be passed on. You just can't get that feeling with a piece of cold plastic.

God Bless
Tracy
 
Blues said:
Send that man a t-shirt:

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Exactly. That's what I meant!

Thanks Elliott.

Best,
Anthony
 
iandh said:
I've always leaned towards the modern folders, with assisted opening, fancy composite handles, complicated lock mechanisms, and especially because of the many variations that are available.

Traditional folders, however, don't really seem to have any of that stuff. For the most part, they're copies of each other stylistically, and they don't offer any high tech, new fangled design features.

For some reason though, even though I'm still lusting after several modern super-folders, I can't get the Case Raindrop damascus stockman out of my mind. The $150 or so that this knife costs could buy me one of my fancy modern folders, but for some reason the Case is at the top of my list right now.

It's really hard for me to put my finger on. I'm not old enough for it to be nostalgia, so it has to be something else... or maybe it could be nostalgia, but just a different kind than most of the older guys here get.
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If I could offer just one piece of advice, it is this. If possible, find a Case knife dealer near you and hand pick your first one.

They make at least two different size Stockmans, some are serpentine and some are straight, some have rounded bolsters and others are square.

The color in the dyed bone, weather or not the blades rub, strength of the "pull" it takes to open, the "snap" (or lack thereof) when closing the blades, or any perceivable blade play are just A FEW of the things that can make or break a knife for some people more than others. You cant "see" these things on your computer's monitor.

There are more variances from knife to knife within a production run for these kind of knives than you might think, and I would hate for your first to be your last because of "luck of the draw" on an internet purchase.

You can find dealer locator on the Case corporate website: http://www.wrcase.com/index_en.php Try to find at least a Gold or Platinum dealer. If you're lucky and have a Master dealer you can get to, I think it is worth at least half a Saturday if you have the time (and gas money :mad:)

However you shop for it, and whichever one you choose, I bet it wont be your last!
 
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Just holding one and hearing it echo when it snaps shut kind of does it for me. They are a nostagic tool.
 
FLymon said:
If I could offer just one piece of advice, it is this. If possible, find a Case knife dealer near you and hand pick your first one.

They make at least two different size Stockmans, some are serpentine and some are straight, some have rounded bolsters and others are square.

The color in the dyed bone, weather or not the blades rub, strength of the "pull" it takes to open, the "snap" (or lack thereof) when closing the blades, or any perceivable blade play are just A FEW of the things that can make or break a knife for some people more than others. You cant "see" these things on your computer's monitor.

There are more variances from knife to knife within a production run for these kind of knives than you might think, and I would hate for your first to be your last because of "luck of the draw" on an internet purchase.

You can find dealer locator on the Case corporate website: http://www.wrcase.com/index_en.php Try to find at least a Gold or Platinum dealer. If you're lucky and have a Master dealer you can get to, I think it is worth at least half a Saturday if you have the time (and gas money :mad:)

However you shop for it, and whichever one you choose, I bet it wont be your last!
Click to expand...

I had my grandfather's old stag case up until the time I made Eagle scout, it was stolen from me at a barbecue. It was a large two blade pattern, but im not sure what it would be called. It had been sharpened so many times before i got it, that each blade was literally a punch awl.

I went to the bass pro shop this afternoon, and handled a beautiful medium case stockman, in yellow. I loved it until the spey blade snapped shut on the tip of my finger. Well, I still loved it, but it was embarrasing enough that I decided to go look at the candy aisle.




To the thread in general, the reason this is a dilemma for me, is that i grew up in the wilderness, around two generations of woodsmen, and pretty much saw nothing but traditional folders, SAK's, and bucks.

Now, I work in the city, at an aerospace R&D facility, as an engineer and prototype fabricator. I also have training as a CNC machinist. I'm used to working with exotic materials, and so these new-fangled titanium handled super-steel folders are right up my alley. I also apprectiate a clever mechanical design combined with modern aesthetics.

The engineering side of me years for the newest, most high tech knife available. The woodsman side of me years for a fixed blade buck, or a case folder.



I love the allure of the Case folders, but I also love a modern folder that has no spring to the blade, combined with a modern lock. They are essentially foolproof as far as knives go, while the traditional folders are not so foolproof... which is evidenced by the fact that I left part of my index finger in a Case stockman back at the Bass pro shop.

I'm not the type that is careless... I work around sharp machine tools, rocket fuel, and explosives all day. Sometimes a blade that springs shut can get away from you when your fingers are oily, and if the stars align just right, you lose a little skin.

I guess that's just the name of the game. Safely using a traditional folder requires a little bit more finesse than these modern safety-knives.
 
Too often I think modern knives are worn as statement about the person carrying the knife. A traditional knife, tucked safely in a pocket says nothing about the person carrying the knife. It is only when taken from the pocket that traditional knife displays its hand craftsmanship, varied and beautiful scales and materials, rich heritage and history, blades designed for specific purposes; and, lasting strength and value that not only allows but begs the owner to pass it on to future generations. They are less about the owner than they are about the pattern and its history and the craftsman who made them. The current owner can only add patina. They are timeless.
 
iandh said:
I had my grandfather's old stag case up until the time I made Eagle scout, it was stolen from me at a barbecue. It was a large two blade pattern, but im not sure what it would be called. It had been sharpened so many times before i got it, that each blade was literally a punch awl.

I went to the bass pro shop this afternoon, and handled a beautiful medium case stockman, in yellow. I loved it until the spey blade snapped shut on the tip of my finger. Well, I still loved it, but it was embarrasing enough that I decided to go look at the candy aisle.




To the thread in general, the reason this is a dilemma for me, is that i grew up in the wilderness, around two generations of woodsmen, and pretty much saw nothing but traditional folders, SAK's, and bucks.

Now, I work in the city, at an aerospace R&D facility, as an engineer and prototype fabricator. I also have training as a CNC machinist. I'm used to working with exotic materials, and so these new-fangled titanium handled super-steel folders are right up my alley. I also apprectiate a clever mechanical design combined with modern aesthetics.

The engineering side of me years for the newest, most high tech knife available. The woodsman side of me years for a fixed blade buck, or a case folder.



I love the allure of the Case folders, but I also love a modern folder that has no spring to the blade, combined with a modern lock. They are essentially foolproof as far as knives go, while the traditional folders are not so foolproof... which is evidenced by the fact that I left part of my index finger in a Case stockman back at the Bass pro shop.

I'm not the type that is careless... I work around sharp machine tools, rocket fuel, and explosives all day. Sometimes a blade that springs shut can get away from you when your fingers are oily, and if the stars align just right, you lose a little skin.

I guess that's just the name of the game. Safely using a traditional folder requires a little bit more finesse than these modern safety-knives.
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Sounds like you and I have a great deal in comon. I grew up in more rural surroundings, but from the early 70's on I was a machinist. Bridgeport mills, Harding lathes, Clausing drill presses.

But there was this country store near where I was a kid, and there was this liers circle. It was made up of men who were outdoorsmen to the core. Hunters, watermen, and a couple of professional trappers and one pro poacher. They would sit around the pot bellied stove in the winter, the front porch in the summer, and sometimes whittle, sometimes compare new guns or knives. To a man, they all carried a small slip joint pocket knife with two blades. The universal pocket knife of the post war years seemed to be the 3 inch serpintine jack. But they all had a sheath knife for the heavier tasks. The sheath knife was usually a stacked leather handle Case or Kabar little finn type of knife. About a 3 to 3 1/2 inch blade. It seemed like that was all they ever needed. Deer, muskrat, duck, goose, and a stolen chicken now and then, a few inches of gray carbon blade was it.

I see an old slip joint, and I can smell the woodsmoke of the stove, or the pipe smoke in the summer, and hear the elders speak their wisdom. And it was wisdom. Those guys knew more about the outdoors than the modern sportsman at the Bass Pro shops.

Yes, handling a slip joint takes a little more care than the new stuff. But if you grew up with that kind of knife, it just seems normal to be more careful. I think that back then, good knife handling habits were learned at an early age.

Carl.
 
As a child i watched the older generation work livestock with the old patterns. It seemed times were easyer and people took great care of the tools that helped make them a living.I love them slips!!!!!!!!!!
 
After 150+ years of refinement and fine tuning the traditional patterns, when made by competent cutlers produce a tool of utility, functionality and sheer beauty,

When made with the right combination of craftmanship and materials it approaches and sometimes surpasses a quaility parelleling art.

Aside from all of that, it just feels right in your hands, ridin' in a pocket or in a sheath on your belt.

Finally much like Cognac, you either like 'em or you don't but if you give 'em a chance they'll probably grow on you too.

To quote some obscure tv comercial from the late 70s, "Try it, you'll like it.".
 
Slipjoints have alot character. All G10 scales you get frrom manufacturer look the ame. You can get custom scales but with traditional slipjoint you get alot characer in handle. How wood grains and tones are, how bone is jigged and dye settled. You can get those in modern folders.

Besides slipjoints are very people friendly and well maintained can outlive their owner. Also lack of complex lock makes cleaning simplier and design little bit more fool proof... and when you learn how to use slipjoint safely, you will use ALL knives safely.
 
I've carried the gamut of folding knives from "tactical" folders, autos, balisongs, etc. Pretty much everything other than fixed blades. And now I've "regressed" come full circle back to traditionals. I still have and carry my tacticals and balisongs (only have 1 auto left), but for daily knife tasks, I pretty much stick with my slipjoints these days. It seems ridiculous, absurd, gratuitous, and disingenuous to whip out a big honkin' black handled tactical, flick open a switchblade, or flip open a balisong to do the mundane cutting tasks that make up 99% of the cutting any of us ever do, like trimming a loose thread, or cutting out a coupon, or cleaning a fingernail. Especially if somebody's watching.

Using a traditional slipjoint just feels more honest to me.

Besides that, a traditional just has far more character than a modern "tactical" knife. And maybe I feel that some of the character in the knife reflects character in me. Or maybe I just like not feeling like a mall ninja.:rolleyes:
 
Slipjoints are like people. Each is unique and each has it's flaws as well as bright points. In this way I find they are a better reflection of ourselves. In a word: soul.
 
iandh said:
What is the appeal of traditional folders?
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As a wise man wrote here, I prefer traditional folders for a number of reasons ...

Their functionality (The good ones just plain cut well!).

They're Old School (I LOVE that my slippies aren't the flavor of the month).

Respect (... for those of the past who thrived in much harder times, with only a simple slipjoint in their pocket).

Tradition (Grandad carried one - I carry one).

Sanity (No, I'm not a ninja assassin, just a working Joe, husband, and father of three. I peel apples, not bad guys).

Design (Thin blades in a compact, well executed package - what's not to like?).

Personal Responsibility (I do not have to rely on a lock to keep me from cutting myself - I am a big boy and earned my Totin' Chip a long long time ago).

Skill (I can do more with a simple two-blade slipjoint than most can with a big single-bladed, locking, serrated, one-hand-opening, wonder steel knife).

Example (I am conscious of the lessons I am imparting to my young son, also my daughters. I want him to grow up understanding that skill, patience and understanding will win out every time over the latest wonder gadget in the hands of a dolt).
 
jackknife said:
I see an old slip joint, and I can smell the woodsmoke of the stove, or the pipe smoke in the summer, and hear the elders speak their wisdom. And it was wisdom. Those guys knew more about the outdoors than the modern sportsman at the Bass Pro shops.


Carl.
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Exactly the way I feel. When I was growing up all the men in and around the family lived by a simple rule- "Keep a sharp knife in your pocket, a good pen and notebook and a snot rag of some sort. Just about anything can be handled with these."
I've tried the fancy folders with Titanium and High Speed ballistic steel, but they are now all gone- they just don't do it. Yes, they cut and that is the point, but will a Fancy Tacticool get passed on with as much respect and love?
 
"Wow, that thing will do some damage!"

"My Dad carried one of those."

These are two real statements my friends have made to me. Which conversation would you rather have?

Paul
 
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