What kind of knife did your father use?

golok

golok

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Oct 20, 2000
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As far as I can recall, my late father had no knives but my maternal grandfather did. He was a hunter in his free time. A couple of years ago, my aunt gave me what was left of his pen knife.

It did look like it had seen better days. Nevertheless I cleaned it up as much as I could and kept it aside as a memento that had served my grand-pappy well. It was one of those chromium-plated handled Tokapi blades.

Back in the 30s, it must have been a popular model.
 
My Dad wasn't and isn't picky about knives. He uses whatever happens to be lying around.

Last summer he presented me with one of his old knives, a Buck folder, as a kind of keepsake. What's funny is that he didn't remember that that knife had been a gift, from me, twenty - couple years ago.

It went kinda like this:

Nathan's Dad: Son, I want you to have my pocket knife, that I've used and carried for many years.

Nathan: Umm, Dad, I gave you that knife back in the '80s, remember?

Nathans' Dad: Oh.... Really? Ah, I mean, of course. And I thought it would be right that it return to you, so it can serve you as it has served me.

Nathan: Nice comeback, Dad. ;)
 
my dad carried a old remington 2 bladed jack knife, still have it. very very sharp..........I personally saw him gut deer/rabits/dove/quail w/it. used the smaller blade for everything IIRC.

greg
 
My carried a Buck 110 on his duty belt and a small linemans fixed blade with a 2.5 inch sheepsfoot blade.
 
My dad (late 70's) still uses the Henckel's pen knife passed down from his dad. My dad boasts that he, and his dad before him, only use(d) it to sharpen pencils.

- Rob M.
 
My dad's last knife was a Old Timer pen knife with two blades,
before he retired he carried an Ol Timer (or maybe Case) jack knife

Always sat watching Aurthur Smith and Hee Haw on Saturday evenings, constantly swirling those blades on a very fine Arkansas stone.


B.G.
 
This thread brought back a repressed memory :)

My father had a favourite carving knife that for most of my youth was used to carve roasts, turkeys, etc.

The reign of this knife as king of the family carvers ended abruptly when we were told that it previously belonged to my grandfather ... a pathologist... and was used for thousands of autopsies in his long career.

It was made of a nice carbon steel that held an edge forever... but we kids weren't impressed enough to allow its continued use! :barf:

So, that's the knife my father used!

W
 
Nathan S: Great post. Reminds me of my dad :)

My dad's never been real picky either about tools (some may say cheap...err frugal). He started out his career after the Army as an Elec Engineer and retired a few yrs back after being a Program Mgr with Raytheon for 35+ yrs. He's very handy around the house which means as a kid, I didn't get many Saturdays to play with my buddies. My brother and I were busy re-siding the house, fixing cars, installing a new roof, etc.. While it sure taught me a great work ethic, at the time it didn't seem all that fun. I always said, "if I end up w/half of my dad's work ethic, I'd be a millionaire." Note...I am NOT a millionaire :)

Anyway, he pretty much used whatever was at hand, never wanting to spend lots of money on a knife knowing that he'd ruin it with heavy use. I have since bought him some knives, nothing exceptionally nice, but nicer than the Taiwanese crap he'd buy and use for a year before throwing it away. For instance, I got him one of the key chain sized CRKT Peck's, with gold and black in a nice metal presentation box. He's never used it. It sits on his desk for him to appreciate, and it makes me happy that he liked the gift, but I also kind of wished he used it. I also got him a a prybaby from Peter Atwood. It also sits on his desk, only used occasionally for wire stripping or something.

The only knife I remember him owing was a neat authentic Swedish knife made by some tribe and handled with Reindeer antlers or something, that he got as a gift when traveling in Sweden for business. He used to go there every year for missile shoots and his colleagues presented him with it. I think it's on his desk, next to the one's I bought for him!

-pb
 
Mike Harlos said:
This thread brought back a repressed memory :)

The reign of this knife as king of the family carvers ended abruptly when we were told that it previously belonged to my grandfather ... a pathologist... and was used for thousands of autopsies in his long career.

Mike
Click to expand...


Ewwww...yuck...gross. I'm glad it's been retired. Good one, though. I got a laugh out of that one :)
 
My father never cared much about his pocket knife. I remember a series of tiny SAK's, usually obtained as advertising give-aways at trade shows. He used them mostly for opening letters and packages and cutting string. If he ever sharpened one of them I'm unaware of it. :)

He died about four years ago and I now have his last SAK as a momento.
 
Mike Harlos said:
This thread brought back a repressed memory :)

My father had a favourite carving knife that for most of my youth was used to carve roasts, turkeys, etc.

The reign of this knife as king of the family carvers ended abruptly when we were told that it previously belonged to my grandfather ... a pathologist... and was used for thousands of autopsies in his long career.

It was made of a nice carbon steel that held an edge forever... but we kids weren't impressed enough to allow its continued use! :barf:

So, that's the knife my father used!

Mike
Click to expand...

OMG Mike!! I damn near splatter painted my Laptop with coffee after reading your post! ROTFLMAO. :eek:

Anyway, my Dad carried an old Remington Pen Knife. A simple two bladed model he bought in the 30's. He carried it everyday, so when he died, I thought it only fair to bury him with it in his pocket. Now, he also carried a Colt .45 he "found" during WWII, but that...well...I figured St. Pete wouldn't appriciate someone "packing heat" in heaven. Wow... I just had a thought, what if he went the wrong way?? Damn, maybe I should've sent the Colt along! Lol.

++Disclaimer-if you are offend by the heaven and hell reference---it was only intended to be a joke. :rolleyes: ++
 
My dad considers himself a 'civilized' person and hasn't carried a pocket knife since he left the army back in '46. After my mom died and Dad remarried all the family kitchen knives departed. If he needs something he borrows it from me. I'm wondering when I'll get my old Sauer 38H back. It's been on loan for about 30 years now.

My Grandpa always carried a pocket knife. Generally it was something like a Remington stockman or a German made Barlow. By the time he died he had lost his old knives and I got a Japanese Barlow that must have cost $1.00 down at the drug store.
 
My father was always carrying an Opinel n°8 or a SAK Soldier until the day I give a Buck Crosslock to him. Now it is his EDC. :D

My grandfather was carrying during the major part of his life (including WWII) a traditional kind of “Massu” knife which was handmade in his region.
 
Good question.

I don't know.

All I remember is that my father was NEVER without a knife. It had black handles and was razor sharp. He was a florist/gardener and WHEREVER we went on visits, I remember the woman of the house asking my Dad to prune or cut back something or other. And I remember their horrified looks when he cut back about 90% of what they thought was necessary. But he knew best. My Dad has the greenest thumb I've ever seen - he could probably force a bloom from a brick in the middle of the desert.
 
When I was a child, I remember my father regularly carrying FHM balisong. By the time I was 12 or so, he had switched to a Buck 110. By the time I was in college, he was once again carrying a FHM balisong, different from the first, but just as nice. It would be some 9 years before I would see my father produce his EDC again. By now, it was Gerber LST that seems to have been through hell. Since then, I'd purchased several different knives for him; Spydercos, Kershaws, Case XX, etc. The last knife he carried before he passed away was that first Balisong I saw some 30 years ago. I'd guess it to be about 50+ years old now but still in great condition with a smooth action and solid lockup. Don't make em like that anymore!

Dakila
 
Dad carried a "Western" brand 4½" bladed hunting knife through WWII and Korea (Navy -- Radar operator). Later, he used it to field dress the deer he and I hunted in Utah as I grew up. Just before he died in January 2003, he gave it to my younger son (22). He gave me a couple of pocketknives he carried to work over the years, a Buck two blade, an Army Demo knife, a small pearl handle slab two bladed knife I bought for him while in England in 1971, and an old, cruddy boy scout pocketknife.

As a "dad", I plan to give my knives to my kids when I go (BUT THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN FOR A LLLLOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG TIME!). They'll just have to wait for 'em.

Bruce
 
My dad STILL carries the same Case Barlow that he's carried for a long time.
 
My father doesn't carry a knife. He's a fan of guns. He's got pretty big collection of guns and I get most knives that happen to cross his path along with the few that I've bought myself. He freely admits that he abuses knives and says that's why he would never pay big bucks for a knife (brought me a cheap, ugly knife recently to sharpen for him). He's also said that if he was gonna carry a knife it'd have to be a big one. I think what he really needs is what's become the subject of quite a few threads around here -- a sharpened prybar. :)
 
My dad has carried a series of small SAK Tinkers for a long time. He uses it until the blade is sharpened down to a toothpick, then retires it. He always says that it is the most cost effective tool he ever buys, as he gets about 10 years out of each one. He also can't stand being without one. Whenever he flies commercial he puts it in an easy to get to position in his baggage so he can put it in his pocket as soon as he gets the baggage.
 
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