What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?

jon_slider said:
That Bone from Spayed Cows looks like a perfect match for the Spaying blade used to harvest Rocky Mountain Oysters.

The Spey River is less than 150 miles north of the Ettrick.
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You spay cows (not often), but you use a spey blade to collect RMOs, I believe. :eek:
Or is it the other way around??:rolleyes:

And those Scots have lent the English and Americans some important components of their language!;)

Do the Spey and Ettrick run parallel? I will have to consult the almighty Google . . . .
 
New knives make me feel giddy and tingly all over...now I know what my kids are thinking when they go into a candy store :)
 
waynorth said:
You spay cows (not often)
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Yes, spaying is for cows http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaying#Females_.28spaying.29
Castration is for calves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castration#Veterinary_practice
and I would say yes, parallels exist between the Ettrick and the Spay :-), they are both pruning knives bred in Sheffield, also famous for Sheep.
Starting at The Spey, you cross The Ettrick to get to Sheffield.

http://goo.gl/maps/Vi6rK
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http://www.flyfisherpro.com/Public/Resources/GlossaryofFlyFishingTerms/index.cfm
Spey - A particular casting technique using special two-handed rods and a modified roll cast. It is named after a river in Scotland where it was developed.
 
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I'm going to beg forgiveness in church tomorrow. I limited myself to one handle material, but my gluttony took over when it came to choosing which blade(s).

I really can't explain this to my wife.

But they are beautiful Barlows, Charlie! Thanks for bringing them to us!
 
Wow!!!
So you should beg for forgiveness, and I think you should repent by sending me at least one of them :D

Seriously - well done, I think that Yellow is going to grow on me as well - every-time I look at those scales I imagine myself holding one of those knives - that's a great sign to say - yep...that's on the tick list - as every knife is when Charlie releases a SFO.
 

After over 3 months, the sheepfoot Barlow moves to my work jacket, and yellow bone spey-clip becomes EDC #1, right hand pants pocket. Here we go!
 
Ha! Well I did it, just ordered a single spey Charlow in African Blackwood :)

I'm totally jazzed as I've really been wanting this one. That spey blade rides so low down in the handle, should be very sleek in the pocket.

If anyone's got a close-up of one in blackwood give me something to look at til I can fondle it in person! :)
 
Charlie, now that GEC has the radio knife with the bottle opener/screwdriver, is there a chance for a Barlow with this blade? Maybe with a nice long nick spear as the main?

:D
 
Dropped my barlow this morning while taking keys out of my pocket. Nicked up the edge of the blackwood and a small nick on the bolster. That's what I get for leaving church early to hurry off to the bagel shop.:p


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sunandsteel said:
Dropped my barlow this morning while taking keys out of my pocket. Nicked up up the edge of the blackwood and a small nick on the bolster...
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So sorry. Maybe some super fine sand paper can smooth everything out?

I'll bet this happens to everyone at least once. My keys now get their own pocket.
 
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Dr. Scott said:
sunandsteel said:
Dropped my barlow this morning while taking keys out of my pocket. Nicked up up the edge of the blackwood and a small nick on the bolster...

So sorry. Maybe some super fine sand paper can smooth everything out?

I'll bet this happens to everyone at least once. My keys now get their own pocket.
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I'll try the super fine sand paper. Thanks for the tip. It's not the end of the world but I specifically bought a pocket sheath to try and prevent something like this from happening. The sheath I bought from knivesshipfree is perfect but for some reason I stopped using it and went back to just dropping my knife into my pocket.
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the Electrician knife has the long pull Spear or long pull Sheepfoot that was used on the earlier run Charlows, Boys knives, and Scouts.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1109870-15-GEC-Electrician/page10

the Radio knife has the cap lifter you want.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1131119-GEC-Radio-Knife

but cap lifters are not traditional on Barlows, so I would guess that if you ask, GEC might make up some Radio Knives with the Long Pull Spear blades, instead of the crescent nail nick on the current run of Clip Point Charlow blades that are being used on the current Radio knife.

Based on Gec's pattern of behavior, after they do an SFO, they release the same blades on Boys knives. As you can see there is a Boys knife with Clip and Spey, just like the current Charlow SFO

I dont think GEC has made a Boys knife with the long pull Charlow or Electrician blades yet, so this might be the right time to contract for an SFO with the long pull blade and caplifter you want :-)
 
This is one BEAUTIFUL good traditional Barlow.







Man that thing is gorgeous! And there's something about the blade etch that really makes it special!!! Thanks Charlie!!!
 
arizonaranchman said:
Ha! Well I did it, just ordered a single spey Charlow in African Blackwood :)

I'm totally jazzed as I've really been wanting this one. That spey blade rides so low down in the handle, should be very sleek in the pocket.

If anyone's got a close-up of one in blackwood give me something to look at til I can fondle it in person! :)
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I did too. There's something about the Barlow with the spey that just looks right to me. I can't explain why exactly though. I have a blackwood handle GEC already and it is nice stuff. I'm looking forward to getting it.

Ed J
 
What?! Charlie moved over to SFO Barlows since I left? Whatda?

Hey, Charlie. Remember that old Case XX Pre-USA you sent me to replace the one I'd gotten as a kid from a fellow, but was stolen? Well, I still got it. It's the one at the 12:00 position in this old photo. I'd say that one definitely qualifies as a traditional Barlow pattern. It sits in my little knife case right above that appaloosa bone Jack you traded me.

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I actually started dragging my knives out tonight. Haven't really looked at them much for quite a while.

Last year I did a sort of Jackknife thing with my two oldest boys. While my oldest was down to Lackland AFB for recruiter school I was able to get him and my step-son who I call son and who calls me dad together so we could go to a gun show together. This was only the second time in a decade they had met, but they are enough alike in a lot of ways and enough like me in some that there's no question they're both mine in all the right ways.

The night before I went through a bunch of my knives and selected ones to give to each based on how it might relate to each. Knives that had been a part of me and my doings at Ft. Bragg, or up in Alaska when stationed at Ft. Wainwright when my oldest and his mother were still together I gave to him with stories and reminders of how I came by them, how I carried them, and why they mattered to me. Those went into one bag. Into the other bag that I gave to #2 Son were knives that while not having that shared history of his full youth together, still had some meaning and were ones that he and I could relate with. I think both appreciated them, but I hope will appreciate them even more later. There were no high end customs. Just basic working man knives for the most part.

I thought about passing that Case Barlow along with the story of the original knife and how when I told a certain fellow up B.C. way that story he replied,"Hey, I think I have your knife right here." and sent it to me just like that. Then I thought, "Nahhhh. I'll just hold on to that one awhile longer." I can tell that story by itself and maybe someday the oldest can have it. ;) I'll just keep it safe for now.
 
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