What "Traditional Knife" are ya totin' today?

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The wife found another marble while transplanting some garden plants in the backyard Sunday. That makes three since we moved here in 2001. I wonder how old these are since the house itself was built in 1910.
Gonna carry this Imperial USA to work today. Its blade action is as snappy as any of the best in my collection and they get quite sharp as well.

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sunknife said:
The wife found another marble while transplanting some garden plants in the backyard Sunday. That makes three since we moved here in 2001. I wonder how old these are since the house itself was built in 1910.
Gonna carry this Imperial USA to work today. Its blade action is as snappy as any of the best in my collection and they get quite sharp as well.

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The shell handle Imperial may have been an inexpensive knife when new, but they had the same excellent 1095 blades and heat treatment, as the (much) more expensive Schrade, Ulster, and the other "high end" knives with carbon steel blades (for example, "Old Timer", when that line was introduced c.1966 as the "Ulster Old Timer", in the RJR pipe tobacco deal) made by Imperial-Schrade.
Same holds true for the Colonial shell handle knives.
I believe they were intended as "boy's knives" ... an inexpensive first to ??? knife for the kids, who WOULD (not "might") lose it, or break a blade by doing dum things: throwing into a tree, prying, using as a screwdriver, etc., until they (hopefully) learned better.
A LOT of ... sauvy adults realized this, and decided "Why spend at least twice as much for a name?"
My (maternal) great grandfather (1892-1974) was a famer for most of his life. (he never had any livestock that I remember. He grew corn) He dropped out of school after graduating from 8th grade.
During the time I remember him (1959-1974) he carried a shell handle Imperial Barlow.
"Why pay extra for a name?" was driven into me by him, and a few other family members.
 
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afishhunter said:
The shell handle Imperial may have been an inexpensive knife when new, but they had the same excellent 1095 blades and heat treatment, as the (much) more expensive Schrade, Ulster, and the other "high end" knives with carbon steel bllades (for example, "Old Timer", when that line was introduced c.1966 as the "Ulster Old Timer", in the RJR pipe tobacco deal) made by Imperial-Schrade.
Same holds true for the Colonial shell handle knives.
I believe they were intended as "boy's knives" ... an inexpensive first to ??? knife for the kids, who WOULD (not "might") lose it, or break a blade by doing dum things: throwing into a tree, prying, using as a screwdriver, etc., until they (hopefully) learned better.
A LOT of ... sauvy adults realized this, and decided "Why spend at least twice as much for a name?"
My (maternal) great grandfather (1892-1974) was a famer for most of his life. (he never had any livestock that I remember. He grew corn) He dropped out of school after graduating from 8th grade.
During the time I remember him (1959-1974) he carried a shell handle Imperial Barlow.
"Why pay extra for a name?" was driven into me by him, and a few other family members.
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Great advice to live by
 
After 5 (five) consecutive years of carrying the Toferner Medieval style neck knife pretty much every day ... I "think" it might be o.k. to swap it out for the David Mary custom neck knife that was given to me by a generous annonymous member a couple years ago.

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I forget the model name. Blade steel is 8670.
I don't know if I will carry it as long, or longer, than the Toferner yet.
 
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sunknife said:
The wife found another marble while transplanting some garden plants in the backyard Sunday. That makes three since we moved here in 2001. I wonder how old these are since the house itself was built in 1910.
Gonna carry this Imperial USA to work today. Its blade action is as snappy as any of the best in my collection and they get quite sharp as well.

View attachment 3171490
Click to expand...
I can imagine Dennis the menace running around shooting birds with his slingshot and his sister's marbles.
 
pat9198 said:
I can imagine Dennis the menace running around shooting birds with his slingshot and his sister's marbles.
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Many years ago, I came home from work to find my son, (he's 51 years old now), and the neighbor boy, destroying their metal Tonka trucks in the back yard with their Wrist Rocket slingshots, and marbles. There was metal truck parts, and broken glass from the marbles all over the place. I wasn't happy.
 
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