What would your Grandpa say

SilverFoxKnows

SilverFoxKnows

Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
3,179
if he knew you spent $400, or even $150 on a knife? Do you ever wonder how he went 40 years with only a stockman or two blade jack knife in his pocket? Could you do it? Lately I've been trying to get back to basics. I still have a Micra on my keychain but in my pocket I've had only a Case yellow handled CV trapper. Sunday I ordered an abalone(sp?) celluloid traper by Camillus in 1095. Only set me back $25 including shipping. And it's stunning. Has anyone found "the one"? Do you have a knife that fits your hand like a glove? Does it have the latest supersteel? Will you be carrying it 20 years from now? I'm hoping the Camillus will be as beautiful in person as it is on the webpage. I'd like to have a lifer.

Frank
 
I've got the same knife and you won't be disappointed. A nice hefty solid feel, good fit and finish (especially for the $), nice walk and talk, and takes a razor edge. And my wife even commented on the good looks of the scales.
 
I hope that I will not find „the one“, because searching is the real fun! (Hey, sounds like a ryme :))
 
I carry a Old Timer Middleman on a pretty regular basis. For the price, its a heck of a bargain (I've seen them as low as $20).

The thin blades cut fairly well, and when one gets dull, I just switch over to another blade. It's easy to resharpen, and I'm not afraid to hurt it, or stain the steel. It could probably last for most the rest of my life.

Sometimes, I wonder why I spend so much money on knives.

For me, the search for perfection is the real fun.

-- Rob
 
In your grandpa's time the people then (30',40's &
50's) all had learned to make do with a LOT less of
everthing than we do today. They used the "All
American Plan" to pay for everthing....you know,
everything down and nothing later. ;)

The use of credit as we know it didn't come into
play until the 60's in any great amount. Which is
one main reason we all buy way more than we need.
We all base way to many buying decisons on want.
Grandpa knew that one good pocket knife was "good
enough" and it better not cost much either.

So I guess for most of us we need to lean the
simple concept of "Enough" as opposed to "more".
 
My grandpa would be carrying a Bechmade with an Axis lock. I would have purchased him one. His older knives would have ended up in a drawer or be given to my dad or to myself. Grandpa, God rest his sole, died five years ago at the age of 92.

He had nothing against new and improved. He gladly drove the Turbo Volvo my uncle helped him purchase. Uncle used to work for Volvo.
 
I don´t remember any particular knife from my grandfather, he probably didn´t carry every day, but my grandmother carried a stag handled german folding hunter that must have been quite expensive.

I have carried a stockman and a SAK as EDC for over 40 years. I do have more expensive knives but they stay at home and see little use.

Edited for spelling.
 
I've been thinking the same thing! All the folks on this forum who rave about how much better all these knives are over, say, a Ka-bar, a knife that served marines in combat conditions! Like 99% of the people on this board will never use their knives like that, even if you are in the military. You won't see combat like that again. If it was good enough for your grandad in WW2, how would you convince him you need a $200 knife for deer hunting? You wouldn't.
 
My Gramps would think I was way over the top but he started my fascination by making the best sharpening and using kitchen knife I've ever used. Forged from a file, tapered towards the tip of the blade and the butt of the handle. Hammer marks still faintly present on the blade, this knife had character to spare I picked up where Gramps left off and made a few blades out of files, others from kits or just the blade. My finnishing is better but I humble myself with the ammount of work that went into the taper. He knew the art of heat treating and kept some of it secret I'm afraid. Sadly the knife was lost in a move and I'll never see it again. I still remember the resinant "tinnnnngggggg"" that it made as I'd rap the blade with my finger nail.
 
I inherited my Grandpa's hunting knife. After reading this thread, I went and pulled it out of the knife drawer. It's a Remington RH 73 with an etching of deer on the blade. Probably never cost much, probably never will (except to me). It's beat up and stained from all it's years of use (can only imagine all the stories it could tell). Now, it rests next to my INFI-coot, the old and the new.
If anybody knows anything about this 4" Remington, let me know. It would be nice to know it's birthday.
Thanks for an interesting thread.
 
My Grandpa was kinda a knifeknut too. I have some of his knives. He has some in stainless and some in Carbon. Buck, Schrade and Kabar. I think he would be amazed that anyone cares enough about "pocket knives" enough to make all the cool techno advances. I just love the stockman, but I feel I NEED the one hand option. What would Grandpa say? I wish I could ask him.
 
I have the knife my uncle carried for almost 50 years.It's a John Primble 3 inch congress pattern,the blades are worn down to almost nothing.He bought this knife after coming home from WW2 and carried it til he died in 1996.The only other knife i know of him owning is a Schrade Senior Old Timer that he used for his hunting knife to skin the rabbits ans squirrels that he liked to hunt in the Fall.The blades are about 60% worn on the Old Timer.I also have the knife my grandpa carried,he carried it til he died also.The blades are about 60 to 70% worn,it shows alot of wear,but still has good snap.I don't know when he bought it but its the only knife i ever seen him carry.He died in 1975 at the age of 85.The knife was a carbon steel Imperial Barlow.I think they knew what they needed and what worked and stuck to that philosophy,plus,i don't think they had as much time on their hands as most of us do today to ponder on the different types and styles of knives and such.Life was much simpler in their time.
 
I think if my Grandpa knew I spent larger money on a pocket knife, he would be disappointed. I should know better. An Old Timer that's easy to sharpen and maintain is the way to go. They're nothing more than simple tools that are used to get you through the day. When the day is done, you hang it up. When it's worn out, you buy a new one. My "high dollar" knife is a Spyderdco Kiwi that reminds me of that time with my Grandpa. Hard to tell. It might be my last. Other tools need to be maintained and replaced, and in the grand scheme of farm life, a knife is pretty far down on the list of priorities.
 
My Grandpa died about three years ago. I got a small pocketknife that he used. It's an old Imperial.

I'm very glad that I have the knife. It's been in the family and the blades are a gorgeous, deep blue.

To be honest though, it's not something that I would consider using. The main blade is maybe 1.5 inches long and quite dull. Pulling the blades out of the handle has the potential to break your nails. The small handle also is not easy to grip.

You don't necessarily have to pay a lot of money to enjoy the new knife technology we have today. My Grandpa wasn't a knife nut, but I don't think he would have had a problem with getting a tactical folder if they were available in his day.
 
Don't know if it's "The One" but I'm currently carrying a simple SAK that has been daily carry for the past 16 years. There's plenty of others that rotate, but there's always a place for that one.

Chris
 
Well, he's never argued when I loan him my knife while we're hunting deer, because mine is always considerably sharper than his! My Grandpa is no stranger to new and improved either, he's an Electrical Engineer so he uses new technology quite a bit.
 
One of my Grandpas was a meat inspector. He carried butcher knives daily as the tools of his trade. They were above average quality. I've no doubt that he would have gotten something really nice if he had the money and opportunity.

My other Grandpa would only be happy with the cheapest, crappiest, ugliest knife he could find. That way he's not afraid of losing it or scratching it. Naturally, he uses my knives far more often since mine will actually cut.

A few years ago I was exploring my Great-Grandpa's abandoned farmstead and found a whole pile of weathered pocketknives beneath 2 inches of dust on a shelf in his garage. They were fairly good knives from what I could tell. There were maybe 7 or 8 of them, and every blade was worn down to a little sliver from constant sharpening. He actually used his knives. I think he would have really, really appreciated CPM S90V or ATS-34 at 62 Rc. The knives would have lasted ten times longer! Thus it would be much longer before he had to shell out his precious money for a new one, and he would have spent much less time sharpening them.
 
Well....when I showed my Grandfather (the one who I got my knife nuttiness from) my Spyderco Wegner and Military a year or so before he died he had one thing to say...

"how do I close these damn things?!"

Truth be known, he wouldn't be impressed. He was a man who knew how to get by on a plain ole Case slipjoint with about a 2.5- 3 inch blade, thank you very much. He was one of the ones whose knife you could split yer hair with at any moment of the day. He also wouldn't be very impressed with the tactical craze. He firmly believed in not carrying knives to gun fights. Also, he damn near cut a guy in half in a bar room brawl with a slip joint folding knife, not gonna be impressed with the tactical whiz bang guts and glory craze.

I shot my mouth off here in the forums long ago about going back to strictly traditional knives for a year. Well....I made it a couple months...:D I was errr...uhmmmmm....able to conclude the experiment far ahead of schedule due to the fact that the tremendous amount of skill and planning put into the experiment brought me to a conclusion much more rapidly than anticipated.....

In otherwords, I wimped out, although not before I really did recieve one hell of an education.

Main reason I went back to modern bells and whistles was for work. When I'm at work, I'm there to work, not play nostalgic headgames with myself. So, in those circumstances, I carry the latest and greatest quick deploying, best edge holding, firmest locking whupass wonder knife I can. (namely an 806 D2 Axis Lock, an Emerson La Griffe, and a BM Rescue Hook)

BUT..when I'm on my time, an' just bumblin' 'round my lil' home town...It's a Remington, Chicago Cutlery, or Camillus Stockman, and or a small fixed blade in a leather sheath.

They feel good to me, cut like mad, and I just plain enjoy them. I like the fine edge they have, and kinda enjoy the routine maintenance. It's fun to easily cut a refrigerator box into shreds while my buddy's trying to hack it to pieces with some kinda dull, chisel ground, tanto point wonder knife.

In short, I can definitely appreciate where yer comin' from. My traditional knives will almost always be the last ones to hit the sale or trade list.

I think the next Traditionals to come into my possession will be from Queen Cutlery. D2 in a traditional pattern! WOOHOO!!

Hope you enjoy yer latest!
 
Well, I made my first knife in my Grampa's workshop. Grandpa always carried a Case pocket knife. I buried this knife in my leg just above the knee when I was 5. He had a Ka Bar that he kept handy and had a couple of Buck's that he used for hunting. I'm currently plotting to steal them from my Uncle. His Buck fixed blades were made from files, before the folding hunters were invented. I understand he bought them from their shop here in San Diego. Grandpa gave we my first good knife( Buck 112), when I was 11. I don't think he'd have as many knives as I do, but I don't have as many guns as he did. He was something of a Browning collector. I like to think he'd appreciate the knives I have.
 
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