My decision has been made about what knife to take to the next wedding I am attending.
Darrel Ralph has just informed me that I will be receiving a shipment, hopefully before he leaves for the Blade Show. So it will be a small Apogee at my side during the celebration.
Here is a not unrelated question that some of you might be able to help out with. The wife and I disagree over wedding present ideas for this occasion. She insists it is proper to send a gift that useful for both of them as a married couple, something to contribute to the future prosperity of the couple. On this we agree. The disagreement is over the actual gift.
She insists that we pick something that they registered for, most likely some household item such as china or an appliance. I think we should give them cutlery. Specifically, a nice fixed blade for their camping and kayaking trips. That is how the two of them met, and they spend much of their vacation time in such activities. It was almost how they were going to spend their honeymoon, but apparently the bride-to-bes friends convinced her otherwise. (Its your honeymoon, do you really want to be that far from a bathroom? is the quote my Uncle passed along to me.)
I doubt that they registered for one, but I think it meets all the other requirements. My wife just gives me the look and says Its supposed to be for both of them. She is not the outdoors type, my urban princess of the night (who is out with the girls celebrating a friends birthday, she will call to have me pick her up at closing time because it might be a while before I let her take a taxi again. If you live in the Bay Area you probably know why.) and cannot comprehend that another woman might actually appreciate a gift like this, if not at first.
I imagine when they open the box she will wonder What in the world? but on their next trip I am sure it will come in handy. My uncle says he has an old Gerber lockback, kinda small that he takes on camping trips, and that he covets the AFCK that I gave to my younger brother. (I have a lot of family living in San Diego, and we are a tight knit bunch.) I think he (I mean they, they, not he) would love a nice fixed blade, and would genuinely appreciate a quality knife. He (soon to be they) has(will have) a very nice spear that he traded a couple of Bob Marley t-shirts for when he(they. No, I mean he, she wasnt there) went on a trip to Africa a few years back (I am not kidding, this story is confirmed by a reliable source, they are apparently a very popular item where he visited.) and just a little nudge could bring him into the fold. He says he will have an email address after they are married and her computer becomes their computer, and this forum will be the first link that I send him.
So does anyone have any advice? We have a policy that I pay for gifts to my family members, she pays for gifts to hers (not my idea, but hard to argue with since I have four siblings, my sainted Mother, nine Aunts and Uncles, not counting their spouses, and some twenty odd cousins. And my generation has started to have children as well, so the nieces, nephews and second cousins are starting to add up as well. She has her smother, I mean Mother, a younger sister, a half brother and a niece and nephew. Tight knit in a different fashion), so I will have to pony up the dough. Not that this makes much of a difference; she has become an expert at spending my money, and does have excellent taste.
But this once, and maybe just this once, I think that I might just be in the right. It would be useful, practical and unique. I would be one gift they never forget, and I am sure they would think of us every time they used it. But how do I convince my wife that it is a genuinely good idea and not just a product of my obsession, er, appreciation of a quality knife. I am sure that I have convinced all of you, but what course do I take. Can anyone think of a compelling argument to support my case, or should I just buy it and suffer her wrath (the standard knife purchase strategy that has developed in our house).
Worst case scenario, I end up with a Chris Reeve Mountaineer II or Mk VI, and let my wife pick something else from the registry. So maybe the question is, any advise about these two knives? Any others that you would recommend? Do any dealers have them in stock? (I will need to have my hands on it within the next month.) I picked these two because I am a big fan of the Chris Reeves Sebenza, they are a great company and these knives are exactly in our price range. They seem very well suited to the task, but I have no personal experience with them, and I myself have not done much camping since before I met my wife. Any information and advice on this matter would also be appreciated.
Thanks in advance everyone, and wish me luck.
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James
If you had looked in a dictionary right then, under embarrassment, you would have seen her picture!
