Why do you carry a Traditional?

hunterjrg

hunterjrg

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I often wonder why people carry traditional type knives. My own love started back with my grandpa and my uncle. My grandpa carried a frontier stockman with white scales. He had several in case one got lost or dropped in a lake while fishing. My uncle collected knives and I loved going in his basement looking at all the Case, Remington Bullet, Marbles and whatever. Both are gone and are hugely missed. The second part for me is the pure beauty in a stag or bone knife. They just have class.

Why do you carry a traditional and which is your favorite?

Lately mine has been this Northwoods in Stag

 
Similar to the way when I'm carrying my stabmaster 2000 I channel my inner richard marcinko. When I carry my slipjoint I'm channeling my inner Matlock. :p

But really because they're nice looking and less scary to the wusses. Part of me hates that I take into consideration #2. oh yeah and nostalgia/old timiness even though I'm not of that time :p
 
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But really because they're nice looking and less scary to the wusses. Part of me hates that I care about #2.[/QUOTE]


so true
 
I'm new to the traditional forum, but have carried traditional hand-me-downs for most of my life. Since mine were inherited there's the sentimental value, but it also just feels classier. I like a Spyderco or Kershaw as much as the next guy, but a pocket clip and a dry martini just don't mix. Let alone a pocket clip and a tux.
 
I carry a traditional knife because it is the style of knife I enjoy. It reminds me to slow down, provides the warmth of a worry stone, and links me to a time period I romanticize over. I never was exposed to cutlery until this past year and often wish my dad had a few in his pocket growing up. (He has a Stew's Blade now.) I started off in the modern. I loved researching steel, the latest flippers, and sought after an edc for personal defense. I soon realized I didn't need that. Nor, did I really enjoy it. While I still have a modern flipper I keep clipped in my boot for personal defense, I really wanted a knife, or knives, with history. I wanted a knife I could hand down that carried my story along with it. One that developed a patina, could take on character, and one that reminded those that I handed them down to of who I really was, a traditional knife kinda of guy.

I don't have a single favorite. These three are my favorite.

 
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I carry a knife because I have regular need of the ability to cut stuff.
I carry one of traditional design because that appeals to me.
Combine the two and you end up with a traditional pocketknife. OH
 
It's simple really. A Spyderco looks ridiculous clipped to the pocket of my slacks.

- Christian
 
I appreciate the history, aesthetic, and craftsmanship - and feeling a tie to that history by continuing to use these tools.

Plus, I love the way they look and feel in the hand - and I lose fewer knives in pockets than I do with clips.
 
Never personally carried moderns and never took an interest in them. Sure I remember my grandpas carrying pocket knives on occasion, but I'm not sure that had that much to do with it either. I think what it is for me is the elegance of the tool and the idea that every man (and many women) would have this pretty, proud, thing in their pocket to take care of daily tasks and maybe whittle or carve a bit, or even use as a worry stone. Not sure if I romanticize another time period as much as dont' think that time is necessarily over. I like the astounding variety of models, shapes, sizes of Traditionals, which seems to point to their total ubiquity, that there are as many types of traditionals as there are types of people. Its sort of a coincidence that I live in NYC and almost any modern knife would be illegal here, at least according to some police officers.
 
I carry a traditional because that is all that was around when I was young and started carrying a pocket knife. For years and years I had a scout knife and a Gerber Silver Knight lockback. I switched over to multi-blade knives about 8 or 10 tears ago, and that is what I still prefer to carry. A stockman or two-blade jackknife are my carry 90% of the time. Besides the selection of blades, I like the craftsmanship, the natural materials and the variety of traditional knives. Here's a couple of my faves.

FRbwOpen_zps3058feec.jpg~original


StagonWood_zps575f5bb1.jpg~original
 
kamagong said:
It's simple really. A Spyderco looks ridiculous clipped to the pocket of my slacks.

- Christian
Click to expand...

Exactly! I wear body armor and carry a firearm for work, so a Spydie fits in just fine... I feel a little silly with it in most of my down time though. They've sort of found their home at work and around the house, I really need some classier pieces for the town though. You know, when you're wearing a watch that needs winding.
 
I purchased my first traditional, a GEC #92 Talon, so that it would be my secondary blade. I wanted a blade to use so I could keep my Emerson fresh and sharp. I work in a job that can paint me as a target (a bank manager in an urban environment). Ive since learned how great a cutter a traditional makes. I've since added a #15 Boys Knife Clip and a #77 Barlow Sheepsfoot to my repertoire. I'll continue to keep the Emerson in my pocket to give me peace of mind walking from my car to my branch and vice versa. But the traditionals are my go to blade for my everyday cutting tasks.
 
I actually have the good fortune of using knives in my trade...and like tools there are different ones for different jobs.

But hands down I find a nice Traditional is a true cutter...great for trim work and the like. My LOVE of traditionals dates back to my youth, they are what I was raised on. My Grandmother was thee single biggest influence in my passion for knives.

I never knew either of my Grandfathers...only told stories...my Grandfather Norman managed two grain Elevators, one in Kathryn, ND (which my Mother is named after) and Eastedge, ND. Although my Grandfather Norman passed of Cancer when my Mom was seventeen I was told wonderful stories of the Man he was:thumbup:

My Grandmother Gladys had a roll top desk of several knives of my Grandfathers...the Elevators passed them out as complimentary gifts to the local Farmers. She would tell me "Paul, you can use one when play down by the river today" In essence I was a modern day Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer:thumbup:

My Grandmother Gladys was our Matriarch and pure class, always beautifully dressed yet Country Strong...she told me that my Grandfather Norman was the love of her life and she never re-married. She moved from the country to the city and raised my Mom and two Uncles. The day of her funeral we all spoke of the fond memories of her and the knives in the old roll top desk was the story I recalled:thumbup:

So, basicly, traditionals are what I know best...I know it sounds silly to most...but they take on a bit of a soul like feel to me. Aged wood/bone covers that act as a talisman/worry stone and steel that speaks to you in the patina it earns:thumbup:
 
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I carry traditional knives because they work. It also tends to make me think about what I am cutting and how so it adds to the safety factor a bit. There is also the fact that they remind me that quality is still coming from factories in America.
 
My mom said it was ok...

G2
 
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