As I begin my journey up Mt Curmudgeon, I realize the fingers are stiff and achy, the eyesight ain't what it used to be and the knees are a bit stiff and need a minute to warm up. While I still can manage a Peanut, they ride in the watch pocket of my jeans. Handiest pocket tool there is. Opened up a packet of seeds the other day in the garden that I was fumbling with. Somehow I have accumulated 4 Peanuts. I'm not sure how and I'm not confessing to my wife for sure. No shortage of sharpness though. I touch them up everyday on the little Case oil stone on my desk and they too "cut like the dickens." Carl, much appreciation to you for leading the way and showing the path to simplicity.
You're very welcome!
The climb up the Curmudgeon mountain has been a long one, and often a painful one. On these damp mornings, everything I've ever broken, torn, or was operated on hurts, and I can't do a lot of what I used to. On the other hand, do I really want to do that anymore?
Life is lived in stages. We go through those stages and if we have the sense to change, we change with those stages. Sometimes change is hard, sometimes we fight tooth and nail trying to pretend that we're still able to keep on like we used to. Sometimes, often, that doesn't work so well. Sometimes it's painful to come to that realization that hits you like a John Wayne haymaker in the chops. It means looking the facts in the face and accepting them. Like accepting that we can't hike up a steep mountain trail with a 35 pound pack on our back anymore. Then accepting you can't lug a 25 pound ultra light pack up that same trail. Then the day when you're just out for a day hike with just a day pack with a sandwich and canteen in the pack, and you realize you can't do that anymore. You look at your wife and say "When the heck did we get this old???" And she tugs on your white beard and tells you that its been happening and you refused to see it.
Guns, knives, tools, motorcycles, all fad in importance as we get old. Or in most cases, they shrink somewhat. Priorities get reshuffled. You often look back on things in your life that you used to do, and think "What the hell was I thinking then?"Or "Why was I carrying that???"
I noticed a little change in priorities as I went though my 50's. I noticed a little more change as I went though my 60's. But the most dramatic change has been as I go through my 70's. And I do not use the word dramatic lightly. I remember with sad fondness my days of being able to open and close and fondle a peanut, just as I remember being able with no effort or pain shoot a box of 50 rounds through my lightweight J frame .38 revolver. Or hike up a mountain trail with a backpack for three days. But then, do we still want to?
Nahhh! Keep moving on with what ya got, however you can.
There's a lot to like in the 303 and 309 patterns, simple, strong and easy to pocket. Can't say I've had a lot of success in getting them uber sharp though, it's the sabre grind that prevents me, for some reason. Decently sharp yes but not terrifyingly or Dickens' sharp 
