I acquired lots of knives this year, including generous gifts from Porch members and satisfying purchases I made. Which, if any, is worthy of Knife of the Year?
Since I adopted the idea of having a rotation schedule that dictates what knives I carry each week, I find this KotY exercise more challenging, since I can't just go by what knife I've carried the most. (One reason for the schedule is to try to give all my knives somewhat equal opportunities to be carried.) Also, Jack lays out his rules for eligibility for KotY and I have some rules of my own, and Jack's rules and my rules are sometimes at odds. For example, only knives obtained in 2018 are eligible, but I really struggle considering any knife I haven't had for 5 or 6 months, so probably at least half of my knives are NEVER eligible. So I argue with myself about whether I can relax my "5 or 6 month" criterion in some cases (or I consider falsifying dates on which I come into possession of knives
).
If I didn't insist on having a knife for a good portion of the year in order to be eligible, I think I'd probably join many who have already chosen their Ashley's Choice lambsfoot as KotY.
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My AC, which I named Cracker Jack, is certainly a charming knife, I've probably already taken more pics of it than I've taken of any other knife I own, and it's IMHO a standout in substance and style. But I must "to myself be true" and ultimately decided that it's too new to be KotY.
What knife did I end up choosing? Well, I certainly DO like stag covers ever so much, and I've been a fan of Rough Riders ever since I bought my first set of 12 assorted patterns. I had the opportunity in 2018, thanks to
@black mamba, to purchase 4 old Rough Riders in stag that were produced before I ever got reinterested in pocket knives. One of the ones Jeff sold me is a medium stockman, a favorite pattern of mine with slender clip, low-riding sheepsfoot, and almost sunk joints. That knife, as a representative of the 4 knives I was able to get and as a representative of stag-handled knives in general and as a representative of my beloved Rough Riders is my KotY 2018:
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- GT