Your thoughts on the 'definitive' working man's folder?

Its a sad thing, but I think the box cutter is taking over from the personal knife in many area's. The last job I worked before I retired, most of the young guys in the shop carried one of those sheet metal box cutters that took a single edge razor blade. A few had the plastic break away/new blade things. Only myself and a few of the workers over 50 had a real pocket knife.

Also he multi-tool has affected a whole younger generation. With a knife blade on the Leatherman/Gerber/Coast or whatever, it makes a regular knife seem redundent to them. As the Leatherman concept came about very long after I grew up, I just can't seem to warm up to the folding pliers with a knife blade tossed in. But I can see that if I were a down to earth pragmatist just comming of age, the multi may seem to be the end all of "being prepared".
 
I came across a photo in a book the other day of a French multi tool rather like the Leatherman or Victorinox and this was well before the 2nd World War. Didn't catch on till much later though. Nowt wrong with them, but Box Cutters are not knives working or otherwise, they are crude implements used for crude tasks, it's like returning to using FLINTS!!!
 
Jackknife, I guess it's the generation thing we always talk about on this forum. I asked you once if your dad had a SAK as his only knife, would you feel more nostalgic about them? Well, I guess the same goes for Multitools. If they were as popular, prolific, and available back them as they are now, do you think our fathers and grandfathers would have preferred them over simple pocketknives? I posted a thread on this one time on here asking that question. I am of the "Multitool" generation, and can't seem to go ANYWHERE without my Leatherman strapped to my side. Sometimes it is my only knife/tool for days on end. I almost feel guilty at times when I log on here, see the threads, and say to myself "Damn, Johnny, where's your pocketknife been? You're letting the forum down, son!!!" You (Jackknife) are ruled by memories of scents, sights, and textures that I WISH I had. However, having grown up in the big city, I never did any of those things. And, I am a very pragmatic person to begin with. I am also a bit of a minimalist. It may not make sense to say I carry a multitool and am a minimalist, but I'd rather have one tool that has some screwdrivers, pliers, knife, scissors, etc., then have to carry all of them individually. And yes, I use my tool often, many times a day actually, at work, at home, etc. I just feel prepared with one. My hunk of used, scratched steel has character to me. It has a soul, even though it has no Stag or Bone handles. As I said before, I guess it's just a generation difference. Nothing wrong with carrying a pocketknife exclusively or a multitool exclusively. It just comes down to carrying what you like.
 
ElCuchillo said:
Jackknife, I guess it's the generation thing we always talk about on this forum. I asked you once if your dad had a SAK as his only knife, would you feel more nostalgic about them? Well, I guess the same goes for Multitools. If they were as popular, prolific, and available back them as they are now, do you think our fathers and grandfathers would have preferred them over simple pocketknives? I posted a thread on this one time on here asking that question. I am of the "Multitool" generation, and can't seem to go ANYWHERE without my Leatherman strapped to my side. Sometimes it is my only knife/tool for days on end. I almost feel guilty at times when I log on here, see the threads, and say to myself "Damn, Johnny, where's your pocketknife been? You're letting the forum down, son!!!" You (Jackknife) are ruled by memories of scents, sights, and textures that I WISH I had. However, having grown up in the big city, I never did any of those things. And, I am a very pragmatic person to begin with. I am also a bit of a minimalist. It may not make sense to say I carry a multitool and am a minimalist, but I'd rather have one tool that has some screwdrivers, pliers, knife, scissors, etc., then have to carry all of them individually. And yes, I use my tool often, many times a day actually, at work, at home, etc. I just feel prepared with one. My hunk of used, scratched steel has character to me. It has a soul, even though it has no Stag or Bone handles. As I said before, I guess it's just a generation difference. Nothing wrong with carrying a pocketknife exclusively or a multitool exclusively. It just comes down to carrying what you like.
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I totally agree with you.

We each are an end product of the experiances that shape us in our early years. Those sights and sounds we see and hear will mold us. If I was born in the 1970's, I very well may have been a loyal booster of the Leatherman. I can see the apeal, like a sak only better equipted. Can open cans, bottles, strip and cut wire, screw or unscrew, and even cut something if need be. And they arn't new, the U.S. Army Air corp had a bail out kit knife that was very similar, as did the O.S.S.. A combo knife, saw, file, plier/wire cutter. if dad had a sak, I'd feel about it the same way I feel about his peanut. It certainly would be the tool to have if one was on the run.

But he did'nt.

Instead I have these old knives with yellowed stag handles, that when I pick them up and feel the warm smooth matieral, a flood of memories come back where I can smell the salt air of the Chesapeake, feel the Lady Anne roll in the chop, see grandad with his creased weathered face, the old cracked Dr. Graybow pipe in his teeth. When I hold dad's peanut I see him when he was teaching me to shoot his old Colt Woodsman, see him using lemon oil on the real wood trim in hs Hudson Hornet.

Someday a child will handle an old scarred worn Leatherman and remember when his gator wrestling dad took him fishing and used the Leatherman to trim some line, or the time that dad showed him how to make the perfect hot dog roasting fork. That Leatherman will be a valuable treasure to him or her because it holds the memory of you.

Memories make us who we are.

But I don't see a box cutter ever being in that relm. I think that was the point of a couple of the posts I was agreeing wth.
 
MG_Saldivar said:
Phil, I hate to hijack my own thread, but out of curiosity, are there many 'tactical' knife knuts in your area? Might that be why the slipjoint users are pretty much confined to using those two patterns?
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I was really talking about over my lifetime; I am 42 years old. In my youth, there was no such as a "tactical knife". Still everyone carried the trapper or medium stockman. The only fixed blades ever used by anyone was for hunting, usually deer hunters, and the usual tool of choice was the leather handled Case with a 5'' blade. I have one friend who carries a Leatherman tool. Only person I know with one. Same guy who carries the sodbuster, the only sodbuster I've ever seen in actual use. Most of the knife stores around here don't even sell sodbusters. Marvins Building Supply in Cullman has a bunch of them, sitting right there in the display where they've been for many years, as they don't sell well. They still have some yellow CV Cases for less than twenty bucks, I ought to get one of them. I didn't know what an Opinel was until I saw a display of them in a cutlery store up in Hartselle. THe owner of the shop said that they don't sell either, because they are looked on as "junk" because of the low price. We know they aren't junk, but the average bozo on the street around here ain't a buyin' no Frenchie wood handled knife. Good or not, they aren't selling around here. I carried a Schrade 125OT folding hunter as a teenager and squirrel hunter, and people looked at me as if I were carrying a sword or axe. I bought an SAK when I was about 22 years old. People looked at it like a toy or a curiousity, not a "real knife". The heavy duty SAK's (alox) are FAR from being toys, they are solidly made long lasting tools. I tore up the last plastic handled SAK that I had, a Wenger. It developed a lazy spring on the smaller cutting blade, so I relegated it to rough usage around the house, and I broke off one of the scales and bent the aluminum liner beneath that. Still laying around out in the shop somewhere, probably never be seen again.

I do see most of the younger guys (below thirty) carrying what looks like Benchmades and Spydercos. The black plastic/easy open/pocket clip knife HAS replaced the slipjoint with that generation. A lot of these knives may be Chinese copies of Spyders and Benches, I don't know, haven't asked them. I do know that you can walk into Walmart and go to the pocketknife display and see very very few traditional knives, most everything is modern "tactical" junk. If it doesn't look "cool" or weaponish or scarey, the customers don't want them. The older guys like me hit the knife shops looking for Queens, Case, Schrade, etc., I wouldn't be caught dead pulling a "tactical" knife out of my pocket, I thoroughly dislike them, the reasons which would be diverging from the topic of this thread, so I'll not bother everyone with that speech.
 
Like many of you, I am from an earlier generation and my grandfather raised his family on the farm through the depression, my father served in WWII and returned to the farm. I left the farm and have worked construction for many of my years with time served in the patent and engineering fields. My choice of a working man's knife is a slim stockman for most chores. I do have utility knives. In fact, I have most types of knives including hunting knives because I am a hunter as well as a collector. I EDC the stockman (designed and first produced in 1967) and the utility knife lives in my toolbox. The stockman gets used more than the utility.

My young workers (18-25) carry all sorts of blactical folders, most chinese knockoffs. Occasionally I have a worker who shows promise and respects tools, and he gets a Schrade stockman as a bonus. But for the most part, they can't tell the difference in quality and utility between them.

We are indeed products of our experience and mentor's teachings.

Codger
 
FWIW, I am 39 y/o.

My first knife was an inexpensive barlow with a clip and a pen blade, carbon steel. My dad gave it to me around the time I was 9 or 10.

Next knife was a Victorinox Pioneer. Carried it for several years including a trip to Europe where it came in handy on more than on occasion. Then for awhile I carried an Explorer #11-222 lockback, then a Spyderco Delica, then a Benchmade 550 Griptilian.

About a year ago I went back to the Pioneer, since with the bottle and can openers, reamer, and screwdrivers, it's generally more useful. A few weeks ago I got a red Vic Farmer and now I'm EDCing that. I've also taken to carrying the Griptilian in addition to the Farmer.

Aside from the pocketknives I do carry a multitool in my laptop bag, not on my person. For years this was a Gerber, but I got a Victorinox SwissTool RS which blows away any Gerber or Leatherman I've seen, quality-wise (IMO, YMMV). There's a Vic Cybertool 41 in my bag as well, since I work around computers and networking stuff. I've found that the socket bits on the Cybertool also work well for home gunsmithing. :)

I have in a drawer a 1985 Remington Woodsman Bullet knife that I bought new. It's still in the original box with the paperwork. Not quite mint, because I sharpened it (it was dull as hell when I got it). I was looking at it last night and giving serious thought to carrying it.

Been looking at stockmans and trappers lately. :)
 
I hardly ever see anyone with a knife at work and I honestly never really have. In the past 6 years of working different carpentry, welding, and machining jobs I can only remember working with maybe 5 people that have carried a folder of any type. Only one guy, a welder from Missouri had a slip joint and it was a large stockman. I even have a friend who is an electrican and he had never seen a electricans jack until I showed him mine. All the rest of the guys seep to pretty much use a Stanley 99 utility knife, or a "supper" knife. It is kind of sad really. Joe
 
ahgar said:
" I think THE knife of the working man is probably a Chinese-made razor/utility box-cutter type thing that he purchased in the check-out line at Home Depot for $1.99."

that's what i've been noticing lately and for some reason i find it kind of depressing.
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It's very depressing. Between them and the cheapo "tacticals" from the gas station, I wonder how companies can even sell slipjoints anymore.
 
I carried my original big Vic SAK for years - then I added a smaller Vic Deluxe Tinker. Somewhere in the eighties, I added a Buck 110 - then - early nighties - a Buck 301 Stockman. The first 110 and Deluxe Tinker are hiding in my home somewher. That 301, finally scarey sharp again, is a great carry - a blade for every use. The SAK's were always embarassingly dull - and I seldom used the 'extra's'.

Nowadays, I split time between a number of Kershaws and Bucks - but the Stockman is a hard act to follow for utility - and it's scars show it's use. The resurgence in it's use was due most recently to it's new found sharpener - a Sharpmaker. I guess I am still somewhat partial to the 110 for a do-everything blade. Maybe I need a 55 or Ranger? The Stockman is a hard act to follow - when you need edges.

Stainz
 
I grew up in 10-uh-C in the late 50's and 60's.
Spent just about every weekend on my Uncle's farm (mostly timber on 900 acres with a small 3 acre lake.) The usual agenda was hunting, target shooting and cane pole fishing.

We had our chores to do also (mostly planting trees, fence repair, taking care of what little stock was kept). At that time most of the working knives I saw were Sodbusters and Sodbuster Jr.'s. Around the mid 60's a lot of Buck 110's were showing up to work.

My dad confirms jackknife's thery. When dad was younger barlows seem to have been very much in use. Most kids wanted a nice barlow like their dad carried back then.
 
As some already know, my father is BF member "James Todd". As far as I can remember, he always carried some knife on him, but showed a preference for collecting Case Peanuts. He would pick up knives on vacations and occasionally I would get one as a gift.

Funny thing is if I didn't keep the knife (any knife, for that matter) in my bedside table drawer consistently, I would end up losing it. A few years went by before I learned that they were making their way back into his storage... ;)

As a result of that, I've carried all sorts of knives - from Case Peanuts to Bucks to some form of Swiss Army knife to souvenir knives... Some years ago I caught my Dad with a new EDC - a William Henry of some sort. Somehow I was able to procure a WH T10CF off of Dad and that knife has been my EDC ever since. Still carry it, get Dad to sharpen it ever so often...

I've gotten a bit better about holding onto knives... I've left this one in a drawer in a hotel room that I had already checked out of (and was thirty minutes away in Atlanta Turner Field Ballpark when I realized it). I accidentally carried it through airport security (Post 9/11!!) on a trip to Chicago.

Reading posts here, and I'm thinking those CR Sebenzas look very nice... but my taste has always exceeded my means... :)
 
I'm more or less a tactical folder knut, but I still like a well made traditional folder. I carry a large single blade folder in my right front pocket, at the moment it is a Strider AR I've seriously modified to fit my pocket and be completely concealed. Enough on that as this is traditional folders. Day in, day out, I also have a Case Barlow riding in my left pocket that ends up doing 99% of my knife work. I've found that the two blades are pretty much able to handle anything I throw at them. I've also found that most people don't even bat an eye when I pull out my barlow, where, on the other hand, if I had to pull out my AR I'm afraid my coworkers would absolutely FREAK! I may really be tactically minded, but there is room for those traditional patterns!:thumbup::)
 
I was born in 1971, so that makes me one of the multitool generation, I guess. I have carried a SAK (the same one) for most of my life, and then started carrying multitools about twelve years ago when I started motorcycling. I love the aesthetics of a good, traditional, slipjoint or fixed blade, but I usually find myself reaching for a muiltitool to carry for its versatile funtionality. The traditional knives are for when it is not appropriate to have a multitool on my belt, or simply to carry for my own pleasure.

I generally dislike tactical looking knives, although I do have a Spyderco Native in the car and a Becker Crewman in my tool chest.
 
I grew up on a farm in West Central Illinois. We had pigs, corn, soybeans, and wheat. 'The' knife my father carried was an Old Timer / Uncle Henry stockman. First, try and pry something open with the spey blade. That will chip it making an effective flat head screwdriver. The clip blade works well as a phillips screwdriver from the beginning. Scratch the heck out of the sheepsfoot. Carry pliers in the pliers holder on your belt.

Now, lose the knife and repeat ;-)

Sincerely,
Jay
 
My father was a cattleman. I spent my youth among such people, and just about everyone carried some kind of medium stockman. You would see the occasional whittler or trapper, but for me, the stockman will always be "the" workingman's knife.
 
I'd have to go for the SAK. Most of the older generation in my family (eastern South Dakota farming country) used whatever they had and broke/replaced as needed and really couldn't care less. It breaks my heart to see it sometimes, but no nostalgia for tools there. But it's also understandable, when things such as the harvest have to get done before the weather comes in, everything else takes second place.

As much as I like stockmen (my favorite pattern), the tools on the SAK are just too handy. If I were farming, it would be a multi tool. This is for a working man who has to get the job done.

If it's for woodsloafing, church, or whatever, then it's a different story.
 
jay9398 said:
I grew up on a farm in West Central Illinois. We had pigs, corn, soybeans, and wheat. 'The' knife my father carried was an Old Timer / Uncle Henry stockman. First, try and pry something open with the spey blade. That will chip it making an effective flat head screwdriver. The clip blade works well as a phillips screwdriver from the beginning. Scratch the heck out of the sheepsfoot. Carry pliers in the pliers holder on your belt.

Now, lose the knife and repeat ;-)

Sincerely,
Jay
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Sadly this kind of treatment is more common than not. I can't begin to count the number of pocket knives I've seen with snapped off blades, chipped blades, poorly reground blades.

There are those out there that a pocket knife is just a semi-disposable tool to be beat up till its used up. Then like Jay said, repeat.

If they want a screw driver why don't they get a multitool or a sak?
 
sodak said:
Most of the older generation in my family (eastern South Dakota farming country) used whatever they had and broke/replaced as needed and really couldn't care less. It breaks my heart to see it sometimes, but no nostalgia for tools there.
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Sodak, that's a great reminder that, while many of us knife knuts ARE knife knuts because parents or other relatives showed us the value of knives not only as tools but as works of craftsmanship (that's why many of us own vintage knives that have been handed down), most people in the past had a throwaway mentatlity not too different from that among many people today. :o
 
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