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- Dec 2, 2005
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This year seems to have gone very fast for me, but here we are in December, and I think it’s time for my annual ‘Your Knife of the Year’ thread – the 2017 edition! 
I’ve been posting this thread for a few years now, but for those who’ve not come across it before, here’s how it works.
In 2017, if you’re lucky, you may have bought, found, or been given, an EXCEPTIONAL knife. Maybe it was a knife you didn’t think was going to be that special, but it has absolutely CHARMED you. Perhaps it was an inexpensive knife, which you picked up somewhere, slipped in your pocket, and then found you couldn’t stop carrying it. It must be a knife you have gotten since the start of the year. If you’ve come across a knife like that, perhaps you’d like to nominate it as YOUR knife of the year.
Now, it could be that you’ve been perfectly happy carrying the knife you bought or were given many years ago, a knife which has served you so well, why would you want to change? If that’s the case, good luck to you my friend, but that knife doesn’t qualify.
It could be that you’ve had lots of knives this year, and liked many of them, but none of them really stood out. Don’t worry, maybe something will come along next year, which will absolutely knock your socks off. You can tell us about that knife next year.
Also, and we always get a couple of these, you may be one of those indecisive folks who just can’t make your mind up. Maybe you have two, or three, or four knives you really like, and can’t decide which you like the best. If that applies to you, feel free to start another thread, because if ONE of those knives doesn’t stand out, it doesn’t deserve to be nominated for this one. By all means mention a number of knives, but in the end, YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE. If you can’t…on yer bike!
It get worse, there’s no prize for this, and there’s no winner!
We’re just talking knives, and telling each other which single knife has made all the difference to us this year. So let’s begin 
I find myself thinking about this thread a fair bit over the course of a year, and this year more than most, because until recently, while I’d had lots of great knives this year, several of which are absolutely outstanding, nothing had really put a spell on me. There was a knife I thought might get produced this year, which I thought would make the cut, but then it got put off. I rotated my pocket carry, toting lots of knives I really like, but none of them really hit me right under the jaw. As the year progressed, I really thought that I would not have a knife I could nominate for this thread.
As most of you know, I love the Lambsfoot pattern. I’ve been using it most of my life, but the older I get, the more I appreciate it. I considered nominating the Lambsfoot knife above for my knife of 2016. I fell in love with the buffalo horn covers, it was well-made, and along with my ‘Abbeydale Jack’, I carried it an awful lot. In the end though, I realized that it was the Lambsfoot pattern I loved, rather than that particular knife, great as it was. My ‘Abbeydale Jack’ (below), an unmarked English Jack with stunning stag scales, was my knife of 2016.
I’ve had some beautiful Lambsfoot knives this year, but none of them really brought anything new to the table for me, so it seemed I was going to have to come here empty-handed. But then, a couple of months back, a few things came together to produce a knife that I think really does fit the bill. Some of you can probably guess where I’m going
There’d been talk in the Guardians of the Lambsfoot thread, going back a fair ways, of getting Sheffield cutler, Arthur Wright & Son, to make a special knife. It was a project which interested me, but which I also found rather daunting, not least because of my experiences of working with Sheffield cutlers in the past. Unlike most other patterns, the Lambsfoot pattern never made it across the pond from Sheffield, so many folk on this forum have only come across them recently. There are various theories about why the Lambsfoot didn’t cross the Atlantic, but my latest is that, when, back in the 19th century, Sheffield cutlers contacted their US factors to ask if they wanted to order some Lambsfoot knives, the American factors, not being able to tell the difference between a Lambsfoot and a Sheepsfoot, told their cutlery suppliers, “Oh, we already got those.”
I’ve been trying to get more folk here to try the Lambsfoot pattern for a few years now, and have been so pleased that many of those who’ve given it a chance have become as enamored with it as I have. So to thank the regulars who contribute to the Guardians thread, I thought it was worth taking a chance, and putting in some effort, to produce a not-for-profit (actually less than cost!) special edition Guardians Lambsfoot knife.
Since Arthur Wright & Son are the only Sheffield cutlery firm still making carbon-steel pocket knives, they were the obvious place to go. They also specialize in Lambsfoot knives, and since they are a traditional small Sheffield cutlery firm, I thought they were worth supporting. They were not phased by any of my special requests, and did an incredible job, to produce the sort of knife, which hasn’t been produced in Sheffield for a long time. They even put me the traditional ‘Real Lamb Foot’ etch on with their ancient pantograph machine (above). Thirty very special knives were the result of this project, and I think that everyone who has one treasures it. Dylan (@Padruig) also volunteered to make us all a super-special bespoke Guardians pocket slip
So, yes, I’m biased, absolutely, but the 2017 Guardians Lambsfoot is MY knife of 2017
I’ve been posting this thread for a few years now, but for those who’ve not come across it before, here’s how it works.In 2017, if you’re lucky, you may have bought, found, or been given, an EXCEPTIONAL knife. Maybe it was a knife you didn’t think was going to be that special, but it has absolutely CHARMED you. Perhaps it was an inexpensive knife, which you picked up somewhere, slipped in your pocket, and then found you couldn’t stop carrying it. It must be a knife you have gotten since the start of the year. If you’ve come across a knife like that, perhaps you’d like to nominate it as YOUR knife of the year.
Now, it could be that you’ve been perfectly happy carrying the knife you bought or were given many years ago, a knife which has served you so well, why would you want to change? If that’s the case, good luck to you my friend, but that knife doesn’t qualify.
It could be that you’ve had lots of knives this year, and liked many of them, but none of them really stood out. Don’t worry, maybe something will come along next year, which will absolutely knock your socks off. You can tell us about that knife next year.
Also, and we always get a couple of these, you may be one of those indecisive folks who just can’t make your mind up. Maybe you have two, or three, or four knives you really like, and can’t decide which you like the best. If that applies to you, feel free to start another thread, because if ONE of those knives doesn’t stand out, it doesn’t deserve to be nominated for this one. By all means mention a number of knives, but in the end, YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE. If you can’t…on yer bike!
It get worse, there’s no prize for this, and there’s no winner!
We’re just talking knives, and telling each other which single knife has made all the difference to us this year. So let’s begin I find myself thinking about this thread a fair bit over the course of a year, and this year more than most, because until recently, while I’d had lots of great knives this year, several of which are absolutely outstanding, nothing had really put a spell on me. There was a knife I thought might get produced this year, which I thought would make the cut, but then it got put off. I rotated my pocket carry, toting lots of knives I really like, but none of them really hit me right under the jaw. As the year progressed, I really thought that I would not have a knife I could nominate for this thread.
As most of you know, I love the Lambsfoot pattern. I’ve been using it most of my life, but the older I get, the more I appreciate it. I considered nominating the Lambsfoot knife above for my knife of 2016. I fell in love with the buffalo horn covers, it was well-made, and along with my ‘Abbeydale Jack’, I carried it an awful lot. In the end though, I realized that it was the Lambsfoot pattern I loved, rather than that particular knife, great as it was. My ‘Abbeydale Jack’ (below), an unmarked English Jack with stunning stag scales, was my knife of 2016.
I’ve had some beautiful Lambsfoot knives this year, but none of them really brought anything new to the table for me, so it seemed I was going to have to come here empty-handed. But then, a couple of months back, a few things came together to produce a knife that I think really does fit the bill. Some of you can probably guess where I’m going
There’d been talk in the Guardians of the Lambsfoot thread, going back a fair ways, of getting Sheffield cutler, Arthur Wright & Son, to make a special knife. It was a project which interested me, but which I also found rather daunting, not least because of my experiences of working with Sheffield cutlers in the past. Unlike most other patterns, the Lambsfoot pattern never made it across the pond from Sheffield, so many folk on this forum have only come across them recently. There are various theories about why the Lambsfoot didn’t cross the Atlantic, but my latest is that, when, back in the 19th century, Sheffield cutlers contacted their US factors to ask if they wanted to order some Lambsfoot knives, the American factors, not being able to tell the difference between a Lambsfoot and a Sheepsfoot, told their cutlery suppliers, “Oh, we already got those.”
I’ve been trying to get more folk here to try the Lambsfoot pattern for a few years now, and have been so pleased that many of those who’ve given it a chance have become as enamored with it as I have. So to thank the regulars who contribute to the Guardians thread, I thought it was worth taking a chance, and putting in some effort, to produce a not-for-profit (actually less than cost!) special edition Guardians Lambsfoot knife.
Since Arthur Wright & Son are the only Sheffield cutlery firm still making carbon-steel pocket knives, they were the obvious place to go. They also specialize in Lambsfoot knives, and since they are a traditional small Sheffield cutlery firm, I thought they were worth supporting. They were not phased by any of my special requests, and did an incredible job, to produce the sort of knife, which hasn’t been produced in Sheffield for a long time. They even put me the traditional ‘Real Lamb Foot’ etch on with their ancient pantograph machine (above). Thirty very special knives were the result of this project, and I think that everyone who has one treasures it. Dylan (@Padruig) also volunteered to make us all a super-special bespoke Guardians pocket slip
So, yes, I’m biased, absolutely, but the 2017 Guardians Lambsfoot is MY knife of 2017
