Your Traditional Knife of the Year 2021 (Please read post #1 before posting)

[JW225]

Thanks again to Jack Black for this great thread each year.
This was really pretty easy this year. My KOTY is the Voss USA Jack knife I discovered in my old tackle box that my dad got me when I was a kid. He used also. This tackle box has sat for almost 45 years without a thought that a knife like this would be in there. Great thing is after cleaning it up, it is just a wonderful knife with great walk & talk. A joy to carry. Special of course because it was my dad's even though he does not remember how he got it (he's 96).

Wow — that’s such a great story!

 

[pmek5]

What a treasure! That could be the best knife of your life!

Wow — that’s such a great story!

Thank you guys.

 

[Quiet]

I went back and forth with this one. Like many others here, I absolutely love the 2021 Bladeforums knife. It has everything, the bolsters, the coloration, and best of all, it's an #86 (my favorite GEC pattern)! But, there have been others. The Bloodwood #38, the micarta #85s, my Glitter Gold (and Rose Gold!!!) TCs, but honestly, my knife of the year arrived in my hands late in the game, a little before Christmas. It's such a classic, classy knife. Big enough to do some work, but beautiful enough to stand as a work of art in its own right. The design, materials, the workmanship, everything about my example is perfect. I have enjoyed many new GECs this year, but this knife tops them all for me.

The Angus Jack Medium Rare #86. It's my Traditional knife of 2021.

 

[JoeGoblyn]

First off, thank you to Jack Black for putting this thread together and giving me a reason to go over the knives I got this year and really appreciate them.

So, my two runners up….

Early in the year I got this little 33 from GEC and it spent a lot of time with me. For the size of the knife, it has a lot of blade and is a really unassuming daily carry. The stag is pretty nice too. So that’s bonus points.

Then I saw this Queen #99 in AFAustin ’s annual “Going to the Dogs” sale. I love dogs and I love knives so how could I not get something? I carried this a lot at work and it was probably my knife of the year until I got this little knife in the mail…

The #68 Pony Jack is my knife of the year. I love the size (it’s a little bigger than the 33, but still feels small), the blades being a really classic setup with the secondary in front of the main on the same end and the cocobolo covers tie it all together. This is truly a great for me and will be a favorite for a long time to come.

-Joe

 

[TheChunk91]

This year was a bit more slow in knife acquisition than the last two though not for any particular reason. Most of the year I was doing my usual knife obsessing. The last few months I have not had knives on my mind or been on the forum much. These last two months have been tough; I lost my beloved 7 year old german shepherd Odin to a brain tumor in november, and in december my dad was hospitalized with covid pneumonia for 11 days. For a while there we were unsure what would happen. Thank god he was able to come back home (just before Christmas too) and is recovering well. We work together in a family plumbing business, and with him out in recovery for now work has been a bit more demanding. Thankfully that has been a pretty good learning experience for me and I’m taking on some new responsibilities. My new german shepherd puppy Freyr is wonderful, and is greatly helping the healing process after the horrible loss of Odin. Things seem to be going in a good direction now, lord willing. If not, he puts us through trials for good reason.

The notable finds of the year:

Beginning the year I found an early stamp schrade walden 81043 jumbo stockman, a scarce find.



A minty stainless walden 808.



And a nice flat bolster cut co 7193.



I am grateful to have acquired a forum barlow. I carried and used it for a couple months non stop. It’s been on a little break lately. A beautiful and well crafted knife that reminds me of the fine and generous folks we have around here. Even as good as it is, it takes the runner up position for me.



This year I really got into swiss army knives. I’ve never disliked them but they also didn’t quite excite me like a typical american traditional pocket knife did; at least that was the case until I bought a pioneer, shortly afterwards a pioneer x, and then a soldier from my birth year of ‘94. Talk about a sturdy, precisely made, simple and highly useful pocket tool. The real magic of the swiss army knives are found in the 93mm alox, they just have that special stuff. Really I could go either way between the three but the one I used and carried the most this year was the pioneer x. You can’t beat the precise vic scissors. I absolutely love this knife, and it along with its brethren will be EDC staples for years to come.

 

[Jack Black]

This year was a bit more slow in knife acquisition than the last two though not for any particular reason. Most of the year I was doing my usual knife obsessing. The last few months I have not had knives on my mind or been on the forum much. These last two months have been tough; I lost my beloved 7 year old german shepherd Odin to a brain tumor in november, and in december my dad was hospitalized with covid pneumonia for 11 days. For a while there we were unsure what would happen. Thank god he was able to come back home (just before Christmas too) and is recovering well. We work together in a family plumbing business, and with him out in recovery for now work has been a bit more demanding. Thankfully that has been a pretty good learning experience for me and I’m taking on some new responsibilities. My new german shepherd puppy Freyr is wonderful, and is greatly helping the healing process after the horrible loss of Odin. Things seem to be going in a good direction now, lord willing. If not, he puts us through trials for good reason.

The notable finds of the year:

Beginning the year I found an early stamp schrade walden 81043 jumbo stockman, a scarce find.

View attachment 1712720

A minty stainless walden 808.

View attachment 1712721

And a nice flat bolster cut co 7193.

View attachment 1712722

I am grateful to have acquired a forum barlow. I carried and used it for a couple months non stop. It’s been on a little break lately. A beautiful and well crafted knife that reminds me of the fine and generous folks we have around here. Even as good as it is, it takes the runner up position for me.

View attachment 1712727

This year I really got into swiss army knives. I’ve never disliked them but they also didn’t quite excite me like a typical american traditional pocket knife did; at least that was the case until I bought a pioneer, shortly afterwards a pioneer x, and then a soldier from my birth year of ‘94. Talk about a sturdy, precisely made, simple and highly useful pocket tool. The real magic of the swiss army knives are found in the 93mm alox, they just have that special stuff. Really I could go either way between the three but the one I used and carried the most this year was the pioneer x. You can’t beat the precise vic scissors. I absolutely love this knife, and it along with its brethren will be EDC staples for years to come.

View attachment 1712724

Sorry you've had such a tough year, but I'm glad your dad is out of the hospital Hoping 2022 is a much happier year for you and your family

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks again to Jack Black for this great thread each year.
This was really pretty easy this year. My KOTY is the Voss USA Jack knife I discovered in my old tackle box that my dad got me when I was a kid. He used also. This tackle box has sat for almost 45 years without a thought that a knife like this would be in there. Great thing is after cleaning it up, it is just a wonderful knife with great walk & talk. A joy to carry. Special of course because it was my dad's even though he does not remember how he got it (he's 96).

Incredible!

 

[Jack Black]

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has posted I think this is the best KOTY thread we've had! The quality of the posts is just amazing. Thank you so much folks, hope you all have a wonderful New Year

Jack

 

[mcc850]

Jack this is always my favorite thread of the year. I have been thinking about what I would choose for a month or so. There have been some amazing knives added to my collection this year including some TC barlows, 85 caplifter in cherry bone, angus jack 86, the 2AB 86, and the BF’21 86 Barlow. I would have to say that the BF’21 Barlow might be the nicest in my collection but that is not what KOTY is. KOTY is what knife hogged pocket time. My KOTY is the bloodwood 38 English Whittler! Truth be told, I prefer my jigged bone version, but I baby that one too much. If I am ever in doubt, the bloodwood 38 goes in my pocket. It is a fantastic knife that is so versatile for my daily needs. Here it is pictured on the beach in Florida on Christmas day.

 

[joeradza]

A day late and a dollar short for me. It was my slowest acquisition year and though I did end up with several outstanding knives including our BF hemlock 86 and a 74 none of them found their way into my pocket so I passed on naming anything a KOTY because my most carried ended up being an old Soldier SAK.
Today starts the beginning of 365 days of window shopping for the 2022 KOTY. Thanks again Jack Black . Have a happy and healthy new year.

 

[Jack Black]

A day late and a dollar short for me. It was my slowest acquisition year and though I did end up with several outstanding knives including our BF hemlock 86 and a 74 none of them found their way into my pocket so I passed on naming anything a KOTY because my most carried ended up being an old Soldier SAK.
Today starts the beginning of 365 days of window shopping for the 2022 KOTY. Thanks again Jack Black . Have a happy and healthy new year.

Happy New Year Alan, see you here later in the year

That's it for Your Traditional Knife of the Year 2021 folks. Have a great year, and I hope that somewhere, during the coming year, you pick up Your Traditional Knife of the Year 2022