Carl Levitian
member
Either I've become disenchanted with the world in general, or I am just going retro in my old age. Little by little over the last couple of years, I've been going back to the old stuff. Plain simple carbon steel knives in very time tried patterns. No more plastic and stainless steel. I've been carrying Opinels for a bit over 25 years on and off, and of late it's been mostly on. I've had much more expensive knives that didn't cut near as well. I use Helmsman Spar urethane to seal it off and keep the wet weather swelling down, and some mineral oil in the joint helps.
My old German Mercator K55 has been carried in the last year. Thin carbon blade, gets scary sharp like the Opinel, and is thin enough it disappears in a pocket.
I went through my sock drawer and got out my old Yellow handle Case peanut with dark grey patina CV blades. It seems to do 95% of what I need to do in the way of cutting.
Even though I live in the land of the Chesapeake Bay, I haven't had any trouble keeping them in good shape. I wonder if we've become too used to having it easy? I remember growing up on the by, and most of my family were watermen. This was back in the late 40's and 50's. Nobody had stainless steel knives, yet every man who had a pair of pants on had a knife in his pocket. Mostly old Schrades, Camillus, Keen Kutter, Imperial, and some Colonials. All were carbon steel blades, and people just wiped them off now and then. Sure they got grey, but that didn't keep them from cutting.
I seem to have come a full circle now. I've gone back to using the knives I used 25 or 30 years ago, and I'm happy with the cutting performance of them.
My old German Mercator K55 has been carried in the last year. Thin carbon blade, gets scary sharp like the Opinel, and is thin enough it disappears in a pocket.
I went through my sock drawer and got out my old Yellow handle Case peanut with dark grey patina CV blades. It seems to do 95% of what I need to do in the way of cutting.
Even though I live in the land of the Chesapeake Bay, I haven't had any trouble keeping them in good shape. I wonder if we've become too used to having it easy? I remember growing up on the by, and most of my family were watermen. This was back in the late 40's and 50's. Nobody had stainless steel knives, yet every man who had a pair of pants on had a knife in his pocket. Mostly old Schrades, Camillus, Keen Kutter, Imperial, and some Colonials. All were carbon steel blades, and people just wiped them off now and then. Sure they got grey, but that didn't keep them from cutting.
I seem to have come a full circle now. I've gone back to using the knives I used 25 or 30 years ago, and I'm happy with the cutting performance of them.