Carl Levitian
member
My name is Carl, and I'm a reformed knife snob.
There, I've said it.
On another post I told how I used to be a accumulator of custom knives. Especially of the hand forged bladesmith type. I had Hastings, Fowler, Hendrickson, Randall ( I know, they're sort of a production) and others who are listed in the pages of the American bladesmith Society. They were nice knives, and I enjoyed using them. But for some reason, like alot of things in life, it got to a point where they weren't pushing any buttons for me anymore. Off they went to be sold off to collectors who would appreatiate them.
These days Im back to my roots, using the minimalist gear to get the job done. My nice shotgun has been given away to my son, and I found a liberating sense of freedom tramping the fence rows with a nice little H&R 20 gauge single shot. I didn't care if it got some scatches going through those briers, or if it got rained on real good. A bore snake and a wipe down with Hoppes gun oil and it was good to go.
My knives are the same, just working tools now. But compared to the days of my youth, when there was Imperial, Colonial, Old Timer, and others, a good 10 dollar knife seems to be getting as hard to find as a good 50 dollar .22 rifle.
There's the Opinel, the Victorinox classic and bantam, and I think the pocket pal is still there. For fixed blades, I use the Swedish Frosts with the mora blade. The Rapala fillet knife is still about that range.
I was doing some repair work around the back door, and I was getting some plastic wood into some cracked wood trim before painting. The puty knife was actually a little too big, so I just used the knife blade of my bantam. Worked like a charm. It was a joyfull feeling to use a tool with total abandon, not worrying about marring it up. Ruining the "collector" value. Very liberating. I don't think I would have done that with my Barry Wood folder.
Any others you all can think of?
There, I've said it.
On another post I told how I used to be a accumulator of custom knives. Especially of the hand forged bladesmith type. I had Hastings, Fowler, Hendrickson, Randall ( I know, they're sort of a production) and others who are listed in the pages of the American bladesmith Society. They were nice knives, and I enjoyed using them. But for some reason, like alot of things in life, it got to a point where they weren't pushing any buttons for me anymore. Off they went to be sold off to collectors who would appreatiate them.
These days Im back to my roots, using the minimalist gear to get the job done. My nice shotgun has been given away to my son, and I found a liberating sense of freedom tramping the fence rows with a nice little H&R 20 gauge single shot. I didn't care if it got some scatches going through those briers, or if it got rained on real good. A bore snake and a wipe down with Hoppes gun oil and it was good to go.
My knives are the same, just working tools now. But compared to the days of my youth, when there was Imperial, Colonial, Old Timer, and others, a good 10 dollar knife seems to be getting as hard to find as a good 50 dollar .22 rifle.
There's the Opinel, the Victorinox classic and bantam, and I think the pocket pal is still there. For fixed blades, I use the Swedish Frosts with the mora blade. The Rapala fillet knife is still about that range.
I was doing some repair work around the back door, and I was getting some plastic wood into some cracked wood trim before painting. The puty knife was actually a little too big, so I just used the knife blade of my bantam. Worked like a charm. It was a joyfull feeling to use a tool with total abandon, not worrying about marring it up. Ruining the "collector" value. Very liberating. I don't think I would have done that with my Barry Wood folder.
Any others you all can think of?
