Carl Levitian
member
When I was young, about the time the time man was moving from bronze to steel, things were a great deal simpler. Cars had inline engines that were easy to work on, airplanes had these wirley gigs on the front of the engines that made them go, and a new thing was being put in living rooms all over the country; TV sets.
Most men I recall from some of my misspent youth, hanging around with those that the church ladies called reprobates, all carried a knife. If a man had his pants on, he was expected to have a pocket knife on him. Now most of the time the knife in question was a two blade 3 inch to 3 1/2 inch serpintine jack made by an American company like Imperial, Case, Camillus, Colonial, or one of the others. Sure, there was a few barlows or stockman patterns around, but I remember alot of those two blade jackknives. But sometimes a man needed something a little more, like when he went hunting or camping. Then he wore a "huntin" knife. One of the most popular ones I remember seeing was the leather handle ones from Case and Kaybar, and Western. Usually about 3 1/3 inch blades with an aluminum birds head pommel. This knife served for deer, bear, fish, small game, and camp chores.
Even city gentlemen carried a small pen knife. It was there in case a sharp tool was needed.
Life was simple.
Then Buck changed everything in 1963. The year of the folding hunter.
I guess I must be the only guy in America who didn't fall under the spell. I looked at one, but I just couldn't figure out why I would want a knife that weighted about what the anchor did for my rowboat, and only had one single blade. Just seemed like a case of overkill to me. I did end up buying a Buck knife, but it was a stockman with three blades. Then I bought a Buck woodsman sheath knife. I still have them, and I admit Buck makes a very good knife. Never let me down in alot of weird places over a 40 year period.
Fast forward to now, and the trend is still strong. I see most young men carrying a knife now, it almost is a money bet certainty that it will be a black handle one hand opening knife with a fancy locking system. It's either going to be a Benchmade this, or a Spyderco that. I guess its okay, some people like a blade lock, they say its safe.
Is it?
Okay, I admit I'm biased. I'll put that right up front. But I grew up in another age, were things were a great deal more rural, and saw our grandad's and some of our dad's use a knife every day for something. Those old traditional pocket knives came from an age where people used knives much more than today, and yet the lockblade never gained popularity untill fairly recent times. They had them in the old days, but not alot of them. A boy learned common sense when he got his first pocket knife. If a pocket knife was too small/light duty, then you used a sheath knife.
I wonder if a blade lock is a good thing, aside from the fighting aspect. If some people are depending on it as a means to keep from hurting themselves, is that an accident waiting to happen? Learning to depend on a saftey device insead of proper use, seems like a less than good thing. I remember one young man having a terrible accident in the machine shop many years ago. He was using a Buck Folding hunter in a unsafe manner. We warned him if the lock fails he's going to get hurt, but he laughed, and told us that us old guys don't appreatiate the strong lock on a Buck because we were used to those
Old man" knives we carried. Of course an hour later the EMT guys were transporting the young man in a great hurry to the hospital. He pushed too hard and lost his index finger at the first joint, and almost did the middle finger as well. They saved the middle one.
I wonder if the Swedes and Finns don't have the right idea- carry a knife that does not fold up. In another post I made mention of the little Buck Hartsook that was a gift from somebody a year and a half ago. It opened up my eyes as to how handy a knife is that does not to me manipulated before use. Since then I've picked up a very small Puuko from Finland made by somebody named S. Dauvi. a 1 7/8 inch blade with just enough of a small chunky handle of nice wood to hang onto, it's a surprisingly heavy duty little knife. And nothing to open or close, just a solid steel tang all the way through.
I think of tourist's razel, and that seems like a perfect un-folding pocket knife. A solid tool for cutting jobs, and if need be, can do some severe damage in a self defence situation. I think back to when I was a kid, and we used a sheath knife for alot of things. Always kept one around in a pack or someplace. Our pocket knives were okay for cutting a piece of string, or whittling a hot dog stick, but if it was real work, the little Case/Kay-bar/Western leather handle sheath knife was used.
Now I seem to have come the full circle. The only pocket knives I carry are small sak's for the tools, and I carry a small un-folding pocket knife for most all cutting.
Of course, thier're alot easier to clean when I cut that egg salid sandwich in half to share with my better half.
Most men I recall from some of my misspent youth, hanging around with those that the church ladies called reprobates, all carried a knife. If a man had his pants on, he was expected to have a pocket knife on him. Now most of the time the knife in question was a two blade 3 inch to 3 1/2 inch serpintine jack made by an American company like Imperial, Case, Camillus, Colonial, or one of the others. Sure, there was a few barlows or stockman patterns around, but I remember alot of those two blade jackknives. But sometimes a man needed something a little more, like when he went hunting or camping. Then he wore a "huntin" knife. One of the most popular ones I remember seeing was the leather handle ones from Case and Kaybar, and Western. Usually about 3 1/3 inch blades with an aluminum birds head pommel. This knife served for deer, bear, fish, small game, and camp chores.
Even city gentlemen carried a small pen knife. It was there in case a sharp tool was needed.
Life was simple.
Then Buck changed everything in 1963. The year of the folding hunter.
I guess I must be the only guy in America who didn't fall under the spell. I looked at one, but I just couldn't figure out why I would want a knife that weighted about what the anchor did for my rowboat, and only had one single blade. Just seemed like a case of overkill to me. I did end up buying a Buck knife, but it was a stockman with three blades. Then I bought a Buck woodsman sheath knife. I still have them, and I admit Buck makes a very good knife. Never let me down in alot of weird places over a 40 year period.
Fast forward to now, and the trend is still strong. I see most young men carrying a knife now, it almost is a money bet certainty that it will be a black handle one hand opening knife with a fancy locking system. It's either going to be a Benchmade this, or a Spyderco that. I guess its okay, some people like a blade lock, they say its safe.
Is it?
Okay, I admit I'm biased. I'll put that right up front. But I grew up in another age, were things were a great deal more rural, and saw our grandad's and some of our dad's use a knife every day for something. Those old traditional pocket knives came from an age where people used knives much more than today, and yet the lockblade never gained popularity untill fairly recent times. They had them in the old days, but not alot of them. A boy learned common sense when he got his first pocket knife. If a pocket knife was too small/light duty, then you used a sheath knife.
I wonder if a blade lock is a good thing, aside from the fighting aspect. If some people are depending on it as a means to keep from hurting themselves, is that an accident waiting to happen? Learning to depend on a saftey device insead of proper use, seems like a less than good thing. I remember one young man having a terrible accident in the machine shop many years ago. He was using a Buck Folding hunter in a unsafe manner. We warned him if the lock fails he's going to get hurt, but he laughed, and told us that us old guys don't appreatiate the strong lock on a Buck because we were used to those
Old man" knives we carried. Of course an hour later the EMT guys were transporting the young man in a great hurry to the hospital. He pushed too hard and lost his index finger at the first joint, and almost did the middle finger as well. They saved the middle one.
I wonder if the Swedes and Finns don't have the right idea- carry a knife that does not fold up. In another post I made mention of the little Buck Hartsook that was a gift from somebody a year and a half ago. It opened up my eyes as to how handy a knife is that does not to me manipulated before use. Since then I've picked up a very small Puuko from Finland made by somebody named S. Dauvi. a 1 7/8 inch blade with just enough of a small chunky handle of nice wood to hang onto, it's a surprisingly heavy duty little knife. And nothing to open or close, just a solid steel tang all the way through.
I think of tourist's razel, and that seems like a perfect un-folding pocket knife. A solid tool for cutting jobs, and if need be, can do some severe damage in a self defence situation. I think back to when I was a kid, and we used a sheath knife for alot of things. Always kept one around in a pack or someplace. Our pocket knives were okay for cutting a piece of string, or whittling a hot dog stick, but if it was real work, the little Case/Kay-bar/Western leather handle sheath knife was used.
Now I seem to have come the full circle. The only pocket knives I carry are small sak's for the tools, and I carry a small un-folding pocket knife for most all cutting.
Of course, thier're alot easier to clean when I cut that egg salid sandwich in half to share with my better half.