Spring 2024 meetup in Calgary - date Saturday, April 20/2024. discussion Please RSVP Here to confirm and get your invitation and the location details. RSVP NOW so organizers can plan to get sufficient food etc. It's Tomorrow Saturday! you can still RSVP until I stop checking my phone tomorrow More info and agenda
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Spring meet up in Ontario, April 6/2024. NEW LOCATION See Post #31 Discussion AND THE
NEW LOCATION
Recently I went from an older Winchester 3.5" fixed blade to a Benchmade full size Crooked River 4" blade folder. I absolutely love it. Now I want more. Its a sickness I didn't need to have, and I knew you guys could probably relate.
For a bit of context: This all started when i found out the my brother got our dads folding knife, a well used, but very nice '39 Case coke bottle. Its a thing of beauty, and I was always sour, a small bit, that I didn't get it. Now that we are older, I have always wanted to get an heirloom quality knife to use, then give to my 10yo son when I'm gone. So I ordered the Crooked River. My brother, who doesn't have kids, then tells me that he's going to give our dad's knife to my son, who is the only kid in the family.
So we got my kid covered, x2, and I still want another knife.
My everyday carry is made by Knives of Alaska, called the Spike. 3 inches oal, with a 2 inch blade. I have bigger knives scattered around the tractors and trucks used mainly for cutting twines on bales. Had a real nice little Swiss Army that i loved, i even know which 1/4 section it's in but cannot find it.
Now I am carrying a Gerber 450 E-Z-OUT, and a Leatherman - Wingman. These are my standard carry at this time, nearly every day, all day. The Gerber in my pocket, a single blade, fairly easy to open one handed. Generly not as sharp as I like, but sees use nearly every day, sharpen a pencil, cut string, open a box, strip insulation, etc. The Leatherman, on my belt, Not a one hander, mostly for the pliers, the Philips tip sees some use, the scissors a fair bit, the file is a joke, allrite for finger nails, ha,ha. Maybe wouldn't miss the other bits till I needed them. Always the way.
Those are some nice knives guys!
Nothing wrong with the Micra, you pack and use what works for you. I have many, some are to big, some are to wrong, some just don't work for me.
My "carry knives are just run of the mill hardware purchases (2'' at the most), I have several so whatever pair of pants are handy that fit the occasion I have a knife with me'
My "special purpose" knives, all hunting/skinning knives, get carried all fall in a belt scabbard. These knives are all good quality and are honed continually when used...I tell people that pick up one of my hunting knives to "be careful, its not fussy what it cuts".
I have one "custom made" hunting knife that I had made ten yrs ago but have never used its so damn nice. I had it ordered with the hardest planer blade steel the maker could get his hands on and when it came to me he never put his maker name on it so I inquired why..."that thing is so hard I had no way mark it with anything I had".
beauty...is that folded damascus or layers of different steel. The most beautiful knife I ever seen was made using forged combine roller chain into a damascus-like patern ...and it was hard stuff.
What a weird thread Darren! But I love it! I share your love of a nice knife.
I don't carry a really NICE knife around in my pocket everyday. WAAAAY too easy to lose. So I carry one of these instead. It lives in my pants pocket 24/7 along with a nail clipper my keys, and some change.
My very first one like it was a monogrammed gift which I lost prolly 40 years ago. The basic knife has changed a wee bit over the years, but I like it so much that I buy them in bulk and then just drag a new one out whenever I lose one.
For those times when I need more utility, I have a Leatherman Multitool Belt Knife that one of my sons gave me 15 years ago or so.
This thing is a work horse. It is extremely well made considering everything they packed into it. I know they have newer better models, but I really like this one - especially since it was a gift from one of my sons. It is very well used for everything from camping and fishing to working around the farm. I'm surprised that the leather case and the snap still work.
I splurged on my first hunting knife 60 plus years ago. I still have it. The clip is broken and the sheath is tattered, but it's a fond memory of my careless boyhood years.
What you cannot see is the teeth marks of a huge coyote in the handle. A young friend had crippled the yote with a badly placed shot. I tried to dispatch it for him by throwing my knife at it. It caught my knife in mid air in its teeth. We wisely decided to just shoot it again.
Now when you talk about a knife to fall in love with, I guess you might be describing my current hunting knife.
It is drop dead gorgeous in every way. It's way more knife than I would ever have bought for myself. It is also very very special. I vividly remember the day I got it 38 years ago. It has gutted at least 38 deer since then. The only time I use it is for the annual deer hunt. I have a bird knife with a gut hook that I wear when I go hunting for small game and birds.
That deer knife is a knife to love and definitely a knife to pass on to your kids. The balance is amazing and so is the fit and finish from the polished metal and metal anodizing to the rosewood handles. The folding and lock is still as crisp and solid as the day I got it. Which is a story all of its own.....
I had bought one just like it for my brother who was a truck driver. But we had a family spending limit of $20. The knife was around a hundred bucks way back then. Prolly 300 now. In other words REALLY BIG BUCKS. WAY MORE than our agreed family gift spending limit. But, .... I dearly loved my brother and I could just imagine him proudly wearing this awesome knife his older brother bought him. So I rounded up some of my personal money and bought it anyway. I brilliantly handled the CFO with an outright baldfaced lie. So smooth and so convincing! "LOOK AT THIS KNIFE I FOUND FOR MY BROTHER FOR JUST $20!!!". She ooed and awed and fondled it, while carefully noting the look of love in my eye and the way I described every feature and curve it had.......
On Christmas morning, we all gathered round to open our gifts. That year we also put a movie camera on a tall tripod in the corner to record the kids squeals and giggles. (I'll never do that again). As we opened all the gifts there was a special one, just for me, from my dear loving sweet beautiful innocent wife. It was elaborately wrapped and covered in ribbons and glitter. I opened it with great anticipation because I sensed it was something really special...... And so it was!
An exact copy of the knife I gave my brother...... F$&k
The camera caught the look on my face and also my sweet wife's voice in the background saying ..... "20 bucks eh....."
THERE I SAT, CAUGHT RED FACED, WITH MY PANTS DOWN AROUND MY ANKLES!! ........... F$&K .......
I had "one of those gift knives as well" was given to me on our first anniversary and man, we didnt have much extra money so the extravagance & sacrifice that went into theat knife was not lost on me...I lost that damn knife in the second year at work ( working late in the dark and got in a hurry to finnish up a telephone line repair that the boss himself had cut and lost it in the dark...he laghed about it and never offered to replace the damn thing and we sure couldnt afford another.
I don't carry a pocket knife much anymore. Usually just when I'm working around home. Nothing heirloom quality though, my favourite is a no name 3" lockback with a pocket clip. I used to carry a nice leatherman, but it's at the bottom of lake simcoe now. I think that was the last expesive and valuable "knife" I carried daily. I have a pocket folder from each of my grandfathers, but I only take them on fishing trips and when I'm out hunting. My sentimental way of going fishing with Grandpa again. I also have a fixed blade hunting knife from my great grandpa, and did gut my first deer with it, but it's not coming out anymore. Because A, I don't want to lose it, and B, its a terrible blade lol.
My Son got his first pocket knife this year (a cheap leatherman clone), and when he's older and a bit more responsible he will get one of my grandpa's. My Daughter will get the other.
Once I get better with blacksmithing I'd like to make some nice heirloom quality blades for them. I've made one skinning knife for myself, but it's been a curse, as I haven't got a deer since lol.
Not my every day pocket knife, but it was my dad's fishing knife. The original stacked leather handle was badly rotting away and the blade was pretty rusty, so I went at it and fixed it up as a keepsake. It lives on the book shelf in the basement family room now.
My daily carry is just a Swiss Army Deluxe Tinkers knife.
I have my dad's Schrade 193 2 blade that was given to him by his dad in 1947. Still in nice shape but I don't carry it as I'd probably lose it.
I have a bunch of fairly inexpensive edc knives that I swap between pocket and shelf. The latest is a Civivi Gordo that I really like. It's super compact and handy.
I also have a a Leatherman Wave+ and a few other multi tools. I like them, just don't love them. I would like to get another Swiss Army knife, but i'm wondering about the quality of the newer ones. They don't look the same as they once did.
I also have a a Leatherman Wave+ and a few other multi tools. I like them, just don't love them. I would like to get another Swiss Army knife, but i'm wondering about the quality of the newer ones. They don't look the same as they once did.
I think the newer Swiss Army Knives are not as nice as the Leatherman. And the newest Leathermans feel way better than the old ones did. They have smoothed out the edges and paid attention to user feedback so they feel better in the hand and have fixed the weaknesses.
But I don't think Leatherman makes a simple multiknife and I know that Swiss Army Knife does.
I used to carry a Leatherman Wave in my pocket but it was heck on the pockets - that lanyard holder kept poking holes in them. So it has been shelved.
I now carry around a Leatherman Squirt - light enough to not wreck my pockets, and 90% of the functionality I need.
But the bag I carry regularly has an additional thing - A Knipex 87-100 plier. Far more function al than any folding toolset plier, and a lot lighter,too. I have done some crazy things with it.
My camping knife is no longer a Wave - which lives in a drawer somewhere, but a Gerber Suspension. The pliers are more usable and more functional, Everything locks well. All the accessories work better for me than my Wave - which cost about double my Gerber.
Around the house? I have a Benchmade 581 Barrage (cardboard and heavy stuff), 470-1 Emissary (mail opener), and 556 Mini-Griptilian (bug out bag). I also have a Ka-Bar and a couple other little Spyderco Bug/Grasshopper/Honeybee's....wife has a Spyderco Ladybug Tattoo.
Also, Swiss Army and Leatherman just don't make real knives...they're ok as multi-tools but once you use a Benchmade or Spyderco or even something like a Kershaw, or anything with decent quality steel, nothing measures up.
OH, I almost forgot, I also have a custom Benchmade Meatcrafter....damn is it nice. Makes all the Henckels two man's in the kitchen look like butterknives.
