Knife interest

[Porky1016]

What is it about knives that caught your interest? I like the practical aspects of using a knife. For that reason I like stockman knives and whittlers. What about y'all?

[woodwalker]

For me it was watching my grandpa and dad digging into pants and bibs for their pocketknife for everything. Cutting rope, apples, chew, skinning squirrels, rabbits and cleaning fish. They had one pocket knife and did not collect them. They only needed one and kept it for years. When your a kid, you watch and learn. I had to have one at 8 or 9. I bought one with lawn mower money and always said this is the one I will use forever. Of course being a kid I lost more than I kept. When I got a little older I realized that good feeling of having and keeping knife in my pocket. I know accumulate them because they make me think of the good old times. I like them all. From imperials to case. I prefer a thin knife in my pocket and use a Case Copperlock on most days. Unless I feel like carrying an old one. Then I might carry my Camillus 72. I switch out often. But my Copperlock just feels the best in my pocket. Of course that's today. Tommorow, who knows!

[cudgee]

For me it was watching my grandpa and dad digging into pants and bibs for their pocketknife for everything. Cutting rope, apples, chew, skinning squirrels, rabbits and cleaning fish. They had one pocket knife and did not collect them. They only needed one and kept it for years. When your a kid, you watch and learn. I had to have one at 8 or 9. I bought one with lawn mower money and always said this is the one I will use forever. Of course being a kid I lost more than I kept. When I got a little older I realized that good feeling of having and keeping knife in my pocket. I know accumulate them because they make me think of the good old times. I like them all. From imperials to case. I prefer a thin knife in my pocket and use a Case Copperlock on most days. Unless I feel like carrying an old one. Then I might carry my Camillus 72. I switch out often. But my Copperlock just feels the best in my pocket. Of course that's today. Tommorow, who knows!

Like your story, that generation just wanted a knife, they bought what was available and what they could afford. ME, i just like knives and having one in my pocket.

[jww]

I started with the knives my Dad left. He's died about 30 years ago and I have his old German Boker congress. I watched him castrate pigs with it and sharpen it on a cement block. It still has his pocket lint in the well. I have a few of my own that carry some memories of their own. This will be a great thread. Thanks for starting it. JWW

[woodwalker]

For me it was watching my grandpa and dad digging into pants and bibs for their pocketknife for everything. Cutting rope, apples, chew, skinning squirrels, rabbits and cleaning fish. They had one pocket knife and did not collect them. They only needed one and kept it for years. When your a kid, you watch and learn. I had to have one at 8 or 9. I bought one with lawn mower money and always said this is the one I will use forever. Of course being a kid I lost more than I kept. When I got a little older I realized that good feeling of having and keeping knife in my pocket. I know accumulate them because they make me think of the good old times. I like them all. From imperials to case. I prefer a thin knife in my pocket and use a Case Copperlock on most days. Unless I feel like carrying an old one. Then I might carry my Camillus 72. I switch out often. But my Copperlock just feels the best in my pocket. Of course that's today. Tommorow, who knows!

Like your story, that generation just wanted a knife, they bought what was available and what they could afford. ME, i just like knives and having one in my pocket.

Thank you Cudgee.

[Railsplitter]

Having a knife in my pocket gives me a feeling of confidence. Whether I need to use it or not.

I remember when I was in grade school I felt like all I needed to conquer the world was a bicycle and a pocket knife. Half a century later I still have a similar perspective.

Sometimes life throws things at us that really suck. But...........I've got my knife in my pocket. Things could be worse.

At the core, this is what caught my interest in knives.

[Stanwade]

I think I was born with a knife in my hand ..I grew up with a father, uncle, cousin and brother who all loved knives.. three out of four are gone now and collecting knives just brings back so many good memories..the snap of a blade closing or the scent of hoppe's gun oil brings memories flooding back.

[cudgee]

I think I was born with a knife in my hand ..I grew up with a father, uncle, cousin and brother who all loved knives.. three out of four are gone now and collecting knives just brings back so many good memories..the snap of a blade closing or the scent of hoppe's gun oil brings memories flooding back.

[herbva]

I like them for all the practical reasons stated above, and like many others, have gotten used to always having one in my pocket (and feel not completely dressed without one). I also love all things mechanical and old, so restoring old knives is just a perfect match for me.

[cudgee]

As JWW said, this is going to be a great thread, with plenty of interesting stories. Keep it going.

[Gumshoe]

My next door neighbor got me interested about 1967 when I was 20 years old. He was a FBI agent in Los Angeles by the name of Harold Dodge and had been collecting pocket knives since 1935. My brother and I grew up with his sons and we were very good friends. I guess I had a knife or two from being a Boy Scout, so one day he asked me if I wanted to see his collection of pocket knives. I couldn't believe what he had - must have been a thousand - most of them in mint condition. He had hundreds of pre WWII Remington's and Winchester's (tools too) and of course Case and many others. If you think that was impressive, you should have seen his collection of fountain pens. I started asking question, and got hooked.

[Madmarco]

This is a teriffic thread Porky, thx for firing it up! My fascination started when I was 6 years old and saw a switchblade on TV and asked my Mom, "what's that ?" I've been hopelessly addicted ever since. As I grew older and started seeing other types of knives I found myself wanting to know more, so I began searching and discovered so many different styles and brands. I didn't actually start collecting until I retired a couple of years ago, but once I got started I've accumulated close to 175 autos, fixies, and manual folders, with more coming every month. I don't go out much anymore so I don't have a need to carry a knife on a daily basis, and, there are stiff penalties in place here in Canada if you have a knife on you and don't have a valid reason for carrying it,(I guess the trick is to not do anything that would give cause to be stopped and searched)but I really enjoy cleaning, admiring, and playing with my collection. They all sit right beside me on displays and on the walls in my "man cave", so I only need to turn my head to see my entire collection, and it brings me great pleasure every time I do. Great stories guys, keep em' com'n!

[jerryd6818]

I've carried a pocket knife since I was 6 years old. I hardly ever use mine these days but I can't imagine not having one.

[glennbad]

My dad was an avid sportsman, although I don't remember him doing any hunting during my time. He was into fishing and camping, and carried a knife most of the time. I only met my grandfather (his father) once, but most Christmases when I guess I was old enough they would send me a pocket knife, mostly Queen brand. As I got older, I went through the foreign stage with cheap massive Rambo survival knives, and that died down eventually. I had a few knives here and there, but nothing significant.

I didn't start "hardcore" knife collecting until I was 25 or 30. What I mean by hardcore is buying anything and everything on ebay. I didn't own my first custom until a year or 2 back.

[thankgod4rkids]

I also have had a pocket knife since about 5 th grade when I got my first cub scout knife. I think a Camillus, lost it . My dad gave me a Buck 303 for graduation, lost it . Then carried an 897UH for 20 yrs along with an assortment of bigger lockbacks. My search for a new stockman led me here and an ever growing rotation of stockmans and whittlers and a congress or two.
Bill

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I have always appreciated finely crafted items, especially items with a long history. You can't get a much longer history than the knife! I love the action of a good pocket knife - the solid click as it opens, the snap as it closes, the effortless slice... I also love learning and the hobby of "collecting" (no matter what the item) has always given me an opportunity to learn a vast array of history and trivia that I find fascinating. I love learning about how to read tang stamps to find out the manufacturer, dating the knife, pattern names, decoding model numbers, determining the handle material, etc, etc.

[Mumbleypeg]

My grandfather, dad, and uncles all carried pocket knives. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on the porch swing with my grandpa while he peeled apples with his pocket knife and of him sharpening his knife while sitting at a table under a tree in the yard. My first knife was a hand-me-down from my dad. It was about 4th grade when I bought my first knife using my own money which I had saved for that purpose. It was a small two-blade Case, which I promptly lost to an older kid on the school playground. The next one I bought was an Ulster.

By high school I had accumulated about a dozen or so different knives. I just bought or traded for what I liked, some were gifts. By the late 1960s I had started to actually collect knives, focused mostly on Case, and going to hardware and sporting goods stores looking for NOS Case knives. Case had changed the stamping in 1965 to add “U.S.A.” to the stamp, but you could still find XX knives in some stores’ inventory at then-current prices. And sell them for more.

Then in 1970 Case introduced the “dots” dating system and a frenzy started, with people buying up undotted U.S.A. stamped knives. The value of those and older stamps went up. By then I had a job working with a couple of guys who were part time knife dealers/traders. They were always asking what I was carrying, talking and swapping knives and gambling with knives (trade theirs for yours, sight unseen!) They also bought and sold guitars, watches, diamonds, and just about anything legal they could make a buck on, but that’s another story.

In the early 1970s I started corresponding with a guy named Dewey Ferguson, and Jim Parker, Jim Frost and a few others who sold and traded knives via mail order (AlGore hadn’t invented the internet yet.) Dewey was who got me interested in researching the history of knives. A local sporting goods store, Carlson’s Sporting Goods, was a Case authorized repair center, and a large Case dealer. They also repaired other brands. The owner hosted a group of knife enthusiasts after hours one night a month. Collectors of Case and other brands gathered, talked and swapped. Occasionally the Case rep would attend if he was in town. There was one older guy, an M.D. named Beck, a regular attendee who had the best Remington Bullet collection I’ve ever seen.

Anyway, the rest is history. I’ve been hooked most of my life.

Ken

[cudgee]

Ken, i knew you would have an interesting story and history about your love of knives, and mate, you did not disappoint.

[dlr110]

Well let’s see, as best I can remember I’ve carried a pocket knife and played “mumbly-peg” since I was about 8 or 9 years old. A pocket knife to me was always something that every boy or man had with him. I didn’t get interested in collecting and researching knife history until I was almost retired from the Navy. Now, some 18 years later I have over 700 knives in my personal collection, an online gallery and I’m still working on a short book about starting a knife collection.

I have a home office where I love to display many of my nice knives and share them with family and visitors. But what really makes me happy is to find a great old or antique knife that is still in fair or good condition and then to learn all about it. As a researcher I feel every knife has a story and it’s up to me to discovery what that story is and record it.

I’m looking at my collection more and more as a preservation of history, I guess that’s why I like the older knives, they have history. As a collector I’m also preserving a piece of time. A time when each knife was created by an individual or company many years ago. I’m preserving the skills and artistry of the knife maker that went into creating that particular knife. I’m preserving a piece of knife history.

Now you might ask, what am I going to do with all those knives? The answer is some of them with any documents or research papers are going to museums, like the WWII USMC Bolo knife and the info about the Marine that carried it. The majority of them will be divided between my three children and thirteen grandchildren. I can only hope that they all appreciate what each knife represents; time, skill, artistry and….a piece of history.

[Lansky1]

For me, carrying a pocket knife symbolizes where I came from, how i grew up and the rural lifestyle. My profession requires me to work near a major urban market, but having a pocket knife (when no one else I work with does), in some small way, keeps me grounded and in touch with where I came.

[terryl308]

I can't remember not having a pocket knife, it was just a way of life back on the farm. We used one for everything from peeling apples to cutting hogs. Our old neighbor cut his "horse shoe plug tobacco with one. I still have my dads HSB castrating knife, it's not very big and it's a wonder I haven't lost it. He died in 1960, I feel naked if I forget to take one along in my pocket. Terry

[bighomer]

My interest mirrors Terry's. All my grandpas. my dad and older brother, even my mom carried a small knife in her apron pocket. I guess sis is the only one that didn't carry a knife. Men folk around here toted a knife to use as a tool, no one collected knives to my knowledge that would have been a foreign to them as a man from the moon. When one was used up it might be thrown in a dresser drawer and a new one bought, because these folks never threw anything away.

[Quick Steel]

The puzzle for me is why knives? I know where and how my knife interest developed but getting at the why of its development is hard work.
I was raised in the city. Not much time in the country; no farm work; no uncles or others carrying or using knives to inspire me. For many years I never gave knives a thought. I used a fixed blade in NAM on a daily basis, but even that failed to resonate with anything in my brain. The knife was a tool, nothing more.

In my late fifties, I came across a pile of AG Russell catalogs; several years worth. I was introduced to a world I did not know existed. Amazed at the variety of knives I devoured the catalogs like so many meatballs. It wasn't only the variety of types. It was the recognition that many of them were objects of beauty made by genuine artists. Only the art was expressed, not in paint, but in steel and with natural materials. But I also learned to appreciate the craftsmanship, even the art, of knives intended to be used not only admired. From there my accumulation began.
Ranging from art pieces, to the classic traditional patterns, on to swords particularly those in the Japanese style.

As retirement approached I decided to distribute my collection to those with some interest, mostly a couple of relatives, but some non-relatives as well. I did hold on to a few pieces for myself. I thought my knife hobby would recede with the onset of retirement. In this I was mistaken.
I told myself I would limit myself to 3 or 4 knives a year. How naive. A few older barlows here, a couple slightly used scout knives there; maybe just one or two of those German knives I like so well. Somehow I am again looking at several hundred knives. Why? I am not sure.

[cudgee]

My interest mirrors Terry's. All my grandpas. my dad and older brother, even my mom carried a small knife in her apron pocket. I guess sis is the only one that didn't carry a knife. Men folk around here toted a knife to use as a tool, no one collected knives to my knowledge that would have been a foreign to them as a man from the moon. When one was used up it might be thrown in a dresser drawer and a new one bought, because these folks never threw anything away.

Your are so correct there my friend, those people threw nothing away that may have some use in the future.

[Porky1016]

I was hoping this question would generate stories. These are great. Now a little more about my story. I was working for Heinold hog markets in 1981. Farmers would come in to sell me their hogs and they would trade knives with each other. In order for me to build a relationship with them I started trading knives with them and got hooked. I started collecting a few and both collecting/selling became my past time. I got married, had children and changed careers so quit knives for many years. In 2019 I found my old collection hidden away. We were moving and I uncovered them. That reminded me of how much fun it used to be so I started again. I am a few months from retirement and this will be my new hobby in retirement. Now you know my story. I hope more will be posted.

Dennis

May God bless the readers of this thread