All About Pocket Knives

What is your with me for life knife ?

I own a Olson Knife made in Howard City, Michigan that belonged to my father that will be with me for life.
It’s going to be passed down to my son.

Camillus

Mine is a Utica(?) Sportsman's knife that I bought when I was ten years old.I think it is a Utica even though it is only marked,"Sportsman's Knife".It went missing after I enlisted in the Navy in 1964 and wasn't recovered until 1987 when I found it among my mother's effects after she had passed. It is now safely labeled and displayed in my office and will be passed on to my son and grandson when I am gone.

The card which gives when & where you bought it adds great significance to the knife display. Makes it meaningful.
kj

Great story and history, thanks for sharing

I hope you don't mind Ray. I lightened up your pictures.

I am fortunate that I have over a dozen knives (maybe a few more if I do a current count) that have significance to me in that they are associated with loved ones or were gifted by great friends. However the two (one pocketknife and one fixed blade knife) I hold most dear are this Buck 301 Stockman that my Grandmother allowed me to pick out at H. L. Hodges Hardware for Christmas 1972. She worked in a jewelry store and had my initials engraved on the bolster - it is one of only two things I still have that my Grandmother gave me. The fixed blade was a gift from my parents for Christmas 1968, a Western Black Beauty F66 that my Dad let me pick out at a department store in Rocky Mount NC on our families annual Christmas outing/shopping trip to the only mall (at that time) in eastern NC. I think the store was Montgomery Wards, but not sure. OH

I would take this one with me if I could, hopefully the girls will care for it and put it to good use.

Nice thread. I have a couple of old Buck fixed blades that I bought in the 1970s that I use (yesterday for instance) and will continue to use for the rest of my life. The knives I had before that are gone. I eventually came up with the last knife my paternal grandfather (1876-1970) owned, a Solingen Boker (1950s). I found one from the same vintage un-used so I keep them together and will never release them.

Knife7knut - I found an old Taylor Fur Company catalog from 1954 showing your Utica knife for sale. Note that it cost $2.97 for 3 knives, but you could buy your knife alone for $1.00 from their catalog.

This old Hammer Brand Kamp-King knife has been my off and on EDC for a couple of years. It's amazing how often I go for the flat screwdriver blade to tighten a screw somewhere. The original plastic shell handles are long gone and the punch blade has been mis-used but it's a tough old knife and I enjoy using it. Shown with a page from a 1954 Taylor Fur Company catalog advertising a similar Kamp-King knife.

jerryd6818 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:39 am I hope you don't mind Ray. I lightened up your pictures.

Thank you for doing that Jerry ;it is greatly appreciated. And to Wonderboy;thank you for posting that ad;it is now saved in my document file under,"Knife information"

L39 Western, given to me on (I think) my 13th birthday, my mother got it with Green Stamps. I broke the handle, bi-fracated tang. one side had a hole in it I doubt it was supposed to be there. Makes me wonder if Green Stamps were "selling" seconds. I was throwing it and sticking it (most of the time). I did a rube Goldberg repair on it when I was in my 20s. Dale rehandled it for me about 10 years ago.
Bought this one in '66. right after I got out of the Corps for $3 or $4. Never thought it was anything until I started researching it just before I joined AAPK. Found out (much to my surprise) it's a difficult to find "bead & ring" Fairbairn Sykes genuine WWII relic. According to Antiques Road Show, it's valued at $500.

Explorer Wilderness survival fixed blade was the first knife I bought, as a teenager. Mainly because of the Rambo movies and I couldn't afford a real original Rambo knife. Still have it.

*Edit- added pictures of the knife, by Gutmann Cutlery Inc of Mt. Vernon, NY, made in Japan, 440 Stainless.

I have a handful of knives that are dear to me. Here are a couple that belonged to my dad, wouldn't part with them for any money.

I will have this one for life and it will be passed on to my grandson. This Case Trapper I give to my dad. I was over his house and he mentioned that he lost his knife and being it was only a week before Father's Day I gifted him this Case Trapper. He used it the way a knife is intended to be used. He had a small farm and he really enjoyed this knife. When he passed we children was cleaning out his house and I found the knife. He had put it in a drawer. I have the knife now and it still has his pocket lint in it. Cant bear the thought of even cleaning the lint out of it. Sorry for the rant.

woodwalker wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:30 pm I will have this one for life and it will be passed on to my grandson. This Case Trapper I give to my dad. I was over his house and he mentioned that he lost his knife and being it was only a week before Father's Day I gifted him this Case Trapper. He used it the way a knife is intended to be used. He had a small farm and he really enjoyed this knife. When he passed we children was cleaning out his house and I found the knife. He had put it in a drawer. I have the knife now and it still has his pocket lint in it. Cant bear the thought of even cleaning the lint out of it. Sorry for the rant.

Very special indeed.

These knives will skip a generation and go to my Grandies,old Benny's Marbles from his Dad from the 1920's,my Grandpa's Morley,My other Granddads Ulster both snapped one blade on each,My first Buck .112. , and my uncles Ontario PSK he had in Nam.

I've posted these two on different occasions but I guess they could go here as well.
First one is a Kamp King 4 blade that belonged to my grandfather.It was also the knife that nearly removed one of my fingers when I was 8 years old and tried to open it after I had been forbidden to touch it. I found it many years later beside my first knife that I previously posted when I was cleaning out my mother's apartment after she had passed in 1987.
The other one is a handmade fixed blade that was made by my father when he was about 21 years old and stationed in San Diego in the Navy(about 1925 or thereabouts).He gave it to me after we first met in 1987. My parents had been divorced before I was born and my grandparents essentially raised me.How we finally met is a story way too long to relate here.

Fellow Knifers...I've thoroughly enjoyed all the 'special' and sentimental knives shown in this thread, along with the historical stories attached to them. Thank you all, with others to follow, for sharing these memories with us.

I have special knives that I've purchased in the past several years, but nothing with a memorial past relating to any kin, other than the ones my brother has gifted me...those are truly special. All my knives will either be passed down to my brothers, daughters, their husbands, if they desire them. Hopefully, they'll appreciate my vast collection.