An honor to have known him, and now....

mqqn

mqqn

JD Inventory Reduction Specialist
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An honor to know his son!

Early on in my visits to the JK forum, I came to know a man named Jim. His forum handle was udtjim, unassuming if you didn't read between the lines, but this man was a big man, giving service to his country in one of the most dangerous ways.

You would never know it though. It sounds cliche, and there are a few people on the JK forum that qualify, but Jim was the salt of the earth.

I remember his pictures of himself - not really selfies because they were not vanity shots, it was more about him being so proud of his new knives that he just had to share, and it was greatly appreciated each time.

By the time I came to know him, Jim nearly always had on coveralls with the shoulder straps.

Yesterday I was at the same time very honored, humbled and proud to have received from Jim's son, Rob Babcock, one of Jim's many JK knives. Jim was prolific in his ordering , and I recall him being the first in line for many limiteds , and he would usually order a standard model with his own special mods.

Such , I believe, is the following knife that I was so humbled to have received in the mail.

I think this is a modified (extended blade length) hiker in cocobolo - but I want JK to check it out and comment.

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My eyes are watering while I type this, as I was very sad when we all heard of Mr. Jim's passing.

This knife will be with me until my death.

Thank you, Mr. Babcock. Both of you.

best

mqqn
 
I too was blessed by Rob with one of Jim's knives. This knife is an absolute beast and it fits me like a glove.
Jim was one of the first people to really make me feel welcome here and his taste in blades really piqued my interest.
Rest in peace, Jim. You've left one hell of a legacy here and you will never be forgotten.
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Jim was one of the great ones here, I always enjoyed our phone conversations, and his input on knives. As Andy said, Jim preferred slightly modified designs, the one shown is an example of a modified Hiker, and I also remember doing lots of his own designs.
What I really miss is Jim's posts in the old Wilderness and Survival Skills forum, he knew what he was talking about, and wasn't afraid to "debate " his thoughts.
 
JK Knives said:
That's an early one and one of the last Jim ordered. (Possibly the last, not sure if the Chopmunk was before or after this one)
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Cool.
It was my understanding the ChopMuk was the last Jim ordered, but didn't get to use before he passed.
It is my honor to have this early JK friction folder and the ChopMuk from Jim's, now Rob's collection.
 
Yeah, the "Chipmunk Chopper" as dad called it, that showed up while he was laid up in the hospital. We all figured he'd have plenty of time to use it when he got home but unfortunately he never did.

That's a really sweet little folder. I hope you can use the heck out of it.
 
glennbad said:
Awesome stuff. Jim is still giving this forum and its' members. Good job, Rob!
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Funny you should say that, but it's really true. They say you die twice; once when your physical body perishes and the again the last time your name is spoken. Well, I'm confident that Dad will live on for a good while then! We were never rich growing up but we got by. To me that makes his generosity even more impressive. It's easy to give when you have everything, but Dad really would give you the last dollar in his wallet if he felt you needed it more than him. His generosity was of the spiritual kind as well. The older I get the more I'm in awe of all the stuff he knew! He was born around the time of WWII, and back when he was a kid on the farm the farmer needed to know everything. So he could fix anything with a motor and worked as a mechanic before joining the navy. Afterward he did construction, eventually owning his own small construction firm. He really did seem to know how to fix anything and everything mechanical from a lawn mower motor to the rotary engines in aircraft. And he was very free with that knowledge. He know a ton about the woods, and was actually writing a book about walleye fishing but his health got to bad to finish it. Lastly he was free with his time as well. He got to know a disabled young man via one of the forums; turns out he'd always wanted to go hunting but had no way to do it. Dad began regular phone conversations with the guy and eventually had him out on our property to do a proper deer hunt! He was just like that.

A lifetime of hard and dangerous living broke his body but not his spirit. When he got to the point where he couldn't get out and hunt and fish like he used to, he would hit the forums and share his knowledge. And of course, he shared a lot of gear! He liked to do giveaways.

I like to keep that legacy alive by occasionally doing some giveaways, too. I will send out my own gear of course but I like to release a few of Dad's things back out into the wild. I think it would please him to know that he's helping folks enjoy the great outdoors, even if he's not alive to see it. I think his spirit is still out there, anywhere the ducks are flying and bass are jumping.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!
 
Thanks again, Rob. I wish I had been able to meet you and him on my trips through your area. If I'm ever through there again I will be buying dinner.
 
Sadly, there's not many of those types of guys around these days, Rob. Many people do not learn skills like that anymore, mainly as we are a throw-away society. People in your father's generation had to make do with what they had, and had to know how to fix things to make them last. I think my dad was like that to certain extent also, but your dad seemed pretty accomplished, and wanting to teach others.
 
John, is this one a modified kephart or some other model?
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