Cowboy Knives

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Kukri4302

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Had a Table at the Tampa Gun Show & a Cowboy came by looking at my knives.We talked for quite awhile.Asked if he had a knife on him ,he smiled said yep! I then told him I bet I could guess what it was.He grinned said ok,I said stockman,he grinned & nodded.Pulled it out & said it was a new brand for him,a Hen & Rooster.Told me he usually carried a yellow handled Case, that's what his Dad carried & so did he until the H&R ,him where the slipjoints were & he had already seen them.Told me he didn't have any extra $$ to spend,he had a family.He said most he works with carry stockmen except for Rodeos where some carry one handed openers.He also showed me a well worn steel in a little sheath he kept in his backpocket.He also said he buys from SMKW,cause of the prices.He left & I returned to my table & looked at my knives.I have a few thousand $$ in knives & rememberd when I was young & carried a stockman & a BUCK 110.They handled any task I encountered.Strange we have it all & want more,cause we think it's better.Some of you OLD guys(like me)remember when our stockman or trapper Buck was ALWAYS with us.
Sorry for the rant,
Jim Clifton
 
Though I have only been carrying this particular one since last March 1. I do like the congress pattern but when all is said and done the stockman cannot be excelled for all around use. I saw my Daddy clean a deer once with a stockman and he hardly got his fingers wet doing it. 'Course he was a butcher at that time and knew his way around knives and he knew how to handle 'em.
I should mention that the 4 1/4" Case stockman I am carrying is the first of that size I have ever carried. Previously all of them have been 3 7/8" to 4" in size. This larger stockman handles distinctly better in my hands and the larger blades do better work for me in my hands too.
I also never liked the Buck 110 style of knives to carry as an auxillery to my pocketknife. If I need something bigger I went straight to a fixed blade knife where I always preferred a 5" blade to all others.
 
.Some of you OLD guys(like me)remember when our stockman or trapper Buck was ALWAYS with us.
Sorry for the rant,
Jim Clifton


Was? IS always with me, might be a Case, a Buck, a Mooremaker, or a Schrade OT. There isn't much a stockman or trapper can't handle.
 
Carry a Case stockman every day.Jigged bone,1970 vintage,carbon steel.

Randy
 
Call me cynical, but I'm still skeptical that any real working cowboy (or ranch hand -- whatever you want to call guys who work around livestock for a living in 2005), would carry an expensive stockman like a Moore Maker. More likely, IMHO, would be a well-used Old Timer or Buck or Craftsman purchased at Sears or Wal Mart. Now, I'm talking about real working cowpokes, not bankers who have a mansion out in the country and call it a ranch because they've got a couple horses. :rolleyes: I'm guessing your average hired hand on a real working ranch or cattle operation drives a rusty old pickup with about 400,000 miles on it and lives in a mobile home. Could be (and guys, this is ALL conjecture, I don't know a damn thing about the life of a modern "cowboy") that this is what prompted Moore Maker to start marketing a cheaper "Working Knife" line, 'cause they knew ole Hoss or Clem or Roberto just ain't gonna plunk down $60+ for such a tool.
 
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MN,
I stated this cowboy carried a Hen & Rooster,before that a Case.I agree with you about EXPENSIVE stockmen!What got me was out of "all"the kniveshe could have carried it was a simple everyday stockman.Update on this is I asked a guy that works for my Co.that was raised on a WORKING RANCH,what do most carry??He reached in his pocket & pulls out a OLD TIMER,said most carried a CASE but a couple wanted to try a HEN & ROOSTER. Just put this topic up cause I thought it would be interesting!
Jim
 
>>>"Just put this topic up cause I thought it would be interesting!"

======================

Of course. It IS interesting. Great topic. Don't let my off-topic musings mislead you ....... good stuff here. :)
 
I'm very interested in the knives these working ranchers use everyday. The more info you can give, the better. Any first person accounts and opinions that you can relay would be appreciated.

Nice to see Case and Schrade are still popular with cowboys, I've also heard that alot of guys in Texas like German Eye brand.
 
OTguy said:
I'm very interested in the knives these working ranchers use everyday. The more info you can give, the better. Any first person accounts and opinions that you can relay would be appreciated.

Nice to see Case and Schrade are still popular with cowboys, I've also heard that alot of guys in Texas like German Eye brand.
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Yes they are, especially in Central Texas for the simple reason that many there are of German heritage.
 
Thread necro much? Here's a friendly tip -- before replying to a thread check the date of the last post. It's usually not necessary to reply to something that's more than seven years old.

- Christian
 
Going to bust the image bubble. My twin BILs run about 1,000 head on their ranch. Five or six other guys work for them. They could afford any knife but to them a knife is just another tool. I tried keeping them in the cheaper liner lock Buck single blades but have given up. They buy their knives in the feed store, quick stop or someplace where there is a three for five dollars overseas specials bin. Everything is just a tool and treated so, EXCEPT for the wives vehicles. Momma don't stand for dirt...........Dang it their sister is the same way.......... 300Bucks
 
To each their own right. I've seen cattleman carry anything from custom knives to not even carrying a knife. I'd say most guys around us carry yellow handle cases, schrades, bokers, German eyes,bucks, and rough riders. Most of our farm hands carry what ever. One carrys a boker stockman another a yellow case mini trapper, case canoe, queen large two blade congress, and our Spanish workers carry whatever. These guys see knives like most see a hammer and don't really care.
 
Just finished three days of branding yesterday. Two of the hands cut all the calves. One used a Case Sodbuster, and the other an Old Timer stockman. He must've carried it for awhile, because that clip blade was probably only about 3/8" wide. It had seen plenty of sharpenings, and he stropped it every so often on his chaps. Guess I've spent so much time lurking on this forum, I felt compelled to notice what they were using. BTW, I was carrying a Moore Maker trapper.
Branding2013b.jpg
 
Interesting thread old or not. Most "Hands" I know carry stockmen, trappers, or sodbusters. Case, Old Timers, and Buck mostly, nothing quick stop cheap though.
 
With mothers family from San Angelo I grant that west Texas cowmen do like yellow handled knives. Usually Case. Have a Grandpa's yellow handled Imperial in carbon steel. One cousin did carry a Moremaker once.

My Ozark BILs don't ride in the saddle, maybe a fourwheeler but likely a 2 ton flatbed with feed box on the back. They broke the Bucks blades by prying on something or" lost" the knives I gave them. I even tried orange handles. I would engrave their initails and their brand in the scales. I imagine there are several at the county road corners when they were slung off the flatbed, where they had been left, likely open, as they rounded the corner. After I was married to there sister for a good while, I decided they were on there own and I would concentrate on keeping her car clean......300Bucks
 
kamagong said:
Thread necro much? Here's a friendly tip -- before replying to a thread check the date of the last post. It's usually not necessary to reply to something that's more than seven years old.

- Christian
Click to expand...

Interesting subject, interesting enough to start a new thread about it rather than digging one up from 8 years ago. I think it's unfair and uncalled for to refer to Christian's post as a "snide remark", he's making a valid point in support of the posting guidelines for this forum.

Jack
 
It's more about the tone and not content ....
Treating one like a naughty child, the tone can discourage participation. I don't want to derail the thread, take it to pm if you need to vent.


Dave
 
300Bucks said:
They broke the Bucks blades by prying on something or" lost" the knives I gave them. I even tried orange handles. I would engrave their initails and their brand in the scales.
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You certainly get an "A" for effort! :)

~ P.
 
Interesting - I spent years in the saddle out in Arizona in the late 60s and early-to-mid 70s. Carried a Case stockman all that time. Now I'm stuck behind a desk most days back East, all my horses dead and gone, saddle sold, but sitting on my desk is a yellow-handled Case XX stockman. . . Funny how some things do stay the same.
 
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