Cult of the one knife man

J

jec88

Joined
Mar 6, 2012
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For me, one of the main draws of traditional knives is their simplicity. They remind me of a time when a man carried the same knife for years or even their whole life and they used the same knife for everything. A man didn't have a different knife for a different job. The pen knife that might be carried to church might also be used to clean fish and game, work around the garden or farm and also in the shop.
How about a thread or contest just for fun to just carry the same traditional knife for the longest time and see how long we can make do with the same knife for many chores and show how the knife progresses as it ages, becomes pocket worn etc?
Open to any traditional makes, models, and patterns and just a thread to show off your longest carried traditional knives. All you have to do is just add a pic of your knife that your going to try to long term edc at the beginning and show it off from time to time.
I'm going to try to edc this one, just because I kind of like it for no special reason. It's a 6318 Case and with 3 blades it should do most of what I need. So far, I've been carrying this one since July 9, 2015.





 
Folks didn't know they needed more than one pocket knife sixty years ago. You might own a sheath knife if you were a serious hunter or trapper. I didn't know any better myself until the early '70's. Money was also a bit harder to come by in the 50's, at least for my folks. Good luck :)
 
Lol...those one-knife guys don't hang around these parts. They have their own corner of the internet.

;)

- Christian
 
How about a thread or contest just for fun to just carry the same traditional knife for the longest time and see how long we can make do with the same knife for many chores and show how the knife progresses as it ages, becomes pocket worn etc?
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I think this is an interesting idea, however I am clearly not the master of my domain when it comes to knives to borrow a Seinfeld reference. Best wishes to those who compete though! :thumbup:
 
It's a splendid idea and I would love to see the original poster and others pull it off.

I've tried it myself and only made it a few days longer than a year. I'm surprised I made it that long. Personally, I've surrendered to the fact that I can't be a knife knut and always use/carry the same knife. To do that means I have to give up my interest in buying more knives. Not to mention all the knives I currently own that will just sit there.

I do like to hear/read stories of those who have carried the same knife for decades. And the photos of those knives are even more interesting. Honestly, it's not something we see much of on this forum. Presumably for the reasons mentioned above.

I'm sittin' this one out but here's to anyone who wants to try. :thumbup: I would love to see some success stories.
 
I did the "same knife every day" challenge last year for about 6 months. Was fun. If you fully embrace it, you will save a lot of money and you probably will only post here once a year.
 
jc57 said:
I did the "same knife every day" challenge last year for about 6 months. Was fun. If you fully embrace it, you will save a lot of money and you probably will only post here once a year.
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I think that's the key to success, John. You pretty much have to put other knives out of your mind.
 
It's a good way to kick the knife habit, though you run the risk of self-realization that you have spent a lot of money on unnecessary things and sometimes that moment of clarity isn't pleasant.
 
I tried to be a one knife man. Couldn't do it. I carried my stag #73 everyday for more than a year, but in the end I got twitchy. I wanted variety.

The #73 still gets the lion share of pocket time, but a couple of days a week I grab something else out of the cigar box. Still, I figure five out of seven days isn't too bad.

This knife is probably thee closest I'll get to an EDC.

fresh out of the tube


a year or so ago


last month at a local children's museum


- Christian
 
I would like to try. As long as I receive my Whittler I'll post a photo and take part. This knife had been ordered by my wife as a gift for me. So I have two great reasons to use just one knife: sentimental and challenge.
 
I've been thinking about this very thing.

One of my grandfather's carried a huge folder daily and had a small church knife for Sunday/Wednesday Night.
My other grandfather carried one knife and never bothered with church (I'll have to get a picture of the knife, I have it).
My old man has only carried one knife at a time for years.
 
jec88,

I hope you dont' mind my linking a thread in your topic. Thought it might be of interest and perhaps encouraging for those who want to give this a go.

Some of you folks might remember this thread. Probably the most fascinating account of long term carry I've ever seen on this forum. Thankfully, the original poster, John (1scooter) left his photos up after all these years:

1scooter, if you are still around, my hat is off to you once again!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ld-Worn-out-Knife-Replaced-with-New-Old-Knife
 
I carried a jumbo BOKER USA congress knife with all 4 blades different, from about 1970 to about 1986, as my only pocket knife and it was with me 24/7 until it fell apart. I then carried a SCHRADE NY USA 858OT for several years in a row the same way. However I was never so destitute that I didn't have a knife for the kitchen and another for hunting. Now that would be POOR. Nowadays I use and carry several and have no intention of doing it otherwise, but I did it the austere way as you propose for a LONG time. Been there, done that. Good luck and good fun to all!
 
I can see the interest in doing the one knife thing, I think. I guess I did it when I was a young man, although it wasn't intentional.
I carried a Schrade Ulster Old Timer (58 OT) small stockman for a decade or so, maybe longer, mostly because it did the job for me. I didn't even think about needing or wanting something different.
It seems I got the one knife thing out of my system. Now it's a pleasure to carry something different everyday, if the mood strikes.
Good luck with it, for those of you taking up the quest!
 
Railsplitter said:
Some of you folks might remember this thread. Probably the most fascinating account of long term carry I've ever seen on this forum.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for linking that thread. I'd never seen it before, and it's an awesome tale of a man and his knife. What an inspiration.

As for the contest, I don't know if I'd qualify. I've carried the same knife every day since 7/20/14, but I've carried other knives with it. It has done probably 90-95% of my cutting whether that be food, wood, leather, rope, rubber, etc. I have carried it in church, camping, working in the shop, and everywhere in between.

Here's a picture of the knife on 7/16/14, which is the day I received it from the dealer. I ordered a 73 and got this one by mistake.



Here's a picture of it on 7/16/15, after I'd owned it for one year.



It's interesting to look back at the original picture and see how much texture there was on the distressed part of the bone. It's probably about half that now. I'd imagine that it'll be smooth before too much longer.

Here's a picture of the little Winchester that it replaced, which was my one and only pocket knife for seven years and was in my pocket every single day for that time. It came out of my pocket the day that the 23 went in. This picture is also from 7/16/14.



If that knife wasn't the piece of junk that it is, I'd have never found this place. I had just started a new job and needed a new knife. Everybody used box cutters, but I wanted something a little better. So, I went to the sporting goods store and picked one that looked about the size I wanted and was pretty cheap. Well, cheap is what I got and I struggled with that knife for seven dang years before I got the good sense to buy a better knife.
 
This won't really be much of a challenge. The last three years I've had either one of two knives in my pocket. A Yellow Delrin Case Medium Stockman or a OD Linen Micarta Bullnose from GEC. The last several months it's been the Bullnose. To be fair I'm more of a knife user than a collector but it has taken some time for a knife to say, "I'm the one." I'll try to get some pictures.
 
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