Dad's knife?

kamagong

kamagong

Gold Member
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Paul (pmew) recently posted his difficulty in choosing a 'Dads knife'. His own father carried a much treasured Taylor's lambsfoot, which even to this day looks sharp and ready to put in a good day's work. Paul's father carried that knife for a long time, and made countless memories with it.

I've carried a stag covered #73 mostly everyday for a couple of years now. Not everyday, I'm too much of a knifenut to do that, but enough that I've gotten in the habit of reaching for it most mornings. On the off chance I want to carry something else, I have a dozen others that I can slip into my pocket.

I didn't set off trying to make this my knife. There was no weird New Year's resolution to carry this knife to exclusion of all others. No, I carried this knife because it was a gift a while back. That's it.

A couple of days ago the family and I were doing some long overdue Spring cleaning. I had to break down some cardboard boxes, but I didn't have a blade on me. I asked my daughter to get my knife. Normally she would just grab the nearest sharp, but she went to my nightstand to get the 73. I asked her why she didn't just get the 110 in the tool box or the sodbuster in the kitchen. She said I asked for "my knife" which in her mind is the 73 she's seen me using for so long. It seems that using this knife to shorten drinking straws, cut up fruits, and various other sundry things made it mine. I guess it's a natural process, one that occurs through the passage of time and accumulation of memories.

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She's comfortably worn now, with the yellowing stag and light grey blade.

Do you have a Dad's knife?
 
That's some gorgeous stag! Great story, thanks for sharing. My red sawcut 77 Barlow is my full-time daily. All others sit in the safe.
 
This post brings me great joy. You have completely captured the essence of what my fathers knife meant to me. My little boy is still too young to understand such things so my indecision isn't such a problem at the minute but I'll have to decide soon. It will probably be my 61.

I bet your grin was a mile wide when she said those words Christian!

Thanks,
Paul


Edited to add picture of my dads;
 
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arizonaranchman said:
That's some gorgeous stag! Great story, thanks for sharing. My red sawcut 77 Barlow is my full-time daily. All others sit in the safe.
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Thanks! I agree, I won the stag lottery with this one.

pmew said:
I bet your grin was a mile wide when she said those words Christian!
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It was Paul. :D Alas, this knife holds little appeal for her. She'd much rather have my Sunday knife, a serpentine pattern in pearl.
 
kamagong said:
It was Paul. :D Alas, this knife holds little appeal for her. She'd much rather have my Sunday knife, a serpentine pattern in pearl.
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That might be the case but she evidently knows exactly which one is 'Dad's knife'. That's the one she'll remember as yours for years to come regardless of whether she thinks its pretty or not. :D
 
I was a linesman in my work life before retiring and carried a Buck 110 in a sheath everyday for it's utility when 35 foot atop a utility pole. My 43 year old son still asks quite often "dad do you still have your old knife".
 
I'll always remember the beat up small and large Klein lockbacks that my dad carried. He never gave them much thought; hell, they were probably free from work. They'll always be important to me, though. I now have his large Klein, and I'm still searching for the small.

I've got my first child on the way (only 6 more weeks :eek: ), and I'm sure that one day, they'll know "Dad's knife". Right now, it would probably be either my Buck 55 or my Little Jack, both of which are more pocket time than the rest. The new Beer Scouts may change that, though!

I can't wait to see everyone else's "dad's knife".
 


What a great story!

Funny, just last year I was trying to hunt down the pocket knife my father used. I don't know why I remembered that thing so vividly as a child, but I recall him using it often for little things. One could often be found in his pocket, while another would be kept in a tackle box. Last year I found half of what I was looking for - the one in the tackle box. Sadly, the other will most likely be MIA forever.

Anyway, I was overjoyed when I found that little peanut - a Kabar 1026. It was in pretty bad shape when I found it, as both time and the elements had taken their respective tolls. However, I spent some time with the little guy and tried to bring it back to its old glory. It's now restored to the best that I could do, it's absolutely razor sharp.

It's one of those things that has little to no monetary value, would be meaningless to anyone else, but it's something I'll always cherish.

Thanks again for your post!

Best Regards,

Drew
 
This one still is, and probably always will be, the knife my kids run for when I ask for my knife. It's gotten called other things over the last couple of years (your big knife, big bonker, the old one) but it's still the one that pops into their heads when I say "Grab my knife off my dresser for me." There might be three or four knives sitting out, but this is always the one they come back with.



A couple of years ago I gave my dad a Queen trapper. He's had an 8OT since before I was born, but never carried it. When we talked about it he said that it gets all rusted and he doesn't want to take the time to maintain it. He's carried the Queen every day since I gave it to him, and it's become "Grandpa's knife" over the last couple of years. I did this on purpose, so that the kids and I could have a knife to remember when he's gone. Hopefully that doesn't happen for many years.

 
Christian, even I think of your 73 as your dad's knife! :D :thumbup:

pmew said:
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Always a treat to see that one Paul :thumbup:

Cory, I love your avatar! :) :thumbup:

My three daughters are grown up now, and seem to have no interest in knives whatsoever. If they have memories of the knife I used when they were small, to perform all the chores a dad needs a knife for, it would be this one I guess :thumbup:



 
If I told one of my sons to go get my knife they'd give me a confused look, just before asking, "Which one?"
There was a time, when I was much younger, that I could carry the same knife for a decade or more.
They both know this one was a gift from my father when I was 13 or so? I carried it for 15 years or better.
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Now I carry many and they'll have many to choose from.
 
Jack Black said:
Cory, I love your avatar! :) :thumbup:
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Thanks, I recently got back on the paid status and had to go through and find a decent avatar. As soon as I came across this picture I knew that that was the one. :thumbup:

That knife is now set aside for when she's old enough to get to carry one when we go camping. I can't think of a better first knife than a Yella Sodbuster Jr.
 
kamagong said:
Non-Sheffield? :eek:
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LOL! I carried that Mauser for the best part of a decade, though I also carried this one a lot too :) :thumbup:

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My kids would have to swim for this one though (I gifted it to Stephen 'Old & In The Way' last year)! :D
 
I think girls notice more than boys at young ages. It is a great story.

I have been look for a knife like my dad carried that Was my Grandpa's. It was close to the one gift to me by Paul-pmew (Thanks again) but a jack and probably made in the USA. Had black or dark brown handle and one blade was broken and a shield It disappeared after he past.

At holidays I am known as the knife guy so all the little one bring their packages to me to open or they carry the knife to their dad's to open for them. In a few years when they are older I will hand the knife to atleast one of them and say keep it. I am waiting for their dad to give them their first knife but hey I can always be the Uncle who gave them their first knife.
Dave
 
Sadly, life never worked out so that I could be a father, and I have to say I really hate that. However, I can share that I have many happy memories of my father using his old black Case Sodbuster Jr. He seemed to do everything with that knife, so when he passed it was the first thing of his I went looking for. He hadn't carried it for the last few years and once I got it I suspected it was because enough of the blade had been sharpened off that the tip was standing proud out of the handle. I could see where he might have cut himself a few times reaching for it or change while it was in his pocket. He carried a few cheap tacticool knifes after he put the old Soddie up. When he passed I put a new Soddie in his coat pocket, and one that matched it in mine. His old one and the one that matches the on he now carries hang in a display on my wall. The old Soddie winds up in my pocket from time to time, but that proud point reminds me to put it back shortly thereafter. I know I can file the kick down, but I've just decided to leave it as he left it.

 
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This isn't the same Uncle Henry my Dad gave me as my very first knife but it's the same model. I just like carrying it..reminds me of my younger days. :)
 
Great thread! I have a few months still before I become a dad, though it does seem to be sneaking up fast, so I guess I better get to figuring out my "dad knife." :D

I have a few knives that belonged to my dad (though, oddly, none of the ones that I remembering him carrying). When I was younger, he was always carrying some sort of SAK, then he sort of transitioned to Leathermans. He never carried anything strictly traditional, but he owned a few (knives from his dad, or just some that he'd picked up somewhere). I wish he was still around for me to share my interest in traditional knives with him; I'm sure he would enjoy it. I bought this Case a while back (and posted this thread about it) because it reminded me of him.

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My Daughter just goes to my coffee cup with the Gear Boss on it or to my Wooden Pig Bowl to get what ever I carrying that day.
 
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