Owning one pocket knife

I've pretty much always been a multi knife guy.
No one blade is "ideal" for every task. Starting arounf late first grade or that summer's vacation, I added a sockman to the Bgenuine Army issue Camillus(?) "Demo Knife that my uncle gave me when he was home on leavein 1960, from Viet Nam, just before he was stationed in Germany. (sadly that knife and a bunch of other things I had, vaporized when my mum divorced who I thought was my da (I still consider him such) when I was eleven.)
I added the requisit Buck 110 to my belt in "Junior High" ("Middle School" hadn't been invented yet) round about 1968, for the shop classes I took then and in High School. Back then, if you were taking a shop class, you were expected to have at least one knife on you.
Truth to tell, starting 1st/2nd grade it was just taken for granted by the school district that "all" the boys had at least one pocket knife in their jeans pocket, and 98 to 99.7% of the girls had one in their purse.
Manys the time I or one of my classmates loaned the teacher our knife because s/he "forgot" their's that day. Yes. We always got the knife back before the end of class.
Twas a different world back then. No one raised an eyebrow if a 2nd or 3rd grader brought his or her rifle to class for show and tell, either.

My carry has remained pretty consistant over the decades.Either a Buck 110 or Old Timer 7OT on my belt, and a large stock,an and 4 blade scout/camp/demo knife in my pocket, most days. Admittedly I'll sawp out te lokback for a two blade slipjoint folding hunter once in a while. The stockman and scout/camp knife get switched out for a coule different knives. A moose pattern, large sunfish, canoe, or Barlow, for ecample.

To date, the various slipjoints and lockbacks have cut (or scraped) everything I needed them to, not to mention clean fish and peel critters during hunting season. I've never thought "golly, I wish I had a ___ instead of this knife..."
 
emjay said:
My father is the mystical "one knife for life" guy. He's had the same Victorinox Camper SAK for probably over 40 years. The blades are so worn that they stick out past the scales when closed. That SAK is his pocket knife. That's it.

That SAK of his has been on pretty much every family holiday and every camping trip as far back as I can remember. Us knife enthusiasts think Victorinox steel is slack in the edge retention department, but he thinks it's great steel. It does what he needs it to do. To cut. It keeps an edge long enough for his needs. In fact, he thinks highly of the edge retention of Victorinox steel... I would say he's the average knife user. He just sees a sharp tool that is used to cut stuff. He's also had the same bait knife that he's used for fishing for over 30 years. It's probably about two thirds of its original width from years of sharpening.

My father thinks I'm crazy for owning a bunch of knives. He once asked me why I would need more than one knife. I didn't have a convincing answer for him. I can't have just one pocket knife, but I envy him for his ability to go through decades with the same pocket knife. We get carried away with this hobby

Would be interesting to hear your stories of these "one knife" people if you know any
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I was mono-cultro for a while. Dad brought me a Victorinox Huntsman from the the Victorinox store in Zurich (this was before the package hook was added to that model) when I turned eight. It did EVERYTHING and I never needed another knife until I received the Leichtung woodcrafting catalog in high school. In it I saw the puukko designed by Tapio Wirkkala and manufactured by Hackmann. I NEEDED IT! For the next several years I was duo-cultro. The SAK got a lot of use and I am sure it looked pretty worn, both in blade and scale, when it eventually slipped from my pocket, bounced off the deck of a boat, and plopped into the midnight water of Ocracoke Harbor. Hmm, now that I think of it, that made me a one-knifer again for some time. Well, that puukko went everywhere with me for years. Europe, North America, fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, you name it.

Eventually, I found my way to owning far too many (my own assessment), so my current policy is "one in, two out." Quality over quantity.

(Visiting Israel in 1983 I somehow acquired an original Jet Pilot's Knife. I have no idea what happened to it, but it was my third knife for a while.)
 
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I owned several knives as a kid, but when I went off to live overseas by myself (in Taiwan) in the mid-‘80s, I only took one knife, my Victorinox Spartan SAK. That was the only knife I carried for the near-decade I lived overseas, and for a few more years after returning Stateside. I never really felt under-knifed during that time, and being an SAK, it served many other purposes besides cutting. I also took it with me on visa extension trips from Taiwan to Hong Kong and South Korea. Back then, you could carry an SAK in your pocket onto airplanes without any problems.

Now I have many more knives than the little pocketknife collection I had as a kid (which I still have). But I will always have at least one SAK on me, usually two; an Executive, and a Spartan (or Pioneer), in addition to whichever Spyderco knife I’m carrying. There are many tasks an SAK does better than a knife blade-only folder.

Jim
 
I’ve always wanted to try just carrying and using one knife for a year or so. I would probably pick my White river backpacker pro, a PM2, or my custom Street Beat in Lc200n. Every time I try though,I make it about a day then give up! Kudos to your dad. That’s really cool he has that much use on a knife, and it sounds like it has sentimental value to him as well.
 
I've never been a one knife guy. Even as a child when my grandfather gave me my first one he gave me more than one small multi blade traditional. So at no time have I had just one.... Currently have more than 50.
 
We can NEVER have too many knives. When I leave home I have at least one gun on me and at least four knives. When my gorgeous CPK DEK1 gets here, it will be five knives! :cool:
 
My wife is a one knife wife. The Purple SAK classic is the only knife she carries. She has had it for 2 or 3 years. It isn't on her keychain (too cumbersome) but it is always in her purse. She says she uses the scissors more then the knife.

I tried to buy her a few other knives. Spyderco Dragonfly and Kershaw Leek IIRC. Nope she said. The SAK is enough.
 
That means somebody else has cooked for your father all his life. You can’t possibly go camping with a SAK only.

Unless you use other knives and don’t count them.
 
I'm currently a one knife person. In the past I did have a "collection" of 20-25 knives. I'm actually a lot happier with having one or a select few that are my favorites. I didn't go straight to only one. I progressively whittled my collection down to like eight knives, then six, then four, three, two, and of course now one. This draw down lasted a couple years. It was indeed facilitated by the fact I found my "perfect" pocket knife in the Benchmade Bugout.

Having only one knife has a lot of benefits. Every single day I know I get to carry my favorite knife which is pretty darn cool. It eliminates an extra decision I have to make which is a gift that keeps on giving. It allows a greater bond with the knife itself because the more you use it the more intuitive it becomes to the point it's just a natural extension of you. It can actually start to become a signature of you because every one knows that's your knife and it's been in your pocket or hand for all life's memories, adventures, and milestones. You just don't get that same experience with a whole shuffle of knives that change every hour, day, or week.
 
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I got into the hobby looking for the 'one'. I loved the idea of the knife equivelant of 'beware the man with only a single gun, he'll know how to use it'. Specifically the dedication to learn the use of the tool to the extent that it was an extension of my hand. It took me on a long (expensive!) journey which ended up with Victorinox and the single SAK Spartan which I've carried in one form or another for a few years now. I have other knives including a keychain SAK but the Spartan is the 'One' pretty much. I have other knives though not as many any more and they're all dedicated task tools, not do it all carries.
 
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