The coin pocket knife.

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Oct 2, 2004
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I finally had to admit that I got old.

For years I joked about getting "older" and made light of the fact that little by little I couldn't do much of what I used to do. But then, when I looked at it in the harsh light of day, I really didn't want to do those things anymore. Kind of a 'been there, done that' thing. At my age, do I really want lug a back pack up a mountain trail, sleep on a closed cell mat on the ground, or do I want to sleep in a nice lodge, breakfast the next morning in the dining room and a hike with a guide unencumbered except for a light day pack with a bottle of water and a few muchies?

Pocket knives have come into that realm. I've never been a fan of very large knives, and a Buck 301 stockman was my go-to pocket knife for 25 years. A basic Victorinox tinker was in that category as well. In my late 40's/early 50's it was the mighty mite legume. The peanut that became "my knife." But the last decade of so, my taste has definitely changed to the general category of the coin pocket knife. The little knives that fit comfortably in that little 5th pocket that jeans have. Buck 309 companion, Boker 240 pen, the Sardinian resolza, Victorinox executive. With the advance of the senior citizen fumble fingers, I find the slightly larger 3 to 3 1/4 inch size a bit easier to avoid dropping and making myself look like the village idiot.

I continue to find it odd that, in my retirement I find the need for less knife, even though I'm spending much more time fishing, shooting, and rambling the woods with Karen, and road trips exploring Texas. I now fully understand the old guys with the little pen knife. I've joined the club that only time can bring understanding and admittance to.

I haven't been around here as much as I used to. Maybe it's that we're spending much less time at home while doing day trips and exploring. Or maybe it's my lessening interest in possessions and material things. If I have a knife in my pocket, I'm good to go. I don't seem to care anymore what kind of knife it is, as long as it doesn't take up much room, and is sharp. I remember like it was yesterday, my dad telling me "it doesn't have to be big, just sharp." I wish I knew then how right he was. Maybe as a white bearded old man I don't worry about what may be, just what really is. I seem to get by with a coin pocket size knife for cutting fishing line, opening packages, trimming a good hot dog stick. Besides, the little knife in the coin pocket leaves more room for the RONCO pocket defibrillator in case of a vapor lock in the old oil pump. But most of all, it kind reminds me of the old guys when I was kid. How they didn't rush, but sort of paused and looked over what had to be done, and then deliberately pulled out a little slip joint and carefully cut what had to be cut. Most times it wasn't a big knife, or a fancy knife. Sometimes it was one of those little two blade jacks with the cracked ice handles from a stand up cardboard display by the cash register in a five and dime. Or it could be a nice little Ulster or Case with a real jigged bone handle.

In the old days, things came wrapped in a heavy brown paper and tied up with white twine. A pocket knife was needed to get to what was in there. Then the things came in a cardboard box wrapped in that brown packing tape that you wet to put on and it dried and was as good as an Egyptian mummy wrap. You ain't getting in there without a knife. Now with civilization, we have the plastic blister package, designed to resist both both and nail and mild charges of C4 explosive. A sharp knife is the only force known to man that will liberate the contents. Doesn't have to be big, just sharp. I've found the pen bade of a peanut, the small blade of a Vic classic, a Buck companion, and my Boker 240 to work well defeating this packaging.

The youngest grand child seems to have learned this, although I don't know from where. This past summer was her third summer visit with here in Texas, and like her grandpa, she loves to fish. Sitting on the shady bank of the San Gabriel river, she's learned to tie a pretty good blood knot, and clean her own fish. We were siting on the back this past summer, and she was just tying on a hook, and I asked her if she needed a knife. Wth all the self assured attitude of a 9 year old, she flipped her ponytail and holding her head high said, "Grandpa, I do have my own knife now, you know!" And she took out a familiar looking Camillus/Remington peanut and trimmed what needed to be trimmed. She was careful and deliberate in her handling of the knife, and I was glad to see my pocket had a good home.

Then theres the harsh light of day reality. I know at my age I will never see real wilderness again. Karen and I saw Yosemite from the tourist train, and slept in the park lodge. Same thing with Yellowstone. And I have to admit it was nice to sit on the lodge veranda with a cocktail to watch Old Faithful. For the kinds of environment I will find myself in most times, a little coin pocket knife is all I need. I will never need to baton wood, I won't be hacking my way through the Amazon. I don't need heavy duty construction that will last for 30 years. In fact, I find it mildly depressing that everything I buy now, will come with a lifetime warrantee. In less than one month I will be a the average life expectancy of a male in the U.S. of A. I guess in the end, I'll just be another of those old men with a little pen knife in the coin pocket.
 
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Thank you for sharing your reflections. I seemed to have arrived at the watch pocket knife earlier in my life. My kids all carry a bigger knife than me, though they frequently ask for my peanut since they seem to always forget their own. My 12 year old daughter asked for a Vic cadet for Christmas. I’ll happily ablige her.
 
Good write up Jackknife. I bought a Case Peanut because of your influence and have been carrying it in my watch pocket if I have one on that pair of pants. Never owned one before. It is purely a spare knife in reality as I just can't separate myself from my regular old SAK (111mm) that I have carried for years and like. Usually have a modern too..... certainly cutting redundancy and for the most part totally un-necessary.

I'll come around to your way of thinking eventually. The first step is probably to just carry one knife rather than two most of the time. The peanut is #3 in most cases. Add to that the Leatherman Ps4 Squirt on the key chain that has a blade too.

Retirement is the time to enjoy life as best you can. I enjoyed cruising around Texas seeing things back in the 70's and 80's. Texas has a lot of interesting things to see. We even searched out the world record Bald Cypress tree in Texas at one point. That was a fun experience actually as it is on private land. You need permission as trespassing laws are often enforced.

You wearing a cowboy hat and boots yet? The boots I can skip unless I'm riding a horse.
 
J jackknife
Great post, Carl! It looks like I'm maybe a decade behind you and I've started to think about those things that you've been posting on for a few years now. My knife accumulating has slowed way down. My appreciation for the things that have a sentimental value has increased immensely. My thoughts of starting to pare down my belongings is something I think about now and then, I haven't quite started to do that though. I "might" just let my kids squabble over them and save myself the aggravation!:D

Although I carry more knives than I need to, I can see where one small knife, easily watch pocket accessible is all I'd really need. I'll likely take that leap at some point. I'm just not there yet!

Although I still like to walk the woods, it pretty much no longer includes any rock climbing!
Nice to see you posting! Have a great holiday!
 
Excellent as always.

I've said it before but I'm still young and not done with my knife journey which is how it should be I suppose.
I still carry knives that are overkill for my needs just because i like them, but I do love the little ones as much or more and get lots of joy out of carrying them.
I find it pleasing to know that the little knife I'm carrying is more than enough, and that I can carry them with little thought other than cutting what needs cutting.
I'm not thinking about defense ,strength, speed, or prying on anything.
I'm just thinking about how well the blade slices and cuts what it needs to , and how comfortable it it to carry.
 
Always a great read and a philosophy I very much share

Camillus #21's, Buck 309's and most recently a Buck 704 are pretty much all I use and carry

I've strayed every now and then but ultimately its one or two of these in my pocket

just need to decide on a final carbon blade 3.25" folder to complete my 'set'
 
Great story Carl. I'm probably a decade or more behind you, but I've been thinking along the same lines for several years. I used to want to drive a fancy car and even owned a couple small convertibles. Now, I just don't care, If my car gets me where I want to go and back, that's all I need. My wife and I were discussing Christmas presents and I couldn't think of a single thing I needed or even badly want. We decided to restrict our Christmas gift buying to $50 each total and no item over $10, not because we can't afford more, but just because why spend more money on something we'll probably get little use out of?

As you know, I bought a Peanut based on your stories and even did the 30 day Peanut challenge. I still carry that knife from time to time, but like you, I prefer a slightly larger blade. My Case Teardrop has become my EDC knife of choice, because it's slightly larger but less bulky.

Earlier this year, I had what is probably my last epic adventure, at least of this type. My daughter had gone back to college after life got in the way the first time. She is a single mom of 2 kids and works full time, but managed to fit in 4 college courses per semester and received her BS degree in Chemistry in June. Of course, she wanted me there for her graduation. She lives in Oregon and I live in Virginia.

Well, I hadn't budgeted for that trip, especially after we had just made a week long trip to California and Oregon 8 months prior for a niece's wedding. I decided to drive across the U.S. and back, camping out at free or inexpensive campsites for most of the trip. It was definitely an adventure. I also camped while I was there at a state park, so for more than 3 weeks, I camped out all but 3 nights at hotels and 3 nights at a friends house on the way home. Like you, I decided after that trip that I'm getting too old for the tent life. While I'm really glad I did it, i'll never do something like that again.

Oh, and some knife content :D:

peanut.jpg
 
J jackknife
Great post, Carl! It looks like I'm maybe a decade behind you and I've started to think about those things that you've been posting on for a few years now. My knife accumulating has slowed way down. My appreciation for the things that have a sentimental value has increased immensely. My thoughts of starting to pare down my belongings is something I think about now and then, I haven't quite started to do that though. I "might" just let my kids squabble over them and save myself the aggravation!:D

Although I carry more knives than I need to, I can see where one small knife, easily watch pocket accessible is all I'd really need. I'll likely take that leap at some point. I'm just not there yet!

Although I still like to walk the woods, it pretty much no longer includes any rock climbing!
Nice to see you posting! Have a great holiday!

Thanks bud!

I think if a life goes a normal course, we all get there. Its weird what happens and I saw my dad go through it. More and more, material things just seem to mean less and less. Stuff is just stuff. Guns, knives, cars, whatever you were deep into, just fades in importance. I loved giving away my main stuff years ago in Maryland. No squabbling, but lots of great joy in seeing my kids, grandkids, nephews and nieces take great pleasure in getting the stuff they wanted. Wha they didn't want, I gave away to old friends, co-workers, and my friends on this forum.

Last year, when I had that scare waking up 5 o'clock in the morning with a pain in my chest and pain running down both arms, I figured it was the big get-off. Last stop on the train west. At that moment, the most important thing in the world wasn't any of my material possessions. It was the fact that I hadn't told Karen I loved her that day yet. I reached over and nudged her and told her "I love you." Of course she did a semi freak out and asked what was wrong and she drove me to the ER at a scary rate of speed. I never knew a Camry could corner like that!

But in a way it's been weirdly enlightening, and almost a cheerful joy at realizing that it all doesn't matter. The only thing that really matters is the people in your life that you love without question. All the rest of the things in life seem to take on a strange disconnection, like they really don't matter at all.

Now don't get me wrong, I still like knives, but not like I used to. But I still carry at least two everyday. My little Boker 240, or the Buck cadet is mostly teamed up with a Leatherman squirt in the opposite pocket. They get me through the day in an under stated way It's the "old guy with a penknife" thing. And theres the other thing; all my little knives that I kept and mean the most to me, are all gifted from my friends on this forum. Everyday I carry one of my little coin pocket knives, it's. reminder of how much this place and the folks on the porch has meant to me.

We get old, we adapt and life just gets a little different. But we keep going. Sometimes we keep going with different tools for the trip.
 
J jackknife Thanks to my kids I have a peanut. Thanks to you I came to the realization I a little sharp 2 inch blade is all I need. The peanut has been my faithful companion for 2 years now and I still love it. Thank you.
nOOAKj9.jpg
 
Great story Carl. I'm probably a decade or more behind you, but I've been thinking along the same lines for several years. I used to want to drive a fancy car and even owned a couple small convertibles. Now, I just don't care, If my car gets me where I want to go and back, that's all I need. My wife and I were discussing Christmas presents and I couldn't think of a single thing I needed or even badly want. We decided to restrict our Christmas gift buying to $50 each total and no item over $10, not because we can't afford more, but just because why spend more money on something we'll probably get little use out of?
That is pretty much where I'm at currently. My wife and I decided not to buy presents. For me, when in doubt, it's always a shirt or several Carhartt pocket teashirts. Sounds kind of stupid, but I have so many clothes that I seldom wear but I wear those tea shirts almost every day unless I have to dress up for some reason. I will get my wife a Christmas present regardless. She always says "don't get me anything..."

I certainly need to begin downsizing the stuff department. Most will probably just go into the trash or Goodwill. Knives.... I have to start making decisions about. They keep piling up and I have only sold one knife to a person here on the forum that knew I had something they thought was special and I didn't use. I sold it.

As I mentioned, the place to start is carry ONE knife and the Squirt. Which one? My 111mm SAK? A Peanut? A mid size modern knife? A mid sized traditional? Certainly not a Vic Classic as I simply don't care for them (too small) for much of anything more than opening mail.
 
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That is pretty much where I'm at currently. My wife and I decided not to buy presents. For me, when in doubt, it's always a shirt or several Carhartt pocket teashirts. Sounds kind of stupid, but I have so many clothes that I seldom wear but I wear those tea shirts almost every day unless I have to dress up for some reason. I will get my wife a Christmas present regardless. She always says "don't get me anything..."

I certainly need to begin downsizing the stuff department. Most will probably just go into the trash or Goodwill. Knives.... I have to start making decisions about. They keep piling up and I have only sold one knife to a person here on the forum that knew I had something they thought was special and I didn't use. I sold it.

As I mentioned, the place to start is carry ONE knife and the Squirt. Which one? My 111mm SAK? A Peanut? A mid size modern knife? A mid sized traditional? Certainly not a Vic Classic as I simply don't care for them (too small) for much of anything more than opening mail.

We debated about not getting anything this year, but opening gifts on Christmas morning is such a tradition in our family, that not having ANYTHING to open would be depressing. That's why we figured some inexpensive gifts would still carry on the tradition.
 
After being injured,and subsequent surgery'sand recovery,I can relate to the downsizing thing.My Buck 301,Schrade Uncle Henry 885 are great knives,especially during extended carving sessions,but heavy to carry. Some times my Buck 303 is all I need,or my Case mini copper-lockgrat 6.5 amber bone is also great edc.My alox electrician is a pocket staple in its slip but the big one handed folders just get in the way sometimes.With age comes wisdom.A old friend reminded one day that old age an trechery will overcome youthfulness and zeal everytime,or something to that effect.If we would have just listened when we were youg.....
 
I've put a lot of thought into this and I think a GEC Tuscosa in the watch pocket and a SAK Electrician in a slip would be a perfect carry combo. The Tuscosa is super easy to open with arthritic fingers and the locking feature makes it safe with fumble fingers. The Electrician can fill any "unusual" needs that might pop up.

 
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