Your 2018 Traditional Knife Of The Year

This was the first year of my passion for traditionals. There was a serious learning curve, but when I saw the TC Scratted Parchment, I was hooked. I have not found one, but then I saw another Ancient Barlow, the 2018 Edition. After acquiring one, not only has it become a daily pocket friend, but I bought two more. I normally collect the majority of my knives, but this one has never strayed from my right front pocket. I was surprised at how many have appeared in the secondary. Such a great knife.
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cigarrodog said:
This was the first year of my passion for traditionals. There was a serious learning curve, but when I saw the TC Scratted Parchment, I was hooked. I have not found one, but then I saw another Ancient Barlow, the 2018 Edition. After acquiring one, not only has it become a daily pocket friend, but I bought two more. I normally collect the majority of my knives, but this one has never strayed from my right front pocket. I was surprised at how many have appeared in the secondary. Such a great knife.
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I was curious if you would be adding to this thread! With all of the exceptional knives that you have shown throughout the year, this is high praise for the Ancient Barlow...and I cannot fault your choice.
Beautifully photographed, as always! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
2018 Knife of the Year? For me three candidates spring to mind. When considering the purchase of these three they were expected to be good, but each of them far exceeded those pre-purchase expectations.

The Schrade LB5 surprised me by becoming my favorite lock-back the moment I had it in hand! No small feat since I already had a few nice lock backs that I truly enjoyed, yet this one... out-shined them all. It's hand fitting size, curved spine, sunken joint worked together to put the LB5 in a comfort class all by itself. While it's smooth functioning and the top notch cutting performance from it's gorgeous clip blade sealed the deal. The LB5 is one all round, brilliant blade.

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I appreciated the Schrade LB5 so much I wanted a second (standard) model
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This 65+ year old Cattle Knife by Pal has been a real eye-opener for me this year. Like the Schrade above this fantastic folder is a joy to use. The only sharp edges on this knife are the three useful blades that unfold from the ultra comfortable, rugged, well rounded handle and cut like a razor. Built like a tank I have no question that with reasonable care this excellent example of high quality cutlery will easily be doing it's job (without fan-fare) for at least another 65 years.

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The second TC Ancient is simply a spectacular pocket knife. Conceived in the creative mind of Charlie Campagna (quite probably the barlow guru of our time) and made by the skilled craftspersons at GEC. The unique spear not only looks the part with it's primitive grind lines and full length swedge but also provides practical performance from the easily sharpened 1095. GEC's 15 frame is arguably the perfect size for an EDC barlow. The super cool touches like simulated hammered pins, saw-cut bone and the crudely forged bolsters make it without hesitation, my choice for the 2018 Knife of the Year!


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Ratbert said:
I was curious if you would be adding to this thread! With all of the exceptional knives that you have shown throughout the year, this is high praise for the Ancient Barlow...and I cannot fault your choice.
Beautifully photographed, as always! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Thank you for the kind words. My second discovered love in Traditionals is the Zulu Spear. Your Custom Manny Saldana, rules.
 
cigarrodog said:
This was the first year of my passion for traditionals. There was a serious learning curve, but when I saw the TC Scratted Parchment, I was hooked. I have not found one, but then I saw another Ancient Barlow, the 2018 Edition. After acquiring one, not only has it become a daily pocket friend, but I bought two more. I normally collect the majority of my knives, but this one has never strayed from my right front pocket. I was surprised at how many have appeared in the secondary. Such a great knife.
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There is something about the blade of those new Ancients that works right - just slightly better shaped than the "standard" GEC spear for using.
I sometimes think of that knife as my "ugly duckling".:rolleyes: I am ever glad when someone puts one to regular use. They were made with that in mind!!:thumbsup:
The beauty is in the holding, not the beholding!!:D
 
JTB_5 said:
I
A second candidate could be the knife I bought twice this year. I scored a nice 77 Yankee Jack and then sold it to pay for a 77 barlow I won in Mike's early reserve lottery. I ended up not liking the two-bladed barlow as much as I'd hoped, so I traded it to @Buzzbait for a single blade 77 barlow. He ended up throwing in a old barn chestnut navy knife as lagniappe, which I'll talk more about in a second. That barlow was sweet and I used it well, but for some reason the barlow just wasn't as precious to me as it seemed to most folks who are into them, so I ended up selling it. I saw another 77 Yankee Jack but wasn't able to score it, but in a fit of nostalgia I asked @afultz075 if I could buy it back from him. He graciously sold it back at the same price as I sold it to him. Here's a picture of that knife (with my Perceval Le Francais):
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As much as I love that knife (I know, most folks must be wondering why I'd prefer that plain-jane jack to a barlow, but I just do for whatever reason), it isn't my knife of the year either.

It has to be one of these three:
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My flock of lambsfoot knives. You'll see the old barn chestnut and recognize the former Navy knife I got from buzzbait. traumkommode traumkommode modified it for me after I'd seen one of his own modifications and asked him about it. It is a sweet slicer. The micarta was also a Navy knife that traumkommode modified to look like an "ancient" complete with long swedge, and sold on the exchange. I got lucky to pick it up quickly. The middle is, of course, Ashley's Choice. It is the smallest I think I'll be able to enjoy, but the thickness and shape make it sink right into my fingers. The stag has great character and is a great worry stone.

But which one of the three reigns supreme??? I could probably change my mind each day on these three because they are so pleasing to me. But, since the rule is to choose one, I choose:

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It was a generous extra gift, it was modified by a pal, and it has the looks of a well-worn, tough critter. AND it slices like a lightsaber.
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Great choices. Sometimes a plain jack just makes for a nice loveable knife. The lambsfoot is clutch, though ;)

Kiro said:
I like this chance to look back on the year. After consulting my spreadsheet, I found that I bought ~50 knives this year, and sold ~30. No wonder my wife rolls here eyes when the mail comes

For me, this was the year I fell in love with 2 blade single spring knives. I bought several, most of which happened to be GEC stainless. I got all these this year.
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The 89 (the twizzler) has not been carried. The 68 is fantastic, but has a loose pen blade when closed that bugs me. The 62 got a lot of pocket time and was memorably used to cut a port hole in my bass drum head. The 61 isn't as fancy but was carried often and used for some whittling. And then the Willamette Whittler.

My top two are the 61 and the Willamette.
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My knife of the year is the Willamette. Its the best built of the bunch. Feels awesome in hand. Great blade combo. Pinchable main. Beautiful color. I can't ask for much else.
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I do have a 2018 forum knife on the way that would fit in with this group. I expect it to be great though I'm not sure it would take the top spot. I suppose we will see.
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That is a superlative lineup of GEC stainless ;)
 
OK ... I have to edit my choice.
Previously I said an SK Blades Lil'Jack 112 was/is my knife of the year.
My Forum knife arrived today. :)
So ... Since I need a coin (which I don't have) to choose between these two, I'm going to say my knife of 2018 is the Lil'Jack and the 301 Forum knife.
Runner's up would be the Smoke Jumper and a Rough Rider RR1569 Moose. (The Moose arrived today, too.)
 
cigarrodog said:
Thank you for the kind words. My second discovered love in Traditionals is the Zulu Spear. Your Custom Manny Saldana, rules.
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Thanks! I have been wanting a Zulu for some time and always seemed to miss every Case Bose collab Tribal Spear that would appear on the secondary market, so the obvious choice was to have one made. Manny was a joy to work with and I would do so again in a heartbeat.
 
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Ickythump said:
The Forum #13 was the one that started it for me. Received in a trade and was very impressed when in hand. Searched for one to carry, as I didnt want to carry the FK, and that led to me finding the ebony as well as one in stag..I agree, great knife I wouldn't have truly appreciated if i hadn't one in hand/pocket.

I've been charmed by this pattern, for sure.

The "Piano Keys"
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That is a BA picture. I'm going to save it and make it my desktop pic for a while.
Funny.....I think I have more pics of knives than people.
 
Well I don't have any Traditionals worthy of posting "Yet" But I did pick up this fine specimen a couple weeks ago and it instantly became my favorit, so much so that I'm ordering another in purple Ano.
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afishhunter said:
OK ... I have to edit my choice.
Previously I said an SK Blades Lil'Jack 112 was/is my knife of the year.
My Forum knife arrived today. :)
So ... Since I need a coin (which I don't have) to choose between these two, I'm going to say my knife of 2018 is the Lil'Jack and the 301 Forum knife.
Runner's up would be the Smoke Jumper and a Rough Rider RR1569 Moose. (The Moose arrived today, too.)
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One knife only please :thumbsup:

Your choice, but I have to say I'm not sure a knife you've had less than 24 hours really fits the spirit of this thread. Fair enough if you're really that knocked out by it, but pick ONE knife, them's the rulez! :thumbsup:
 



That is a BA picture. I'm going to save it and make it my desktop pic for a while.
Funny.....I think I have more pics of knives than people.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the kind words!
 
Jack Black said:
One knife only please :thumbsup:

Your choice, but I have to say I'm not sure a knife you've had less than 24 hours really fits the spirit of this thread. Fair enough if you're really that knocked out by it, but pick ONE knife, them's the rulez! :thumbsup:
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Fair enough.
But the 2018 Forum knife won't qualify for the 2019 Knife of The Year, since I received it in 2018?

So I don't get in trouble, I'll go back to the Lil'Jack as my choice.

(P.S. "Had less than 3 hours" would be more accurate. :) )
 
I love how Jack poses the question (and I've taken the liberty of editing it a bit for emphasis and applicability to my KotY nomination):

Jack Black said:
In 2017, if you’re lucky, you may have bought, found, or been given, an EXCEPTIONAL knife. Maybe it was a knife you didn’t think was going to be that special, but it has absolutely CHARMED you. Perhaps it was an inexpensive knife, which you picked up somewhere, slipped in your pocket, and then found you couldn’t stop carrying using it. It must be a knife you have gotten since the start of the year. If you’ve come across a knife like that, perhaps you’d like to nominate it as YOUR knife of the year.
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This year I'm just going to cut to the chase and announce that my Knife of the Year is the Mora 120:

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I actually purchased two of them this year. I bought my first in February, with the intention of grinding off the tip and using it for final cleanup carving on the rims of spoons. I suppose you could say it was going to be the slöjd knife equivalent of a spey blade. But, that never happened.

I already had a Mora 106 that I'd used quite a bit in spoon carving, so I was prepared for, and expecting, a very sharp, very useful laminated steel blade paired up with a comfortable handle. What I was not expecting, though, was how well it would fit into my whittling toolkit.

You see, I decided that I'd use it as the good folks at Morakniv intended before making any modifications. I used it a bit on a spoon and it was fine. But, then I started work on a larger-than-normal-for-me whittling project and decided to use it to help clear out some of the bulk before switching to my usual whittling knives. Wow. The 120 is exceptional at clearing away the bulk and I find it to be more natural to use for that than the longer 106. It earned a permanent spot in my whittling tool roster that day.

Pretty soon bulk removal gave way to bulk removal and rough shaping. Then I was pushing that rough shaping to a bit more refinement before handing over to smaller, thinner blades. I even carved a few small projects exclusively with the 120, both to push my skills and to get an idea of what it can do. Suffice it to say that this is an extremely capable little knife. I'm sure with more practice I can get even more out of it.

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You may notice the black Sharpie marks on the handle in the photo above. Those are indexing marks for consistent placement in the Tormek small knife jig. That's because this is also the knife that I used as a test bed for gaining experience with the "flat over hollow" grind that I talked about in a previous thread. It was the second Mora 120 that I purchased and is shown in both of these pictures.

I've learned a lot while using this knife and it has changed the way I approach many of my whittling projects. It's a delight to use and an exceptional value. For all of these reasons, this Mora 120 is my Knife of the Year.
 
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Probably the BSA Case 6208.
The story behind it is a bit special, and overall it's just about the perfect size and blade combo for me.
It's probably the first knife I can think of that's had me looking for other similar knives, and I think I may have carried it more than anything else this year.

Because of the 6208 I'm planning on getting a 62032 small Texas jack, I love the little guy though and am hoping the pen vs jack configuration will keep the new acquisition from totally displacing it.

https://www.bladeforums.com/posts/17763779/


 
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