Your Top Three Patterns

Ok finally

While I love many patterns there are 3 that I do like more than the rest.

1.) Number one above anything else has to a 4” square bolster stockman like Schrades 881 885uh or 8ot. Beautiful design regarded by many the best stockman design. Three different blades for all kinds of tasks you may encounter.

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2.) mini trapper with wharncliffe instead of Spey. Awesome size to carry hold and use. Wharncliffe is better for opening things and slicing downward with the tip.
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3.) Tough to choose the last but I think I’ll go with a medium stockman like the GEC 66. Others like it are a Katz model and an old Schrade pattern (that I can’t seem to get ahold of for a price I’m willing to pay). Excellent in hand the thickness and roundness of it really give it top notch ergonomics. Actually carrying it right now
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Honorable mention. All tied at 4 full size trapper, 4.25” Stockman, and round bolster 4” stockman. Haven’t tried a quality Barlow yet but I’ll get a Böker whiskey barrel handled one soonish. I carry a 110 or 7ot everyday but that doesn’t count on my list only going by slipjoints pocket knives.
 
I'm basing this on how many I own, rather than my constantly changing current favorite.
Number one is clearly the cigar pattern. 4" +/- 1/4" Churchill, Cattle King, Presidential are all favorites and get carried a lot.
Number two is the Stockman. Again, 4" is the sweet spot.
Number three is the lockback folding hunter or the SAK. Flip a coin.
 
Not too tough of a choice for me...

My #1 collected and carried pattern is the Boy's Knife, both 3 inch and 3-1/2 inch sizes, 1 or 2 blades...


My most recent passion is the Lambsfoot knives, which find their uses daily, and are quickly becoming my favorites...


Lastly, I LOVE Serpentine Jack Knives. I don't carry them often, but nothing screams traditional to me like a Serpentine Jack...

Most days it's a #14 in the coin pocket, a Lamb in the front pocket, and a serpentine jack by the recliner for admiring.
 
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After giving this much thought I've decided that my answer can be broken down into three categories and three sub-categories. :D

1. Wharncliffe mini trapper. I found one of these from the 2013 Case Select series a couple of years ago. From a size and blade complement standpoint I have found it to be my ideal knife.

1.a. Hawbaker (improved) muskrat. Same basic blade setup as the Wharncliffe mini trapper except one blade on each end instead of both on one end, and a little longer knife.

2. Case swayback. I like both versions (see 2.a., below), but I think I prefer the single blade gent the most.

2.a. Case swayback jack. A close second to the gent.

3. Peanut.

3.a. Or any two blade knife of similar size, particularly the Wharncliffe tiny trapper and the mini copperhead.

Except for the peanut, they all have a Wharncliffe blade. I used to think the stockman was the ideal pattern, and the clip was my favorite blade shape. Then I was introduced to the Wharncliffe! :eek: Second to that, I find the pen to be a very usable blade shape. I like single blade patterns for their thinness and ease of carry, but perhaps two blade patters are the most practical for their versatility.

I agree about the SAK -- gotta have several!
 
Three patterns?

In my case, most my life has been only two that were the clear cut patterns I'd have in my pocket on any particular Day. The scout and the stockman are it.

I started carrying a scout as a kid in the boy scouts, carried the demo knife in the army, and then switched to a SAK when I saw the big standing SAK display in a store. My daily preferred carry is still a small SAK of some kind like the pioneer/SI or the cadet. A classic has been on my keys for over 20 years, and now it's been replaced by an executiveThe executive has gone a long way in phasing out both the classic and the cadet. I find my pocket knives have gone smaller in my old age.

The second knife is the small stockman as personified by the Buck 303 cadet. I love the three blade choices of the stockman as it covers a very wide base of cutting jobs. And I love Buck's interpretation of the stickman, as its my own humble opinion that it the most well built stockman I ca get. Theres other brands that are prettier, but I love the rugged construction of the buck. For 25 years I used the dog poo out of a 301 stockman in places all over the world in the army, and in my life as a soccer dad. It would be hard for me to think of a better knife in my pocket for 'whatever' than a Buck 301 stockman, unless was my old war horse Wenger SI.

For a while I carried a Case peanut anti was a great little knife with more capability than one would think. But age and arthritis has made the peanut too small and snappy for me, so it's down to the small SAK and stockman. I went through phases in my knife accumulating, and I tried sodbusters, Barlows, a few single blade locking blades, all fell by the wayside. I came to the conclusion a longtime ago that I don't need a lock, and I don't really care for single blade knives. I like a few tools on my pocket knife, and have found that saved me from some real problems many times. My two picks are SAK and stockman, but if I had to go down the road with one single knife in my pocket, it's going to some sort of small to medium SAK. If I have another knife along, it's going to be a Buck 303 cadet.
 
OLd_gUY said:
For me, a knife that doesn't have enough handle to provide security with different grip positions doesn't get carried very often.
I happen to prefer a single blade and the following 3 provide the versatility that I find most useful.
#1 - Lambsfoot, approx. 6 3/8 " overall, this one is Desert Ironwood
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#2 - GEC 78, approx. 6 1/2" overall, this is Chestnut Peach Seed Jig Bone
View attachment 1126347
Buck 110 - approx. 8 1/2" overall, this one lives in my pickup (lanyard accessory from @MT_Pokt)
View attachment 1126348
OG
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Excellent choices, and my three favourite blade shapes. Guess I should post something myself soon. (Kinda sleepy at the moment after cooking and eating some Shrimp Étoufée and drinking a few beers!)
 
I'm a single blade per knife guy for the most part.
Favorite patterns :
Full size Case Trapper with spay blade removed ( I have many) I even modded one to a Wharncliffe. I like the largish full handle and the over all shape of handle and clip blade is pure perfection in use ! ! ! !
It has that downward cant of the edge you described.
Eli Chaps said:
If Case would offer this pattern with much more handle options in the clip/Wharncliffe
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To be boring and redundant add the Case Slimline trapper ( a single blade knife). I like using it but also think it has the prettiest lines and flow that I have ever seen in a knife. It can be carried in pocket without irritation where as I find the Full size Trapper I need to carry in a belt pouch; it's just too heavy for my pocket.
Finally it is a tough tie for third between the Swayback (Case again) and the Teardrop. Lately I have been EDCing the heck out of a Case Teardrop with a heavily jigged Black Water Buffalo handle :thumbsup:
Fills the hand better than my smooth white bone one but the white bone is so thin and elegant for dress and disappears in the pocket.
 
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