Found An Old Folding-Knife Friend

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augiebd

Lifer
Jul 6, 2019
1,349
2,657
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Always nice to be unexpectedly reunited with an old friend. I also hate losing things (and searching for them). Most of the things that I commonly use have one place I put them and voila they are never lost. There was that one time my Corona Old Boy fell out of my pocket and was lost for two weeks. Did I say I hate losing stuff?
 
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kcghost

Lifer
May 6, 2011
15,138
25,715
77
Olathe, Kansas
I had Case knife I had found in a factory. I asked around but nobody had lost one, so I kept it. Had it for some ten or so years then "poof" it disappeared. I couldn't find it and just figured it had spent enough time with me and just moved on. Knives are like that.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,638
I just fished the once-lost Case knife out of my pocket to admire it. Two highly attractive things about it are the handle and the rivets. I'm not sure rivets is the right nomenclature, but these are bright copper color, with a large one that hinges the single blade itself and two smaller ones at the other end and in the middle. The two end rivets are beautifully smoothed to exactly the plane of the dark-dark blue handle, and the middle rivet is smoothed to fit the curve at the edge of the handle.

The extra care and craftsmanship just glows from the knife and is felt as well in the slightly extra weight and heft of it. I hope this isn't idolatry or fetishism, but when so much else in products is malfunction and make-do, to encounter real pride and durability is a definite thrill. Just opening a shipping carton is deeply satisfying.

I assume Case still offers this model or one very much like it, and at moderate cost.
 

UB 40

Lifer
Jul 7, 2022
1,349
9,800
62
Cologne/ Germany
nahbesprechung.net
Daily carry of a pocket knife is kind of like daily smoking of a pipe.

Some of us still do those things, but it’s not any longer commonplace.

My father carried a pocket knife.

He’d buy an Imperial for a dollar or so and when he lost it, or it broke, he’d buy another.

He also owned a nice little Case my mother bought him to carry on Sundays.

I cannot count all my pipes and pocketknives.

Many are carbon steel, just because that’s cool, you know?

Stainless is far better, for daily use, although please don’t say I said that.:)

Many have carbon steel because you can get them as sharp as razor blade on a wet stone in no time.
 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,884
3,960
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
It always astounds me when I meet someone who doesn't have a pocket knife on them. I cannot grasp how they get through life without such a simple tool. It is one of the reasons I prefer to drive everywhere rather than fly. I am not looking forward to flying to the Vegas Pipe Show without my trusty companion.
 
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bluegrassbrian

Your Mom's Favorite Pipe Smoker
Aug 27, 2016
6,673
64,570
41
Louisville
It always astounds me when I meet someone who doesn't have a pocket knife on them. I cannot grasp how they get through life without such a simple tool. It is one of the reasons I prefer to drive everywhere rather than fly. I am not looking forward to flying to the Vegas Pipe Show without my trusty companion.
I've flown extensively with very expensive knives. The key is to put it in your checked luggage, well hidden to deter any possibly pilfering. If it's a modern "tactical" style knife like a frame lock, I'd even go so far as to partially disassemble it and store it in a baggie in my luggage.
Never had a problem doing this, especially flights within the 48.
I really miss that Farid Mehr K2 I used to travel with. Stupid, the things we let go of in short sightedness.
 
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greysmoke

Can't Leave
Apr 28, 2011
382
1,815
South Coatesville, PA
www.greysmoke.com
After decades of trial, error and my share of losses, I've finally settled on a few inexpensive knives that serve my particular needs and persnicketiness quite well. The Opinel, two Kleins, and a Buck that I've taken by mistake through many an airport metal detector. I don't recommend doing so, though. Although I've had some of these knives for a long time, I won't get too broken up over losing one and they're easily replaced. Glad you found yours though.
1689096584157.png
 
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canucklehead

Lifer
Aug 1, 2018
2,862
15,355
Alberta
My little Buck stockman that my older brother gave me years ago was missing over the winter, I found it this spring in a toolbox in my shed. I don't recall putting it there, but I'm happy it's back. It has rather soft steel and needs frequent sharpening if it's used, but it is a very conveniently pocketable size and there is a use for all three blades.

20230711_124853.jpg
 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,884
3,960
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
I've flown extensively with very expensive knives. The key is to put it in your checked luggage, well hidden to deter any possibly pilfering. If it's a modern "tactical" style knife like a frame lock, I'd even go so far as to partially disassemble it and store it in a baggie in my luggage.
Never had a problem doing this, especially flights within the 48.
I really miss that Farid Mehr K2 I used to travel with. Stupid, the things we let go of in short sightedness.
If I have checked luggage I will. But I may try to do all carry-on because I hate checking thousands of dollars of inventory.
 
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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,561
30,424
New York
I have a couple all inherited from someone in our family who is now dead - a 100 year old 'hand me down' like everything I seem to own. One day I am going to buy me something new just so I can marvel at how bad modern manufacturing techniques are in this day and age.
 
Mar 13, 2020
2,790
27,049
missouri
I have a couple all inherited from someone in our family who is now dead - a 100 year old 'hand me down' like everything I seem to own. One day I am going to buy me something new just so I can marvel at how bad modern manufacturing techniques are in this day and age.
I often wish I had items that have been passed down, like a pocket knife, or some other things that have been in my family for generations.
 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,561
30,424
New York
@coming to_falling too: That's all very well but when you grow up surrounded by people for whom WW1 or WW2 were very recent events you tend to get stuck in their time warp. I had an Auntie that lived in the same house she purchased in 1921, used a vacuum cleaner that was early 1930s at best and everything was like Miss Haversham in Great Expectations, frozen in time. I think the most modern thing she owned was a 1938 TV made entirely of Bakelite that I don't recall anyone ever switched on for fear of what might happen. The Sunday 'best' room was dominated by a baby grand piano that was never played but used as a parking ground for silver framed pictures of her brother and his friends who were killed at Thiepval Ridge in 1916. Nothing had changed much in that place since the early 1920s and when she kicked off in 1982 most of that stuff just moved house. I remember before coming to the U.S I would use one of her stone hot water bottles as a door stop. Heirlooms are one things, living on the set of Downton Abbey is an entirely different matter!
 
Jun 9, 2015
3,970
24,852
42
Mission, Ks
I've flown extensively with very expensive knives. The key is to put it in your checked luggage, well hidden to deter any possibly pilfering. If it's a modern "tactical" style knife like a frame lock, I'd even go so far as to partially disassemble it and store it in a baggie in my luggage.
Never had a problem doing this, especially flights within the 48.
I really miss that Farid Mehr K2 I used to travel with. Stupid, the things we let go of in short sightedness
If I have checked luggage I will. But I may try to do all carry-on because I hate checking thousands of dollars of inventory.
I was on 2-6 flights a week for over a decade and took my knife (knives) with me everywhere I went without issue. I never had one confiscated, stolen. or lost otherwise. I have always had my EDC folder and Rogers pipe knife both in my checked bag and Mora Basic 511 and box cutter both in my Pelican case. There are zero restrictions on checking a normal folder in your bag. For that matter you can fly with a soft flame or zippo in your pocket, you don't have to check lighters anymore.
 

keithnelmr

Lurker
Feb 19, 2022
18
14
Daily carry of a pocket knife is kind of like daily smoking of a pipe.

Some of us still do those things, but it’s not any longer commonplace.

My father carried a pocket knife.

He’d buy an Imperial for a dollar or so and when he lost it, or it broke, he’d buy another.

He also owned a nice little Case my mother bought him to carry on Sundays.

I cannot count all my pipes and pocketknives.

Many are carbon steel, just because that’s cool, you know?

Stainless is far better, for daily use, although please don’t say I said that.:) Discover your dream home by exploring our selection of modern Apartments for rent in Jbeil
Any members routinely use a folding knife for food preparation either in the kitchen or in commercial food preparation? If so what makes and models of knives? From a mention or two I suspect that Opinels may be some of the commonest folding knives that are regularly used for food prep due to their thin good quality carbon steel blades available at a reasonable price.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,638
One time we (my wife and I) were going to an event where there was a security check point at the entrance. We saw this well in advance, so she held our place in line, and I went out of the mainstream of traffic and found a landscaped plant, and buried my pocket knife in the mulch at its base and retrieved it later.

My folding knives aren't expensive, but I still get attached to a particular knife, not just that make or model. I think that was a Camilla made by an outfit in upstate New York that made a lot of surgical instruments during the world wars. It's a nice knife that I still have and carried for years. I think the later generations that owned the company lost interest and finally closed, so the knife is a sort of antique by now.
 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
2,127
1,033
NW Missouri
I just fished the once-lost Case knife out of my pocket to admire it. Two highly attractive things about it are the handle and the rivets. I'm not sure rivets is the right nomenclature, but these are bright copper color, with a large one that hinges the single blade itself and two smaller ones at the other end and in the middle. The two end rivets are beautifully smoothed to exactly the plane of the dark-dark blue handle, and the middle rivet is smoothed to fit the curve at the edge of the handle.

The extra care and craftsmanship just glows from the knife and is felt as well in the slightly extra weight and heft of it. I hope this isn't idolatry or fetishism, but when so much else in products is malfunction and make-do, to encounter real pride and durability is a definite thrill. Just opening a shipping carton is deeply satisfying.

I assume Case still offers this model or one very much like it, and at moderate cost.
You and I have very similar tastes in knives. Do you favor the Old Bear or Opinel?
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,638
I haven't carried the Old Bear on a daily basis yet, though I like its sturdiness and the lock mechanism. I've carried the Opinel when I lost my Case, and found it better than I expected. My Old Bear knife is just a little better version of its brand than my Opinel, so I'd probably choose it. They are both serviceable and big enough for more demanding jobs.
 

instymp

Lifer
Jul 30, 2012
2,451
1,133
Only time I lose stuff is because I don't put it where it belongs.
Pocket knife lost is always in my recliner. Often.