cb51
Active Member
I've been a knife knut my whole life, from a very early age. As a little kid, I'd stand and stare at the knife display at the sporting goods store and the gun shop near my home. Pocket knives, sheath knives, they all were recipients of my knife lust. By Junior high school I was carrying a Buck folding hunter everywhere. Then I tried the Gerber folding sportsman, and read about Randall knives. I later started to collect and use Randall knives in my 20's, when I was in the army. My buds thought I was stark raving insane to spend that kind go money on a knife, but I loved it. My Randall 15 was my go-to knife for backpacking, canoeing, hiking. My Randall bird and trout was my fishing knife.
Then a funny thing happened in my 40's. I have no explanation of it, and it was weird. It was like slowly coming out of a deep dream, and thinking "what the heck am I doing?" I looked around at my almost 100 piece knife collection, and wondered what it was all for. I still loved knives, but something happened that I now had a harder more pragmatic outlook. I sold off all my customs, including my 5 Randall's, my Don Hastings, Ralph Bone, and others. My gun collection was greatly downsized as well.
I still won't walk out the front door without a knife in my pocket, or two, but it's way way toned down. I actually don't even own any sheath knives except for the old Buck 102 woodsman that is my fishing and camping knife. But 99.9% of the time now, I don't bother with anything but a Swiss Army Knife. Due to arthritis and an old service injury that had some long range repercussions on my walking, I don't backpack anymore and never will again. But the better half and I still love to woods ramble, so I still keep a few pocket knives on hand. Mostly SAK's, some with a saw blade.
Looking back, it seems like I was in the grip of some kind of temporary insanity. At the time, I thought I was getting the best cutlery to be had, but the truth of the matter is, I never found the heavy Randall to do as good a job cutting stuff as a thin bladed Swedish Mora, or French Opinel. Certainly I was never in a "survival" situation where my knife was a matter of life and death. I seem to have totally lost my taste for the high end knives, and to great deal knives in general.
It's been almost 20 years now that I've greatly scaled back my cutlery and firearms, and I find that I haven't missed any of it. Guns and knives that in my earlier day I'd say that I'd never part with, I sold off and never looked back. It felt liberating to free myself of all those possessions. Now I have a few .22's I target shoot with, a .38 in the bedside table for defense, a sharp pocket knife that I can replace at Dick's or Walmart, and Im happy. All my knife needs now seem to be met with a SAK of some type. The type depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing. It seems like being a senior citizen has changed my point of view a lot. More than I'd ever have thought possible than when I was young.
Any of you guys have that happen to you?
Then a funny thing happened in my 40's. I have no explanation of it, and it was weird. It was like slowly coming out of a deep dream, and thinking "what the heck am I doing?" I looked around at my almost 100 piece knife collection, and wondered what it was all for. I still loved knives, but something happened that I now had a harder more pragmatic outlook. I sold off all my customs, including my 5 Randall's, my Don Hastings, Ralph Bone, and others. My gun collection was greatly downsized as well.
I still won't walk out the front door without a knife in my pocket, or two, but it's way way toned down. I actually don't even own any sheath knives except for the old Buck 102 woodsman that is my fishing and camping knife. But 99.9% of the time now, I don't bother with anything but a Swiss Army Knife. Due to arthritis and an old service injury that had some long range repercussions on my walking, I don't backpack anymore and never will again. But the better half and I still love to woods ramble, so I still keep a few pocket knives on hand. Mostly SAK's, some with a saw blade.
Looking back, it seems like I was in the grip of some kind of temporary insanity. At the time, I thought I was getting the best cutlery to be had, but the truth of the matter is, I never found the heavy Randall to do as good a job cutting stuff as a thin bladed Swedish Mora, or French Opinel. Certainly I was never in a "survival" situation where my knife was a matter of life and death. I seem to have totally lost my taste for the high end knives, and to great deal knives in general.
It's been almost 20 years now that I've greatly scaled back my cutlery and firearms, and I find that I haven't missed any of it. Guns and knives that in my earlier day I'd say that I'd never part with, I sold off and never looked back. It felt liberating to free myself of all those possessions. Now I have a few .22's I target shoot with, a .38 in the bedside table for defense, a sharp pocket knife that I can replace at Dick's or Walmart, and Im happy. All my knife needs now seem to be met with a SAK of some type. The type depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing. It seems like being a senior citizen has changed my point of view a lot. More than I'd ever have thought possible than when I was young.
Any of you guys have that happen to you?
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