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Any knife lovers?
- Thread starter hulksmashsexy
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I'm not a knife collector by any stretch, but have at least managed to accumulate what I think are a few nice ones.
I carry a Case medium stockman every day. Depending on the weather, I'll either carry a "low end" stainless one with yellow composition handles, or a CV steel one with bone handles(I don't like to carry CV blades in the summer, even though I tend to be pretty particular about keeping them oiled).
I have a number of inherited pieces, most of which don't get carried or used. Probably the prize of the lot is an unused 1960s Case "elephant toe." I also carry on occasion a John Primble Belknap Hardware "congress" pattern knife-I love anything to do with Kentucky, and Belknap Hardware products certainly fall into that category.
I carry a Case medium stockman every day. Depending on the weather, I'll either carry a "low end" stainless one with yellow composition handles, or a CV steel one with bone handles(I don't like to carry CV blades in the summer, even though I tend to be pretty particular about keeping them oiled).
I have a number of inherited pieces, most of which don't get carried or used. Probably the prize of the lot is an unused 1960s Case "elephant toe." I also carry on occasion a John Primble Belknap Hardware "congress" pattern knife-I love anything to do with Kentucky, and Belknap Hardware products certainly fall into that category.
Glad to hear. My go to knives for carry go from a bm mini grip to a zt 0302. I am just getting into sebenzas.
Here are three from my collection. The two Somalia knives I got while working there in the early 90s and the Kukri knife was given to me by the Gurkha battalion also in Somalia.
I've got a set of about 12 Henckles and Wusthof knives for the kitchen and a cheap short folding knife that I use around camp.
Yes, I like a well made blade. At its best, - taking blade, handle, craftsmanship, balance, - a well crafted knife can be a work of art as well as a most useful tool.
I have some serious (and beautiful) Japanese knives for the kitchen, steak knives as well as chef and utility knives. Along with a few excellent ones from Turkey and Italy. These are beautifully balanced - not something I have always found with the German knives.
I used to have a lovely set of the (high end) Henckles & Wusthof knives but gave them to my brother.
For trips abroad, I have the usual Swiss Army knives, which I have found to have been very useful.
A few years ago, in Stockholm, I came across an exhibition of knives - knives that had been made by recently trained cutlers (and in some cases, long established) - in a small 17-century house in the Old Town. They were stunning, beautifully made (the handles were as impressive as the blades) and horrendously expensive. The one or two that my eye did fall all, alas, had been already sold to another viewer.
I have some serious (and beautiful) Japanese knives for the kitchen, steak knives as well as chef and utility knives. Along with a few excellent ones from Turkey and Italy. These are beautifully balanced - not something I have always found with the German knives.
I used to have a lovely set of the (high end) Henckles & Wusthof knives but gave them to my brother.
For trips abroad, I have the usual Swiss Army knives, which I have found to have been very useful.
A few years ago, in Stockholm, I came across an exhibition of knives - knives that had been made by recently trained cutlers (and in some cases, long established) - in a small 17-century house in the Old Town. They were stunning, beautifully made (the handles were as impressive as the blades) and horrendously expensive. The one or two that my eye did fall all, alas, had been already sold to another viewer.
Like? Sure. But passion? No. I normally don't feel passion over inanimate objects.
Though I might be a little overly fond of my Mizuno MP-69 irons, a style of golf club sometimes referred to as "blades".
Does that count?
Passion, no, agreed, although I will say that I do like beautiful and exceptionally well-made objects.
However, I am very interested in the whole area of design, of that fusion of form and function that is the expression of good design.
Some societies manage to give rise to a world, and set of values, where the 'ordinary' - that which is used in mundane matters by large numbers of people - are exceptionally well made and respected. These are societies where things which are beautifully designed and exquisitely crafted, yet carry out the function they were designed to do extremely well - are respected and valued by that society. (Products form Germany, Japan, Italy, Denmark have all been known for this.)
Re knives, I had been struck by how many badly designed knives I have seen, or used. Poorly balanced, dire at cutting or slicing, too heavy, or too light. It is only when you handle a knife that slices as though it was going through butter through, without any apparent effort on your part, that sits easily and naturally, without strain, balanced perfectly, in your hand, that you realise the joys of working with a really good implement.
Re the thread itself, does the OP mean 'ordinary' kitchen knives, (which are what I am really writing about), or the more esoteric examples of the cutler's art?
I have this real cool dirk that I bought in a military surplus store in Desert Hot Springs, California back when I was an active duty Marine.
Nothing. Really though, there's only one type of use for it, which would be hand-to-hand combat.
Ah, I see. Fair enough. Well, I do seem to recall stores with an extraordinary choice in knives for sale in various PX's.
However, I will admit that I am looking out for a really nice cheese knife.
And, one can never have too many really good chef's knives, and utility knives, especially the beautifully balanced exquisitely made ones which feel as though they are an extension of your hand.
However, I have two outstanding Japanese ones at the moment.
Here's a knife I've had for 60 years. Yes, really. The blade kind of gives that away. German. Around here (in a part of Hawai'i not far from the Parker Ranch) these were always called "castrating knives." This was a medium sized one -- there were both larger and smaller sizes.
I like folders but I'm in into them like the folks over at blade forums are. After I get my AFO II I'll probably just be done.
A good few years ago, while on one of her many holidays in various parts of Turkey, my mother decided to buy some seriously sharp looking implements at a Turkish open air market. As she had become fed up with the useless, blunt, poorly-designed knives that she had in her kitchen, she knew she wanted something considerably better, but, initially, was a little wary of the lethal looking blades on display in that Turkish market.
A chef's knife was shown to her, a lovely looking thing. She asked (remembering the uselessly blunt objects resting in a drawer at home) whether it was sharp. By way of reply, the vendor merely smiled, and proceeded to hold his left arm out straight, a stocky dark arm thick with the growth of dark curling hairs, whereupon he sliced some of the hairs off with the very knife the purchase of which my mother was mulling over. Needless to say, she bought it, and it turned out to have been an excellent knife.
A chef's knife was shown to her, a lovely looking thing. She asked (remembering the uselessly blunt objects resting in a drawer at home) whether it was sharp. By way of reply, the vendor merely smiled, and proceeded to hold his left arm out straight, a stocky dark arm thick with the growth of dark curling hairs, whereupon he sliced some of the hairs off with the very knife the purchase of which my mother was mulling over. Needless to say, she bought it, and it turned out to have been an excellent knife.
That's generally what you see people do to prove a knife is sharp. The harder part is keeping it that way, I have a Lansky system and a strop and can get my knives back to that but it takes time. Modern "super steels" are even harder yet which is one reason I tend to shy away from them. That Chris Reeves posted above is a nice knife but I've yet to be able to put an edge back on anything s30v though that probably my skill and technique.
As a marketing ploy, I must say that it works; to see it take place before your eyes is rather impressive.
On the recommendation of a close friend, my parents bought an extraordinarily good bread knife on their honeymoon which still works perfectly well the best part of half a century later.
My parents have had their kitchen knives since their wedding and their still going strong. My wife owned her house when we got married but she's not much of a cook so our knife collection was sparse I've been rectifying that over the years when I can find quality on sale. Knives are one of those things that you can buy just once in your life if you buy right.
Agreed.
But knowing enough to be able to 'buy right' is important, as is living in a place where the craftsmanship to make superlative knives ensures that it is possible to buy high quality blades.
I recently took the plunge and bought a Lansky system. It's like a dream come true on my pocketknives - in less than 10 minutes I can get one literally sharp enough to shave the hair off my knuckle. My kitchen knives, on the other hand, are made of a much tougher steel and the Lansky stones take a VERY long time to even make an appreciable change in the blade's sharpness, let along put what I would call a good edge on one.
It shouldn't most kitchen knives are high carbon steel and, therefore softer than most pocket knives. Are you using the 20 degree on the Lansky?