Kuddos to Mark for letting you pick one up!kootenay joe wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 12:12 am Last year Mark (sharpnshinyknives) kindly sold me one of his two Stag "Stockyard Whittler" #29 at his cost. I had been unable to land one in the 'scramble' so i was very pleased. As soon as i unwrapped the knife it spoke to me in a way no other GEC had. I did not want to put it away. I wanted to keep it with me so i began carrying it daily.
It soon became obvious what an excellent design this knife is. Three springs so really not a whittler, master is a clip blade which i think is the most useful of all blade profiles so excellent choice for a master blade. The problem with most multiblade knives is that the blade spines project high enough above the handle edges that when you need to grip firmly with one blade open, it can be uncomfortable enough to limit your grip strength. This Stockyard Whittler has an awl and sheepsfoot secondaries and both lie low, just a bit higher than the handle edges. With clip blade open i can squeeze the handle as hard as i am capable without any discomfort. Even the clip blade lies low enough that i can grip hard with either of the other 2 blades open.
Usually a sheepsfoot blade is deep, spine to edge, and thus 'sits high' when closed. But with the #29 the sheepsfoot has a narrow profile and so is not in the way.
I see an awl as very important in a folding knife. Notice how often you see a tipped clip blade ? That's because the knife does not have an awl. With an awl you can poke at things, even pry gently and save the tip of your clip.
This knife has very attractive stag and although it looks a bit thick, it feels great in hand and i don't even notice it in my pocket.
All these positive attributes i discovered after carrying & using it. I did not decide to carry it because of these features. Seems more like the knife picked me.
I expect this to be my EDC until my EOD. I hope there will be enough time to wear down the stag a little which i think will make it look even better.
Thanks Mark for sending me this knife.
kj
Roland, I could not agree with you more about the 29 pattern. It is an extremely comfortable knife to use and I find that I use all three blades on it more than I do any other of my three blade knives. I was able to get a nice stag in the GEC craziness but I usually carry my blood red version.