Under the tree.

[johnny twoshoes]

This is incredibly late all things considered, but I'd like to show you guys the knives I received for Christmas this year.

Call me spoiled, but the one thing I've been able to count on for years now has been the idea that something sharp lay under the tree waiting for me. Wrapped tightly around a cardboard tube, colorful wrapping paper guards my eyes from realizing exactly the prize inside. I take my time undoing the paper from the tube and try to mentally capture the moment, for a knife nut it's a special thing. Sometimes I find the words Northfield, or Tidioute printed beautifully on the tube surrounding my new pocket pal, either way I'm thrilled to expose the treasure inside.

With a "pop" the plastic top comes off and out slides a piece of oil covered wax paper. Unrolling the paper exposes a bit of steel, maybe some jigged bone or even stag. Quickly the aroma of oil from the factory mixes with the fresh pine scent wafting from the brightly decorated Christmas tree and I'm flooded with memories of years past.

This year was different for a lot of reasons, but I still experienced that same flood brought fourth by some beautiful knives my family blessed me with.

The first being a gift from Jr and his new wife (Jr is my brother).
A beautiful #73 in jigged appaloosa bone.

This is one of the tightest knives I've ever had. Zero gaps, blade play, centering issues, nothing.

It has a really sharp edge too, popping hairs out of the tube.

The jigging is very nice and has made for an excellent worry stone. This knife has received very little actual pocket time, but when I'm home it slides into my chest pocket on one of my flannels and keeps me company.

Sorry for the not great photography, I'm using my iPhone to capture images at the moment. Need to go get a new camera card ASAP.

[johnny twoshoes]

My mom really out did herself this year.
Tightly wrapped was a new knife roll waiting for me. Black leather and red felt lined, it looked just like the one I had lost in our house fire months earlier. There was a small lump in the roll and as soon as I felt it I got a big smile across my face. Unlatching the roll and pulling the felt back exposed a beautiful little #25 stag jack.

A big spear point with a long pull paired with one of the coolest little clip blades I've ever had. It's one of those, "big little" knives, the kind that disappear in the pocket or hand, but still have a ton of cutting ability. The blade combination looks to be perfect for small game, at least in my mind. The little clip would make easy work of a nice bushytail!!!

Something thats hard to beat with stag. The original burnt, unused look is extremely beautiful, but not the reason I like stag so much. It's the mellowed, faded look it gets after hours of pocket time and years of use.

I can't wait to age this one.

Lined and dimpled bolsters add to the overall classiness of a knife like this.

[Jspurlock93]

Nice!

Looks like your family has a good eye for knives!

[johnny twoshoes]

J, indeed my family does have a great eye for knives. It's hard to go wrong with any of GEC's current offerings, but still some are better than other. The #73 is probably my favorite pattern from the company, but it can be a bit much at times, that's where the #25 really shines. Not everyone likes knives, but who is gonna complain about a little #25 getting pulled out for a quick cut?

[treefarmer]

Great post, as usual! Glad you're hangin' around again .
Treefarmer

[rea1eye]

Nice knives twoshoes. Excellent narration in your first post. Maybe consider

writing a book about knife collecting?


Bob

[johnny twoshoes]

Bob, I appreciate the very kind words.
I have a passion for these knives and the moments that go along with them, I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of getting the chance to write a story or experience with you guys here on the forum.