The Old Man and the Puma

[Froggyedge]

I was sitting on a bench beside a gravel road in the forest not far from where I live. I had brought some food and had just finished eating, using my pocket knife. While drinking a cup of coffee, I was still handling the knife, had picked up a little stick and was making a few shavings.
I heard someone approaching and looked up. It was a man that I assumed to be in his early sixties. He greeted me, commented on the nice weather and then, looking at what I was doing, said that he too would have liked to do some whittling but he could not, since he had broken his arm and was still wearing plaster. He sat down beside me and we talked for a while, and then he asked if he could have a look at my knife. I handed it to him and of course I just had to ask if he had brought his knife.
“I always bring my knife when I'm hiking. It's a good one and I've had it for about 40 years”, he said and reached for his pocket.
The knife he handed me was a real beauty! It was an old Puma German style folding hunter with stag handles, saw and a corkscrew. The stag had the special look and feel that only years of use and time spent in a pocket can generate. The joint of the master blade was oiled, it opened smoothly and the spring was still strong. The blade showed some wear, maybe 10%, a bit stained but there was no blade play and the edge was keen and had no nicks.
The knife had been carried and used a lot, but it had been well taken care of and not abused.
He had purchased it on a vacation abroad, he told me, and it had accompanied him on every hike in the forest and mountains since then. He loved the outdoors and had many stories to share.
We both enjoyed the conversation, but then suddenly he got up and told me he really ought to be training now because he and his hiking buddy were going to hike in a mountain area in northern Norway this summer and the hills there were “so steep you have to get down on your knees and crawl to the top.”

I have seen a few old Pumas before, but this one was special, as was the owner.
He really deserved that beauty of a knife and the knife deserved an owner who took good care of it.

He waved goodbye and started walking further into the forest at a good pace, but then he turned and shouted “You have to work harder to keep in shape when you reach 78, you see!”

Anyone here collecting those old Pumas?

[TM]

Nice story Froggyedge.

I thought it would end with him trading knives with you - there's a happy ending, huh?

[Another Knife Collector]

What a great story, thanks for sharing! That's what knife collecting is really about, the stories you hear and the people you meet.

[Froggyedge]

Thank you for the kind words!

That Puma would have been one of my favorite knives, TM, no doubt about it. But the happy ending would still be for him to keep it and carry it for the rest of his days, and then for his son to keep it (and maybe carry it) as a memory of his father.
I hope that is what will happen.
I met him in April and have not seen him since, but I hope that he is still going strong and that he and his Puma will reach that mountain top together this summer.

...That's what knife collecting is really about, the stories you hear and the people you meet.

I agree!
Many collectors are chasing those mint Remingtons that have been kept in a drawer for 80 years, and nothing wrong with that, but I have a soft spot for knives with a story, knives that have “lived” and served…
The day when he purchased that Puma he may well have been listening to Let it Be, newly released by The Beatles, and the knife has served him on countless adventures in the great outdoors since then and continues to do so just as well today. Fascinating...

[knife7knut]

Great story!In all the time I have been collecting knives(54 years now)I have always wished that they were capable of speech.The stories that could be told.
Many of mine come with a story and I have been in the process of trying to relegate them to a book.Hopefully it will be done before my time here is.
Here are several of my Puma knives.Unfortunately they have not acquired the patina of the one in your tale.Maybe the next caretaker will provide that.

[Froggyedge]

Great story! In all the time I have been collecting knives(54 years now)I have always wished that they were capable of speech. The stories that could be told. Many of mine come with a story and I have been in the process of trying to relegate them to a book. Hopefully it will be done before my time here is.

When will we see the first knives delivered with a memory card and the ability to speak? Hm… Well… Hopefully not in my time!
But your book project seems very interesting! Could you tell some more about it?

Very nice Pumas and some great stag you've got there!

I do not know very much about the old Puma lines but I understand they had (have?) both an export line / international line of folders and a classic German style line of folding hunters. Those are the ones with saw and corkscrew. I have a few Pumas, but none of the classic German style.

More Pumas, anyone…?

[knife7knut]

I first started writing around 1991 when I was going through a rather messy divorce.That book centered around our experiences as foster parents(we were an emergency foster home and saw some pretty outrageous stuff) and gradually became sort of an autobiography,
Took 4 days(and nights)to write nearly 300 pages in longhand(!) and a year to make sense of it.Never did have it published although the girl who transcribed it had her boss interested in it.Way too much personal stuff;sort of a therapy thing for me.
Made some updates along the way including getting back together with the girl I was to marry in 1965.VERY long story!
A lot of memories of my grandfather(who raised me)prompted me once again to start writing about my first knife and how I subsequently descended into the dreaded disease we know as,"Knifeaholism".I write a bit every now and then but lately have been slacking off a bit as business has been very hectic.That's what I get for retiring!
My business is doing pinstriping,vehicle graphics,and hand painted lettering on a variety of vehicles(motorcycles,hot rods,antiques,and just about anything else).Where most businesses are slowing down,mine is actually picking up dramatically.In the past week alone,I have done 3 motorcycles(including a 1930 Harley VL),an antique fire engine(lettered and still have to stripe it),2 32 Ford roadsters,a 56 Ford pickup,and a 50 Chevrolet.I still have a new Nissan and a 34 Packard cabriolet to do.
This book will deal with some of the more unusual knives I have acquired over the years and how they were obtained.Hopefully I will get to publish this one.

[Dave O]

Here are what I could find of mine!

[Froggyedge]

Knife7Nut,
Writing can be a great therapy..!

I really hope you will finish the book and get it published.
I'm sure it will be interesting and I will by happy to be the first buyer!

Good luck with both your business and the writing!

Dave O,
Nice little collection!
I also have a Puma Cadet somewhere…

[Bulldog-Arne]

A good story, nice knives.

Really like those older Pumas.

[Froggyedge]

I've been searching the net for a knife similar to the one the old man had carried for so many years.
I have not found the exact model, but this one is pretty close. I guess it is a newer model of the knife he carried.

The Germans call it a “Jagdtaschenmesser” which directly translated means simply Hunting(jagd) pocket(tasche) knife(messer).

Nice!

[lenny357]

Puma makes some real nice knives, If I was home right now, I know of some nice Puma sites. I passed up a few at auctions only to find out they would have sold on Ebay for 3 times the amount that I passed on. When I finally obtained a Puma Model 673 Bantam made in 1972, the quality blows me away. Has the Rockwell Hardness mark on the blade which is a nice touch.

[Oman]

This is a great thread. I have Puma Cadet and a Master that I purchased in Germany in the mid 1980's, plus some newer ones. They are very nice knives. BTW I brought them, along with a White Hunter home in my carry on. How times have changed.

[Froggyedge]

I think I've found it! A picture at least…

As far as I can remember correctly, this is the Puma model carried for so long by the old man. I hope he is enjoying his trusty old Puma again in the great outdoors today…

[knife7knut]

Those Pumas are nice but really pricey.Last one I saw for sale was over $200 new and that was some time ago.

Here's a couple in a similar vein made by Diefenthal,Keystone,and Tonerini.The Keystone I found in an antique shop still in the original box wrapped in waxed paper for $6! As good as any Puma.

[Froggyedge]

$6??? That antique shop may not be in business for very long…

Very nice knives!

I have none of those old German style pocket knives.
Last weekend I tried to comfort myself by bringing a much newer Puma on a trip…