All About Pocket Knives

A friend and fellow knife collector of mine told me years ago, that the knives that I owned with stories behind them would become the most valuable knives in my collection.

Because of what transpired a week ago here at AAPK. I thought of starting a thread about Knives with Stories "The Most Valuable Knives We Own"

Here's one of my stories.

Everyone who knows me here at AAPK knows that I'm a Schrade fanatic. I've been concentrating on collecting them for years now. About 3 years ago I had an opportunity, on the first day of a show I was doing, to purchase a George Schrade Pull Ball Knife New in its Original Box. I decided to sleep on it. Well the second day of the show I showed up with cash in hand to purchase the knife and the dealer had left.

I must have told this story 100 times to anyone that would listen and I'm sure I mentioned it a few times here in the Chat Room. I'd say "If you see a knife you just have to have buy it, because you'll never see one again".

Well on Sunday night a week ago I was at my usual place, in the Chat Room visiting with my friends and surfing the eBay listings for knives to purchase or talk about, when I had to leave to run a family member home. I told the group I would be back when I returned and signed off.

When I returned and sat down at my computer, the first thing that I did was check my emails. In there was one of those messages "Saw this on eBay, thought you might be interested". When I opened it up there it was, a New in Box George Schrade Pull Ball with a Buy it Now price lower that what I was willing to pay 3 years ago. My blood pressure went through the roof and I couldn't get to the listing fast enough, to purchase the one knife that has eluded me for years. When I finally got to the listing, there was the dreaded message at the top of the page "This listing has ended with a Buy it Now"

Well after about 10 minutes of running around stomping my feet like a 4 year old, I decided to sign back in to chat to tell my story again, about the knife that I had to have and another lost opportunity in purchasing it.

When I signed back in there was an eerie silence from the members present. I posted "I hope someone here grabbed that Pull Ball" and still nothing? Then the private message box popped up with the words "Figured you wanted that one, knew it wouldn't last till ya got back, so I'm having it shipped to Wisconsin"

I recieved the knife in the mail today. It will never be for sale and always in my collection untill the day I die. It's one of the Most Valueable Knives I own because of this story of the generosity of a friend.

Thanks Dave

Keith

Good friends are like good knives....it's good when they are sharp!

Great story

Unk

With all the talk of counterfeits and bad dealings lately it's good to hear the upside and real purpose for collecting, meeting good people and friends.

sweet ozz..................
i own my pops cattaraugus hunter he carried in NAM....I HAVE POSTED PICS ON HERE B4.
also the issue gerber 06 fast auto my lil bro was issued in OIF his 1st tour.
and the benchmade les paul auto he carried in iraq 2nd tour......and paracord cutter
several more family pieces too.....they all consider/considered them tools....and nothin' more....
welllllll i see a lot more there,and have become the family knife curator ...lol
none of these will be sold.......just passed on
had a real early leatherman that had seen some things .........but was stolen from my p/u in driveway ........still have sheath...........

Because of what transpired a week ago here at AAPK. I thought of starting a thread about Knives with Stories "The Most Valuable Knives We Own"

what happened last week???? i lost a cousin so i wasn't able to read much on here

This Case knife set was handled down to me last year by my Dad, a veteran of the Vietnam War and retired Air Force SMSgt.
I can remember the day my Dad bought these knives,I was 8 years old and the whole family was on a camping trip at Yellowstone National Park in 1964. Dad had just returned from his 1st tour of duty in Vietnam. ( He returned 2 more times to Vietnam in service to his country )

While I own many knives these two will always remain with me or my family as I plan on passing them down to my son, a Marine, some day.

History by itself is great but when it is intertwined with past personal experiences it makes everything so much better.


Thought I would share as well.

Very cool thread Ozzie Marie, very touching stories.

Makes me want to go out and do something nice for someone.

Thanks for sharing guys.

Marty

I got a package in the mail recently. I wasn't expecting any presents from the USPS and was pretty puzzled. I looked at the return address and said to my wife, " I wonder what this is?" She told me to open it and find out.

Inside was a pretty much new "old" Buck 105 Pathfinder. A while back I told a story of how I had made the money killing coyotes and selling their ears for bounty money and finally saved up enough to buy a REAL Buck knife. It was stolen when I was in Nam I think. We lost several guns and some great old family stuff. I'd pretty much forgotten about that knife.

Well? One of the FINE gents here at APPK sent me that knife to replace the one I lost. It is right beside my great Grandfather's old Case Hobo at the top of the shelf.

THANKS Again, my friend.
Willie

My family knives are the most valuable to me. My great grandfather, grandfather, and my dad (until he joined the Air Force) worked the coal mines.

Here is my great grandfather's Remington...



and my grandfather's Kutmaster...



to me those two knives are irreplaceable...

too cool willie o/w!!!!!!!!!!

the stories yer boy will tell of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
while he drives the wheels off that fairlane!!!!! lol...and that big ol' back seat!!! lmao!!!

realy nice knifes and stories and i love that stockman punch remington.

Great stories guys, and I too like that punch Remm, Ab. It is also becoming evident you collect match safes. Very cool

In terms of personal memories and sentimental value, it would be hard to beat my first fixed blade knife, one of the most highly prized possessions of a young boy. I've written more about this knife in an old post.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =34&t=9149

My father started collecting knives at the age of 7 in 1931. He grew up in NYC in the shadow of Bannermans where he bought a ton of knives. I sold most of his collection for my mother when he passed, here are a few that I kept. left to right 1864 Ames Dahlgren Bayonet new and unissued, Case Tested XX "Pig Sticker, Case stag hunting knife, Remington RH 51 Scout knife, Remingtin RH 4, Springer shotshell puller switch blade, Schrade switchblade

Francis Bannerman, showman, entrepreneur and genious. Built his castle out of crap concrete though.

Somewhere, around here, buried and currently safely out of reach I have a 1927 and a 1924 Bannermans Catalogue. Great reference source and makes you cry to see the prices of stuff back then. LOL

Great knives and great stories, gents!

GREAT THREAD GUYS!

I have a number of knives that have a great deal of meaning to me, many of them I have posted before on AAPK.

This Old Timer 34OT belonged to my grandfather.
Grandpa was never a wealthy man. He was a logger until he had to have his back fused in the 1930s. Then he became a farmer. He ran an orchard of filberts, walnuts and peaches for nearly 40 years. As you might imagine, farming does not pay well. When grandpa retired he had a small Social Security pension. It was enough that they bought a single wide mobile home which they set up in a small park. He had a small shed behind the mobile home, about 6' x 6' which was his workshop. I can still see him sitting in his little shed with his pocket knife and a couple of dental picks, picking the bark out of maple burls. He used the maple burls to make clocks, book ends and other beautiful items.

I was fortunate enough to get his pocket knife.
As you can see he modified the clip blade of his old 34OT to be a Wharncliffe blade.
This is a common modification among people who do a lot of whittling.
This is the knife he used.

Dale

I am reading this thread with great interest since for the last several years I have been working on a book chronicling knives that I own and the stories behind them.After having written two other books(both non-knife related),this one is taking shape very slowly.Having retired several years ago I thought I would have all the time in the world to write.Unfortunately such is not the case.

Anyhow I was trying to decide which story would best fit here.I have posted other stories from this but I don't think I did this one yet.Anyway here it is for your reading pleasure:

I received this particular knife from my old friend(and recent brother-in-law)one Christmas.He knew I was a long time collector and decided this would be an appropriate gift.

Opening it up I saw it was one of the Franklin Mint's newly issued series of car-related knives;this one being a homage to the 1957 Chevrolet.The bolsters replicate the style of the front and rear bumpers and there is a Chevrolet logo attached and a picture of the car under the clear plastic insert in the scales.It came in a nice pouch.

Opening it up I discovered that the blade etch said,"1953 Chevrolet Corvette" rather than the 57 Chevrolet.I mentioned this to my brother-in-law and all apologetic he offered to send it back and get another.I told him it wasn't a problem.

About a year later I noticed that Franklin Mint had introduced the 53 Corvette knife.I decided to write to them informing them of the error and suggesting they might want to check their others to make sure there were no more.Shortly afterward I received a note from the head of the company thanking me for my letter and informing me they had checked their inventory and all were fine.They offered to replace my knife free of charge.

I sent them a return note stating as I knife collector I considered it more unique and decided to keep it.A couple weeks later I got a package in the mail with a correct knife as a token of their thanks.

While not a particularly collectible knife,I know that it is definitely a one of a kind and while probably not very valuable,it is very unique.

What you see here is what's left of my old Boulder CO, Western L39. My mother got it for me with trading stamps (could have been Green Stamps, could have been Plaid Stamps. IDK) in about 1957. Being a young country boy and barely a teenager, which is a fairly dangerous combination, I was influenced by television and movies and would throw it in an attempt to stick it in trees, logs, the side of a wood building or what ever presented it's self. The Western knives have a bifurcated tang and this particular knife had a factory defect in one side. Long story short, the handle broke. That white stuff is silicone rubber and to say my repair attempts were amateurish would be generous. To others, the knife looks like a POS but to me, it came from my mother and I don't have her anymore but I do have the knife.

Orvet has the knife right now and is going to "fix it". Exactly what he's going to do, I don't know but he knows the story and I'm comfortable he will respect the knife and what it means to me. Thanks in advance Dale.

A great thread, very much enjoyed seeing all the knives and hearing their associated stories

Here's my own contribution, perhaps of no great monetary value, but I think very special.

I bought this knife unseen a few years ago, thought it very decent, the mark side scale is engraved "EHM, Oct 1918. A week or two later I was sent a photo of the knife and on the back was a note explaining the knife's history, signed by Clifford Mills. The knife was made by Ernest Henry Mills

Ernest Mills was born in 1900, apprenticed to his father Willis, a highly skilled top end cutler, at Thos Turner & Co in 1914, two months before finishing his seven year apprenticeship, in 1921 his father was sacked, due to an out worker unfairly under cutting prices, Ernest was always bitter about the poor pay and working conditions endemic throughout Sheffield. Willis & Ernest went alone trading as W Mills & Son, making some of the finest knives made in 20C Sheffield, best finished knives in pearl, ivory, t/shell, gold etc, they had a workshop list of over 130 patterns, they supplied many top end retailers, Harrods, Clements London, Mappin & Webb, Landels etc. Willis retired in 1947. Ernest went on to become very well know, a great cutler, retiring in 1985.

In the book "On The Knife Edge" C Jenkins & S McClarence Ernest mentions the knife, that it was a tradition for a father (if he was a cutler) to make his son a special knife on his 21 birthday, as he was due to be called up to serve in the British Army he made his own (WW1 ended ten days before he was due to go). He kept the knife safe throughout the rest of his life.

An all-metal 4" closed sports, marked Thos Turner & Co, the knife is shown alongside the original 1922 Mills hand drawn pattern book



Mick

My brother brought the V44XX home to my Dad when was discharged from the USAF in1958 or so. I used to sneak it out when I was growing up and put a small gap in it at some point.After I came home from the USAF my Dad gave it to me. I found the Catt folding machete at a junk store in 1980 and bought it to use in place of the V44. My brother and I used to ruff camp. I carried the Catt and he always took my Dad's old Belknap hardware hatchet. They are both gone now and I'll never work that gap out. Figurative and litterally