Pocket knives

From the time I could remember, Dad always carried a three-blade pocket knife and a Vick's inhaler. He used both daily. The pocket knife was special to Dad. It was something he took care of and used daily. I watched him lance the big boils on cows, and the smell was awful. He used the same knife to turn the bull calves into steers and to show me how to skin a coyote. Then, since he wore dentures, he'd use the same knife to whittle on an apple or a pear. He had a round whet stone that he used pretty often so his knife was always sharp.

I was pretty little when I began to carry a two-blade pocket knife. One blade was a screwdriver and can opener and the other was a regular knife blade that had been broken right in the middle. It had a kind of loop on one end where you could tie a string or snap to something. I carried it for years. Seems like it was a Lone Ranger knife or something. As I got older I started to carry a three-blade Old Timer knife. It was made by Schrade in the United States.

Back then I did a lot of coyote hunting with my Swift with calls or traps, so there was always a coyote to skin. Seems like Marge and the boys and me always had fleas. One year I got 37 coyotes, so the Old Timer got a lot of use. It was decent to sharpen, but it would really hold an edge. Some knife edges would last forever, but were almost impossible to get sharp. I lost a few back then.

I was around my cousin, and he carried an Uncle Henry about the size of my Old Timer. His was a little slicker and better looking than mine, so I went to carrying an Uncle Henry. It was still made by Schrade. When in Moscow on a mission trip, I had packed my Uncle Henry in my luggage, but in Moscow it was in my pocket. The group of us went to the Bolshoi Ballet one evening, and we had to empty our pockets for the guards to see what we were carrying. When the little gal saw I had a pocket knife, she showed the guard. He looked at me and motioned her to give it back, so I carried it into the theater.

A few years later I was carrying an Uncle Henry when we were searched down in Memphis, when I rode the Greyhound bus. The Uncle Henry was in my pocket so they collected it. Never saw that USA-made Uncle Henry pocket knife again. I was disgusted! So when I got back to Scott City, Marge bought me a new Uncle Henry, but it was Chinese. So I went on Ebay and found some old USA Uncle Henrys and bought enough to last me. It's simply a darn good pocket knife. The one that I bought was kind of special. It is an XX Case three-blade pocket knife made in the USA. What makes it special is the handle is made from Missouri oak. I've carried it quite a bit and still do, but mainly for dress.

I was at a garage sale several years ago, and they had a two-blade Buck knife made in China that had belonged to Joe Lusk. I had never carried a two-blade knife so this was kind of unusual. After carrying it for several weeks, I came to like the two-blade Buck. It is still difficult to sharpen, but it works. All summer I used that Buck to peel cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers. I can't say how many I've eaten using that Buck. It's been used to pick slivers or to cut baler twine. I clean it occasionally. Most of the time I just wipe the blade clean on my old bib's leg.

Many people carry a knife nowadays, but not many carry a real pocket knife. Those who sit and whittle on an apple or pear or cucumber or turnip with a pocket knife are a dying breed.