I know that I am dating myself, but growing up in the time period that I did, if a man had pants on, it was a very safe bet that he had a pocketknife in one of those pockets. That's what men did. You carried a knife. It was actually expected of you to have a pocket knife available for use if something needed to be cut. It didn't matter if it was a small two blade jack of some sort, or it you where a blue collar type, maybe a bigger knife of some sort. A large hack or folding hunter, like the big two blade Case. When Buck came out with their 110, it quickly became the knife of construction workers, truck drivers, soldiers, firemen, and anyone who may need a knife in their daily routine. Of course, then came Spyderco, and Benchmade, and the the rest of the one hand openers.
But...these days I don't see many people at all carrying a knife. Any kind of knife. Even the blue collar guys seem to have gone to the folding replaceable blade utility knife while on the job. My next door neighbor is having their kitchen remodeled, and I was sitting on the front porch smoking my pipe, since the better half decreed that there will be no smoking in the house. So, if I want to enjoy my pipe, I'm exiled to the porch. At least the dog does not mind accompanying me. So I'm watching the guys who are doing the granite counter tops, and some cardboard needed to be sliced up, and I see him reach for the pocket clip on the right pocket. Out comes one of those big box hardware store folding utility knives with the replaceable blades. They both are carrying them, and it seems to have become the go-to knife of the working man these days. Lowes and Home Depot carry them, as does Walmart. Stamped out metal handles, and a double sided blade that can be reversed when they get dull, or tossed in the trash and a new one installed.
A few back when I had our kitchen redone, it was the same. The Husky, or Super Knife was used by the crew. I see a lot of these now, and these same guys when off the job don't bother to carry a knife at all. On rare occasions, I see the smaller pocket size box cutter size utility knife in use. Now I know we all here love our knives. I often think of us knife nuts as the 1% of society that seems to recognize the need of a cutting tool in day to day life. After all, we're here on a knife based forum, and we are the ones afflicted with the obsession for the sharp blades. But have we really grown as small as 1%?
I think of all the people I know that carry a knife daily, and I realize that number is very very small. Even in my own family, where I have done my best to spread the love of sharp tools, I have to admit some degree of failure. The teenagers seem to want the latest smart phone or iPad, or Iwhatever that is the latest techno gizmo that is being hyped. So I look around at this forum, at the Spyderco fans, the Benchmade fans, the Kershaw fans, and even the old crocks like me that stick with the traditional knives made by Case, Camillus, Schrade, GEC, or whatever, and wonder where they all are in the real world.
In the 1960's, when Buck seemed to rule the trades, and every working man wasn't fully dressed without the black pouch on his belt. Buck must have sold a million of those things. But they all seem to have vanished. Replaced by the folding replaceable blade tool with about as much character as a Crescent wrench. I don't even see any Smith and Wesson or brand X from a Peoples Republic. Just the folding utility knife. I find it kind of depressing. Conflicts with my memories of working men with the name of Hank, or Smitty, embroidered over the shirt pocket of Dickies or Carhart's work shirts. When some insulation had to stripped off some wire, it was an old well used barlow type jack that did the deed, or maybe a well kept old Schrade with the jigging on the bone scales worn almost smooth from years of use. These knives lasted for years because the owner cared for his tool, and maintained it. Now I guess they don't even want to sharpen it, so they use a disposable blade knife. Times change. The pocket knife, like the wrist watch, is slowly going extinct. I hope I'm wrong, and I pray I'm wrong. A while back we wanted to give a young man nice watch for a graduation. He told us not to buy hime a watch, he had his cell phone/magic box in his pocket, so he didn't need an old fashioned watch. If a watch is old fashioned, I wasn't going to ask him what a pocket was. So we gave him a gift certificate to Apple, and he had a fit of ecstasy that I only thought possible for religious fanatics.
I can only wonder when, we who are the afflicted, the genetic mutants who still are misguided enough to think a knife is important, pass on, what will become of our knife collections? Or, I wonder if someone needs a knife in a desperate situation, will there be an apt on their magic cell phone to cut with?