- In what can be described as a rite of passage into manhood, outdoor columnist Ben Smith recalls getting his first pocketknife from his father.
A few days ago, I was sitting around with a group of guys and the topic of pocketknives came up. Kind of weird, but you never know what might come up during lunch discussions. We pretty much all had the same story, just told in different versions. Every single one of us talked about our grandfather’s knives. The other half of that story was that none of us carry a pocketknife.
Getting a pocketknife as a young boy is somewhat a rite of passage into manhood. I still remember the first pocketknife that I ever got from my father. It wasn’t anything special, but it made this young boy feel like a man. After all, Grandaddy had one, Dad had one, now it was my turn to join the “men’s club.” Obviously, this gift came with responsibility and an understanding that it was simply a tool. There was to be no playing around with it, and certainly shouldn’t be used for anything other than its intended purpose.
The origin of the pocketknife can be traced all the way back to Iron Age in Austria. This is the earliest known invention of folding knives. Later, the Romans implemented the use of pocketknives as multi-purpose tools. The pocketknives that we use today come from 17th and 18th century designs. These were the first to have spring loaded blades that would lock into place. Obviously, this made them safer to use and more popular to carry around.
Over the years, pocketknives continued to evolve. Take the Swiss Army Knife, for instance. The first ever version hit the field in 1891. It featured a knife blade, reamer, can opener, and a screwdriver. This “soldier’s knife” was later replaced in 1897 and dubbed an “officer’s knife” due to the addition of another blade and a corkscrew. Does that sound familiar? When I was growing up, any kid that didn’t have a Swiss Army Knife was a pansy and his parents didn’t love him. You could turn us loose in the woods with a couple of those little red knives and we’d build you a Dollar General.
In more modern times, the traditional pocketknife that your grandpappy carried around is not nearly as common. They’ve been replaced by “tactical knives” and multi-tools. What in the heck is a tactical knife? If you google that, it will tell you that they can be opened with one hand and has a blade that locks into place. I don’t know about y’all, but my grandaddy was man enough to open that Case knife with one hand and crack pecans with it. If you require a “tactical knife” to do your business maybe you shouldn’t be carrying one after all. As for multi-tools, Leatherman makes as good of one as you can find, and it’s a handy tool to keep in your truck. My guess is that this design stems from the original design of the Swiss Army Knife. The only problem with these multi-tools is that they won’t fit in your pocket. They do, however, usually come with a nice holster to wear on your hip…but they shouldn’t be replacing your everyday pocketknife.
The fact that pocketknife popularity grew over several hundred years, but has since diminished, seems to align with the times. Think of the daily tasks that men carried out a hundred years ago that we no longer do today. Of course, there are certain jobs today that require a pocketknife, but there are far fewer men who are tradesmen today than there have been in the past. Not to mention, like so many other tools (i.e. firearms), the pocketknife has been villainized by those that would rather blame the tool than the handler. In some places, carrying a pocketknife is totally prohibited. I do my best to avoid such places. I’ve had several pocketknives confiscated by TSA through the years since the 9/11 attacks. Before you get all concerned, I wasn’t planning to hijack an airliner, I simply forgot that I had a knife in my bag…because to me it’s a tool.
Since I’ve got going on this rant, I need to be as transparent as possible. I’m part of the problem when it comes to the decline of the pocketknife. Admittedly, I don’t carry one with me hardly ever, although there are so many times that I need one. When the need arises, it usually involves a walk back to the truck to retrieve a knife. Grandaddy would be disappointed, but I’ve never claimed to be half of the man that he was anyway. And maybe that’s what the world needs right now…more young men carrying around pocketknives. A return to simpler times, if you will. A return to the days where men were prepared for whatever task landed in front of them.
I’m proud to say, even though I don’t carry them, that I’ve got a special collection of pocketknives. I doubt any of them have much monetary value, but they hold plenty of sentimental value. I’ve got my great-grandfather’s pocketknife, rusty blades and all. I don’t remember him carrying it but knowing that it was his reminds me of him. I’ve got my grandaddy’s pocketknife. This one I remember. I thought he was the toughest man in the world when he’d pull it out, crack pecans, then use the blade to pull them out of the shell. I can remember him using it to cut the rope around hay bales on the farm. And I’ve also got my father-in-law’s pocketknife. At one point I had two of his, but TSA ruined that for me.
My point in all of this rambling is let’s get back to carrying a pocketknife. If for nothing else, you’ll be able to pass it down to some young man giving him his right of passage into manhood. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll write a story about it.
Ben Smith
