Reintroduced to some old friends

I pulled out a couple of old knives yesterday and did some work with them. One problem with the constant influx of new blades is the old users being put out to pasture. Some of these, like the BRK&T Fox River and the Aurora, get bounced in favor of a bigger blade, or a smaller blade, or a thicker blade, or a thinner blade, or a folder, or an axe...it never ends.

Fortunately these two knives have been moved back into the rotation for the time being. They're both great designs and well worth your attention. They're both comfortable to hold, take and hold a great edge, and will quickly take on the patina I'm after with proper preparation and use.

Guys like Nessmuk and Kephart had ONE knife and they used it for everything. In this case, I mean one fixed blade knife. Those knives, like a handful of old knives belonging to one of the barbers at the shop I frequent, have been there and done that (BTDT.) I have huge respect for men that can use a knife up. These knives belonged to a professional butcher and he used them until they were nothing but spines with edges. The blades had an unreal patina and heavy scratching from all the sharpening and steeling he did to them. I had the pleasure of sharpening those knives last weekend and put a wicked sharp edge on them without removing the scratches and patina that had been left there by years and years of use.

Someday I hope to have a knife like that. Maybe it'll be my Sperati...

Thanks for reading,


B