Traditional Pocketknife trend

[Enactive]

I find it useful to distinguish between slip joint knives and traditional knives.

Traditionals are a subset of slip joint knives, but many slip joints are not traditionals.

Spyderco's slip joints pretty much all strike me as modern slip joints vs "traditionals" or "modern traditionals."

Semantics, i know, but think it helps with clarity.

I've been wondering this lately, I'm glad you brought it up. I love this knife I just grabbed a few weeks ago. I've been calling it a traditional to my myself, but not really sure what to classify it as!?

Looks pretty cool. I'd call it a modern traditional if i needed to classify it, but i am no authority on the matter.

[Enactive]

I find it useful to distinguish between slip joint knives and traditional knives.

Traditionals are a subset of slip joint knives, but many slip joints are not traditionals.

Spyderco's slip joints pretty much all strike me as modern slip joints vs "traditionals" or "modern traditionals."

Semantics, i know, but think it helps with clarity.

Agreed, I said similar on another thread awhile back, but not so well. I'd still be in favor of more traditional elements on some of the Spyderco slip joints.

I agree a 'more traditional' Spyderco slipjoint could be really cool. I'm thinking of the original C27 Jess Horn in jigged bone. Pinned and bolstered, built by Moki of yore, would be too delicious.

[GarageBoy]

Yeah, the titanium one was almost 10 years ago

I'm thinking nicely finished bolsters, maybe a piece of nice ironwood, dense micarta (think Randall knives micarta) etc

[Doc Dan]

I find it useful to distinguish between slip joint knives and traditional knives.

Traditionals are a subset of slip joint knives, but many slip joints are not traditionals.

Spyderco's slip joints pretty much all strike me as modern slip joints vs "traditionals" or "modern traditionals."

Semantics, i know, but think it helps with clarity.

Agreed, I said similar on another thread awhile back, but not so well. I'd still be in favor of more traditional elements on some of the Spyderco slip joints.

I agree a 'more traditional' Spyderco slipjoint could be really cool. I'm thinking of the original C27 Jess Horn in jigged bone. Pinned and bolstered, built by Moki of yore, would be too delicious.

The SPY-DK is the closest to a traditional knife. It is a modern traditional. It is a slip joint that requires two hands to open. It does have screwed together construction (thankfully) and modern materials. The Jess Horn...I don't know about that one. It is not too traditional, though it is a nice knife.

[Doc Dan]

Spyderco anticipated this trend towards modern traditional slip joints by coming out with them when no one else was thinking about them. Spyderco perhaps is responsible for the rise and popularity of that species of knife in the first place.

[Menipo]

Slipjoint & traditional & pocket size



So traditional here, that this model (its 5" blade big brother) is documented as early as the mid-17th century. :D :D :D

[Menipo]

I find it useful to distinguish between slip joint knives and traditional knives.

Traditionals are a subset of slip joint knives, but many slip joints are not traditionals.

Spyderco's slip joints pretty much all strike me as modern slip joints vs "traditionals" or "modern traditionals."

Semantics, i know, but think it helps with clarity.

I would perhaps put it the other way around: slipjoint is a subset of traditional because the ancestors of the knives that we now consider traditional (and therefore much more traditional) were not slipjoint.

They were knives of three (literally) pieces: blade, handle (usually made of wood in one single block) and the pivot or pin that held them together. Like the Opinels or the one in the photos below (although this would already be a 2nd generation of "ancient traditional" because it has a fourth piece -bolster- and a finger choil that prevents the blade from closing while it is being used as it does not have any spring or retention mechanism. Like the UKPK but 400 years ago ... :D )

[JRinFL]

From my understanding, "traditional" in this use is relatively modern and comes out of the need for collectors to differentiate. There is a thread about it on blade forums and AAPK. In 1950 they were not called "traditional", they were called pocket knives.
We know the Romans and the Chinese had folding knives thousands of years ago, so everything else is new!

[TomAiello]

A true traditionalist would eschew all these newfangled folding knives, and just EDC a nice sharpened rock. :)

[JRinFL]

Sharpened mastodon bone or go home!

[James Y]

This subject makes me feel old. Back in the ‘70s when I started carrying, we just called them pocketknives, not “traditionals.”

Jim

[Menipo]

From my understanding, "traditional" in this use is relatively modern and comes out of the need for collectors to differentiate. There is a thread about it on blade forums and AAPK. In 1950 they were not called "traditional", they were called pocket knives.
We know the Romans and the Chinese had folding knives thousands of years ago, so everything else is new!

Indeed. In both cases the 3-pieces knives I referred to:

[Menipo]

A true traditionalist would eschew all these newfangled folding knives, and just EDC a nice sharpened rock. :)

Obviously. But a caveman of the Megarachneco Forum would only carry K390 flint .... :D