The Historical Pocket Knife

The Historical Pocket Knife - The Legend Lives On
By: William Doggett

The pocket knife is basically a legend. Why would I use such a strong word for the passage of the pocket knife through time? Well, this tool had its beginnings in a time when man had to depend on his tools to survive. And, to this current day, it still is one of the most important utensils to many professionals of a variety of trades. Its legend grows daily.

The pocket knife is man's oldest tool. Well, not the traditional pocket knife, but a knife of sorts if you go way back to the days of the knuckle dragging cavemen. The sharpened stone was the fashionable thing during the dinosaur roaming days. It may have not made a suitable weapon, but once the large beasts of the day were slain, it made a fine skinning device.

The knife did become more of an offensive tool, a weapon of sorts as the times progressed and the less desirable types within our society decided to taint the pocket knife with crime and assaults. The problem there is that we do, and always have evil folks amongst us. What to do with these types is another story.

The American Indian made the pocket knife a little more known, well, maybe not your conventional pocket knife, more like a crudely shaped fixed blade attached to the bone of some unlucky creature. It is not uncommon to find knives of a variety of shapes and sizes covered by sand and dirt right alongside those arrow heads that everybody enjoys hunting.

We come to our present day. Today, men and women alike carry pocket knives for a variety of reasons. Many are heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. Many folks carry pocket knives to be simply used as a tool of necessity. You never know when you might need a good fingernail trimming and you sure don't want to bite those dirty things off.

So you see; there is much history to the pocket knife and a long drawn out history that would take more space than I have here or would like to commit at the present moment. But, I can tell you one thing for sure, to own one is to own a legend and the history that goes along with it.

As time passes, the legend continues. In this current day of political correctness and senseless laws, polices and lawsuits, the pocket knife finds itself under attack. That is an odd statement for an inanimate object, but it is true. There are a crowd of folks out there that are literally repulsed by the idea that anyone is allowed, by law, to actually own and possess a blade. I find that quite silly, but I assure you, it is a fact.

The positive side to the pocket knife hating crowd is the fact that the value will only go up in these treasured collectibles. Well, it is just like anything that becomes controversial, folks just want to have more of it. People love controversy and history loves to remember it.

I picture a future with advancements beyond comprehension. Look back at the last one hundred years. To observe the difference in the common livelihood of folks back then compared to people in our times is quite overwhelming. One hundred years is such a short stint to make this much progress.

The funny thing about progress, it builds momentum. If you fall behind, well, that's it. There is no catching up. Progress increases speed constantly to never sway, stop or look back.

The knife has been around since the beginning of man. In its current state as a pocket knife, it still is with us today. I see no change in the future. I believe it will still be with us playing a critical role to many folks. We may see faster than light travel, artificial intelligence or even transporter beams like in Star Trek, but a person will always need a good old pocket knife to cut a strap loose or trim a piece of string from a garment.

So, my point in all this is to simply collect, carry and honor your pocket knife. You have got with you a little piece of history that has been around longer than just about any other tool or instrument. It has been used by numerous cultures and peoples beyond what we could possibly know. I assure you, in whatever form it is in the next one thousand years, it will still be with us.

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William "Cole" Doggett is a knife expert and owns a an Internet knife shop, Knife & Supply Company, LLC at Pocket Knife Hunting Knife SOG Knife. His website is devoted to all things pocket knives, swords, kitchen cutlery, sharpeners, machetes and a wealth of information. Stop by! Check out the Fighting Knife Blog Collectible Knife for knife reviews and much more.