Well Joel, there's ramblin' and then there is ramblin'. If you are saying something important or of value, then ramblin' is good. Sometimes the best way to learn good stuff is to sit around while knowledgeable and experienced people are just talkin' and ramblin'. From what I read so far, you guys are worth listening to and so I need to pay attention. Now as for my ramblin, well , that is prob'ly another something. Maybe (maybe not!) entertaining, hopefully useful, who knows?? AS they say, you pay your money and take your chances!! I just appreciate the opportunity to use up bandwidth with some of my ramblin', since it so far has provoked both of you to do so yourselves, and I am the beneficiary!!
It sounds to me like I would very much like the small Wharncliffe blade you are describing that the guys at the farm are using. A knife that will do all those things, even just reasonably well, is a definite keeper and a good tool to possess. I never cease to be amazed at what folks (including me sometimes!) will spend their hard earned money for, or spend their time doing. If something gets to be "in style" or "high fashion", then look out. Folks just gotta have one, even if they don't need it anymore than they need a stomach ache. I see lots of folks stylin' around in big 4WD duallys with Powerstrokes and Cummins and V-10s under the hood, and they don't have any kind of serious use for them. It is OK if that is how they want to spend their money, IF they have it in the first place, but it don't make much sense to me. They prob'ly feel the same way about me, and that is OK too. I am willing to give them their space to do their thing if they will give me space to do mine, as long as nobody takes advantage of anybody else!!
I have seen pictures and read about the Grohman knives, and mostly, everything I hear is complimentary. I even sent off for one of their catalogs, but have never held one in my hand. Sounds like they are good using knives, and well made. They look different, of course, but beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes, how something looks kind of grows on you if it works well. I guess I feel about knives sorta like female wimmen. Some of the purtiest lookin' ones, at least by the world's standards, are pretty worthless as far as being able or willing to do anything of consequence. That is strictly my opinion of course, and is subject to challenge.
I just don't have much room in my life for things or people that don't serve some necessary function. It has been my personal experience that purty is as purty does, with wimmen and knives both. Don't misunderstand. I hold wimmen folks in high regard, but I don't have much use for anybody or anything that won't or can't hit a lick at a snake. Looks by themselves don't fry bacon, or cut it either. And the same thing certainly applies to us fellers. Lots of us are all talk and not much action. I better be keerful, I might be talkin' about me!!
That scout knife you are talking about is a good thing. I have a couple of the military style, all metal, made by Camillus. One of those is not usually too far away, and is close at hand when I am doing something where it would be handy to have. I have never attempted to fashion a knife, although I have made a tool or two that could be used with a hammer to cut the ends out of 55 gallon barrels. We usta burn trash in those, and you could get your eyebrows singed if you used a smoke wrench to cut the end out and you did not know exactly what might have been in the barrel lately!! I used to take a "knife" off what we called a knife sled, which was a farm implement designed to straddle each row of dryland milo or other crop, with a long blade attached to each runner that extended out across the "bed" or ridge of dirt that existed between each row. Dryland farming involved planting down in the row, instead up on top of the bed like irrigators planted. These knives slipped along through the dirt and cut and killed the weeds that would be growning there, IF there had been any rain. I would use a torch to cut one of these to length, and fashion a place at one end with out the "sharp" edge so you could hold the implement with your gloved hand and smack the back side with a good sized shop hammer. You could skin the top out of a barrel in a flash with that tool.
I do have a bit of experience with making sheaths from leather. It is really satisfying to carry a knife you like in a sheath that you have custom made for yourself. Joel, do you have a brochure or catalog or just some pictures and description of the knives you make for sale? I assume you make some for sale. I am really interested in that small Wharncliffe blade with the clip-on sheath that you described. I tend to like and use smaller blades than most. I also much prefer a flat grind on my blades, and I like them on the thin side. There is definitely a place for a blade close to five inches, if it is built right, but most of mine are three and a half to four inches in length. I have one or two that are only two or two and a half inches in length that I really like. These have what I call butcher knife handles on them, nuthin' fancy at all, but they work and I use them.
Well, now you know for sure what ramblin' really is! I better quit before you have to tell me to shutup. Joel, please let me know how to contact you to get the information about your knives. Whatever I need to do, just let me know. If you need a SASE or other compensation for your brochure or catalog, let me know how much and where to send it. Thanks for sharing your rambling with us, both of you.
