EDC no more.

Are you going to clean it up, or would you prefer to leave it as is for sentimental reasons?

My dad was never into knives, so nothing was passed down to me, and there's nothing left from my grandfathers. My son also is not into knives, so I have to leave him other things. Maybe a grandchild will like my EDC stuff.

 

Let me know if the grandchild plan doesn't work, because I could be your son. I'm into knives and EDC stuff!

 

I love the idea of carrying Grandpas/Dads knives.

I wouldn't do it. Too many other options. Too much to loose.

I don't shoot Grandpa's guns anymore either.

 

I dunno -- the bolsters and scale in this view look pretty darn good!

L'chaim!

Moshe ben David

 

I have an old swiss army knife that was passed down to me. Part of me wants to clean it up/out but part of me wants to leave it like it is.

 

What would your grandfather or your dad want you to do with this knife?

Mine would say, use it or sell it if you don't want it, maybe someone else likes it more.

Well, not everyone's dad is the same but I guess I'd try to clean it, or even better as you're in the US, send it to Case and let the refurbish it.
At least my grandfather would be more honored if his tool serves me well instead of being a safe queen.

 

I have a Wenger SAK model named Trout. It came with a small trout painted on the red scales. I was in the third grade when I bought it, carried it everyday (EDC) for 20-25 years before becoming afraid I'd finally lose it. It's a precious item to me.

I replaced it with a Leatherman Juice S2, but only carried that for a year because of the weight.

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My wife recently found in a box under our bed the knife my grandfather carried for years. It's an Old Timer 80t that was in pretty rough shape. I decided to clean and oil it and to carry it occasionally. I just feel like it was made to be used and when my son goes off to college next year I'm sending it with him.

 

Obviously not everyone feels the same, but I would argue that an heirloom, especially a practical one, is far more likely to be cherished if it is in usable condition.

 

While I understand the sentimental aspect, I think objects are meant to be used. The idea of safekeeping an object for passing down, is risky...why will it have any value to who you give it to? Will they remember you using it? will they remember it associated with you in a large portion of their memories? If its just something you keep safe and sound its likely to hold little value to them... how did it attain value to you? Because you associate it to a person, they used it, they carried it.

If you want to pass something down to some one, it should be associated in their minds with you, that means they need to see you with it, see it used, remember your smile, your jokes, etc...all while using it. It becomes a sub conscience association. That will not happen if you just keep it in a box, and tell them "this was my grand dads...now its yours".

 

/\/\/\ I agree with you but from my own experience, there can be another point of view. My Mother (who has also now passed away) gave me my Opa's (grandfathers) pocket watch. My Opa died when I was just over one year old. When I was a boy, she would occasionally let me see her father's watch, and talk to me about it. As I grew up, I became more and more interested in the watch. When I was a man, she gave me the watch for safe keeping. On the key fob is a picture of me as an infant. Now, I have the watch and think fondly of both my Mom and my Opa. I cherish that watch for the memories.

 

I have several things that I won't carry, but that's more because I know I'm hard on my gear and I don't want to worry about it. Heirlooms comprise most of that group.

 

Woah, we had an Oma instead of grandma! She was from Nahe Germany, Opa was from Italy.

 

We....might....be....brothers!? ;-)

 

For the most part, I would agree. Not counting paper type items such as old photos, news paper clippings, etc... the Swiss Army knife is the only physical item memorabilia that I got. Even if I cleaned it up and make it usable, I will never use it unless it was a dire emergency. As a child, it was my first real introduction to the EDC concept. Wherever we went, if a knife was needed, or a screwdriver, or ______, out came that SAK. For these reasons and more, it is my only safe queen.

 

I myself have a compass my late Grandfather used when climbing mt. Fuji. The glass is cracked and the liquid long gone and it's really not usable, so it sits in an almost-forgotten keepsake box in the closet...

 

That's a beauty and a keeper. I have some tools from my Grandad I wouldn't part with for anything. Just imagine a hundred years of work. Those were the days they really made things to last.