Originally released on May 23, 2016.
Today's episode is all about gadgets people carry in their pockets (or in bags), though it mostly focuses on pocketknives. Those of who who've watched Angus Macgyver at work know he can do pretty much anything with a Swiss Army knife and a paperclip, so these things are handy to have.
Two of the covers of the Great Brain books written by John D. Fitzgerald. There are 5 others (plus one published from the author's notes after his death). I do believe these books made me interested in carrying a pocketknife when I read them as a child, though I probably would have shredded my hands with one.
My folks wisely had me wait a few years. My father eventually bought me one like this at a local hardware store:
A Schrade Old Timer Middleman stockman-style pocketknife.
The box had a little manual that distinctly read "never throw your knife!" (whoops) The one I had was made with high carbon steel (which is softer than stainless steel- meaning it can be sharpened to a finer edge - but prone to rusting if not kept oiled/dry). The blades looked darker than those in this picture if I remember right. I had it through most of adolescence until it eventually slipped out of my pocket somewhere while in college, going to that mysterious place where lost pens, umbrellas, and socks go. Schrade as a company unfortunately went out of business in the 2000s. Taylor Knives took over this particular line and continues to manufacture them, through that has been outsourced to China now.
Logan from The Thirteenth Hour loses his knife, too. In fact, he loses all his gear in the beginning of the quest, though he finds some new pocket swag in the course of this travels, including a new knife that he muses might be good for throwing. That's written about elsewhere, but I eventually found some knives made by the same company that wouldn't get lost so easily - the Schrade Cliphanger line, which has a little detachable carabiner that clips to your pocket but doesn't interefere with the rest of the knife. They only have one blade, which was stainless steel, but at least that means less maintenance. Plus, the blade locks in place. I've had a number over the years.
Unfortunately, they're not so easy to find these days, either, but I recently found an older one made in the USA on eBay. It needed some work, but after some minor fixes and resharpening, it was good to go.
Sharpening the blade took a fair amount of work since one edge came heavily beveled, but I eventually got it sharp enough. Not going to use it to shave anytime soon, but good enough to cut paper and such.
More at https://13thhr.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=post&jetpack-copy=5246
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In other news, The Thirteenth Hour soundtrack has a new track! "The Imperial Ranger March" was released on the soundtrack's bandcamp page this past Friday. You can find more tracks there plus previews and discussion of music and movies that inspired the soundtrack on Instagram @the13thhr.ost.
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