My Grandfather’s Pocket Knife
My grandfather passed away when I was just four years old, but I always felt like I knew him - my mother has several siblings, so I remember lots of memories of ‘Grandpa Ed’ being shared as I was growing up between my aunts and uncles.
I don’t remember the first time I heard about my grandfather’s pocket knife, but I remember always having an attachment to it. I suppose to any young kid, a pocket knife represents a sort of independence, and living dangerously. But more than that, this knife was special - it was imbued with some of the spirit of my grandfather, and I remember coveting it for many years.
The pocket knife in question is a small Old Timer foldable that saw quite a bit of use. I can’t imagine it would sell for much at auction - but we’ll never find out because it’s far too valuable to sell. It turns out it was a Christmas gift from my parents to my grandfather when I was very young, and as my dad told me recently, my grandfather loved the gift and used the heck out of it. I loved hearing that it was as meaningful to him as it is to me.
These are the thoughts that have been swirling in my head over the last couple of weeks, ever since I connected with a local knife maker here in South Dakota. I should reword that - an expert bladesmith, one of just over a couple hundred journeymen bladesmiths in the world!
You see, we’ve had plans to make a ‘hard good’ since our founding, and this project is beginning to take shape. We will be working with this Bladesmith to make a limited run of custom, hand-forged pocket knives. And I mean, extremely limited - probably 25 in total.
These knives will be of extremely high quality and last generations due to the nature of carbon steel instead of the cheap stainless steel in mass-produced knives that needs constant attention. Like our Adventure Tote, it will be capable of handling extreme situations and hold up to use in the wilderness, but will also handle your daily tasks like opening letters and Amazon boxes in a breeze.
Finally, we hope this knife will become a keepsake for their new owners - a family heirloom that will bring memories of loved ones.
More details to come, but if you’re interested in one of these knives, hit reply so I can get your name on a list to notify directly!
Green Business Certification
When Paxton and I first met out at “The Farm” to shoot clay pigeons and cooked up this whole idea of launching an outdoor gear brand, we knew that conservation/sustainability would be one of our core values.
So over the past year, we’ve taken steps along the way to lessen the impact we have as a business. It’s one of the many reasons that we build high quality products and commit to repairing them - we don’t want our gear to ever hit a landfill.
This past week, Paxton and I met with the leadership of Building Sustainable Connections to receive our recognition as a certified Green Business. We are committed to sustainable operations and are excited to support a local non-profit that is putting out the call for sustainable operations in our area.
Check out all that they are doing over on their website.
Rudy and Kevin Bacon Go Camping
Last up today, I wanted to call your attention to a recent blog post I wrote, about the classic 1987 film that no one has ever seen, Whitewater Summer - starring Kevin Bacon and Sean Astin. I rewatched the film recently - it was a movie I remember watching a few times when I was younger, so it was fun to revisit after many years.
Kevin Bacon is a 20-something solo high adventure camp counselor, who backpacks into Manhattan and swindles bookworm Sean Astin’s parents into letting him take their child (along with a few other teenagers) on a summer adventure that would blow chess and science camp out of the water.
Now, having been a camp counselor, getting a camper to push themselves is a good thing - it builds confidence allowing them to handle greater challenges, both in the wild and everyday. Kevin Bacon’s character takes that “push yourself” mentality to a whole new level, however, and it quickly becomes a different movie altogether. You start asking yourself whether Bacon’s character snapped and the film takes on a thriller vibe.
Anyway, head over to the blog to read more if you’re interested. Have you ever seen this film?
Closing
As always, please give me feedback on these emails! Would love to hear your thoughts - what you’d like to see more or less of. Dakota Adventure Supply is a community-centric company, and that means we want everything we do to be collaborative with you. So feel free to reach out at any time!
Yours in Comradery!
Jeff