Post by Deadpool on Jan 5, 2010 11:36:49 GMT -5
I still remember how cool it was when I was a kid to have a Swiss Army Knife. That thing had it all, scissors, saw, screwdrivers, corkscrew, large and small blades, toothpick, tweezers...name it and the knife actually had it.
At some point in my neighborhood, you were considered cool as hell if you had one of these things, even if it was some cheap dollar-store knockoff. The first two kids on our block to have them were brothers. Their dad had spent some time working overseas and had obtained them. That was cool except for one thing...they never took them out of the house and used them. That was understandable to the rest of us. The things were actually picked up in Switzerland. You can't just replace those.
I had one of the cheap dollar-store types and it was still considered awesome. I brought mine nearly everywhere with me and used it often. Another kid who was never cool ended up getting a different version and was part of our in crowd for a good long time. Sure, he was irritating and he could get on your nerves but the kid had the tools and the knowledge necessary to carry out the tasks needed. That was cool to us.
I remember there was a certain hierarchy when it came to that. When we'd go camping, if you had the real thing, you were basically the top dog. If you had any other type, then it fell back on your personality. Still, even carrying out the most menial of tasks was necessary and the feeling of being part of it was the best. Somewhere down the line, I ended up losing that knife and I remember thinking that it was one of the best I'd ever owned.
At some point, I'd asked my dad, a former Marine, what the best knife was in his opinion. His response was simple...the Ka-Bar Knife. I've had three so far and lost one in the move. The shorty sits with my ammo and the Mule, a Folding knife, goes almost everywhere with me when the situation calls for it.
Now, I actually have two Swiss Army Knives. One is the classic, a tiny little thing that you can pick up at any RadioShack these days and it is the real thing, and The Huntsman which was the type that the two brothers in my neighborhood had. Prior to that, the SwissCard Lite was something I carried. Unfortunately, if you don't place those in the wallet the right way, they break pretty easily.
We didn't know as kids what different models of Swiss Army Knife were out there and we didn't know that two different companies make them but now, they're pretty ubiquitous.
So let's all take a trip backward in time...what constituted "cool" when you were kids?
At some point in my neighborhood, you were considered cool as hell if you had one of these things, even if it was some cheap dollar-store knockoff. The first two kids on our block to have them were brothers. Their dad had spent some time working overseas and had obtained them. That was cool except for one thing...they never took them out of the house and used them. That was understandable to the rest of us. The things were actually picked up in Switzerland. You can't just replace those.
I had one of the cheap dollar-store types and it was still considered awesome. I brought mine nearly everywhere with me and used it often. Another kid who was never cool ended up getting a different version and was part of our in crowd for a good long time. Sure, he was irritating and he could get on your nerves but the kid had the tools and the knowledge necessary to carry out the tasks needed. That was cool to us.
I remember there was a certain hierarchy when it came to that. When we'd go camping, if you had the real thing, you were basically the top dog. If you had any other type, then it fell back on your personality. Still, even carrying out the most menial of tasks was necessary and the feeling of being part of it was the best. Somewhere down the line, I ended up losing that knife and I remember thinking that it was one of the best I'd ever owned.
At some point, I'd asked my dad, a former Marine, what the best knife was in his opinion. His response was simple...the Ka-Bar Knife. I've had three so far and lost one in the move. The shorty sits with my ammo and the Mule, a Folding knife, goes almost everywhere with me when the situation calls for it.
Now, I actually have two Swiss Army Knives. One is the classic, a tiny little thing that you can pick up at any RadioShack these days and it is the real thing, and The Huntsman which was the type that the two brothers in my neighborhood had. Prior to that, the SwissCard Lite was something I carried. Unfortunately, if you don't place those in the wallet the right way, they break pretty easily.
We didn't know as kids what different models of Swiss Army Knife were out there and we didn't know that two different companies make them but now, they're pretty ubiquitous.
So let's all take a trip backward in time...what constituted "cool" when you were kids?