Buck - another knife you don’t really need but you do really want...

It always starts with the same phrase. “I’ve found a new knife that I think we should stock”. To which my standard reply is “do we really need any more knives to sell?” I promise myself that I’ll stand firm. We are ‘Tinker and Fix’ after all. Not ‘Cut and Carry’. Or, the unofficial name for the company - ‘things that Edd really rates and really wants to own’.

He is mildly obsessed with penknives. Always has been. And I’d wager that he may have more penknives than he has pockets to store them in.

We aren’t a specialist pen knife shop and we don’t really follow the Every Day Carry (EDC) movement. And yes, whilst they are absolutely useful when making, mending and growing (my Opinel Gardener’s Penknife is always on me whilst in the garden) - they aren’t an essential tool (wait for the rebuttal response from Edd which is no doubt being formulated.....)

So, it’s my job to stand firm and ask the key questions - what can you tinker and fix with it? Would you love it as a gift? Is it really any better than the other knives we sell - if so why?

At this point, he’ll show me the knife - and we’ll make a decision - together. Or leave it on the fence to think about and carry on testing.

This normal procedure went out the window recently when he showed me the new Buck Trunk knife he wanted to stock. I look one look and said ‘yep’. Firstly it’s a Buck and Edd’s being using one of these since he was (far too) young. He still has his original and it’s stood the test of time. They are renown for their quality. So it definitely passes muster. Secondly, it’s a great looking knife and you just want to pick it up and use it. Thirdly, it turns out that you really ‘do need’ another penknife in your life - and if that’s the case, you’ll create a reason for it. Ours is the fact that we needed a good penknife for cutting parcel tape for when we send out customers' parcels. Tenuous? Yes. True? Yes. Come Christmas time we may even need one of each colour - a ‘his and hers’ to speed up the tape cutting...

-Lou-