When only a penknife will do

When I was around 6 years old my parents gave me my first penknife.  This was probably a bit too young if I'm honest and I ended up learning knife handling skills the hard way via two cut palms, one angry mum and a lot of blood trailed through the house.  Cleaning mud off a blade with both of your hands isn't recommended.  Despite the wounds healing quickly and no real damage being done (apart from the carpet), the story is now folklore in my family and brought up all the time for their amusement.

I wasn’t put off despite that disastrous first experience; since then I've always had a penknife in the car, around the house or in the garage.  In fact, I’ve undertaken a quick census and discovered I’ve got knocking on 20+.  For those of you interested they include five Leathermans, two Bucks, two Victorinox, one Opinel, the original one my parents gave me, a collection of my grandpas’ penknives and few great finds from car boot sales. 

So it only makes sense for us to stock some because when you are a tinkerer you appreciate the simplicity of a good penknife (both buying them and being given one). But, in true Tinker and Fix style, if we haven’t used them ourselves, we aren’t selling them.  And if they aren’t practical, if they don’t function really well or make you happy when you use them, then we aren’t selling them either.

So we’re now stocking our favourite Leatherman and Opinel knives. Check out which ones we chose (ok, own) – the ones we reckon are the best for tinkerers and fixers - makers, menders and growers - from both ranges (Opinel are in stock already, Leatherman are on the way….)

 Edd