The watch pocket SAK.

[cbl51]

Coin pocket, watch pocket, whatever it's called most jeans have them. That itty bitty pocket up top on the right hand side just below the belt line. I guess in the old days a pocket watch was kept there to keep it safe from banging against loose change, keys, pocket knife, small gun, whatever. But few people carry a pocket watch these days as the post WW2 popularity of the wrist watch phased them out. In the near future I guess the smart phone will phase out the wrist watch and only the old curmudgeons like me will still bother to strap a time piece on the arm.

But there's another use for that little pocket on the jeans, a small pocket knife. Since a small pocket knife needs only a small pocket, it's a no brainer. When I was a kid, before I even had a watch of any kind, that little pocket was a natural for a little knife. Us boys got a small penknife or jackknife as a right of passage at age 7 or so, and it went into the watch pocket. Small two blade slip joints were the knife of the day back then, and they did well. We'd cut fishing line down by the creek, open up boxes, and whatever. A broken pencil point was taken care of quickly with a small sharp knife, and it was common even in school black them.

I've carried a wide variety of pocket knives in the coin pocket, like small Schrades, Case and some SAK's. After I got my first SAK, a Huntsman, I usually went for the smaller two and even one layer SAKs. like the small tinker and spartan, and bantam. Growing up in Washington D.C. I had little use for a large knife, and by adulthood the habit was set. Even in the army the regular pocket knife was all that was needed. Being in the army engineers was like being on a continuous construction job. Lots of use for a sharp knife and a few tools like a screw driver or two. Most of my fellow soldiers were not knife nuts so carried whatever was in the post PX cheap. This was usually a smaller Buck knife like a 303 cadet or the plastic handle lightweight version of the 110.

Keeping a knife in that little pocket had two things going for it; one it was easy to get at. No digging around in the bottom of the pocket past keys, change, bandana, and whatever. The second was it stayed put. It didn't drop out of that pocket to easy. The Victorinox bantam was a very good watch pocket SAK, as was the popular. I carried a popular and then a secretary for years like that. Always handy for a quick cutting job. Then I got a classic.

I didn't set out buy a classic, quite the contrary. One day my better half came home with a Chinese knok off of one with their company logo on it. Her boss had bought a bunch of them from some advertising company and they were the typical knock off. Horrible. Terrible. Abysmal. I couldn't take it. I went out and bought a real Victorinox classic to show Karen and she took it to work the next day and showed her boss. Boss promptly sent all the knock off junk back and bought the real ones with the company logo for a bit more money. He thanked me for correcting him and gave me one.

Now for the next few months I watched Karen with her new little classic. It was hard, and I thought that little joke of a knife would break under her mis-use. The joke was on me. Not only didn't it break when she abused it, I'd take a look at it when she wa in the shower and it didn't appear any worse for wear. So I bought one for myself and began the great experiment. I put it in my coin/watch pocket and for the next few moths I'd make it a point that if I needed a pocket knife for something, I'd try the classic first. My Tinkeer was my "Real" knife and was on standby in my other regular pocket.

Not only did I hardly need the tinker, but except for the Phillips driver and can opener, the little classic did it all. I became a fan of the 58mm because it fit in with my minimalist personality and approach to life. I was into ultralight back packing because of my love of the outdoors but being 50% disabled from some sever injuries to  my right foot and ankle from a construction accident while in the army engineers. I got my pack weight down to 25 pounds, and managed to limp down the trail pretty good. But I got into the habit of going with the smallest most minimal object that wold do the job. Tiny one cell AAA flashlights, toothbrush handle half cut off, small monocular instead of binocular, and all the tags cut off the tea bags. Extreme. My little classic logged many miles up and down the Appellation Trail and other places. If I was going to be fishing, an alox bantam was along. The bantam took care of gutting and cleaning fish caught while the classic opened lots of Mountain House freeze dried food when fish were not caught. The little scissors cut moleskin for padding any blisters, and the nail file did what it needed for keeping nails looking groomed while in the boonies.

Those little watch pocket SAK's did great duty. Small, light, easy to carry but effective at their intended job. In a moment of generosity, I gave away the alox bantam thinking I'd just get another one. Little did I know they had been discontinued. I replaced the alox bantam with a cadet and went on down the trail. ''

Now thanks to Nix, my new watch pocket SAK is an executive. I'm going to be taking part in his Chuck Yeager challenge so it's going to be interesting. The executive actually replaces two other knives. The classic is now in a drawer, as is the cadet. If I new real screw drivers, a Victorinox quarto is in my wallet as well as my old army P-38 can opener. It's all physiological I know, but somehow with just one pocket knife in a watch pocket, I feel lighter.

Minimalism.

[zrxoa1]

Excellent reading!!

Good luck with the CYC!!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Boonies]

Good story......

I often slip this little guy in my watch pocket, stays very secure there.  Case Butterbean, doesn’t have all the tools of a SAK but very handy.  In between a Classic and a Executive.       

[VICMAN]

Nice write -up about the watch pocket cbl!

I always have a small folder in my watch pocket......and it is usually a small SAK.

[gustophersmob]

Good story!

I often carry my pioneer in the watch pocket of my jeans. It sits at a slight angle and is completely covered by the pocket. It makes it very quick to retrieve, faster for me than any of my clip knives since I don't have to fiddle with the clip grabbing the pocket material.

[cbl51]

Good story......

I often slip this little guy in my watch pocket, stays very secure there.  Case Butterbean, doesn’t have all the tools of a SAK but very handy.  In between a Classic and a Executive.       

I understand where you're coming from! For many years I was loyal to the little Case peanut like my dad carried. Not the tools of the SAK, but a heck of a slicer with some old style charm. But the SAK's do beat them all when it comes to sheer utility. And the new classics wit the graphics have lots of appeal. Love that classic of yours. What do they call that particular artwork?

[Boonies]

That Classic is called White Shadow, I “think” from 2013 but I see them on eBay fairly often.  I just like it.

I carry the Butterbean mainly because I like it though it does have a fairly stout main blade for cutting and the small blade for the little stuff.  Not carrying it right now because the shorts I’m wearing don’t have a watch pocket.  😊

[Myron]

Great story, cbl51.  Thanks for posting. 

I too have always carried a small SAK in my watch pocket.  These days it's usually a Cadet but the real king of the Watch Pocket SAKs has got to be the Classic. 

What I have found that I like more, however, is a pair of pants with a coin catch in the main pocket.  It's perfect for carrying a small SAK, keeps it upright in your pocket and separate from other pocketable stuff. 

Thanks again for sharing your story.

Myron

[getahl]

I've tried stuff in my watch pocket. Classic, Manbug, Micra, Minichamp, a Morgan dollar, which, to the astute observer is not a knife, but makes a satisfying ring when flipped. I don't like stuff in there. It rubs the inside of  my wrist and bugs the bajeebus out of me when I want to grab something in my larger right pocket, or just shove my hands in my pockets for any ol' reason. I like the idea, but I have four other pockets that hold stuff. I can't get used to stuff in my watch pocket.

[Barry Rowland]

Outstanding sir and glad to have you aboard on the CY Challenge!

Beautiful Case Boonies!