Marbles – The ExhaustNotes Blog

Sharpfingeritis

By Joe Berk

Sharpfingeritis is a disease, and I have it. To the tune of 15 of these knives, 12 of which I ordered today. My affliction is severe, but I don’t care.

My disease stage is probably what healthcare professionals would call tertiary Sharpfingeritis. It started innocently enough with one of the Sharpfingers entering my system. I didn’t even recognize it as a Sharpfinger until Dr. Feelgood pointed it out. Then I stopped by Bass Pro and saw the Bear and Son Sharpfinger, it was cheap enough, and I bought it. Then I saw the Old Timer Generational online, it’s made in America, and Amazon had it on sale. You know, Prime days. Bam! Just like that, I owned three of the things (the three you see in the photo below). I didn’t recognize my deteriorating condition at the time, but these purchases marked the early onset of my Sharpfingeritis. The symptoms were beginning to reveal themselves.

Then my Sharpfingeritis deteriorated even more rapidly. I found my way to the Smoky Mountain Knife Works site (they’re great people to work with), and I started poking around for other Sharpfingers. Boy oh boy, they had them!

One of the Old Timer Sharpfinger variants has brown and caramel colored Delrin handles instead of the normal black. Got to have one of those to match my other Old Timer knives. What’s that? Add to cart? You bet!

Oh, wow: They have an orange one, too. And it was cheap. Add to cart. Got it.

Oooh, an Old Timer combo pack with yellow handles and a matching pocketknife. $21.99, but it includes that matching pocketknife. That’s cool. It’s a good deal. Add to cart. That was easy.

Oooh again: Another one, this time an Uncle Henry, with Staglon handles (fake deer antler) and a challenge coin. I don’t know what a challenge coin is, but I took it as a challenge to hit that “add to cart” button. At $19.99, I was in.

Then the Rite Edge world opened before me. Laminated wood handles. $7.99. How could anyone not buy this?

Another Rite Edge, this time with more fake deer stuff. And it, too, was only $7.99. Hey, I figure every time I buy one of these, I’m saving a deer’s life.

Yet another company jumped into the Smoky Mountain mix: Frost. Oooh, this one is pretty. I thought it was another fake stag knife, but on closer inspection, it’s got wolves scrimshawed into the fake ivory handle. I like it. $10.99. Add to cart.

Frost has a fake jigged red bone Sharpfinger. I’m not too sure what jigged means, the red bone is probably really plastic of some sort, but at $7.99, how could I go wrong?

Then the heavy artillery opened up. Oooh. Double ooooh. A Sharpfinger with mother of pearl and turquoise and some red stuff inlaid on the handles. A bit more than most of the others at $19.99, but this disease is relentless. Add to cart. Got it.

I told my buddy Paul about my ordering all the above (he’s the guy who gave me this disease), and a few minutes later he told me he ordered the blue lightning model. Blue lightning? What’s that? It was back to the Smoky Mountain Knife Works site. Wow, how did I miss that one?

Paul also mentioned he ordered the antique green jigged version. Damn, I had missed that one, too, but at $9.99, it was a no-brainer for me to hit add to cart. I’m real good at no-brainer stuff. I’m not sure why.

And finally, there was the Marbles Sharpfinger. Marbles makes great knives. This was the deal of the day: $6.99. Add to cart and I was done.

Well, almost done. I’m going to have to explain all this to Sue. But that’s a tomorrow problem. Today, my Sharpfingeritis notwithstanding, I’m feeling good.

Marbles Randall Wannabees…

By Joe Berk

My buddy Paul is a serious Randall knife aficionado. Randalls are way out of my pay grade, but I admire them greatly. About a year ago, Paul sent a link to me for a YouTube video about a Marbles knife that approaches the look and quality of a Randall. The YouTube video may be lacking in quality, but it more than makes up for it in content. It sure grabbed my attention.

The price for (and the wait to get) a Randall knife make them a nonstarter for me, but the thought of a high-quality Bowie knife had my attention (as you probably already know from following the ExNotes blog). The Marbles MR 723 sure seemed appealing, and for a measly $55, I thought I would take a chance. It was money well spent. The knife is beautiful, it is substantial, and it has the look and feel of a high-quality item.

A week or two after I received the Marbles Bowie, I learned that they are also available with a green Micarta (instead of black Micarta) handle. At first, I was disappointed. I would have preferred the green Micarta version. Then I thought about it a minute. For another few dollars, I could have both, and that’s what I did.

The specifications for these Marbles knives are impressive. The knife has a blade length of 7 1/2 inches. The blade is D2 tool steel, which I’ve read is a good knife steel (it’s kind of a moot point for me, as I don’t intend to do anything with the Marbles Bowies other than look at them). The blade is substantive (it’s almost a quarter of an inch thick where it emerges from the guard), and it has a satin finish. It’s very sharp. I can’t tell you how long the edge will last, nor can I tell you how difficult it will be to sharpen it. The guard and pommel are polished brass. The handle material is, as mentioned above, Micarta, and it is available in either green or black (and both look good). The sheath is first class, being nicely finished leather with a sharpening stone included. Overall, these are very nice knives. I know some folks who read this will dismiss me as a knife neophyte who won’t really use these knives the way other folks might use a Randall, and hey, they’d be right. I’m not Davy Crockett, and I’m not going to try to kill a bear with either of these.

These Marbles are great looking knives, and they look good sitting amongst the other knives I’ve accumulated over the last year or two. I’m pleased with the purchase.

More gun stuff? You bet!

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A Tale of Two Pocketknives

By Joe Berk

My collecting bug has taken a turn. Instead of guns, motorcycles, bicycles, or watches, the latest craze is pocketknives. I’m not sure what drives the collecting bug (that is to say, what the underlying psychology is); that’s a topic for further research and when I feel like I can explain it, maybe a future blog.

I’ve been using pocketknives and inexpensive hunting knives as a filler/fulfiller on the reloading sites. I buy a lot of reloading components online from the big reloading supply stores (Natchez Shooters Supply, Midsouth, Midway, Powder Vally, and one or two others), and they all run frequent sales where shipping is free if the order crosses a $100 or $150 threshold. There are times when I’m under that threshold (sometimes by a lot) and that bothers me. I can’t pass up a bargain and I want that free shipping. I’ll use a knife to get me over the magic number. Most lately it was a Case large Stockman pocketknife.

The Case large Stockman with polished stainless steel blades. The blade on the left is the Spey blade. The other two are for whittling, cutting twine, or whatever suits your fancy.

I’m not sure why I wanted the Case, but as I started poking around on the Midway site for things to get me over $100, the Stockman popped up. And then it kept popping up. If I look at something once, I’ll start getting all kinds of emails offering it. Sometimes, I swear I can just talk about something and I’ll start getting emails with deals on that item. Siri is a nasty and nosy bitch who seems to hear everything.

The Stockman knife looked interesting. I knew I didn’t want plastic handles (they’re called “scales” by the knife people), and the Case knife had jigged bone. I didn’t even know what jigged bone was (other than that it was bone of some sort). I thought I wanted something made in America (Hack has influenced my thinking on such things, I suppose, unless something that’s made in China is a really good deal, and I’ll get to one a little lower in this blog). The Case Stockman is American made, and they offer it in two sizes. I didn’t know what a Stockman was, either, but the name sounded kind of John Waynish and I used to live in Texas. I saw that the knife was available in either a satin or high polish finish. I opted for the large Stockman with a high polish finish. It was $82, which took my $45 reloading supplies order handily over the $100 free shipping hurdle. Yep, they got me again with that free shipping gimmick.

The Stockman knife arrived a few days later along with the $45 of cartridge case corn cob polishing media (I like my ammo shiny). The knife is beautiful.

All the above got me to wondering: What is exactly is Stockman, and what is its history?

The story goes like this: Pocketknives are thought to have originally been invented five or six hundred years before the Christian era (that’s mind boggling, but I read it on the Internet, so it must be true). The Stockman style of pocketknife is thought to have originated around 1880 in the American West as a cowboy tool. I watched a lot of Westerns as a kid, so I feel pretty good about that. The Stockman has three blades, with one (the large one) having its own spring and two sharing a spring (the spring is the leaf spring thingamabobber that assists the blade going into its closed position and then holds it there). The long Stockman blade is for whittling. I’m an old guy with a penchant for the American West, so maybe I’ll take up whittling after I finish leaning how to play “Buffalo Gal” on the harmonica. One of the other two blades is a backup to the long one, and from what I’ve read it is the preferred blade for cutting twine. (I’ll pick up some twine on the next Walmart visit to check this out). And finally, the third blade, the so called “Spey” blade (spelled here as they spell it in the knife community) is for castrating young male bull calves. You know, spaying them. Ouch. I read this on the Internet, too (see above regarding veracity). I’m not going to touch this intended use. If you’re a rancher who needs help in this area, don’t call me.

I like my Case Stockman. I haven’t done anything other than look at it so far, but maybe I’ll whittle something later. As mentioned above, the Stockman is made in America, although truth be told, other made-in-China knives I’ve seen look just as good (Hack, that’s your cue for a comment or two). That brings me to the second pocketknife I recently purchased.

My new Marbles Scout King knife. I think it’s bigger than what I had when I was a Cub Scout. The uppermost blade is a screwdriver and bottle opener. The next one down is an all-purpose awl. The blade one up from the bottom is a can opener (think P38, and if you’re old enough to remember what that is, my compliments and thanks for your service to you). The bottom blade is for carving, cutting, and any of the other things you can do with a knife. It is a handsome knife.

It’s the Marbles (no, I haven’t lost mine) Scout King, and I came across it while I was reminiscing about the first pocketknife I ever owned. That knife was a Cub Scout knife. I have no idea who made it or where it went after I left the Cub Scouts, but I know I liked it. I played with it constantly. The first time I ever cut myself badly, it was with that knife despite all the admonitions from Mom and Dad (yes, I’m the guy who has to urinate on the electric fence…you know, just to see). While writing this blog, I looked for the scar from my Cub Scout knife (I thought it might add context), but the years have obliterated it.

When looking for a replacement Cub Scout knife, I found that I could buy an original on Ebay, but they all looked pretty rough and they were all expensive. Then I found there are a few companies out there still offering Scout knives. The Marbles knife was the only one offering polished stainless steel (I like shiny things) and genuine jigged bone scales (instead of plastic), and it had the added advantages of a stunningly low price ($15 and change) and free shipping. The decision was easy: Add to cart, buy now, and it was on its way from Chicago (by way of China). It arrived a few days later, and it’s beautiful. I’m a happy camper.

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