In which G.M. Norton makes a case for the pocket knife.
This is the second on a little mini-series celebrating classic items that are the best in class. If you missed the first on the Barbour jacket, do have a squint.
This one concerns the gentleman's pocket knife.
In these modern times of gang warfare and knife crimes, the humble pocket knife has suffered.
I look at my pocket knife as a tool, not a weapon. And a dashed useful tool at that.
Despite admiring my uncle's Swiss army knife for as long as I can remember, it's only in the last couple of years that I've had a pocket knife to call mine.
I finally got one following a conversation with a celebrity dentist chap at a Handlebar Club meeting in London.
An interesting fellow and keen aviator to boot, we were chatting about that another gentlemanly item, the signet ring, before he went onto tell me that he believed every gentleman should carry a pocket knife.
He was lucky to have a collection of them from celebrated knife maker, Stan Shaw. If you've not read about the last little mester, then I encourage you to do so. Now in his 90s and with a four year waiting list, my chances of ever owning a knife from Stan Shaw are very slim indeed.
A few months later, I chanced upon Michael May Knives. Made in Sheffield and made by Michael himself, they are of superior quality and excellent value.
G.M. Norton
Protagonist of 'Norton of Morton'
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