A while back Irwin Tools sent me a boxed set of three utility knives to test out and review. One of these quickly became my de facto favorite knife and I carried it with me everywhere but to church. For church I have a slim, 2” folder that fits discretely in the pocket of dress slacks. About a week ago, my favorite knife came up missing: I had it earlier in the day, then it was gone. I looked everywhere. Marie looked everywhere. We looked everywhere again. Finally I decided it was just gone and I’d have to buy a replacement. Not just because I liked the knife, but I needed it for a photo shoot for a magazine article I’m writing on knives.
But I procrastinated.
Then yesterday I was up in the play yard mowing. I was running along the critter fence and had to push the fencing out a little with one hand to keep it from snagging on protuberances from the mower handle. And there it was: hanging by its clip on the fence, about half way up. Waiting patiently for me.
“Thank you Lord!”
On that fateful day I had been up here planting some packing grass because Marie thinks it will make an efficient ground cover to prevent erosion. I must have brushed against the fence, along which I was planting the plugs, snagged the clip and lifted the knife right out of my side pocket. A pick-pocket fence!
When I came up to look (Marie too for that matter), we were looking at the ground. Even moved the grass clumps around, but didn’t see it.
After hanging in a weeks’ worth of rain, the blade is badly rusted, but being a utility knife, the blade it is easily replaced – it has spares inside that did not get wet (even if I didn’t have 100,000 knife blades in a dispenser on the wall). There is a little rust inside where steel bolts pass through the body, but some light oil and steel wool cleaned them up nicely. Even the screwdriver tips escaped rusting.
So it’s another happy day here on the mountain!
