Ya'll know that I am wanting to focus my knife collection.  The switchblades I am not so worried about...yet.  They are tough to find and there aren't any cheap ones out there unless you get lucky.

Pocket knives I have been using the shotgun approach and I need to change that.

So I have mostly been focusing on styles.  And Barlow is my favorite.  Not sure why.

Like Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn, the Barlow was my first knife and I loved it.

As an adult I find they really blend that mix of utility and art that draws me to knives.  And they fit well in my large hands.

Barlows have that big butt and it lives nicely in the palm of my hand.  The weight balance usually seems just right for me.  And I find them to be beautiful in the way they look.  Plus there are a lot of older Barlows and you can get some good ones for fairly good prices.

Within the Barlow's  I find myself drawn to Russell's again because of Sawyer & Finn.  That was the knife Tom saw in the General Store or Hardware Store window.  It changed his life.  I think I need to read that book again!

And I really want to own an original Sam Barlow knife.  Almost had one in an auction but the price slipped away from me.  Damn auctions...

If anyone has nice Barlow that they want to sell maybe we can reach a good deal.  If not, I would love to see your photos.

Here are mine...so far!

A Case XX from 1964-69.  Sweet!

A dark wood Russell Barlow.

On this Barlow from Friedman Lauterjung Celebrated Cutlery you can see a repair to what was probabbly an insect hole just above the bolster.  You really can't see the repair in person.

I don't know why I bought this little  Greener Corp.  Hard to call it a Barlow but it has the shape.

I hope you like my Barlows.

My next post will be about my Coca-Cola pocket knives.  I have no idea why I got a handful of advertisement knives for Coke.  But now I find I kinda like the little guys.