As I’m sure many of us are doing at this time of year, I visited one of my permissions earlier today to pass on a small token of ‘festive cheer’ to the owners & to wish them a Happy Christmas. The permission itself is an organic small holding that is a stones throw from my home & is owned by a lovely couple whom I get on very well with. The place is very low upkeep, requiring very little input from myself, & on the whole generally just operates on the premise of them giving me a ring whenever an issues rears its head.
Due to a combination of work commitments on my part & no new issues at the farm it had been a while since I had seen them in person so it was great to catch up for a muse & to exchange news. It was during these pleasantries that the owner suddenly remembered that he contacted me a couple of weeks previously, stating that ‘he had something for me’ the next time I called in. It was therefore with some intrigue that I watched him disappear upstairs to fetch this mysterious object.
He appeared a couple of minutes later & thrust what I instantly recognised as a ‘Puma’ knife box into my hands! Inside was a beautiful 6396 Original Bowie
He went on to tell me that (if he remembered correctly) he had acquired it during his travels at some point in the 70’s on the advice of an acquaintance he had met on his way but that, since returning home, it had just sat in a drawer never to see the light of day. He was now looking to pass it on & as a hunter wondered if I would like it?
Having thanked him immensely for this humbling offer I obviously went on to explain to him that these knives were now valued amongst collectors & therefore had a significant commercial value meaning that I could not possibly accept such a generous gift! However, my protestations only had the opposite effect to that which I had intended & he became even more adamant, given my instant recognition & appreciation of the knife, his wish to gift it to me was the correct one & insisted that he would therefore be offended if I declined his offer.
The knife is in lovely condition & has obviously seen very little use with only a few scratches on the blade from the probable previous over zealous use of a carborundum stone (I strongly suspect that it may take a wee trip south to @ Longstrider at some point in the new year to see if he can work some of his magic in restoring the blade to its original glory)? The sheath has also seen minimal use & even has its Velcro patch attaching it to the inside of the box lid. Similarly, the box contained its original paperwork & even its guarantee card.
So……. I am now privileged to have now become the very proud owner of this beauty. I have promised that it will be treated with the respect that it deserves &, whilst I would be lying if I said that I didn’t suspect that (due to its condition) it will continue to spend a significant proportion of its days as a ‘drawer queen’, it will also definitely see selected outings where it will once again be put to the use for which it was intended.
An unexpected but truly appreciated early ‘Christmas present’ indeed!
Due to a combination of work commitments on my part & no new issues at the farm it had been a while since I had seen them in person so it was great to catch up for a muse & to exchange news. It was during these pleasantries that the owner suddenly remembered that he contacted me a couple of weeks previously, stating that ‘he had something for me’ the next time I called in. It was therefore with some intrigue that I watched him disappear upstairs to fetch this mysterious object.
He appeared a couple of minutes later & thrust what I instantly recognised as a ‘Puma’ knife box into my hands! Inside was a beautiful 6396 Original Bowie
He went on to tell me that (if he remembered correctly) he had acquired it during his travels at some point in the 70’s on the advice of an acquaintance he had met on his way but that, since returning home, it had just sat in a drawer never to see the light of day. He was now looking to pass it on & as a hunter wondered if I would like it?Having thanked him immensely for this humbling offer I obviously went on to explain to him that these knives were now valued amongst collectors & therefore had a significant commercial value meaning that I could not possibly accept such a generous gift! However, my protestations only had the opposite effect to that which I had intended & he became even more adamant, given my instant recognition & appreciation of the knife, his wish to gift it to me was the correct one & insisted that he would therefore be offended if I declined his offer.
The knife is in lovely condition & has obviously seen very little use with only a few scratches on the blade from the probable previous over zealous use of a carborundum stone (I strongly suspect that it may take a wee trip south to @ Longstrider at some point in the new year to see if he can work some of his magic in restoring the blade to its original glory)? The sheath has also seen minimal use & even has its Velcro patch attaching it to the inside of the box lid. Similarly, the box contained its original paperwork & even its guarantee card.
So……. I am now privileged to have now become the very proud owner of this beauty. I have promised that it will be treated with the respect that it deserves &, whilst I would be lying if I said that I didn’t suspect that (due to its condition) it will continue to spend a significant proportion of its days as a ‘drawer queen’, it will also definitely see selected outings where it will once again be put to the use for which it was intended.
An unexpected but truly appreciated early ‘Christmas present’ indeed!
