Growing up in the Free State of Jones County in Mississippi,
I have always had a love for various tools and widgets that I found in my
father's workshop. Our family is in the
metal business and has been since 1911, so the sheer amount of REAL tools at
my father's work benches were mind boggling as a child. Hammers, wrenches, blacksmith tools that had
been passed on to him and that were at least 3 generations old before I got my
hands on them, these are the epitome of heritage.
We are talking about tools that were made by hand at the turn of the
century. You can see the various forge marks on these handmade tools. Somebody actually made these things. Blood, Sweat, and Tears went into this stuff
and someone way back then gave a serious damn about what they were creating.
I think (or know) that this is why I have this crazy urge to
discover new metal contraptions & tools. Gadgets that can stand the test of time and
can be handed down from generation to generation; this is what I am enthralled with. While a lot of folks define a gadget as some
small tool or appliance that has sense of novelty to it, I see them in a bit broader
spectrum. Hunting, Fishing, Cooking, Drinking:
all of these have their gadgets & tools. Here are just some of my favorites (wifey, if
you are reading this, any of these would make a great Christmas Present!)
Have you seen what Caesar Guerini is doing with their O/U
shot guns? Look at their Evo line. My gracious, this thing just drips craftsmanship.
Or what about the made in the USA fly reels from Hatch? I'll
Take a 7wt on a Sage One 9'6" rod and the Reds & Specks will have no
hope.
Or this Damascus kitchen knife, done by Chris Williams, yes, please.
Even simple items, like taking an old railroad spike and doing a little blacksmithing to make it into a bottle opener.
While the original ones are very hard to find, Garrett-Wade has very nice reproductions of the famed H.D. Smith Perfect Handle drivers. These were standard issue to all of the tank crews in WWII.
And, I have got to at least point out one of my favorites of
late, The Tarpon Scale Buckle, done by none other than Mr. Lamb himself.
If it's metal and both craftsmanship and design come into play,
then it is definitely going to peak my interest.
During Thanksgiving this year, we traveled to Blowing Rock,
NC for Turkey Day with my wife's family.
My seven year old son and I escaped one morning to go do a little fly
fishing. Being 7, he is just starting to figure out the art of fly casting (of
course, at 41, I am still trying to
figure out the art of slinging a bug). As we were talking & fishing, the
discussion of course went to all of the gadgets that one has to carry for fly
fishing. My son was enthralled by each
and every one of these items draped on my vest.
I marveled at how a 7 year old could think a simple pair of Abel line
nippers were such a cool thing, but then I remembered back to my dad's shop and
how cool those Blacksmith hammers were.
Some things don't change......
Trent Mulloy
Laurel, Mississippi
www.LMFco.com
Ironmonger * Sewanee Alumni * GSP owner
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