The Barlow: One of History's Greatest Knives

We saw a ton of awesome stuff this year at SHOT Show but a pattern emerged we didn't expect. The Barlow!
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[@GasolineBoots]

I guess im officially old. I thought all knife guys had heard of a barlow

[@Ry4n.gr33n]

They have. Blade HQ is just a bunch of kids.

[@jeffcook3501]

We have all not only heard of, but owned them. This must be one of those coming of age videos...

[@Maryland_Kulak]

Agreed.

[@frankperdue6585]

Agreed

[@frankperdue6585]

There is a generation of people that think they are the *first* ….. and don’t appreciate nor care.

[@untiedshoelaces2588]

Anyone who has read Huckleberry Finn, has heard of the Barlow knife. I got my first one at 12. It's a spear point that is still just as shiny and sharp as the day it was purchased.

[@artawhirler]

I first heard of Barlow knives from reading Huckleberry Finn too! But being just a kid at the time, I didn't have a clear idea what it actually looked like. My Dad explained that it was a folding pocket knife. My Dad owned a few pocket knives himself, but no Barlow, so I wouldn't actually see one until quite a bit later.

[@soushores495]

I own about 40 Barlow slipjoint knives and it is my favorite traditional pattern. My favorite feature is the medium to small size with the slight teardrop shape. Size is a definite design feature and not a deficit on this "all purpose" pocketknife. The distinctive bolster size and shape is instantly recognizable and says "I come in peace" in any environment. If whether a pocket knife is appropriate to carrry in a particular venue, carry a Barlow and no-one will make it an issue if the situation calls for a cutting task.

[@paulhanley5811]

100% right , you and I are of a like mind , when it comes to barlows that is , I dont have 40 mabey 35 , catching up bruv , latters tatters , p

[@diverson63]

My very first knife was a Barlow I got at the age of 7, 53 years ago. I got it from my grandfather so I could learn to whittle with him while we were filling the cow tanks and other farm chores. I also used it to cut the twine on the square bails of hay.

[@randyzinn548]

I have a schrade old timer barlow and I love it, I also have my grandfather's colonial barlow which he got has a safety award from staleys where he worked has a mechanic. This knife is 42 years old and is in great condition

[@TheKnifeRaven]

"Never heard of", eh? Jokes on you, I'm addicted to Barlows!

[@TimsSchoolOfFish]

RIGHT!!! I had to comment… couldn’t resist.

[@TheKnifeRaven]

@@TimsSchoolOfFish Haha, hello Tim, nice to see you here! 😊

[@TimsSchoolOfFish]

@@TheKnifeRaven You too mate 👊🏻

[@Scott-y8y]

I have a Barlow and I love it. Great EDC. 😎👍 Thank you for the video. God bless you. 🙏.

[@platonicmetal]

My first pocketknife was a Barlow, probably an Imperial. It had brown scales and silver bolsters with Barlow stamped into it. I swear every boy had one.

[@FredDavisNonduality]

You've been very helpful to me as I've developed as a collector, George. I have a Barlow from Pena and another from Boker Germany. Keep up the great work!

[@GorggW]

Lowkey makes me miss my Benchmade proper, carried the clip point version for a year before loosing it. So freaking sad.

[@Scott-y8y]

I love the Barlow because of its shape and size and it, it's hard to explain, it's just a Barlow... 😎👍

[@mdunawaym]

I have a Boker Barlow, and a Rough Ryder. I just like the look and feel of them.

[@WilliamAlanPhoto]

You don't have to yell when you are outside. The mic is just inches below your bark hole. I love the knife you chose for your dad.

[@marcg.3830]

I can’t hear you, what’d you say?

[@RCook-iy4xk]

What a complainer!

[@artawhirler]

I have never owned a Barlow knife. My first pocket knife was a Boy Scout knife made by Ulster which I got for Christmas in 1968 when I was 12. Since then I have been interested in various brands - first Schrade, then Opinel, and now I'm into Rough Ryder. But no Barlows. (Yes, I know Rough Ryder makes a Barlow, but I don't have one.)

[@wizardofahhhs759]

My edc is a Craftsman Barlow made by Imperial -Schrade. Great working knife

[@andrewdarowski1975]

Washington's knife is a boy's knife, not a Barlow. A Barlow takes a boy's knife and gives it a longer bolster to give it more rigidity.

[@DiggerDoorKicker]

My 1st pocket knife.

[@bilboplayedminecraft3322]

I've only heard of this knife in doc Watson songs should be a neat video

[@mpmassacre91]

I still have my dad's Barlow that his father bought him I still use it

[@johnfuller6338]

I guess I'm old, a Barlow was my first pocket knife.

[@Leftyotism]

Got my very first Barlow just last year, and yes it's a Böker too! Integral canvas Micarta handle and N690 blade steel. Love it!

[@bryanshaw4434]

Great presentation. And I love the Barlow knife. Thanks very much

[@grknives]

The Barlow pattern is one of the most famous knife patterns ever!

[@happykt]

I'm 6 decades old and had a barlow when I was 7 yrs old.

[@Maryland_Kulak]

Next week are you going to tell us about the fixed blade knife we never heard of, the Ka-Bar?

[@bkturley9964]

Grandpa wore through cheap barlows like they were socks. Used for everything including digging to check the progress of the soybean seeds in the field. It's my favorite pattern now. Classy

[@gregedwards1921]

My 1st knife was a Hammer Brand Kamp King at Christmas 1961, lost it but then it was a Jackmaster Barlow for a long time off and on, today I edc a yellow delving Case Barlow

[@goatmodegaming]

Best looking knife type ever

[@larryfisher7056]

I bought a Case Barlow back in 1975 because I needed a knife. Still have it and it gets carried in the rotation.

[@flowpuppie84]

I just found an old barlow at work

[@jasonscott6906]

This was a fun and informative video , thank you George.

[@pa1adin111]

I have a Case Barlow in Bonestag from the vault pattern release. Great knife.

[@betweenfiveandseven]

Never heard of? I can't imagine. You never read Mark Twain?

[@Ry4n.gr33n]

He’s probably a post-9/11 baby, he has no idea who Mark Twain is.

[@g.r.murphy8633]

Grew up with a Barlow. Most everybody had one.

[@HALO-2304]

My first knife was an old Barlow that my dad gave me. It was his, but he switched to a different knife and let me have it when I was around 9yo. It had two blades and brown plastic scales.I think it might have had something to do with Prince Albert tobacco due to an advertisement I saw involving the same exact knife, but I'm not 100% sure. No one in my family that I know of smoked a pipe. He does have an old PA tin that he used to hold drill bits and such.

[@JRudy17]

I have several Barlow knives. I never spent more than $10 on one of them. I used to buy boxes of TSA pocket knifes from a state online auction. Inexpensive barlows were always in those boxes.

[@TimsSchoolOfFish]

Never heard of That’s hilarious 🤣 Anyone that calls themself a knife guy and doesn’t know a Barlow or slip joint (even if they only love modern knives) is not a knife guy.

[@Ry4n.gr33n]

I don’t even call myself a “knife guy” and I still have a shoebox full of Barlows 😂

[@TimsSchoolOfFish]

@@Ry4n.gr33n Right!!

[@bixby9797]

IDK...Schrade Trapper? I carried one from about age 8 until my 20's and it did everything I needed from skinning muskrats to peeling potato's. Now my EDC is an Elementum. Not sure I could find something better

[@BG-vq9fd]

I had a Barlow in the 50/60's.

[@Leftyotism]

2:54 I always hated a straight edge for cutting on a board. The tip on a straight edge is great for scratch cuts though, "stab cuts", or mid air stuff, if you know what I mean; maybe I am using the wrong words here.

[@Hammockrider]

I first heard about Barlows from reading Tom Sawyer. He and Huck dreamed of owning one. Me too, although i haven't gotten one yet.

[@pennsylvaniaboy87]

Pap always carried a Barlow Barlow. When he passed it became mine. The the old school clip point imperial type steel

[@DiogenesOfCa]

My dad had hundreds and hundreds of barlows; Lisa I want my dad's knives, they don't belong to you!

[@ANARCHY-nr2lq]

Yeah Lisa!

[@DiogenesOfCa]

@@ANARCHY-nr2lq You told her, thanks. 😃

[@hondaxl250k0]

Go get them by force.. it’s time we men got some respect again.

[@MrFullfocus]

Never heard of? Seriously ?

[@MrJohn714]

As a kid in the late 50"s I carried Imperial Barlows that I would buy at the corner gas station with pop bottle money, if I remember correctly, they were 89 cents.

[@airtadeo8570]

Good job, George!

[@brianwhitelaw7483]

I have the Boker Barlow shown in your video, I have the After Hours Jack in purple haze fat carbon and just received delivery on a Michael May Clayton Barlow with bocote scales from Sheffield

[@cihamlet]

The best basketball player you've never heard of: Michael Jordan

[@michaeljdauben]

Just bought a Kershaw Barlow with G10 handles and a clip point blade. It's a great little pocket knife. It's seeing a lot of pocket time recently.

[@halvelife]

I love this style of video.

[@michaelwhite9199]

My daily carry is a Barlow. It’s the perfect pocket knife in my opinion.

[@therealfilthyanimal]

Awesome historical vid! I had no idea, I now want one

[@BarlowBrigade]

My Father gave me a Barlow, my EDC for years was sodbuster jr...you asked about my Barlow, well, which one, i have 2 drawers dedicated for them..from Keen Kutter to Sabre to some Pakistani models...and don't forget the Grandad's....TO MANY BLADES!!!

[@ralphk9251]

Nice jacket where might one obtain said garment? Once again nice video, love the background outside, oh and knives are nice to!

[@BladeHQ]

LOL, I got this jacket for free as part of a Stitch Fix promo. Thanks for watching! Hopefully we'll continue going outside, the mountains here in Utah are gorgeous! -George

[@johnnymossville]

George Washington carried a Barlow. That's good enough for me. I need a barlow.

[@jonc4050]

I my first purchased kn I fe was a barlow marked barlow. Its long gone now

[@gunnie439]

Man I collect and love barlows and I carry one every day

[@jcthomas5593]

More knife pics in the vid please!

[@rognuald9007]

I really like these videos.

[@jahcoon514]

One of the first knife I collected

[@huskylager]

The Boker BLRW is SOOOOO Great Looking.

[@ztectorist2118]

Kabar Dog's Head Coppersmith, love it.

[@SpaceDave3000]

My favorite pattern. I guess some people don't know it maybe, so no hate as the history lesson is cool.

[@BushcraftingBogan]

My first knife was a barlow then by the 7th grade I graduated to the Buck 110.

[@redbarronreviews2429]

GEC #15 Barlow 1095 and bone. Keen Kutter carbon steel and bone.

[@ironsoul80]

FYI I have known about Barlow knives and owned many for years

[@TeddyBoy7796]

Barlow set the set bar high.

[@JohnVentarino-ey5ln]

Great video my friend.

[@LonnieHutchinson90]

Nice video!

[@jamesherrington5606]

I don’t like the indirect camera angle 😊but the presentation was good.

[@clawhammer704]

They always seem heavy in the pocket to me and the blades are kinda hard to open.

[@gulfbravo13]

Didn’t know I own one but now I do ….. thank you

[@gjk1504]

Man i really like the Karbon Ahoy.... But I can't justify paying over $300 for a knife like that. Waiting on the Case Bridgeline

Perfecta, muy bonita

[@Dusty10]

G-Pa gave me one with a penny so I wouldn’t cut myself

[@Knifesandmore]

Never heard of a Barlow? Huh…. I don’t know what to say

[@KennethKellogg-kt7bf]

Totally disagree that the barlow is not a hard use knife. A granddaddy is the size of a buck 110. They're not all 3 3/8".

[@homeofinventions]

Your camera angles ain't working well. Go back to your old formula.

[@maybefrank8345]

I was cool with it until the angled close ups lol maybe just a little too dramatic for George and the boys

[@DiogenesOfCa]

It's kind of weird.

[@coreysmithsvt]

Seems like a doctors knife would have been a no brainer for you dad…

[@paulhanley5811]

one , I'm a wee bit embarrassed to count them , lets say 20 , could be 40 (ish) , lets not dwell on numbers , have more than enough , mind you I'm thinking about a Boker I saw last week , lovely handle scales I gots to have it ,

[@KatanaKamisama]

I've heard of Barlow knives though...

[@jlg395]

If your dad is a doctor, why are you dressed like a homeless Vietnam vet?

[@DaryooshF.Sh.P-vq6mu]

Thanks for great informative video but I shall stick to my trusted fixed beauties. 🔪

[@kellywelch3]

This is stupid. The 1st pocket knife I had as a kid in the early 70s was a Barlow.

[@legionofdoom9165]

The lighting in this video is trash!!

[@Ry4n.gr33n]

Um…. Everyone who has a grandpa knows what a Barlow knife is… this is what happens when millennials run a company… they think they’re the first to do e v e r y t h I n g 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’ll take an old gas station Barlow over a Benchmade any day.

[@howthats9774]

❤😂😂🎉😢😢😮😮😅

[@kcarsonphoto]

First 😂❤