The lore of the Stanley 299

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Ahh the simple little utility knife.
Every tool box has one. Whether it's opening boxes, cutting drywall, flooring, crafts, etc, etc, etc these things have a million and one uses. There is one, though, that stands out above them all; The small and mighty 299. 
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With it's ornate handle, perfect hand-feel and fixed blade this is the best of the best. Many folks have asked why it is I love this knife so much. I aim to tell ya. 
Back in 2007 or so I was hired to help Sacha White at Vanilla bicycles as he was ramping up production on his new Speedvagen line of race bikes. It was there I learned a whole lot more about what my hands could do and this was an important springboard for what Ship John has become today. It was there on Sacha's tool wall that I first spied the little 299. I'd seen and had 199's through the years but up until this point had not seen the smaller, tighter 299. 
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Let me be clear. The 199 and 299 are NOT interchangeable. While they look almost identical and are both fixed blade, I've yet to find a 199 where the blade doesn't start to wiggle over time. My theory is that the smaller size of the 299 is it's advantage... Not allowing as much bending and loosening of the aluminum over years of use. It also just fits better in the hand for the kind of cutting we do at Ship John. The 299 keeps the changeable blades extremely snug so you can always rely on it. 
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Another aspect of this knife is its metaphoric qualities linked to how this business was born. I found my first 299 at an estate sale for probably a buck...(the damned things have since risen immensely in price). I didn't have much money when I started this venture so cheap tools were a blessing. As I learned leather work, I started to dig into the history of which tools were best for which uses... CS Osborne this, Weaver that, vintage tool brands that were hard to find. The Stanley 299 was NOT on that list. But it was what I had. I trained myself to cut with this knife in a most precise manner... Angling the blade down for long straighter cuts and lifting the angle for a curve so there was less material in the leather. The thing just worked perfect for me and, with muscle memory, became almost an extension of my hand. Since then I've tried them all; Head knives, Japanese-style leather knives, English ones... The list goes on. It all comes back to the mighty 299. 
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We keep three refinished 299's on the tool board and they're reached for every single day in the leather shop. They're absolutely the most important tool we have. 
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Here are some photos of my collection of special ones I've amassed over the years. Yea, I know there are some 199's in there but they're special ones. There are more in boxes but these are the ones that mean the most to me. They tell the story of a little idea that turned into a lifelong venture. 
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Thanks for reading. 
-Mike