Meet Doug McGowan

Hi, my name is Doug McGowan. When I was searching for an Ebay handle, my daughter Melissa (age 13) suggested I use the name of our Morgan horse, ATMF Noble Captain. Melissa and I have trained Captain to drive in harness and started him under saddle as well. He's a sturdy fella and kind and gentle a horse as there ever was.  We're hoping to enter him in combined driving events in the next couple of years. We drive Captain put to a replica high-wheeled road cart made by local Oregon wheelwright

Tom Whipple.

Since I was a kid, I have collected knives - pocket knives, hunting knives, modern and old, tricky multi-blade knives, custom daggers and Bowies.

Doug holds a nice fly-caught North Santiam steelhead.

My favorite knives right now are HARNESS KNIVES - these were used back in horse-and-buggy days by farmers, teamsters, and grooms, who carried them as part of everyday work driving horses in harness. These were the least expensive knives you could buy that had a punch blade. A harness knife is a large pocket jack knife with a single master blade and a leather punch, and that's it. The punch came in handy for quick repairs to bridle or harness straps.

I usually have an antique pocket knife on me. I tend to like one with bone or celluloid handles, and carry it in an otherwise empty pocket so it doesn't get scarred up. A nice patina on the blades and springs is good protection for the steel. I treat an old knife gently, and I also carry a Leatherman Tool or Swiss Army Knife in a pocket with the keys and stuff for more demanding everyday tasks.

In custom knives, I tend to like them hand forged and simple.Damascus is pretty but I like a straight forged piece of steel that you're not afraid to USE. My most frequent use of a sporting knife is filleting trout, salmon or steelhead that we get from our cold Northwest rivers.

A claim to knife fame??  Yeah, I have one. I was the first person to think of Kydex as a sheath material. I had been working with Tom Maringer, the custom sword and knife maker, back in the spring of 1980. Tom was looking for something that would make a rigid sheath for fighting/survival knives that would wear as well as leather or better. I had been working with Kydex for other applications and showed him what Kydex could do; that it was easy to heat up and form; that it was tough and rigid enough to make a practical knife sheath. Tom developed the first Kydex sheaths to hit the market. Tom and I both look back fondly on those days and wish we had a nickel for every Kydex knife sheath made today!

Anyway, I hope you like the Vintage Knives site. We work hard to make it a great place to come and have a yarn, and maybe even buy a knife or two. 

Questions or comments for Doug?  Just e-mail him at oregonmac@comcast.net.