The Colonel & the Kid Podcast - Chapter 52 - The Knives

The Colonel and the Kid Podcast, Chapter 52: The Knives Gregory Heitmann marks the one year anniversary of the podcast with a reflective chapter about knives, memory, and his grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin P. Hagen Junior. This episode is part memoir, part personal inventory, and part field report, with Gregory connecting family history to the tools he carries, the hunts he remembers, and the stories he wants to preserve. In this episode, Gregory shares how a pocket knife became a symbol of character, inheritance, and remembrance, while also weaving in hunting memories, custom Buck knives, and a few updates from his ongoing life and sports commentary. Key topics Gregory opens by noting this is the one year anniversary of the first podcast and frames the episode as a commemorative edition. He explains that the podcast and memoir exist to preserve the memory of his grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin P. Hagen Junior. The chapter begins with Benjamin Franklin’s quote: “There never was a good knife made of bad steel.” Gregory describes his grandfather’s everyday pocket knife, said to have been taken from a German prisoner of war at the end of World War II. He reflects on the meaning of inherited tools, treating a knife as both a practical object and a symbol of trust, responsibility, and manhood. He shares his own EDC, a small Victorinox Swiss Army knife with tweezers, toothpick, scissors, and a file, and praises the tweezers especially. Gregory recalls receiving Buck fixed blade knives as Christmas gifts as a child, and says those gifts felt like a rite of passage. He walks through several custom Buck knives he owns, including commemorative knives engraved for elk and deer harvests. The episode includes a long discussion of hunting gear, especially the importance of sharp, reliable knives for field dressing elk and deer. Gregory closes the chapter with a second quote about roses and knives, then pivots to a baseball update and a nostalgic story about a baseball from a Major League Baseball game. Timestamps 00:00 - Opening the anniversary episode and reflecting on one year of podcasting 00:47 - A year later: why the memoir and podcast are still going 01:40 - Dedication to grandfather Lieutenant Colonel Edwin P. Hagen Junior 02:23 - Writing as preservation, therapy, and personal reflection 04:59 - Time constraints, chapter length, and the baseball update preview 06:10 - Benjamin Franklin’s knife quote and the chapter’s theme 06:49 - Remembering Grandpa’s German POW pocket knife 08:41 - Pencil sketch of the pocket knife and the engraved soccer image 10:27 - Close-up drawing of the blade engraving and family speculation 13:12 - A fictional TSA knife story and the power of memory 14:52 - Gregory’s EDC Victorinox Swiss Army knife and why he carries it 18:26 - Childhood Christmas gift: Buck fixed blade knives from Grandpa 20:14 - Buck Model 105 details and why Buck knives are valued 25:01 - The damaged sheath and the black Labrador Shadow 27:55 - Buck knives in elk hunting, field dressing, and sharpness 29:51 - Becoming a Buck knife collector with custom commemorative engravings 30:54 - Custom Buck knife for the 2014 bull elk 33:31 - Selfie from the 2014 elk hunt at Cerro de la Oya, aka Pot Mountain 36:05 - Pot Mountain on a map and what makes the hunt terrain so rugged 37:54 - Two custom Buck knives commemorating elk harvests 41:17 - Whitetail bucks from Grady’s ranch and a deer-print Buck knife 46:25 - The commemorative knife from the 1999 whitetail harvest 49:28 - Latest knife addition: Buck’s semi-centennial 250th America edition 51:43 - Closing reflections on Grandpa’s influence and the screenplay idea 52:23 - Final quote about roses, knives, and hardening the heart 54:57 - Major League Baseball update: the Twins’ late-season slide 58:04 - “Kelloland Big News at Ten” nostalgia and the mystery baseball display 62:32 - Positive wrap-up and final anniversary sign-off Notable quotes “There never was a good knife made of bad steel.” “If you are male and you don't carry a knife with you wherever you go, you might be a male, but you probably are not a man.” “If you want good roses, sharpen your knife and harden your heart.”