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Originally Posted by Shakethetrees
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The saddest tale of woe I have ever heard is that a descendant of Jim Bowie took one of the earliest Bowie knives, possibly the first one ever, on a hunting trip.
Long story short, the pirogue tipped over and dumped them and the contents into the water. The knife was lost! Family history, arms history, American history, and a knife that eventually would have great intrinsic value was irretrievably lost.
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in 1973, travelling north in the inland passage from seattle to juneau on the USCG Cutter 'Confidence' we encountered a violent snowstorm/gale and i somehow lost my zippo lighter overboard. probably trying to light a cigarette. i smoked like a dirty chimney back then.
two years ago i got an email asking if i was the same wayne kroncke who served on the USCG cutter 'Confidence', i answered yes, of course.she then replied that her sister, walking along the beach in vancouver, canada had found a zippo lighter with my name on it a few years before, and she thought they, now computer literate, should try tracing it on the interweb. she mailed it to me and i have my 'irretrievable' lighter once more. i also stopped smoking almost 20 years ago, but the zippo still works after all that.
shows very little wear for it's years underwater and sand. lost the white, black, blue and red coloured paint in the original engraving and a bit of wear on the hand engraved side.
shows not only the endurance of a zippo, but the power of the internet. and the honesty of a few people in canada. i sent them a thankyou card with a few pounds to cover their expenses and buy them a beer.
we also frequently get iron age and earlier swords, etc. out of the thames river, in fairly remarkable condition.
maybe the bowie will turn up again. stranger things DO happen.