Topic: The 'show off your pocketknife' thread

[Alan F.]

Not much to show and certainly no family history with this one. I've been carrying one of these for about a decade, it's dull as a bowling ball but is fine for opening boxes, beers, boxes of beer.... 2.2" blade. Gerber not made in USA probably.

[rb550four]

  When I was 19, I worked in the Shrade cutlery factory and made knives , even though I saw them all day long,  I felt the need to collect all of their knives. It was quite the collection. 40 years have gone by  and most every one of those knives  were either given away ,used or lost. I do still use the last of those large folding knives daily and always seem to find another use for it beside wittlin'.

[dave500]

i think its illegal to carry knives here like if your out to a pub etc?it maybe a certain length?on the gold coast knife crimes by young kids is up by like 40% in 12 months or something?

[Terry in Australia]

Here are a few I grabbed for this pic, there are more, but I want to go for a ride, so don't have time to go find them all.

Pocket Knives by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

As Dave has mentioned, carrying pocket knives (something that we always did when life was a tad less restricted) is frowned on nowadays due to the occasional stabbing. That's no biggie, I carry a "Multi-tool" in each bike jacket which coincidentally have knife blades, but aren't treated with the same abhorrence by the cops as a pocket knife. 

The top one I bought at a milk bar when I was 10 years old. The two below are military issue (the orange one is an early pilot's survival knife with a spring loaded button for one handed use for cutting thru seat harnesses etc. The M Tech (cheapie) is wickedly sharp and I dropped it one day, it went thru my boot into my foot, which pissed blood everywhere, filling my boot with blood. The Browning one is nicely made (but probably in China) and the dagger below was another Ebay cheapie, but is extremely sharp. The Swiss Army Knife is the real deal, I bought it for my dad back in the 90's and my Ma gave it back to me after he passed. He really liked it, he'd bought one in Switzerland on our "European Vacation" in 1974, but I think he lost it, so I bought him this one back in the 1990's.

As I said, I've got a few more, I just need to find them.

[Alan F.]

I had a coworker about 20 years back who carried his great grandfather's pocket knife, not very impressive but definitely USA made back when that meant something and sharp enough to shave with. He was very proud to have a piece of family history.

[754]

...Brown one is INOX Germany,  I think it was Dads.
 Check the inlay on the red one..

 As a kid I had a PIGSTICKER like Terry shows 2nd one down. I think it had full sides like the metal parts on Terry,s Browning. When I was 15, i ran away from home  spent a few hours in a cell, when I got out No  knife... Nov 1971 , I think...

[Terry in Australia]

Here's another one I found today, a "Benchmade" (USA) "Tanto blade folding knife, I haven't used it in years, but it's too good for sticking someone and throwing off a bridge......

K0 Saturday 23 Jan 2021 9f by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[dave500]

best i can do is these,thats a genuine swiss army knife,had it bout 30 plus years,lives in the office drawer,use to use it camping dirt biking,black one is a marco polo survival knife,dont have the rest of its scabbard etc but do have the little stone that keeps it sharp,the folding tool pro stays in my work pack,comes in handy often,that little folding one lives in my bike tool kit,thats been handy aswell.

[PeWe]

Souvenir from bike vacation to Italy 1985. One of the few with real wood instead of plastic.
Shop had a few sizes smaller and bigger, much bigger.

Perfect for letters. Not for camping. Worthless for carving. Another thing for stabbing or do the nails mafia style when cashing in.

[ekpent]

  Don't get me started on old knives. These are from just two drawers down in my basement. I've got knives all through the house and garage in various junk drawers and other hiding places.    Might show off some better ones later.

[Alan F.]

What's the fixed blade with the hex end and the pocket for a sharpening stone? I've seen those somewhere but never knew where they originated.

[dave500]

also here in Australia no spring or switch blades allowed.

[Terry in Australia]

What's the fixed blade with the hex end and the pocket for a sharpening stone? I've seen those somewhere but never knew where they originated.

That a US Military issue knife Alan, not sure who were issued them in the US, I was issued mine when I was a Commando. They're a slightly smaller version on the K-Bar knife. Nice little knife.

Military Knife by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Gordon]

I'm showing mine with the pliers out, because that's what it gets used for the vast majority of the time. After that it's probably the screwdrivers, and then the scissors. It has a straight, and a serrated blade, but I really just wanted it for the other stuff. I've had it for about ten years, but I also pretty much always have a box cutter on me with a single edge razor blade which tends to work better for most things I need a blade for.

[ekpent]

What's the fixed blade with the hex end and the pocket for a sharpening stone? I've seen those somewhere but never knew where they originated.

What's the fixed blade with the hex end and the pocket for a sharpening stone? I've seen those somewhere but never knew where they originated.

Yes as Terry pointed out they are military. I think they were possibly used in Vietnam also but this one pictured was built in 1983. Pretty serious toad stickers and head knockers with maybe some kind of mount in the tang. Can't tell if Terry's is maybe a 1984 or 94 ??

[Terry in Australia]

Well there you go Eric, I looked everywhere for a manufacturers mark or an NSN (NATO Stock Number) and had to go back to take a closer look. They were used in Vietnam, and my first one was much older, but after a vehicle accident on an exercise, some "Light fingered Larry" removed my old knife, so I had to get issued another one, and I've just checked with my magnifying glass, it says "Ontario 5-94" which sounds right, as I was issued that one in '95.

Here are a few more I've found in various drawers.

More knives by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I love the top one, it looks like something that Winchester would have designed, I think I picked it up at a swap meet for 2 bucks. The one beneath it was a "Wish" cheapie, or it may even have been a freebie, the third one was a gift from the guys doing the implementation of the new PC-21 aircraft training system, and I like that they didn't cheap out, they had Victorinox, the makers of the original Swiss Army Knife, make them.

The last one is a little folding box cutter which I was always using when I was managing warehouses. If I left a standard box cutter down for more than 5 minutes it would disappear, so it was handy to have one in my pocket at all times.  

[70CB750]

I rotate about ten knives, carry knife since i was 6 years old.  Mikov, laguaiole, Opinel, Puma - I buy knives as souvenirs. 

[seanbarney41]

I remember my dear old grandad thought it was very important for any young man to always have a good folding pocket knife.  I wish i had not lost all the cool ones that he gave me...had to be real bone handles, no plastic!

[seanbarney41]

Pewe, that switchblade is really cool! 

Anybody that grew up in the 80s still have a butterfly knife?

[Alan F.]

Yup, it's down in the shop in one toolbox or another, was rusting a little last time I saw it. A few years ago I picked up one of these:

[onepieceatatime]

Pewe, that switchblade is really cool! 

Anybody that grew up in the 80s still have a butterfly knife?

I recently gave one away.
I had another one grow legs and walk away. That one bothers me. My Dad got it in the Philippines when he was in the Navy, and passed it on to my when I was a teenager.

[Darren Jakal]

I've always carried a knife and I'm always on the look out for more as they will often get lost.

The Gerber is my go to that I carry everyday and it shows. My other favourite will always be the good old fashioned Opinel No. 7. Perfect size for outdoor pursuits.

I've had great luck finding nice kitchen knives at thrift stores. They often have a box they keep in the back filled with knives as they don't seem to want to put them out on display. I always ask and have found full sets of J.A.Henckels Twinworks and other brand name knives for a few dollars.

I'm a big lighter fan also and my favourite is the Austrian Military's old standard issue Imco Triplex. They are incredibly hard to find now.

Cheers, Darren

[seanbarney41]

Yup, it's down in the shop in one toolbox or another, was rusting a little last time I saw it. A few years ago I picked up one of these:

ok alan...of course now you must post a video of how strong your bottle opener fu is

[PeWe]

Pewe, that switchblade is really cool! 

Anybody that grew up in the 80s still have a butterfly knife?

Yes, those were really exiting knifes. I knew people that went to Alps for skiing, a visit to Italy to get one in the 70's.

I think that knife was not legal here when I bought it. I think still not legal to wear as many other knives.

I saw stiletto blade type knives in Spain or Andorra, the type blade ejects forward, not folding one. This was 1988. Maybe still for sale.

[Alan F.]

Not strong at all I confess. But it should be good fun to get pulled over on a fast bike someday with that in my back pocket.

[onepieceatatime]

These are my main 4.
I have several others that I use and several that I don't.

I know, 3 are fixed blade, so technically not "pocket" knives...

Left to right:
Smith and Wesson Special OPS... I have carried this one daily for 16 years
First "Damascus" blade that I made... Rosewood and Maple burl handle carried for about 8 years
Lonewolf cutlery "Damascus"... My Mom got me that one for Christmas
Made by a friend of mine, I have carried it on and off for about 4 years

[70CB750]

Finally took a picture

From left: Mikov switchblade, italian swing guard, Puma, knife from Malcesine in Italy, grafting knife from a friend, Laguiole, Opinel, Buck, sicilian knife, grafting Mikov, Skeletool, cheap switchblade, gardening knife.

[Terry in Australia]

There are some beautiful knives there, next time I go home to my 92 year old mum's house I'm gonna make a concerted effort to find my dad's "Nest" knife, that I think he inherited from his uncle who raised him, so it'd be over 100 years old. I've also gotta pick up some Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knives my cousin found in a private collection a few years ago. He bought them for me, I just haven't bothered to pick them up yet, but he's moving house, so when I go to collect some motorcycles and a pickup truck from him, I'll grab them as well.    

[70CB750]

I forgot one. From a little knife shop in Prague last time I went home.

[Don R]

 I went to the pocket and it ain't there. Dagnabbit. Edit it was under the car. I used it to cut the masking tape off the stainless steel exhaust I'm trying to build. 

 Funny knife story, I lost a Shrade old timer 3 blade knife. Ten or so years later I was at the drag strip and pitted where we used to pit when we had jr. dragsters. I looked down and there was the exact kind of knife I had lost laying in the sand. It was a bit rusty but I pried it open and it had the same odd shape where I broke the tip off of mine and re-sharpened it. It cleaned up well and was misplaced on a construction job and re-found again a year later. Currently I'm hoping it turns up one more time. 
 

[Terry in Australia]

I love those sorts of stories Don, obviously it was meant to be!