Some of my favorite knives.

[Bazoo]

I thought Id share some of my knives. I've been collecting, and trading and using knives since I was about 10, and I still have a serious thing for them. All of these knives I've acquired since my house burnt 4 years ago. Most of them used, some new as gifts, and the large one from my uncles estate.

The large one is an Edge Brand Original Buffalo Skinner 484. My uncle found the blade under a house, up on the sill, somewhere they lived when he was a teen or young adult. Long story short, about 7 years ago, he worked for me when he was between jobs and I ended up rehandling it and making the sheath for him. When he passed I got it.



From the top
Edge Brand 484 Original buffalo skinner.
Uncle Henry 153 Golden spike, I rehandled it with Locust.
Buck 192
Edge Brand 426
Buck 110
Buck 426 with replacement 110 blade
Buck 345, I removed the flipper nub
Buck 135 Caper with Cherry scales I made (still in process)
Case Trapper SS

I'd love to see some of yalls favorite knives, and any stories that come along with them.

Bazoo

[cwlongshot]

Im a big Buck fan myself and those Vanguards are very nice I have a few. I dont have any fancy versions tho.

One of my favorites is the big 124.

CW

[Bazoo]

The 192 just feels right in my hand, the size and balance. It is my favorite knife. I carry the 110 and the 345 most however. The 345 is a Vantage, very thin and light.

[Bazoo]

Now I'm eyeballing the new buck 110 slim. Hoping Christmas time brings me something for the collection.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 249434

Click to enlarge.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I wish I could make the photo (above) larger, but lack the know-how. I'll describe them and give their story from top to bottom, left side, top to bottom right side:

Left side, top, a Bowie knife made by Western in Colorado. Totally impractical for any purpose except defending the Alamo. But it is such an amazing piece of cutlery that I just had to have one. I pull it out and look at it about every 5 years or so. Next time will probably be 2024. But, I've got one!

Below that, my Schrade Golden Spike. How does that saying go..."This is my Golden Spike. There are many like it, but this one is mine." Oh, never mind, I think that was about a rifle. Anyway, it has seen a lot of time in the hunting fields and is hands down my favorite sheath knife. It has skinned out several deer. Has got to be one of the most popular hunting knives in the U.S. of A. Do they still come with the little sharpening stone in the pouch on the sheath? I don't know, but I still see the knife for sale, although the handles seem to be kind of a greenish now.

Next, my second favorite knife for skinning and utility, made by Cutco the kitchen knife people. The grip is some sort of ergonomically shaped plastic. It is sharp, sharp, sharp! Used to have a contact who sold Cutco for extra money, and I bought two of their hunting knives. Gave on to a friend, kept this one. I don't know if they make them anymore, but if you see one of these at a yard/garage sale ignore the ugly handle because it's a great knife. Did I say that it's sharp?

Bottom, left side, an unusual piece that may have been Mexican military issue, as it is marked: Fundicion de Artilleria Mexico. The nicely tooled leather sheath was made as a gift for me by my brother many years ago. The knife was given to me by my father when I was about 8 years old, and was the only weapon I had until I matured at age 12 and got a single shot .22 rifle for Christmas. That would be discounting the fact that I received a BB gun at age 10. My father was a city Police Office in the late 1930s - early 1950s, and I suppose there's a story that goes with the knife, but I was never told its background. I do have one knife that I got from him, which does have a serious story that goes with it, and I'll post the photo and story following this post.

Back up to the top, right side. I purchased this huge hunting knife in Germany in the early 1960s. It is marked R. Plucker Jr., Solingen, Rostfrei.
I had completed some specialized training, and graduates of the training course were authorized to carry privately owned knives in the field. In retrospect, this is another knife too huge to be practical, but a couple of us wanted to make a statement -- although I've long forgotten what the statement was to be.

Below that, a Scandinavian knife that was purchased and used for lots of years by my father. It skinned out many deer, and has been sharpened many times, so that the (Norwegian? Swedish?) writing that was on the blade is mostly gone. The leather sheath is stamped GENSCO. Perhaps the importer?

Now here's an interesting knife, sent to me by my U.S.A.F. brother when he was stationed in Thailand during the Viet Nam War. The blade is likely made out of perhaps an old truck spring, and seems to be pretty good steel. It holds a good edge. The handle is of an unidentified black wood which I think is just slid onto the rear end of the tang in one piece. The guard is the not-so-nice part, in that it seems to be made of some sort of pot metal and is apparently a sand casting. The sheath is made of a couple of pieces of wood held together by thin brass bands, and it has a rotating
latch made of the same material that locks over a nub on the side of the guard to keep the knife in the sheath. Never used it for anything except to show folks who said, "Well, will you look at that!"

Next, an item that used to appear regularly in magazines like "Outdoor Life" and "Field and Stream", maybe also "Boy's Life", back in the middle to late 1950s. This one was marketed as The Black Forest Hunting Knife, and was quite a bit under $20, although I don't remember the exact asking price. Well, I was wildly in love with the pictures and hyped up sales pitch about how this exact design had been used by hunters of wild boars in the Black Forest for centuries. Eventually I saved up the money, and was just completely enthralled with it for awhile, but then realized that it has no practical hunting application, is just a dagger, and not a very good one. As the next few years passed I saw more and more knives that were probably made by the same company that had differing handles with different themes like pirates, etc. I believe the handle is hollow and is probably an aluminum casting. The blade says Korium Forged Stainless Steel Made in Germany.

Below the Black Forest Knife is a Gerber combat knife made in Portland, OR. It is serial numbered. It was quite expensive at the time, as I recall.
Such knives were receiving a great deal of play in such rags as "Soldier of Fortune", and saw some use in Viet Nam. I believe, that although not marked as such, it would be considered a Mk 1, as later they made a Mk 2. So, I was sitting under a tree one day (waiting for Bambi to wander by) and was closely examining my new toy. To my horror, I noted that the blade on this expensive knife was slightly bent to the right. I just really hate to hassle with manufacturers about something I might be able to fix myself, so when I got home I put the padded blade into the jaws of a big bench vise, and slowly began to apply pressure away from the bend. It didn't change a thing, and it got to a point where I was afraid it would break and I had no idea what I'd tell Gerber then, so I ceased my efforts. It was just about a month later that I read that it is purposely made that way, the reason being that if you stab someone and the point hits a rib the bend will deflect over the rib and on into the chest cavity. How gruesome is that?

Bottom right, a Gerber boot knife. Well, when you've got one, why not have the other?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 249438

Click to enlarge.

Well, it was in the 1940s I believe. My father, the City Police Sgt., was out walking the streets of the then 20,000 (approx.) population community looking for a cat burglar. He was wearing plain clothes. In those days police officers knew almost every one in town. The burglar specialized in sneaking into occupied homes, stealing items, and departing without being detected. On this occasion he had entered through an unlocked bedroom window into a home where a ladies only card party was happening. The ladies had deposited all of their purses and fur wraps on a bed in the room entered by the cat burglar. He sorted through the purses and departed through the window, temporarily making good his escape down the neighborhood street. My father observed the individual, someone whom he did not know, and yelled, "Hold it -- Police. I want to talk with you."
This became a foot pursuit that lasted for several blocks, and eventually the Mexican turned on him with a large folding pocket knife. Never bring a knife to a gunfight, and the 2" Colt Detective Special in the photo terminated the burglar's career. My father was given the knife by the judge who reviewed the matter. It used to be a bit longer, but the tip broke off skinning a deer and was re-sharpened. The 4" Colt Official Police has no part in this story, other than it was his regular duty weapon when in uniform. The knife is a fairly high quality pre-war Boker, and is stored with the snubby in my collection. The deceased had recently been released from San Quentin Prison, and had been deported. Some things just don't seem to change, do they? It was noted in the ER by the attending physician that the deceased was wearing lady's undergarments.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for sharing those stories. Pretty neat. I've looked at getting one of those western bowies myself.

I had before my house burnt a J.E. Middleton and sons Bowie. It was given to me by a gent in England who was on another forum. I was banned from the forum and lost touch with the gent. Said he was friends with the family. It was made in the 1980s it seems. I used to carry it with me often. I really liked it even though it wasnt very practical.

Here is the Bowie with stag handles


Here is the replacement guard I made after I damaged the original


Here is how it looked before I lost it in the fire with replacement guard and buffalo horn scales.


I miss that bowie.

[cwlongshot]

Here is some BUCK knives i have. Pic is a few years old now

CW

[Der Gebirgsjager]

That's a very nice Buck collection, cwlongshot. Kind of hard to beat a Buck for looks and usefulness.

[Bazoo]

That is a nice selection of Bucks. Thanks for sharing.

I've been eyeballing some of the vintage old timers. The 140/141/142/143 OT series to be exact. With a leather sheath, those would be pretty handy I think.

[cwlongshot]

Here is the 124 as well as a couple more I bought shortly after last pic.

I should drag them all Out and take a new family phito!

CW

[Bazoo]

Heres my favorite, the Vanguard. The wifes momma, sent me 40 dollars for my birthday a few years ago and I bought the vanguard used off ebay for 45, so I had to pay my own shipping. Been my favorite ever since. It was lightly used, but had some scratches on the blade. I removed them with some 600 grit paper and oil. Its got a nice home now, and I carry it for a few weeks at a time when I aint got DRs appointments where i'll need to conceal it.



The Buck 426 I purchased in a large lot of broke and junk knives from facebook yardsale. There were a few good ones in there including a leatherman original and a Kershaw chive The Buck had a broke blade. The date stamp was from 86-87 if I recall now. So long story short, I told them how I came about it, and I felt bad that someone would abuse it, and I wanted to bring it back with a new blade so I could take it afield. They replaced the blade with a new 110 blade, and didnt charge me anything for the repair. I've carried it afield several years, but havent gotten a deer since I received it back so I've not used it.

[Bazoo]

CW thanks for sharing. What model is those two knives that looks like kitchen knives? That 124 is a hefty piece. I've not owned one but I fondled one at the knife store.

[cwlongshot]

Thats part of a kitchen set that Buck released. I have the set plus a extra.

Dont remember numbers off the too of my head. But the smallest was released along cause they had so many complaints that guys would “steal” the paring knife out of the wife's set!! :.

Here is a set one ay... WOW. I PAID MORE, for just the wood and a single Knife!!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F352831535789

CW

[alamogunr]

I enjoy knives also but I can't describe the ones I have as a collection. The only notable one is a Randall that I bought from Randall when I was in college. It is a Model 3. IIRC, I paid less than $30 for it. That wouldn't even buy the sheath today. It has hardly been used because in my youthful exuberance, I got it with a 7" blade. Might have come in handy if I ever had to butcher an elephant or cape buffalo. Doesn't have much value to anyone but my sons since I also had my name etched on the blade.

[Bazoo]

Alamogunr, don't be so sure that others wouldn't want something with your name on it. I for one, am not discouraged by such. I've owned a gun that had a social security number scratched on it. It wa my favorite gun for a long time in fact. It all depends on if it catches my eye and if I can imagine a story with it. The fact that such items generally cost less is icing on the cake. The 7" blade on the other hand, yeah not so useful for game. I prefer a 4" blade. I would like to see a picture sometime though, if you're ever in the notion. Thanks for sharing.


I wouldn't say I have a collection as in collectible. I collect users, and I use them. Something about used knives that need a little TLC speaks to me.

[pete501]

Dont remember numbers off the too of my head. But the smallest was released along cause they had so many complaints that guys would “steal” the paring knife out of the wife's set!! :.


The set was called the Royalty line Empress knives and the little one was introduced solo as the 107. They also made a steak knife set which was basically the small Empress with a serrated portion near the tip.

[cwlongshot]

I know, I know it has no “soul” and its fugly too.

But this darn thing is gonna stay in the bottom of my pack and be with me as long as I am able. The blades are so sharp and change out quick n easy they are also less than a buck a piece. Actually the whole deal with sheath and extra blades was like 30$.

Its a fav because of what it can do. Not for its looks.

CW

[If1Hitu]

I like all kinds of knives,but I really like Buck 110,119,& USA knives.