Every man has one, I'm talking about your multifunction knife.
Gerber, Leatherman, Victorinox...
1 of mine... Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Champ.
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My daughter bought me this one from the factory outlet in Switzerland, had it personalised for her old man . One of my prize possessions, J
I've got a big hunting knife. Bought it in 96 when I was camping a lot when working for the government and still got it. Hopefully it won't be outlawed one day.
My collection.
The top three are hollow ground and sharp as razors.
The top is made in Sheffield England by the reknown cutler William Rodgers. His trade mark "William Rodgers, I Cut My Way." It was given to me when I was about 11 and had joined the Boy Scouts which makes it over 50 years old.
The stainless one to it's lower right is a seaman's dirk. Sharp but not pointed blade, marlin spike and a can opener with Aussie Whistle and shackle spanner on the lanyard.
The green handled one is a Puma Backpacker. Probably the most useless one of the lot. If you are strolling the streets late at night and someone harasses you and it is in your pocket, you can whip it out and open the blade with a flick of the wrist in a nano second.
Quite impressive visually but only effective if you have a crazy gleam in your eye that says "Give me an excuse to use this on you."
The problem with it is to make the right flick to open the blade you have to hold it between fingers and thumb. You have to keep wielding it this way because if you grip it even lightly all round the handle, it releases the blade to swing back on your fingers.
The other four are Victorinox variations of the "Swiss Army" knife none of which are Swiss Army issue.
Three of them have the "amputation saw" and the other a file. The best of the four is the larger one with the black handle. It has a positive locking blade and costs about $170 to buy.
The "Swiss Army Knife" is supposed to be one of the great survival knives but I have not come across one of them yet with a magnifying glass that will focus the Sun's rays enough to light a piece of paper, let alone leaves and twigs.
The Leatherman eclipsed all of the preceding multi-function knives by designing it around the pliers. The most useful device. Pliers amplify our digital function, that's the function that defines us as human.
this is the sort of thing i bought on credit card points
leatherman skeletol
has a knife, phillips and flat blade screwdriver, pliers and bottle cap opener
Chef - That's more like I was expecting to see from the title. The Global would be my 1st choice out of your kit. Not everybodies cup of tea but they've always done well by me. My next knife will be a handmade job, form a bloke my sous is in cahoots with.
Don't mind the globals but my fav's are the f. Dick and tridents ( something about German steel , this just started to sound weird )
I've got the utility knives and the chef's knives and the tourist knives but this is my fav. It's my Great Uncles M3 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_fighting_knife in a M6 scabbard. Probably hard to sea (pun fully intended) but carved on the front and back are the ports he visited in the Merchant Navy. The ports start at Australia and include the Pacific Ports, Aleutians, Alaska and ends in San Fran with all and sundry in between. It is still razor sharp after all these years and what's more surprising is that it was designed to reduce steel consumption. Goes to show those old steel's are sweet. The tile it is pictured on is a foot across from memory.
FWIW it has it's Parkerizing still in good knick bar the wear points. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkerized
bought this Buck hunting knife in Darwin bout 28 years ago. Sits quietly in the corner of a cupboard now.
bought this Buck hunting knife in Darwin bout 28 years ago. Sits quietly in the corner of a cupboard now.
the camping selection
the kukris are actually rather useful,the smaller one getting the most use in food prep.
the "bowie" is nice but too big to be really useful. but i couldnt bring myself to cut down the buggy spring i was making it from.
the nicest part is hammering them out on the anvil.it gives you a great sense of achievement at the end of the day.
much prefer a nice axe
L to R
:1907 manufactured patt. 07 Wilkinson, cut down and converted to no.1 mk1 (in India), then later drill purpose. as used on Lee Enfield no.1 mk111 .303 rifles
:Patt. 03 maker unknown, suits no.1 mk111 .303 rifles. (Prefered bayonet by Diggers in WW1)
:no5 mk1 bayonet (for .303 "jungle carbine")
:1954 enfield no.9 mk1 bayonet, suits no.4 series .303 rifles
underneath
:remains of damaged patt. 07 bayonet blade, cut down and fitted with 1942 slazenger grips, pommel made from devcon, Patt.07 scabbard cut down to fit.
L to R
:no4 mk2 stevens-savage, suits no.4 series .303rifles.
:Solingen, given to me by Dad when I graduated from Scouts to Venturers.
:Solingen, stamped "original bowie" given to Dad by Grandad when he was in Scouts, used as gen. purpose camping and hunting knife, saved dads hide twice-
once when knocked down by a feral pig and another when he was bailed up by a roo injured by a car- boomer got dad in a bear hug, but couldnt lean
back as its tail was broken.
:Dexter-Russel, great all rounder, used for skinning roos and foxes, bread knife, food prep, rope work, splinter picker, cleaning fingernails etc.
:cant remember- no markings, but holds a good edge.
:Victorinox fibrox- general purpose use but doesnt hold edge for long.
: " " " " " " holds a good edge as long as it is looked after with the steel.
underneath
:no.4 mk2 longbranch, suits no.4 series .303 rifles.
:no.4 mk2 stevens- savage, suits no.4 series .303 rifles.
My fishing knife is a yellow handled victorinox, with 6' of paracord between it and my fishing bucket so I dont lose it like the others
There is the remains (a couple were "borrowed" years ago) of a set of G96 hunting/ fishing/ skinning/ boning knives and scabbards are packed away in a bit of
the shed I cant reach......
And a bucketful of assorted swiss army types, locking blades, pocket knives and pen knives scattered all over the place.
stephen