May 8, 2006

• My Knife Collection
  
  
  

  
  
  

  Actually, I don’t so much collect knives as accumulate them.  I collect coins–I have the red price guide, subscribe to COINS magazine, know a few local dealers fairly well, the whole nine yards.  But knives just sort of come my way.  However, from time to time, someone asks about my own knives, since I sell them for a living and can have pretty much whatever knife I want.  I say “pretty much,” because I would really love to have  aSpyderco Civilian as a dedicated knife, but can’t afford one–they retail at $205 and change. (Definition–”dedicated knife”–a carry knife used solely for self-defense, kept razor sharp and never used for everyday purposes.)  The above group shot is largely for scale–the Schrade folder at the top is five inches overall closed.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  The small folder was made by Klein Tool of Chicago.  They quit making knives some time ago, so I assume this one has some collectable value, even though it is dirty and dull.  It was a gift from the Dumpster Deva.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  The Case three-blade stockman I inherited from my father–and for all I know, he inherited it from his.  Some day I will research the blade stamp–C 3047, as well as I can make out through the rust.
  

  
  
  
  
  This is my star, my pride, my joy.  It is  a caping knife, hand-made and one of a kind.  The handle is made of azure-malachite and red coral and something else.  There are no marks on the blade to indicate who made it, but the workmanship is exquisite, and it is just absolutely razor-sharp.  I got it, and the Buck 110, at a gun show from a dealer who did not know what he had, for a small fraction of their value–which I estimate at the high three figures or low four.
  
  
  
  
  This is the classic Buck 112, the smaller brother to the classic 110, which came out around 1960.  If you see either one at a yard sale or flea market in good shape–tip not broken, no serious dings in the handle, no play in the blade– at $20 or less–grab it. (In general, a used knife goes for fifty percent of the new price.)
  
  
  
  
  
  

  I had this little guy sharpened, but it needs a bath.  It is an unpretentious little Buck, great key chain knife, another gift from the DD.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  I paid full price, wholesale, for this one, one time when I was fairly flush and feeling self-indulgent.  It was designed by the gents whose signatures appear on the blade, two blood-thirsty Brits who are world-class experts in knife-fighting.  (One of their first efforts was carried by British commandoes during the Great Patriotic War).  The reverse of the blade is inscribed “First Production Run.”  Gerber also makes two smaller versions, the Covert and the Mini-covert.  The recent versions are, I think, better steel.  ATS-34, as in this one, is very good steel, but it is high-carbon and corrodes more easily than many other premium steels, and requires more care than I have given it.  The damage on the handle is from  when our dog chewed on it.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  This is another one I got at a gun show, from a dealer who did not know what he had. I got it new in the package for less than I would have paid my wholesaler.  It is a Ken Onion design.  He is one of the hotter designers out there right now, having designed the hugely successful Chive and Onion assisted-openers from Kershaw.  It has the dubious distinction of being the only knife in my “collection” made in China.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  This is–surprise, surprise–my keychain knife, the only one I always carry.  (I also  carry a Gerber Amulett sometimes, pictured in the new knife catalog.)  A Cold Steel Tuff-lite, it retails at $34.50–which is why I don’t carry one in my stock.  Very few people are willing to pay that much for a knife that small.  I love it.  I use it hard, mostly for opening boxes of knives and other merchandise I get in the mail, and  usually get it sharpened professionally every time I work a gun show.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  As the detail makes clear, this is a Schrade Uncle Henry–one of the best of the many clones of the classic Buck 110.  It is virtually identical to the Shrade Old Timer, but with one huge difference.  All new Uncle Henrys came with a one-year loss guarantee.  That is, if you bought one new and registered it, and lost it within a year of purchase, Schrade would replace it free.  Assuming you managed to hang onto the paperwork, of course. SCHRADE+ refers to Schrade’s proprietary stainless steel, one of the harder steels–and  it is not available on the so-called new “Schrades,” which are not Schrades at all, but made in China by Taylor Cutlery.  When Schrade went out of business Taylor purchased their name only –not their quality.
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  Another gift from the Dumpster Deva.  There is so much cannabis  resin on a few of the blades, you could probably get busted for carrying it. The tip of the main blade appears to have been heated and probably lost its temper.  (Okay, I know that sounds funny, but you knife guys will know what I mean.) The toothpick and tweezers are gone, no biggie–any Victorinox dealer has a drawer full of replacements.  This is, I think, the Tinker model, a mid-range one that lacks the more exotic bells and whistles, like the scissors blade. (BTW, if you ever get a Swiss Army Knife w/scissors, don’t get a Vic if you can help it.  Their scissors use a leaf spring which breaks in a few months–Wenger uses a torsion bar.  Also, the Wenger can opener  blade is, I think, better engineered–works more efficiently.)
  

  
  
  

  
  

  Note–Many thanx and a huge tip of the Greyfox fedora to my sweety the webgoddess, who shot the pics and posted them for me.
  
  
  

  • 2:30 pm
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