Nail Knick vs. Long Pull

[XX Case XX]

I'm curious as to what determines if a knife contains a nail knick or a long pull. I'm looking at knives for sale here, and knives on eBay as well as my own, and I cannot find any rhyme or reason as to who gets what. Here's a few examples of both.

Can anyone here shed some light on this?

___________
Mike

[#goldpan]

Good question Mike. I don't have an answer though. I will hazard a guess. Manufacturers try to anticipate what a customer might like. Like buying a car. What appeals to one person may not appeal to another. Two door? Four door? Hard top or convertible? Personally I like a long pull and I really like a match striker long pull. Nail nicks are fine, but if your trying to open a blade that snaps like gator you better have good nails. Longs pulls give me more grip when pulling open a blade with stiff springs. Just 2cents worth!

[espn77]

There must be some correlation also to volume produced within the older case knives any way. A long pull will bring more money and a high pull will bring more. Low pull must have been had higher production. Just my observation. A 6488 long pull will bring much more than a nail Nick. A 6254 high pull will bring more than a low pull.

[Steve Warden]

There must be some correlation also to volume produced within the older case knives any way. A long pull will bring more money and a high pull will bring more. Low pull must have been had higher production. Just my observation. A 6488 long pull will bring much more than a nail Nick. A 6254 high pull will bring more than a low pull.

I know about nail nicks and long pulls. What's a high pull or low pull?

[Paladin]

I interpret his question a little differently than the others who responded.
To me, the top 2 photos have long pulls and the bottom 2 photos have nicks.

Ray

[Steve Warden]

I interpret his question a little differently than the others who responded.
To me, the top 2 photos have long pulls and the bottom 2 photos have nicks.

Ray

That's how I saw it.

[espn77]

Top knife has a low pull. Bottom knife has a high pull.

[Steve Warden]

Top knife has a low pull. Bottom knife has a high pull.

So low along the "clipped" portion as opposed to high along the spine section?

[XX Case XX]

I interpret his question a little differently than the others who responded.
To me, the top 2 photos have long pulls and the bottom 2 photos have nicks.

Ray

Yes Ray, that's correct. I guess I wasn't really clear about my question. My apologies. I'm referring to the difference between a simple "knick" in the blade as opposed to a long indentation in the blade about an inch or so in length.

___________
Mike

[#goldpan]

Hey Mike I got to thinking. What about those knives with both a nail nick and a long pull? Like on my KaBar E-Toe? Thats always been weird to me.

[stockman]

Hey Mike I got to thinking. What about those knives with both a nail nick and a long pull? Like on my KaBar E-Toe? Thats always been weird to me.

Double pulls are classy.

Stockman

[XX Case XX]

Hey Mike I got to thinking. What about those knives with both a nail nick and a long pull? Like on my KaBar E-Toe? Thats always been weird to me.

Randy:

I have never seen one of those before. I had no idea they even existed. Thank you for posting that photograph because I was unaware those were ever made. That's a weird one for sure. I wouldn't even know what to call it.

___________
Mike

[Jacknifeben]

HIBBARD SPENSER BARTLETT with two pulls.

[RalphAlsip]

The first attached picture uses 2 different blades from the single Case XX 65 pattern. One blade is flat ground with high pull and the other blade is sabre ground with low (regular?) pull. On the 65's flat ground and high pull are common together. The flat ground high pull combo is aesthetically pleasing to my eye, even more so when the blade is closed.

The second picture compares blades from a Case 45 1/2 pattern with a nail nick and long pull. The long pull blades tend to have a swedge and the regular pulls don't. So it looks to me like there is a little more craftsmanship put into the long pull blades. My visual preference tends to gravitate to the long pull blades.

[peanut740]

It`s very common for old large patterns like toenails and coke bottles hunters to have double pulls.

[supratentorial]

Now days.... whether it has a nick or a pull depends on whether it's stamped Northfield or Tidioute.

I'm not sure that I would agree about long pulls being better for strong springs. A nick can be placed further forward and the simple physics of leverage make that forward placement easier to open.

I'm not sure what reasoning is or was used. Long pulls seem to have been more common on oldies compared to present day knives. But old ways of manufacturing don't seem to account for this difference. Both a long pull and nick were made after forging and before grinding.

[Mumbleypeg]

It`s very common for old large patterns like toenails and coke bottles hunters to have double pulls.

I've posted this knife previously in another thread related to "pulls". This old coke bottle hunter is an example of Roger's comment about old large patterns with double pulls.

Ken

[LongBlade]

Interesting question Mike to start the thread.. all great replies here but just want to add this link to another AAPK thread on nail nicks and pulls with quite a variety that may help to link these 2 threads and add further info .... viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48913&p=510692&hilit=pulls#p510692

Hope this helps....
Lee

[XX Case XX]

Interesting question Mike to start the thread.. all great replies here but just want to add this link to another AAPK thread on nail nicks and pulls with quite a variety that may help to link these 2 threads and add further info .... viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48913&p=510692&hilit=pulls#p510692

Hope this helps....
Lee

Lee, thank you for the link. It's going to take me a bit to read through 105 posts but it will be worth it to retrieve the extra information.

___________
Mike

[americanedgetech]

Ken, That is the first "double pull" knife that I have seen.
I do not understand why a Cutler would do such a thing except for the Maybe that the long pull was a "style" feature in days gone by.

I LOVE long pull blades, and I prefer "match strikes" but there seems to be no conscientious (Did spell check screw me?) on why. Things seem to be the way they are because they are the way they are.
That un-nerves me.
You collectors have a sense about you that I PRAY I will learn. Otherwise I am a buyer...ewttttttttttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr555555555555555
One of my cats said that last bit. Really!

105 posts? I'm done for now.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Speaking only as it regards The Robeson Cutlery Company, I tend to see true long pulls only on older premium quality knives with an exception being the big coke bottle folding hunters that had a long match-striker pull.

Early premium quality, mostly pearl handled, gentlemen's multi-blades had true long pulls. Some knives had long pulls on all blades and some knives had long pulls on the master or premium blades and nicks on the secondaries.

Most other knives, regardless of age, had nail nicks.

After WWII, Robeson pretty much stopped using the elliptical nail nicks and started using an elongated pull that I believe was created with a stamping procedure. Some sellers refer to these as "long pull". I disagree with that. They are not long pulls in the strictest sense of that phrase.

Not all post war knives had these stamped pulls, some patterns still had nail nicks.

Somehow, I think manufacturing costs and economics and "the bottom line" all factored into this.

We see long pulls that extend through the tang on some older knives, especially those from early Sheffield manufacture. Those pulls were forged in the blade, most likely by hand.

Over time, that process became more mechanical and later on a simpler, more economic technique was developed.

As an aside, I've never seen a double pull on any Robeson knife.

I don't really have an explanation for double pulls. Maybe it was simple aesthetics. Maybe it was a fail-safe for those times when a knife was so grungy it could not be easily opened via the rear-most pull.

But, why a double pull? Just put the pull further out along the blade, extending the mechanical advantage of the lever/fulcrum created by a hinged blade?

Here are some photographic examples of the Robeson pulls I described above.

Charlie Noyes

[eveled]

Seems the long pulls are seen more on clip point blades, and they resemble a fuller on a fixed clip point blade.

I'm surprised that nobody ever mentions that the nail nicks are mostly all for right handed users.

[eveled]

Seems the long pulls are seen more on clip point blades, and they resemble a fuller on a fixed clip point blade.

I'm surprised that nobody ever mentions that the nail nicks are mostly all for right handed users.

[Railsplitter]

Seems the long pulls are seen more on clip point blades, and they resemble a fuller on a fixed clip point blade.

I'm surprised that nobody ever mentions that the nail nicks are mostly all for right handed users.

That's a very good point and being right handed, it's something that I never really think about. Left handed folks must have a heck of a time finding the right knife. Either I rarely see left handed pocket knives or I don't notice it when I do. I really feel for you guys now that I've given it some thought.

[americanedgetech]

Well, think about it...
Long pull allows a person to grab a blade anywhere. Nail knicks make for a specific point of "grabbing?"

In the early days knives were tools that everyone relied on so you HAD to make an easy opener to sell a knife. Add to that Hygiene... Baths were the cause of the Flu so imagine nail ediquite. (spell check $uck$).

What I can't figure is the rectangular shield. That looks like a "match strike" to me, where a "Match Strike" is referred to as a nail nick... or a "Pull".

I think something was lost to history