The Gapper

[cody6268]

I have never seen this knife before, and came across it on eBay. Called the Gapper, it was apparently built for NAPA Auto Parts, and has a secondary spark plug gapper tool blade and a deep wire stripping notch towards the choil of the partially serrated one-hand opening blade. I'd get it, but I am not paying $160 for it.

I'd like to know everything possible about this model, and would love to find one at a more reasonable price, no more than half and that's still a lot of money. Only other is with that charity fraud nitwit in Texas for $240 and that does not have the NAPA branding. Could probably explain why those two are the only ones available for sale--because no one wants to bother with those inflated prices.

Seller's photos aren't that good and makes it hard to make out. I also attached a few better ones from the "nit wit".

I did find some info based on the patent. It was assigned to a Michael K. Hulsey in 1992. His only other patent is for a "flex head line wrench" so I presume he was not a Camillus employee. And also note, his design is for a traditional folder with gapper and sheepsfoot blades; not a large OHO folder such as this.

https://patents.justia.com/inventor/michael-k-hulsey

https://patents.google.com/patent/US510 ... =US5107560

[carrmillus]

.....I have never seen one of those before!!.............. .............

[doglegg]

Same for me...but cool.

[orvet]

I think the price of that knife is a little overdone. The frame is a little different than the one I normally see the master blade in, I'm not sure the frame was made by Camillus but I know the gapper blade was made for Camillus. I believe it was made in Japan for Camillus but I'm not positive, my memory data retrieval system is not working as well as it used to. I think I have one gapper blade somewhere that I got in a lot of blades I purchased. If I can find it I will check and see if it has a country of origin on it.

[cody6268]

The mystery widens; and closes a bit at the same time.

Well, I found this CRKT for under $20; purely by accident. Doing research on the Camillus brought me to an eBay page for "Champion Spark Plug Knife"; and it showed up. It was the last one left of 15. It has a nearly identical gapper blade on it; however the nail nick is on the opposite side. I'm guessing it was produced at around the same time as the Camillus version. And I bought this one; as I could afford that.

It mentions "this unique tool was patented by a professional..." on the paper. So did Mr. Hulsey sell the individual tool component to various manufacturers? Did he shop his patent around; and both CRKT and Camillus agreed to produce it (from the looks of things, the CRKT was a much cheaper knife)? I'll try to get a scan up of the paper with that information on that that comes with this knife.

[orvet]

I thought that hundred and $160 price tag was really steep for that knife, and the price from that guy in Texas is ridiculous (as are most of his prices)!
A nice pickup for $15 and really practical, especially if a person works on a lot of small engines or old cars.
The newer cars don't eat up the spark plugs nearly as bad.

CRKT does produce a lot of good practical knives, often in small quantities that larger companies really could not produce at a profit. I have purchased several of their knives that were made in Taiwan and I have used them hard. They are quality products that will hold up under hard use. I would say their quality meets or exceeds most standard production grade knives made anywhere in the world. I am less impressed with their products made in mainland China.

[cody6268]

I've used the CRKT now a couple of times--and I quite like it. Except the blade. The spring tension coupled with a tiny thumb stud doesn't really cut it.

As a random eBay ad/suggestion, I have found yet another take on this design! Dale, is this the Japanese-made blade you were talking about? I see that it is setup similar to the Camillus.

Kershaw apparently also produced a version with this special blade for Snap-On Tools with the model number YAFB27.. Assembly is like the early DWO (and somewhat like the CRKT). Spanner pivot, rubber handle with the older "Snap-On" logo. However, Mr. Hulsey's patent is not marked anywhere on the tool. Also to note--markings on the spark plug gapping tool are stamped, not etched like the CRKT or Camillus.

Not my knife, not my auction, and to me kinda expensive: https://www.ebay.com/i/184482067528

[Hideaway Knives]

I like the fancy blade design