All About Pocket Knives

I use to collect these old Tool Kit Knife sets.

Lots of companies made them. Most you see today are from Utica or Imperial.

This is one that I have, it is a Utica set complete, never used.

Anyone else have some of these I would like to see them

I love those old tool kits. I've tried bidding on a few over the years but no luck. One from Napanoch would be pretty cool to have. Thanks for posting yours. It looks minty fresh.

Here is the only one I have. It has a foux leather envelope. DRGM Germany. Don't know anything about that name.
Are you familiar with this name, Dimitri? It is well made. You have a nice kit there.
I hope we see some more.

Here's a few from my collection:Some are shown with sheaths and others not.All have them;they are just not in very good shape.
Marked Barlow Japan;fairly recent manufacture.I have several of these.

Second is marked DRGM.

Third is my smallest tool kit;mounted on a key chain.

Fourth and fifth are slightly larger but still small kits.

Sixth is the first one I bought;the sheath is in poor shape and the knife is not original but the pliers are both part of the kit.

Seventh is another marked DRGM

Eighth is made by Bonsa and has two knife handles.

Ninth is one made by Salm of Germany;mostly known for their abalone handled knives.

I have a couple more to post but don't have enough photo space so I'll make another post.

Joe,


D.R.G.M.=
Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster (German Reich Registered Design). It means it is patented in Germany. Has nothing to do with the manufacturer.

Nice set you have there

Thanks D,
that's nice to know.

Continuing on:

First and second is an unmarked(but obviously German)tool kit with red scales.

Third and fourth are Imperial tool kits;one of which has a sheepfoot blade.

Fifth is an unmarked tool kit that has the tools concealed in the handle and the hammer head unscrews to fit the tools in the end.The screw locks them in position.Not really a tool kit knife but unusual nonetheless.

Nice stuff Ray

I knew you would have some

NYK Notice the ruff finish!!!!! click picture

Nice NYK Co. set Harold. It came with a pocket knife as well as the handle for the other tools? Don't think I've seen that before.

Here is my New York Knife Co. Set.

NYK sure put some beautiful handles in those kits.

Miller Bro`s wrote:Nice stuff Ray

I knew you would have some

Thanks for the kind words Dimitri;that NYK set you have is really nice and not very common.Yours also Stockman.

ObsidianEdge:

Some of the deluxe kits came with two handles;both usually had permanently attached knife blades.If you look at my first posting in picture #7 (the Bonsa kit)you will see both handles.This kit is a bit different in that the knife blade was a separate tool and that the handles were designed to allow you to install the blades in the conventional position and also at 90 degrees to the axis.This was primarily for the corkscrew and awl tools but any blade could be installed in that position.

Probably the two rarest tool kits are the Napanoch and the Nagle Re-Blade.I've seen a Napanoch but only pictures of the Nagle.BRL had a picture of one in one of his guide books and I think it was valued at over $1,000 and that was 20 plus years ago!

Someone posted a picture of a catalog page with tool kit knives on it awhile back.I saved it and will put up a picture of it.

I also have some picnic kits that have replaceable blades in them.I'll post some pics later on.

Here are some picnic sets.Some come in a case that also has a small drinking glass inside.And I included a couple of vintage items including a really strange knife/bottle opener/spoke wrench with a sheath that doubles as a handle.

First is a small knife fork spoon combo that has no markings save someone had written on the case,"Bethlehem 1920".Could be Bethlehem New Hampshire or Pennsylvania or anywhere.Handles are wood and it looks to be of German manufacture.

Second is a Camillus knife/spoon combo;supposedly issued to troops in WWI by the Red Cross(I think).It is a 3 line and has never been sharpened.

Third is a knife and fork by Edward Wusthof with bone scales in a purse type sheath.

Fourth is a pair of knife/fork combinations by Wusthof;one with ivory scales and the other with pearl.Bought on e-Bay a couple years ago;I believe I paid $15 each.

Fifth is a rather crudely made knife/fork combo that has the fork twisted 90 degrees(easier to use?).Marked,"M.A.M." and something unreadable under that.

Sixth is an Oscar Barnett tool knife;bought many years ago for cheap money.

Seventh is a picnic set marked DRGM with a non-removeable knife blade and the other handle will hold either fork,spoon,or can opener and has a corkscrew built in.

Eighth is a knife fork spoon made in Japan and sheath marked,"M.V.Bluenose"(Motor Vessel)and a maple leaf.The scales are actually plastic and considerably darker than the area under the strap.It must have sat in a display case exposed to the sun.

Last for now is a small knife and fork with abalone handles by Salm.

knife7knut wrote:Probably the two rarest tool kits are the Napanoch and the Nagle Re-Blade.I've seen a Napanoch but only pictures of the Nagle.BRL had a picture of one in one of his guide books and I think it was valued at over $1,000 and that was 20 plus years ago!

Maybe Mike L. has a Nagle set

Here are the rest.By the way the Wusthof knife/fork sets slide together to form a very compact unit.

First up is a knife/fork/spoon set marked Reico.
Second is one made in Spain with instructions in Spanish.
Third is the bicycle tool marked Tru-Sport.
Fourth is a recently made changeable blade knife by United Cutlery.The blades lock into the handle by turning the knob on the side.
Fifth is an unmarked knife fork set that slides together for storage.
Sixth and seventh is another set that is similar but the blades can be inserted into the handles to provide extra length.
Eighth and ninth are knife fork spoon combos that have drinking glasses as part of the kit;one is aluminum and the other glass.
Last is the tool kit page.

WHOOPS! Forgot the tool kit page.

ObsidianEdge wrote:Nice NYK Co. set Harold. It came with a pocket knife as well as the handle for the other tools? Don't think I've seen that before.

Mike one handle has a punch and the other has a spear blade attached permanently, both will
take the other blades in the other end.

Harold

That helps one to have both a fork and a spoon or a fork and knife simultaneously to use in either hand.

Stockman, do the saw blades beneath the covers look as good as the rest of the implements?
Beautiful set.

Seems to me I saw a Honk Falls set on Ebay a few weeks back. It looked just like the Napanock sets. I suspect it might be more rare, though. It's the first Honk Falls set I've ever seen.

Robeson marketed tool sets, but I think they were contract products. I've never had one in hand.

Charlie Noyes

Charlie the blades do look good. When I first got this set I though the covers were something a previous owner had made. I did not know better until I was shown another set. The NYK
sets comes in different cases.

knife7knut wrote:I've seen a Napanoch but only pictures of the Nagle.BRL had a picture of one in one of his guide books and I think it was valued at over $1,000 and that was 20 plus years ago!

Ray, I can`t seem to find a picture of a Nagle set. I looked in BRL`s and could not find it.

If you have a picture could you post it?

K7K you must have an awesome knife collection!!

Every time a different knife thread gets posted you always have some really nice examples to show....a little bit of everything.

I enjoy looking at your knives and also like how you picture them on the 1" graph so it's always easy to tell the size of knife.

Keep'em coming!! This goes for everyone else who shows pics too. I am just now being able to get pics of my knives, with help of course. A good pic to go along with a post makes all the difference.

I have several clip and screwdriver blades for a tool knife. I don't know what they fit. The tang stamp is REDEX in side of a diamond. OLEAN N.Y. USA PAT. PEND. If any one needs these for your tool knife, let me know. Mark.

Here is a high quality Napanoch set.

These were much better than the cheaper Utica and Ulery sets, in that the implements were inserted into a slot and were locked into place. The Utica sets you had to snap the blade into place on a fixed pin through the bolster. It would not lock.

I love the bone handles Napanoch used

Someone really used this set

Miller Bro`s wrote:

knife7knut wrote:I've seen a Napanoch but only pictures of the Nagle.BRL had a picture of one in one of his guide books and I think it was valued at over $1,000 and that was 20 plus years ago!

Ray, I can`t seem to find a picture of a Nagle set. I looked in BRL`s and could not find it.

If you have a picture could you post it?

Dimitri:
It may have been in one of the Knives annuals.I have them in my library but they are in the basement and my son has pretty much taken over that area.I'll see if I can dig them out.