Walter,"Blackie"Collins knives.......

[knife7knut]

When I first started getting back into knife collecting in the early 1970's one of the more interesting knife makers at the time was Blackie Collins and his not as well known brother Michael. Blackie was more into innovative knife designs while Michael was a very talented scrimshander although he also made knives as well.
There was a time when it seemed like every USA manufacturer had a knife that was designed by him. Most prominent was the Smith & Wesson line of fixed and folding blade knives that he was responsible for.
Benchmark also had a series of knives he designed;again both fixed blades and folders. He was the creator of the(in)famous Benchmark Rolox series. I say that because in my humble opinion it was one of the worst designs ever made.I bought one when they first came out and while they were a bit expensive(I think it was $60 for the wood handled model) the fit and finish were impeccable.
So why do I dislike it? First of all you need to understand how it works. The blade is opened by pressing down on a serrated area on the back of the blade which causes it to raise the front of the blade and at the same time slide it forward and into the locked position.To close it you depress the lock(located on the bottom rear of the handle)which again lifts the blade and allows it to be slid back into the closed position. And this is where I found the flaw.
When using the knife for example to slice heavy cardboard you put a lot of pressure on the knife handle.The result is that your baby finger rests directly on the lock tab and when you put pressure on the handle it depresses the lock and sends the blade sliding backwards and catching the web of skin between your thumb and forefinger rather painfully.
But most of his other designs were very unique and practical.One of the neatest ones is his assisted open folder made entirely of Zytel and is surprisingly sharp. He also designed a very nice dive knife for Wenoka with a quick release sheath.
It was tragic when I heard that he had died from complications of a motorcycle accident. Who knows what other ideas would have sprouted from his fertile mind.
I have put up some pictures of his knives and would encourage others to add to them if you have them.

[Doc B]

I can see the design flaw you note. Interesting post.

[samb1955]

I had one of his switchblade, a sidewinder.

[jerryd6818]

One of the first "assisted opening" knives from back in the '90s.

[rangerbluedog]

haha, I had one of those STRUT N CUTs too!

[Mumbleypeg]

More on Blackie Collins here viewtopic.php?f=34&t=59027&hilit=Collins

Ken

[Meridian_Mike]

I have one of these Blackie's that I got back in my canoe days. It was a new design then. This one could be worn on your life vest in any position.... even upside down..... and to withdraw it from the sheath, you have to press the lever. It was and still is a cool knife design....

(This pic is not my knife... I lifted it from the net)

blackie collins.JPG (20.39 KiB) Viewed 1217 times

My friends and I would always cook up scenarios where we would run into a "strainer" and have to cut ourselves out.....LOL.
(Thank the Lord, that never happened....LOL)