All About Pocket Knives

Nice additions to this thread. I have a thing for Compass Industry knives. I think they were an exception to the low quality that came out of Japan back in the 70’s and 80’s. All CI knives I have had were well made. The Rigid knives are well made too, don’t know who made them but they are good quality as well. Thanks for adding these.

cody6268 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:44 am Nice group!

Here's my RG-24. I got one new-old-stock for about $25 several years ago, and it's mostly seen use for cutting baler twine, rope, and brush as a work knife.

It is easily as good quality as a period Spyderco, yet not as stiff as the Harpy I used to have.

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I noticed your clip is different. Mine only has three screw holes in the clip, yet yours has four. I'm wondering if there was a running change or something.

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That is a nice one Cody! Love the photography you did too. Not sure why the differences in the number of screw holes. Different build years maybe?

Sharpnshinyknives wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 2:13 am Nice additions to this thread. I have a thing for Compass Industry knives. I think they were an exception to the low quality that came out of Japan back in the 70’s and 80’s. All CI knives I have had were well made. The Rigid knives are well made too, don’t know who made them but they are good quality as well. Thanks for adding these.

Glad you like them Sharpnshinyknives. With you 100%. The CI and Rigid knives are excellent.

I am becoming a real fan of these Seki made Cattaragus knives.

I have handled those knives and they are #1.

chickenman62 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 10:15 pm I am becoming a real fan of these Seki made Cattaragus knives.

Hey chickenman, I didn’t see this post until now. I am a huge fan of these knives as you can tell if you have looked through this thread. Great knives both of them.

I got one in from this era last week. This is a gentleman’s barlow made in Seki Japan. I have others like this but none with engraved bolsters or this gold etched blade. I’m slowly getting all of these Japanese knives made for Cattaraugus with engraved bolsters. Just a few more to hunt down and bag for the display case.
This one had some serious verdigris on the bottom end that did some damage to the spring material and the bottom brass pins were covered in green. There are a few spots on the blade out toward the end of the cutting edge that looks to have come from this. The brass liners have rust that won’t come off from damage from the verdigris, you can see it on the spine down shots. I hate brass on knives. I’ve cleaned more oxidation, discoloration and verdigris from so many knives because of brass. I rarely will buy a knife with brass bolsters or brass on the handle of a fixed blade. My advice to someone just starting to collect, concentrate on knives with no brass at all on them.

QGofLake wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 12:18 am Here are some Seki made knives I thought I'd add to this thread. These vintage Japanese knives are very nice. The maker is Compass Industries on two and they sure did a great job. Same goes for the Rigid. These are all new old stock and have never been used, sharpened or carried. Two have the original boxes.

An interesting fact about the Silver Falcon is that Sal Glesser, owner and founder of Spyderco Knives modified one for his first prototype before he started making knives.

Neither here nor there really but it's interesting to know. This modified Silver Falcon is what started it all for Spyderco knives.

My kindda knife, Mark, and I love the shield.
I didn't know you dislike brass so much, had I know I might have not sent you that multi-colored knife with the all-brass fish-scale bolsters, let's hope it doesn't deteriorate on you.

Interesting info, Rick, thanks!

That is interesting Rick. Interesting looking knife. Looks like a modified knife.

Yeah Mark, brass is a sore spot with me. I mean how much more would any knife cost with nickel silver liners and pins? I would gladly pay it. After you have handled over 2000 knives you start to notice things and what brass does over time is one of those things that you start to notice right away.
It is a shame when you see a great knife like this with this much damage. I have never seen a knife with nickel silver liners, bolsters and pins do this or anything like it. Okay, I’ll get off my soap box now.

No, no, not at all, Mark, you don't care for brass hardware and you're telling us why. it certainly beats saying you don't like brass and then leaving it at that, and us hanging.
With what you've seen, it's of little surprise that brass isn't a material you want on your knives, unfortunately it's wide spread use on knives is a fact, and it takes extra searching and scrutiny to find models without it, but they're sure worth it when you do.
I have knives that have all NS or SS hardware, and they're among my favorites, particularly due to the extra weight they create, but I can also be fairly certain I won't be dealing with all the problems you posted along with problems like banana blades.
I agree with what you said regarding cost, it couldn't be out of line if NS or SS was used instead of brass, I wonder if it might even be less expensive.

Railsplitter wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 10:59 pm

QGofLake wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 12:18 am Here are some Seki made knives I thought I'd add to this thread. These vintage Japanese knives are very nice. The maker is Compass Industries on two and they sure did a great job. Same goes for the Rigid. These are all new old stock and have never been used, sharpened or carried. Two have the original boxes.

An interesting fact about the Silver Falcon is that Sal Glesser, owner and founder of Spyderco Knives modified one for his first prototype before he started making knives.

Neither here nor there really but it's interesting to know. This modified Silver Falcon is what started it all for Spyderco knives.

Tks Railsplitter. That is certainly an interesting fact. No doubt Sal had a good piece to work with and likely appreciated the engineering and build of the CI knives.

Here is another A.G. Russel Knife Collectors Club Seki made knife. I always thought these were all Cattaragus but I guess not.

Chickenman, that is a beauty. Yes some of these Seki Japan made knives are marked A.G. Russell and others marked Cattaraugus, but as you can tell from handling them that they belong together. I just wish I knew who made all these knives for A.G. Russell. I contacted them and asked for help to record the makers but got no response at all. All we can do is guess where these were made in Seki Japan.

Got this one in today. Added it to my A.G. Russell collection. First time I’ve seen one of these with smooth white bone handles. Also, this one has a 1996 date on it. All my others have a 2002 date. It pays to keep your eyes open when one pops up like this one did. I’m confident that Master Tak Fukuta designed these and probably made them. Similar bolsters on the Marbles by Tak Fukuta and on the Kabar Dolphin.
Here is a shot of the whole collection of these, so far.

Whoa, I really like that one, Mark.
I have 2 of the brown models with slight variations between the 2, but that white bone is outstanding.
Congratulations on a very nice find!

Those are all real beauties. It just makes me want to keep adding to my collection.

SSK, you have a beautiful collection.

Thanks Mark, chickenman and Garry. I always like the Marbles knife that Tak Fukuta made for them but these have a better appeal to me than that one did. I’ll still keep an eye open for others with different handle materials and blade materials, so this probably won’t be my last time posting one of these.

Is this the model by Tak Fukuta you're referring to, Mark?
I got this one from you, and I thought I had the model without a shield but couldn't find it just now doing a quick search of my pile.
The shield has nothing engraved on it, just the oval piece of brass.
This knife has nice n' warm Rosewood covers if I have my facts straight, and "Marbles" stamped on the front tang, along with "Hand made/Seki-Japan" on the rear.

That’s the one Mark. I think they made one with buffalo handles too, if my memory is correct. Not sure if it has a shield or not. Thanks for posting that. You can really see the similarities of those.

My pleasure, buddy, it was easy to find amongst all my others so I thought I'd save you the trouble of you searching for your copy.
I was mistaken about owning 2, that is the only copy I have, but it was this knife I have 2 of, both made by Tak and both with buffalo horn covers. These are different from the OP knives, but IMO equally nice. I've posted these previously, but I wanted you to see them now for comparison purposes.
This copy has solid black buffalo horn covers.This copy is virtually identical but for some white streaking in the black buffalo horn covers.
Both knives are stamped exactly the same as the Marbles I posted above. I also got these from you!

I remember Mark. Those are beautiful. I really like the design and the bolsters on those. Thanks for sharing those again.

Madmarco wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2024 10:48 pm My pleasure, buddy, it was easy to find amongst all my others so I thought I'd save you the trouble of you searching for your copy.
I was mistaken about owning 2, that is the only copy I have, but it was this knife I have 2 of, both made by Tak and both with buffalo horn covers. These are different from the OP knives, but IMO equally nice. I've posted these previously, but I wanted you to see them now for comparison purposes.
8)WIN_20240217_16_41_50_Pro.jpgWIN_20240217_16_42_08_Pro.jpgThis copy has solid black buffalo horn covers.WIN_20240217_16_41_22_Pro.jpgWIN_20240217_16_41_38_Pro.jpgThis copy is virtually identical but for some white streaking in the black buffalo horn covers.
Both knives are stamped exactly the same as the Marbles I posted above. I also got these from you!

I like those! Is there enough blade protruding to grab it and pinch it open?

Actually, no, Rick. I'm sure you're seeing the nail-nic in my pictures, and it's necessary for opening.
You might be able to squeeze enough of your fingers in there without using the nic, but it would be quite difficult, especially since they have the nics.
Thanks for the compliment, buddy!