All About Pocket Knives

Here’s something abit different – a Patch knife. Patch knives were not made by any makers back in the 1800s but were home-made knives by folks who used them to cut patches for cleaning their muzzle loaders… most times these knives were made from kitchen cutlery and leather sheaths were also home-made. The patch knife was an important part of muzzle loading history if one takes into consideration that cleaning the barrel of the gun improved accuracy in shooting tremendously!! It was probably only in the last 10-20 years that some knife makers have started to make specific patch knives for guys who want them for muzzle loaders – at least from my understanding.

Here is a patch knife I recently scored… note the blade stamp is Meriden Cutlery Company which was known for making table cutlery and well known for their ivory handles!!

Some company history: Meriden Cutlery Co (1855 – 1918 – in 1918 the company was bought by LF&C New Britian CT and continued until 1925) or according to Goins Meriden Cutlery Company was dated 1878-1883… According to New England Cutlery by Philip Pankiewicz - the early owners of the company dated back to 1834 where G and DN Ropes were noted as being one of the first in the USA to make table cutlery. One of their specialties one making finely-crafted ivory handled cutlery and the ivory was purchased from Julius Pratt and Co in Meriden CT. In 1846 David Ropes came to Meriden and consolidated his business with Pratt (Pratt, Ropes, Webb & Co.) and in 1855 incorporated as the Meriden Cutlery Company. Again they continued to be well-known for making fine ivory handled table cutlery… thus dating is abit confusing for the Meriden Cutlery Company but I will say mid-1800s to at least 1918…

Nonetheless this is a great example of a home-made “patch knife” made from a Meriden Cutlery Company table knife. Note the cool scroll work on top of blade (not sure if this was done by company or by individual who made this knife). I have to say that I haven’t seen any cutlery by this company that had scroll work on top of blade but I was somewhat limited by just an internet search – though I have to say the book – New England Cutlery by Philip Pankiewicz – did not show a table knife with scroll work on top of blade, though again this was just 2 pages of a catalog from one year. There is a deep etch stamp of company mid-blade. The ivory handle was carved into a shape that fit their hand and note they even put a ring at end of handle to insert a lanyard. Length of knife is 7 & 3/4” long. The sheath is really very cool too - and note there is a long leather strap to hang around their neck inserted into sheath which was a classic way to carry this knife (sorry but long leather strip is not in photos but can add it if anyone is interested). Great home-made craftsmanship in this knife from blade to handle to sheath!!

Hope you guys get a kick out of this the same as me… took a gamble on this one but when I received it – SCORE ….. I just love knives with a story and character!!
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Lee

A lot of history in that knife, thanks for showing it.

This may be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway. What makes a knife a patch knife? So, if I see a knife how do I know it's a patch knife?

Thanks Dimitri ...

Hey David - No such thing as dumb questions in my book.... I am not really a Patch Knife expert but did as much reading about them as I could before I gambled on the purchase... anyway - as I said back in the 1800s they were made from table cutlery so that may be one sign to look for - generally they are the size of this knife after they were cut, shaped and hammered into a blade - So 7-8" total and the blade generally +/- 4" in length - blade is sharp, pointed and triangular in shape - note the bottom cutting edge is wide - they were used to cut patches out of cloth or leather so from what I gather they would push the knife into the material down to the butt of blade to produce a wide slit - and then do the same on all 4 sides to get a patch of material - perhaps cutting slightly once blade was fully inserted - but patches of the material were not supposed to be large - they had to get them down the barrel and out... Note they weren't small thin blades but this example pretty well represents the patch knife blade shape. Also if you google patch knives for sale - you will find the modern day versions being sold which again are pretty much as I described them above... Hope that helps...

Thank you for the info.

It's a beauty and thanks for showing it.

Patch knives are generally flat ground and wide such as yours. They are used to cut the excess patch material off at the muzzle once the ball is seated.

Thanks for the additional info Basser5 (Tim)! Though I really enjoy shooting muzzle loaders I never saw a Patch knife in use these days (as an aside I once had the opportunity to shoot skeet with a double barrel muzzle loader from the 1860s in the UK - talk about fun ) - I had read reference to the knife being used to cut patches somewhere but was it only used to cut excess patch material or to also cut the patch for cleaning the barrel as I thought I had read? If it was for just cutting excess I wonder why the blade couldn't be shaped thinner?? .. Actually in days of old I also read they used it for anything they needed to including self defense....

LongBlade wrote: Actually in days of old I also read they used it for anything they needed to including self defense....