All About Pocket Knives

I'm an old retired guy that has a lot of time on his hands but very little brains and that results in me getting things on my mind and it comes out in a thread like this. I have no idea if this type thread already exist but if it does please move or delete. I've been starting a few threads hoping to fit in with you fine folks because I do like this place a lot.

I spend a little time everyday looking and the truth told playing with my knives. Within my hoard to me every knife has a story and that's the reason I love traditional knives so much they tell a story of day's gone by. Today as I was going through my knives it occurred to me that we seem to always post about a single brand or pattern or blade shape or whatever and seldom do we show a few of our knives and share what makes it a keeper or one destined to live else where.
That said I think it would be fun to show a few knives from your collection tell us a bit about them and what it is that you like or dislike about them. If you want to do a review or simply say you like or dislikes it t's up to you.

First up is my 561210 Ebony .GEC Tidioute Dogleg Jack. This knife is PPP etched # 11 of 25 made. I love how it fits so well in hand and disappears in your pocket. IMO it's a nice looking knife and preforms exceptionally well. The beefy clip and spear blades make it a great EDC while the Looks lends itself to Sunday carry. Second is one of my all time favorite knives the GEC Northfield 771218 Natural Micarta Barlow. When you first pick one of these up you can just feel the quality. Strong and beefy clip and pen IMO the perfect EDC not to mention the secondary market I seen them go for over $300 those buyers must have really wanted one. This is one knife I feel anyone that loves traditional knives should own. Third is my GEC Northfield sambar stag 441218 Buffalo Jack once again beefy clip and pen it's starting to look like I may have a problem with clip and pen knives. For me the thing that stands out the most are the covers very few dips and rises and the ones that are there are ever so slight this causes them to be some of the smoothest stag covers I have handled and the color profile is beautiful. I am a bit surprised at their performance on the secondary market not much movement price wise. Finally one is up that's just simply a cut above the rest. This Sleeve Board Whittler is made under the Cattaraugus brand by A G Russell it was a SFO for his Knife Collectors Club. He had them made in Seki Japan and the magic of the old sword makers must have been in the air the day mine was made. All I can say about this knife is that it is on par
with good customs and I don't expect to ever find a better production knife. So if ya like this idea jump in and show us some knives I'll post some more in a day or two

Nice post, r redden.
I hope you get a lot of takers in this thread. Some good thoughts here.
I'd like to contribute to the thread in time.
You have some very nice knives.

Great idea for a thread, Randy. Those are some sweet knives. I particularly like that A.G. Russell.

I have so many that are my "favorites" that if I posted them all I would have to call in sick at work to make sure I had enough time.

I'll pick just a couple for now.

This knife is really just pocket jewelry for me although I have used it a time or two. I bought it in person from the maker, Mike Alsdorf at a knife show in 2015. It's possibly the prettiest knife I own and I just adore the size and shape.
Gunstock Interframe by Mike Alsdorf. Mother of Pearl and CPM-154 blade steel. Viper Timeless with real Blue Jay feathers. I haven't carried this one yet but I want to and probably will sooner or later. I like that it dooesn't have a pocket clip because most liner locks like this do.
I've got time for one more. A good ol'e Buck 112 in Ebony, Nickel Silver, and S30V.

Railsplitter wrote:Great idea for a thread, Randy. Those are some sweet knives. I particularly like that A.G. Russell.

I have so many that are my "favorites" that if I posted them all I would have to call in sick at work to make sure I had enough time.

I'll pick just a couple for now.

This knife is really just pocket jewelry for me although I have used it a time or two. I bought it in person from the maker, Mike Alsdorf at a knife show in 2015. It's possibly the prettiest knife I own and I just adore the size and shape.
Gunstock Interframe by Mike Alsdorf. Mother of Pearl and CPM-154 blade steel.
IMG_2653.JPG
Alsdorf 1.JPG

Viper Timeless with real Blue Jay feathers. I haven't carried this one yet but I want to and probably will sooner or later. I like that it dooesn't have a pocket clip because most liner locks like this do.
IMG_4561.JPG
IMG_4557.JPG


I've got time for one more. A good ol'e Buck 112 in Ebony, Nickel Silver, and S30V.
IMG_4517.JPG
IMG_4519.JPG

Rick some very nice knives there 112 is one of my favorite knives for hard use and with S30V wow I've only had one in Bucks 420HC, That
Mike Alsdorf gunstock is simply beautiful and the Viper is awesome I have been looking at them on Mikes site CK probably need to pull the trigger on one.

Thanks Randy. What a slick idea for a thread. Everyone likes any excuse to show off their knives. There's a reason I have (and probably every one else has) each and every knife in my (their) accumulation.

The main reason for owning each and every one in my pile is simple. I liked them. I admit there are a few I bought because I didn't have one like it but the other 90% tripped my trigger in a way that can't be explained.

This Grohmann_Mini_Russell_R340S latched on to me and wouldn't let go. It was the blade profile that plucked at my heart strings. I finally gave in and hunted down one that just happened to be in Australia and was what I considered a reasonable price (cheap). With the kind assistance of Grant (Shearer), I bought it and had it shipped here. I'm really pleased with it. This one was a bomb from Rob (whitebuffalo58). He replaced the small clip blade in my favorite pattern (Camillus 72) with a cap lifter and now it rides in my RFP every day. What a friend. What a clever fellow. Thanks Rob. You da man. I'll quit for today with this Camillus 53. Bought it off eBay as part of a two knife lot for $4.25 with $5.00 shipping. What I was really after was the Camillus 41 pen knife and the other knife was an "Oh. A twofer. Neat." There's no pattern stamp on the knife and I couldn't find it in any of the Camillus catalogs I have access to so the mystery continued. I asked all the Camillus "experts" and no one knew the knife. Finally ran on to one (can't remember where or when) that had a pattern # stamp. It's a 53 Dog Leg Jack. Finally the mystery is solved. Still don't know when it was made nor the history on the knife and I've only seen two others like it. Ever.

Railsplitter wrote:Great idea for a thread, Randy. Those are some sweet knives. I particularly like that A.G. Russell.

I have so many that are my "favorites" that if I posted them all I would have to call in sick at work to make sure I had enough time.

I'll pick just a couple for now.

This knife is really just pocket jewelry for me although I have used it a time or two. I bought it in person from the maker, Mike Alsdorf at a knife show in 2015. It's possibly the prettiest knife I own and I just adore the size and shape.
Gunstock Interframe by Mike Alsdorf. Mother of Pearl and CPM-154 blade steel.
IMG_2653.JPG
Alsdorf 1.JPG

Viper Timeless with real Blue Jay feathers. I haven't carried this one yet but I want to and probably will sooner or later. I like that it dooesn't have a pocket clip because most liner locks like this do.
IMG_4561.JPG
IMG_4557.JPG


I've got time for one more. A good ol'e Buck 112 in Ebony, Nickel Silver, and S30V.
IMG_4517.JPG
IMG_4519.JPG

This Viper is beautiful!!

A good idea for a thread, R Redden. Those are very nice knives you posted: my favorite is the ebony Dogleg Jack.

Beautiful knives Rick!

Jerry - I always like seeing that franken 72, but my favorite of the knives you posted is that Dogleg Jack. Maybe I should try to find a couple of that pattern since I like looking at them so much.

Here are three of my favorite EDCs. One of the three is almost always in my pocket, usually along with another knife in another pocket, but these are my workhorses. All are the made by Schrade, though one is Craftsman brand. All three have Delrin handles and all three are the whittler pattern. Since these are all the same maker and same pattern, next time I will try to post something different.

I've got this whittler that is so well made and it has smooth white bone handles that I always like. It's a fraud.
It's stamped Tidiout, but I don't think it's a legitimate Tidiout.
I really like this knife. The hafts and the bolsters are so thick it makes the knife almost round.
It is a hand full at 3 3/4 inches closed. Smooth and snappy. A brass wedge between the springs.
If I could make a knife of this quality I wouldn't be putting someone else's name on it. The hafting could use a little fit and finish.
If I couldn't be successful at this level I would either throw in the towel or refine my knife making skills.
This one's a keeper.

Here is another knife of questionable heritage. This one is stamped HOLLEY. HA! This is no Holley knife.
But what a neat knife it is. The glitter caught my eye and check out those bolsters and that gun stock pattern.
Unsharpened and unused, but who would get caught using .......... well, never mind.
Another jack knife hiding behind its hat. Another fraud
I like this knife. It's a keeper.

Railsplitter wrote:Great idea for a thread, Randy. Those are some sweet knives. I particularly like that A.G. Russell.

I have so many that are my "favorites" that if I posted them all I would have to call in sick at work to make sure I had enough time.

I'll pick just a couple for now.

This knife is really just pocket jewelry for me although I have used it a time or two. I bought it in person from the maker, Mike Alsdorf at a knife show in 2015. It's possibly the prettiest knife I own and I just adore the size and shape.
Gunstock Interframe by Mike Alsdorf. Mother of Pearl and CPM-154 blade steel.
IMG_2653.JPG
Alsdorf 1.JPG

Viper Timeless with real Blue Jay feathers. I haven't carried this one yet but I want to and probably will sooner or later. I like that it dooesn't have a pocket clip because most liner locks like this do.
IMG_4561.JPG
IMG_4557.JPG


I've got time for one more. A good ol'e Buck 112 in Ebony, Nickel Silver, and S30V.
IMG_4517.JPG
IMG_4519.JPG

Love that first one of yours, extremely nice. Of course I still love that Viper. Glad you are still appreciating it.
SSk

I found this CAS Hanwei knife interesting in several respects. It has the sharpest blade I have ever encountered on a production pocket knife. Notice the thumb stud. By pushing forward on the stud the lock is released for the blade to be closed. 4" in length.

Quick Steel wrote:I found this CAS Hanwei knife interesting in several respects. It has the sharpest blade I have ever encountered on a production pocket knife. Notice the thumb stud. By pushing forward on the stud the lock is released for the blade to be closed. 4" in length.

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QS, I love that. That is a sweet knife. I love having a thumb stud. The detailed bolsters are really nice and so is that stag.
SSk

Appreciate your comment SSk.

Quick Steel, I really like the bolsters on that one too!
Ok, here are my favourites. They aren’t as shiny or minty fresh as the rest, but each of them screamed at me so loud that I had to buy them and haul them home!

FRJ wrote:I've got this whittler that is so well made and it has smooth white bone handles that I always like. It's a fraud.
It's stamped Tidiout, but I don't think it's a legitimate Tidiout.
I really like this knife. The hafts and the bolsters are so thick it makes the knife almost round.
It is a hand full at 3 3/4 inches closed. Smooth and snappy. A brass wedge between the springs.
If I could make a knife of this quality I wouldn't be putting someone else's name on it. The hafting could use a little fit and finish.
If I couldn't be successful at this level I would either throw in the towel or refine my knife making skills.
This one's a keeper.

Joe, it's an interesting knife and may only be somewhat of a fraud, there was a man, Bill Atkins in that area that hand assembled knives with left over parts. Worked at Queen also. As far as I know these were assembled late 50's and into the 60's. I do not know if he used any particular tang stamp.

Before AG Russell began his annual Chinese made Texas Ranger series he brought out these American made Tex commemoratives. I had two copies because the first one issued had the incorrect dates on the blade.

Thanks John.
Well, that's interesting. I've got this old four inch dog leg jack that was made by Bill Atkins. It too, is a well made knife.
It is stamped: Penn Cutlery Co.
I didn't think of Bill Atkins in relation to the whittler. I suppose there could be a connection.

FRJ wrote:Thanks John.
Well, that's interesting. I've got this old four inch dog leg jack that was made by Bill Atkins. It too, is a well made knife.
It is stamped: Penn Cutlery Co.
I didn't think of Bill Atkins in relation to the whittler. I suppose there could be a connection.

Another nice one Joe, I did find reference to where he used several tang stamps, maybe because he sourced left over parts. If you have the Great Eastern book there are several pages on Bill in it and also a very good history of Northfield.


http://www.greateasterncutlery.com/pock ... 8r8jdm5p02

Thanks John.
Yes, I have David Anthony's book. An important book.

Man you folks own some spectacular Knives. zoogirl the Pal sheath knife is a great knife I like it.
Here's a few more of mine for today.

This 1st knife is very special it was given to me by my good friend Bob "Bigbiscuit" Bendal a fellow knife knut who passed away. It's a WW2 era Camillus Radio Jack that and has had its covers replaced with cocobolo somewhere along the way.
. The 2nd is an A. Wright Ram's Horn Lambsfoot made in Sheffield UK I think the covers are beautiful. 3rd is a new Northfield Templar in Templar Red Actylic. This is a small knife on the 06 frame. Not sure what to do with this one keep, sale, or give away. It's just a $50 knife so I may just keep it to have one. 4th is the Lion Steel Shuffler a SFO Barlow with a modern twist. M390 steel and has a screw construction for ease of disassembly for cleaning or changing the covers. This is a great knife I use often.

Quick Steel wrote:Before AG Russell began his annual Chinese made Texas Ranger series he brought out these American made Tex commemoratives. I had two copies because the first one issued had the incorrect dates on the blade.



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QS, are those made in Japan? I have never seen these before, or maybe I didn’t pay close enough attention when the A.G. Russell catalog came. If they are made in Japan, you should post these in the Moki, Mcusta, Al Mar and other Seki made knife thread.
Those two are magnificent looking. I’m drooling.
SSk

SSk, Not Japanese. They were made stateside. Did one of our knife companies buy the Cattaraugus label when it went out of business? I ask only because I have a memory of that brand being the manufacturer. And in the not too distant past I seem to recall AG Russel offering some knives with that label. Otherwise, at a guess, may be done by Camillus.

Quick Steel wrote:SSk, Not Japanese. They were made stateside. Did one of our knife companies buy the Cattaraugus label when it went out of business? I ask only because I have a memory of that brand being the manufacturer. And in the not too distant past I seem to recall AG Russel offering some knives with that label. Otherwise, at a guess, may be done by Camillus.

Pretty sure that A.G. owns the Cattaraugus brand. Most of those that he has offered were made in Japan in Seki City. But I have seen some that were finished here in the US by his people in their knife shop. I suppose there would be others that were completely made here in the USA, but I can’t speak definitively about that.
The Cattaraugus fixed blade that I have for sale in my store was finished in his shop but the components all came from Japan, that I am sure about.
Gary Kennedy has a couple of the small bullet slip joints in his store that are Cattaraugus and made in Japan. I have one of those too, but I am not selling it.
A.G. kept the quality high on all the knives he offered so it’s not a big concern to me where he had his knives made.
SSk

A G Russell breathed life back into the Cattaraugus Knife company in the 70's and has sporadically branded knives with the Cattaraugus name since. The majority of these were made for his Knife Collectors Club. All of these are very premium knives most on par with customs. Many of these have the Bullet shield and most if not all of these knives were made in Seki Japan which is a very good thing. I have never saw one made elsewhere. I have a few of these but could not put my hand on some others I own I'll have go digging until I find them. I know AG Russell has a lot of knives made in China so it's possible some of the Cattaraugus were made there as well but his maker in China does exceptional work and all I have handled are very good knives. I know some have an aversion to knives made in China which I won't have a discussion about because It most the time is political and that's just asking to stir up a hornet's nest.