All About Pocket Knives

Hi fellow knife enthusiasts. This is my first post on this forum. I’m from NJ in the USA and have been collecting knives for about 20 years. I have a pretty extensive collection, mostly American-made folders with a few foreigners in there as well. My criteria is that all my knives be well-made. The only exceptions would be for something whose value lay more in its history, rarity or novelty. That said, about 15 years ago I came across a knife in an old cardboard box at a flea market that I nearly rejected initially because it looked as if it had been covered in some sort of tannish-colored muck that had hardened on the knife. But upon closer inspection I was intrigued and bought it. The only information the seller had was that he believed the knife was a British sailor’s knife. I believe it is a military-issue British Navy knife as it has a prominent marlin spike for undoing knots in a rope. I believe the substance on the knife is an aged coating that was meant to protect the knife from corrosion from water and salt air prior to issue. I have kept the knife “as is” for its historical value. I’m not 100% certain about this provenance so if anyone can shed some light on this it would be greatly appreciated. I’m curious about provenance, age and value. I think I paid about $10 for it back then. I will try to post a picture.
Thanks.

Welcome to AAPK!
Cosmolene (sp) was used to preserve lots of military equipment. I suspect that is what is covering your marlin spike knife.
Treefarmer

Welcome!!
Post some pics of your extensive collection!!

John

Hi there!

That knife would pose a problem for me. Leave it as is or clean it to see what it is and condition and marking on the blades. Neat find for sure.

I think you are right about it being British. I bought a ww2 bayonet for an Enfield coated in the same stuff. If it is the same stuff it is not cosmoline, it pealed off cleanly and the Bayonet looked new underneath. Cosmoline is very messy and tedious to remove.

I have a PAL USN MK1 knife that I cannot even see, its still in its wrapper.

Believe your knife is a Joseph Rodgers, Sheffield, British Navy issue. (Though it could be another Sheffield contractor, not sure who else made them.) If the spike is stamped somewhere with an arrowhead it would be a Canadian issue. Here's one without the Cosmoline protection. Welcome to the site. J.O'.

cool looking knife, welcome to AAPK

looking closer at your knife I thi9nk it could be covered with varnish it should pop right off

treefarmer wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 1:39 pm Welcome to AAPK!
Cosmolene (sp) was used to preserve lots of military equipment. I suspect that is what is covering your marlin spike knife.
Treefarmer

I think you are correct. Thank you.

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 6:16 pm Believe your knife is a Joseph Rodgers, Sheffield, British Navy issue. (Though it could be another Sheffield contractor, not sure who else made them.) If the spike is stamped somewhere with an arrowhead it would be a Canadian issue. Here's one without the Cosmoline protection. Welcome to the site. J.O'.

Thank you.

steve99f wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 4:32 pm That knife would pose a problem for me. Leave it as is or clean it to see what it is and condition and marking on the blades. Neat find for sure.

I will be leaving it “as is” for its historical value showing how British military-issue rigging knives were protected from corrosion. There are probably thousands of cleaned-up examples in collections but Ive never seen one with the protective coating still on it, which means it was probably never issued and probably in unused condition.
Thanks for the reply.

gordonjohn wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 8:18 pm cool looking knife, welcome to AAPK

Thank you, Sir.

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 6:16 pm Believe your knife is a Joseph Rodgers, Sheffield, British Navy issue. (Though it could be another Sheffield contractor, not sure who else made them.) If the spike is stamped somewhere with an arrowhead it would be a Canadian issue. Here's one without the Cosmoline protection. Welcome to the site. J.O'.

Thank you for the pics and info.

jmh58 wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 3:51 pm Welcome!!
Post some pics of your extensive collection!!

John

I will most definitely be posting some pics of some of my collection as time goes on.
Thank you Sir.

The difficulty is these types of knives were produced by many manufacturers in the thousands for everyone from the Navy to the Girl Guides

A vintage commercial 'Jack' type clasp knife, knife blade, can/bottle opener, marlin spike and screwdriver tip, the knife blade is 70mm(2 3/4") with makers name Jowika Republic of Ireland, with makers trade mark, black plastic grips, good springs, steel shackle, it is 100mm(4")

See my best match to yours in attached photos

Welcome SOL enjoy

Definitely Cosmoline, a great protection from rust, messy but easily removed. I bought a Mosin Nagant that was covered in that stuff . . . but not rusty.

to AAPK, lots of friendly knife info here!

John

eveled wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 4:50 pm I think you are right about it being British. I bought a ww2 bayonet for an Enfield coated in the same stuff. If it is the same stuff it is not cosmoline, it pealed off cleanly and the Bayonet looked new underneath. Cosmoline is very messy and tedious to remove.

I have a PAL USN MK1 knife that I cannot even see, its still in its wrapper. FBBA8606-5862-4BE6-819F-E9A1A952D87F.jpeg117A058C-4A49-4F14-B2E3-C7D477703A7D.jpeg

Cosmoline can vary greatly in its appearance and texture depending on several things. I can remember as a kid my dad, older brother, and brother in law got in on the NRA program to buy military surplus weapons in about 1960 or so. All three of them got Springfield 1903 rifles and my dad also got an M1 Carbine and two 1911 pistols. All were packed in cosmoline. I can recall when they arrived, (one had to pick these up at the nearest rail shipping office, they were not sent by mail), I helped and mostly watched them being unpacked. Dad, brother and brother in law tried to run a patch on a cleaning rod down the bore. Two of the Springfields had soft cosmoline in the bores that pushed out like you would see soft grease act. But when my brother pushed a rod down the bore on his 1903, the cosmoline pushed out in a solid rod form. It was hard enough that it could be handled like a wooded dowel, but when dropped on a hard surface broke into pieces. The cosmoline on the outer surfaces also varied from being soft like grease gun consistency to being hard and peeling off in sheets. If I remember correctly, the rifles were completely stripped and the parts soaked in paint thinner (probably because that was on hand) for several hours. Most likely the conditions, temperature and humidity and length of time stored affected this as well as there being different manufactures of cosmoline. Now the real interesting part which will I hope bring a laugh to everyone. These guns thru the NRA program back in 1960 were $15 each. When I went with dad to pick them up I can recall he had to show his receipt that proved payment and the 3 Springfields, one Carbine and two 45 pistols was about $100 total including shipping!!!! If I remember correctly the M1 Carbine was a US Postal Meter, one of the 45's was a British marked Colt, and the other 45 was a Remington Rand that was in unfired condition.

Welcome to AAPK. Left click on the image below to make it larger.

What this chart doesn't tell you is that the Broad Arrow stamp was not used exclusivly on the F-S knives. The Broad Arrow was a mark used to identify the knife as property of the Crown. This was also true of the knives such as yours.