All About Pocket Knives

Recently purchased at auction as a WW2 Italian commando knife. I havent been able to find out anything online. It's stamped Hoffritz Italy. It was heavily rusted so I gave it a good clean. There's a strong magnifying glass as seen in the photos and a pinhole further up the blade which makes me believe it's to do with map reading navigation. It has a heavy serrated edge, bottle/can opener near hilt and another hole presumebly for unscrewing bolts. It is I guess a heavy duty survival knife. Has a heavy brass hilt and a metal grip with a brass tip. About 13 inches in length in a nice leather scabbard with a sharpening stone inside. I mean it looks military. Hoffritz was an American company I understand so my assumption is it's post WW2. For who's military and branch is open to question. Could it even be American services. Korea or Nam. Was it a mass produced item or a specialist item. It's a real big heavy and quite intimidating item I must confess. Anyone have any ideas?

On a survival knife, a magnifier could be used as a fire starter. The pommel is knurled, does it unscrew to reveal a hollow handle?

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2023 12:31 pm On a survival knife, a magnifier could be used as a fire starter. The pommel is knurled, does it unscrew to reveal a hollow handle?

Yes it could be used as a firestarter I guess. I've given the pommel a go. It feels fixed.

The auction was in the U.K by the way.

I'm edging towards airforce survival knife vietnam era.

I don't think Hoffritz would have been involved with actual military deployment. They were a chain of stores selling cutlery and contracted to knife manufacturers for their wares. I think the knife would be more in line with general non-military survival knives made during the 1980's and 90's when there was a surging demand for that style of knife thanks to Rambo.

Eric

ea42 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:41 pm I don't think Hoffritz would have been involved with actual military deployment. They were a chain of stores selling cutlery and contracted to knife manufacturers for their wares. I think the knife would be more in line with general non-military survival knives made during the 1980's and 90's when there was a surging demand for that style of knife thanks to Rambo.

Eric

It looks too well made and old for 80s/90s. I can't imagine a magnifier getting into a knock off 80s Rambo imitator.

I have read due to shortages manufacturers like Hoffritz were supplying knives to servicemen in Nam. Not official army merch. The holster this one is married to looks identical to those worn and survived through till now.

This site appears to back up my theory.

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums ... nt-1011668
Commercial Copies

The popularity of the Jet Pilot Survival Knife spawned a multitude of copies and knock-off’s--some very good and some very bad.

Most of the copies were made in Japan and were available in stores in the States, via mail-order catalogs and in the PX’s. Japanese JPK copies with the name brand of importers like Kiffe, Hoffritz, Valor, PIC and OMOR were common (PICTURES). These knives were very popular among military personnel that did not have easy access to government issue JPK’s and were widely used in the 60’s and 70’s by a lot of our servicemen. Here are two examples—photos courtesy of Administrator GWB123 and Moderator Bayonetman.

No military would ever use such an inane design. That blade is a weak design that would never pass any military knife testing. Somebody's design who likely never used a knife. I have been to the Hoffritz store in NYC many times, they sold quality knives and junk knives.

Gunsil wrote: ↑Sun Apr 02, 2023 2:24 pm No military would ever use such an inane design. That blade is a weak design that would never pass any military knife testing. Somebody's design who likely never used a knife. I have been to the Hoffritz store in NYC many times, they sold quality knives and junk knives.

Well it's certainly not weak in terms of structure. The serated edge is vicious. It feels very well balanced in the hand but I guess the design is an acquired taste. Each to his own I guess. Italian made knives have an unenviable craftsmanship reputation imho. I was mostly enquiring about the period and whether the magnifier was just a gimmick or had any navigation purpose. It seems oddly specific.

It is VERY weak in terms of structure. The bottle cap remover at the ricasso and the circular hole just past the ricasso make it very weak for snapping at those points. The US stopped even ricasso stamping of the famous Mark 2 fighting knives just to provide more stable ricasso areas. Ridiculous design for a "survival" knife. I agree with Eric, rambo inspired knife for armchair survivalists, probably 80s-90s.

I see Hoffritz and Italy.

If you google Hoffritz Explorer, there are some similar images. I'm thinking that "Explorer" time frame...

Hoffritz was a cutlery seller but not a manufacturer- they commissioned others to make cutlery with the Hoffritz name stamped on the knives. It’s therefore not reasonable to believe any military or government agency would contract with Hoffritz for cutlery - they would procure it directly from the manufacturer. A search on line for Hoffritz Explorer or Hoffritz Survivor will find similar Hoffritz products, minus the magnifing glass fire starter gimmick. Those I found having the knurled pommel state the handle is “hollow for storage” (Similar to other Rambo-inspired survival knives from that time period).

Ken

Back in the 1930s Hoffritz had knives made for them by KA-BAR/Union Cut. Hard to find but they are out there.

Did these guys eventually become Gutmann?