All About Pocket Knives

I recently had the good fortune to be passed down a knife collection for a distant relative. We weren't really close, but he knew I collected knives and I'm sure that's why I ended up with his collection.

There are some really cool knives in his quiver, including a few that have left me scratching my head, including this one.

There is a long punch on one side and what looks like a bitter knife or unsharpened razor on the other. The top has what appears to be a button you would push, but it doesn't actually move. It's soldered to the handle.

I'm sure it's a profession specific took, I just can't figure out what profession. My image hunting for anything similar has come up empty so far, so I'm putting it out there for you bright people to help with.

I think it is a pipe smokers knife. Button for tamping the bowl and the others for cleaning the pipe.

Amen again to doglegg's comment!
Treefarmer

Definitely a pipe smokers knife. From the pictures, I'd say a very nice pipe smokers knife.

The blade is a bowl reamer,the punch is a stem reamer,the disk at the end is a tamper. It may still smell like somebody's pipe.

Yep, definitely a Pipe Smoker's Tool. No doubt about it.

I am curious about one of the knives in the background of one of your photos. Would you show some pics of it and tell us what you know about it? Thanks.

You're all on top of it! The sad part is, I've owned something similar in the past and I didn't make the connection. It was that darned butter knife looking blade that threw me. Thank you all!

It is, without a doubt, a pipe knife. Is there a brand name on it, or a country of origin?

The blade is blunt so the point of the blade does not dig to the bowl of the pipe, which can cause the bowl to burnout. The edge is usually sharp to scrape down the cake that forms in the bowl.

The tamper is to tamp the tobacco down. This is used when loading the pipe to insure proper packing of the tobacco so it will stay lit. It is also handy to keep the tobacco burning by knocking down the ash so your can relight the pipe should it go out. Tobacco expands when you light it, so it is necessary to tamp the tobacco after the first match, then relight.

The pick is to clear obstructions, (like a piece of tobacco), from the wooden shank of the pipe, as well as for loosening the tobacco in the pipe if one finds they have packed the tobacco too tightly.

Several knife companies made pipes smokers knives, Rodgers of Sheffield, Geo. Wolstenholm, Camillus, Gerber, Kershaw, and I think Schrade made one a long time ago.

Here are a few. The ivory & checkered horn models have a folding tobacco tamper that sets into the handle when not in use.