Folding Knives of the World

[beresman]

Treefarmer mentioned wanting to see a post about my collection of folding knives from various countries around the world, so I am doing this here. I'm going to go in alphabetical order, just because that's how I have identified the photos on my computer and it makes it easier for me. This'll be about six posts, I'm afraid, so bear with me!

1. Afghanistan--this is a lohar, or fighting sickle; the handle folds out and the blade folds out to about a 90 degree angle.
2. Afghanistan--no identifying marks, but I was sold this by a fellow who had been there in the army and got it there.
3. Albania--it is marked “Gjirokastra” on the handle; nothing on the tang. Gjirokastra is an area of Albania.
4. Argentina--marked "Industrial Argentina, GANDEL".
5. Australia--marked Toledo Australia.
6. Austria--marked HAPO Austria
7. Austria--the maker's name is unclear, but it is marked "Austria"
8. Belarus--a typical barrel knife (I think that's what they're called), marked Беларусь, Вызвалення, 40 Год.
9. Belarus--a funny folder marked "Minsk"
10. Belgium--marked CULTRA on the blade

[beresman]

Part 2

1. Bosnia--sold to me by someone who is an expert in cutlery from southeastern Europe. No identifying marks, so I have to take him at his word.
2. Brazil--simply marked "Stainless Brasil"
3. Bulgaria--marked "Shipka"
4. Bulgaria--marked with a hammer & sickle logo.
5. Cambodia--a modern knife by Citadel
6. Canada--marked "Grohmann"
7. Chile--marked "Parronino"
8. Chile--marked "El Huasito Parralin OO"
9. China--Other than the butterfly, I haven't been able to identify the markings. A Japanese friend says he thinks it's Chinese, so I'm going with that, rather than putting a Rough Rider here.
10. Crete--no markings, but purchased new from Crete.

[beresman]

Part 3

1. Cuba--marked "A. Ribis, Habana". This one will take off your finger if you don't get it out of the way closing it!
2. Czech Republic--marked "Swarzwolf", a modern knife
3. Czechoslovakia--marked "Mikov"
4. Czechoslovakia--simply marked "Czechoslovakia", a manicure knife
5. Denmark--a Georg Jensen knife, marked "Sterling Denmark"
6. East Germany (DDR)--marked "GML"
7. El Salvador--a modern Condor
8. England--marked "Rodgers Stainless"
9. Finland--a modern Marttiini
10. France--marked "Opinel"

[beresman]

Part 4

1. France--marked "Rowoco". This is much more interesting to me than the Opinel
2. Greece--marked "Afentakis"
3. Greece--marked "Afentakis"
4. Hong Kong--marked "Interpur"
5. Hungary--marked "Polyak"
6. India--not marked; I've seen these with other markings being sold as WW2 German knives, but we know they aren't. This is poor quality, but different.
7. India--marked "Goat"
8. Iran--the marking is symbols that I don't understand. I purchased it new as being made in Iran.
9. Ireland--marked "Jowika"
10. Israel--no maker's mark; a 6" long challah knife with a silver handle.

[beresman]

Part 5

1. Italy--marked "Maserin".
2. Italy--Marked "M. Fraraccio" on the tang and bolsters
3. Japan--Marked "Gutmann Explorer"
4. Japan--marked "Stainless Steel"
5. Lebanon--marked "Jezzine City". I love these knives! Not very functional, but cool!
6. Lebanon--marked "Jezzine City"
7. Lithuania--marked "Lietuva, MP"
8. Mexico--marked "Dos Ciervos"
9. Mexico--marked "Imperial"
10. Montenegro--unmarked but sold to me by that same expert in Southeastern European knives.

[beresman]

Part 6

1. Morocco--now, I don't know that this was manufactured in Morocco. It's marked "Maroc" on the handle, so I'm going with it, unless someone has better information.
2. North Korea--handle is marked "Made in D.P.R.K." Only one like it I've seen.
3. Netherlands--marked "Adola"
4. New Zealand--marked "Svörd"
5. Norway--marked "Villmarks"
6. Pakistan--marked "Pakistan"
7. Panama--ok, I don't know that this is from Panama. The tang stamp is an upside-down horseshoe (not Rough Rider), and it's marked "Panama City y Colon" on the handle. If nothing else, it's a place holder until something better comes along.
8. Philippines--no marking.
9. Poland--marked "Gerlach"
10. Portugal--marked "MAM"

[beresman]

Part 7 (OK, I said about 6 parts, but I lied!)

1. Portugal--marked "Icel"
2. Romania--marked "F.F.B., inox, Bucuresti"
3. Russia--no marking, but the well known "Squirrel" knife
4. South Korea--marked "United"
5. Scotland--Marked "Marshall, Glasgow"
6. Serbia--unmarked, sold to me by the same expert in S.E. European knives
7. South Africa--marked "Okapi"
8. Spain--marked "Andujar"
9. Spain--marked "Toledo Imperial"
10. Sweden--marked "C.O. Ryd"

[beresman]

Part 8

1. Switzerland--marked "Victorinox"
2. Taiwan--marked "Taiwan"
3. Thailand--the typical tourist brass knife
4. Tibet--no marking, but the style is, as I understand it, rather iconic that part of the world.
5. Turkey--marked "Sürmene". Purchased from Turkey.
6. Turkey--Marked "Urekl", a Bursa knife
7. Ukraine--not marked, one of those "Prison knives", and sold out of Ukraine.
8. USA--marked "USA" (colonial or Imperial, probably)
9. Yugoslavia--marked "IMPA"

[beresman]

Addendum

I have a couple of "mystery knives" that are part of this collection. If anyone has any ideas about what they are or where they came from, let me know!

1. The tang stamp looks like a Rodgers (England) counterfeit. I can't read the rest of the handle.
2. A folding dagger? Northern Africa? Middle East?

[doglegg]

Wow Brent! What an amazing bunch of knives! That quite a work in progress. Thanks for the work in posting it.

[Miller Bro's]

X2!

[treefarmer]

That's pretty neat! Thank you for going to all the work.
I saw several that are in my stash and a few that I got rid of that were quite similar in shape and decoration.
Still hard to beat a USA made Hok.
Treefarmer

[1967redrider]

Awesome collection, Brent! I hope you can complete it by finding knives from the remaining countries.

[beresman]

Still hard to beat a USA made Hok.
Treefarmer

True enough! Many of these are decent knives, but some are clearly cheap and some are mostly ornamental. None of them are EDCs for me, so I guess they're all ornamental now...

[chickenman62]

That is a very interesting collection. It must have taken some work to find them all.

[Gtrclktr-351]

There have been a lot of pretty and/or interesting knives posted here.

Thailand--the typical tourist brass knife

Yea, I’ve got a few of those. They’ve been posted before, but what the h…ey!

[knife7knut]

Great post Brent! Thanks for listing the countries of origin. The 1st mystery knife looks to be lndian. I have a few mystery knives that l would like to post(with your permission)

[bestgear]

Really cool Brent, thank you for sharing your collection with us!

[beresman]

Great post Brent! Thanks for listing the countries of origin. The 1st mystery knife looks to be lndian. I have a few mystery knives that l would like to post(with your permission)

Indian was kind of my thought, with the Rodgers counterfeit stamp being a British Empire connection, but I couldn't find anything about the company advertised, nor about the language on the opposite side.

You are welcome to post your mystery knives here!

[Don L59]

Not Sure what country this knife is from very similar to a peasant knife though. Has anyone seen a knife like this before?

[beresman]

Not Sure what country this knife is from very similar to a peasant knife though. Has anyone seen a knife like this before?

To my eye, this bears a resemblance to the clasp knives from the Balkan area of Europe (look at the knives from Montenegro and Serbia in the collection I showed above). I'm not an expert on them, by any means, but that may be a place to start.

There may be other areas that produced similar knives, as well.

[Don L59]

Thanks for the information Berryman. Very much appreciated.

[Dinadan]

This'll be about six posts, I'm afraid, so bear with me!

This is a great thread, Brent. I appreciate the time you spent getting the photos lined up for this. Very informative to see knives from so many countries. Did you mention how many years you have been working on this collection?

[beresman]

This is a great thread, Brent. I appreciate the time you spent getting the photos lined up for this. Very informative to see knives from so many countries. Did you mention how many years you have been working on this collection?

I started this collection in about 2020, and was going gangbusters for a while. Lately, I've been running out of leads for countries that I haven't already represented--although a forum member kindly offered a folder from Iceland, which I am eagerly awaiting!

[beresman]

I just received this knife today in the mail--thank you so much, QTCut5! I now have Iceland represented in my collection!

Interesting--the "Otter" trademark was owned by Gebr. Berns in Solingen, so this was probably made by them? but the tang is stamped "Reykjavik, so I'm taking it as a knife from Iceland...