Heres something that doesnt come up for sale often: the Expert outdoors knife, made by Marbles Sporting Arms, Michigan.
This is the exact model of knife recommended by (and used by) the American wilderness guru Calvin Rutstrum. It is pictured in his classic book The New Way of the Wilderness published in 1958.
You can read more about the man and his tools here: http://www.oldjimbo.com/Outdoors-Magazine/Calvin-Rutstrum-and-His-Tools.pdf
Although the Marbles company is still around, their current production is made in China. This particular knife has the bakelite pommel which indicates it was made during, or shortly after, the second world war. Most were made with an aluminium pommel but in the war years this material was needed for the war effort.
Its a good knife: blade fractionally under 5 inches, leather washer handle. Its a good user but not pristine, there is a little corrosion mottling of the blade. The tang stamp is readable. The sheath is poor and non original. The guard is very small most knives of the time had a bigger guard, but Rutstrum found a big guard gets in the way. Sounds familiar?
Steel is carbon and good quality.
Original Marbles are very collectible and sell for around $100 up on American ebay. Of course we cannot buy knives on ebay now so they are difficult to source in the UK.
My reason for selling is I already have another Expert. I bought one from the US and it went missing in the post, so I bought another. Months later, the first one turned up!
Id like £69 including delivery and paypal. The Rutstrum book is not included its for information.
This is the exact model of knife recommended by (and used by) the American wilderness guru Calvin Rutstrum. It is pictured in his classic book The New Way of the Wilderness published in 1958.
You can read more about the man and his tools here: http://www.oldjimbo.com/Outdoors-Magazine/Calvin-Rutstrum-and-His-Tools.pdf
Although the Marbles company is still around, their current production is made in China. This particular knife has the bakelite pommel which indicates it was made during, or shortly after, the second world war. Most were made with an aluminium pommel but in the war years this material was needed for the war effort.
Its a good knife: blade fractionally under 5 inches, leather washer handle. Its a good user but not pristine, there is a little corrosion mottling of the blade. The tang stamp is readable. The sheath is poor and non original. The guard is very small most knives of the time had a bigger guard, but Rutstrum found a big guard gets in the way. Sounds familiar?
Steel is carbon and good quality.
Original Marbles are very collectible and sell for around $100 up on American ebay. Of course we cannot buy knives on ebay now so they are difficult to source in the UK.
My reason for selling is I already have another Expert. I bought one from the US and it went missing in the post, so I bought another. Months later, the first one turned up!
Id like £69 including delivery and paypal. The Rutstrum book is not included its for information.
