Uk knives from the 1980’s onwards, how thing change

[Nice65]

I think I wanted one of the sawback hollow handled knives but instead had a Swiss Army knife (that closed hard on a finger, nearly severing it, while stabbing open my dad’s shotgun cartridges to get the powder out). After that I was given an Opinel #8 so I didn’t make the same mistake again.

A local shop sold some knives so we were always buying Whitby folders, and also a Fairburn Sykes rubbish copy. My dad went nuts when he saw that and took it back to the shop, pretty much ripped the guys head off for selling a teen a stabbing knife intended as a weapon. Me and my mate, well we liked all that war stuff, I suppose it was like a blank firer for us, all the noise and excitement but not intended to harm.

Best 80’s knife was from an Italian knife shop on holiday. I got to choose, and picked an antler handled hidden tang sheath knife with a rounded polished aluminium pommel.

 

[zed4130]

Not been in this group for a long time , anyway , knives, I picked most of mine up at the carboot sales in the early 80's , my aunty use to take me and I picked up a lot of old military knives, including old khukuris, it's one if the k gives I still use to this day ( not the same one lol) later 80's I picked up a few of the hollow handled survival knives , there was a lot back then, around 89 I got a more no1 style knife and combined it with a villager khukuri I had, I stick with that combo till around 3rys ago when I designed my own knife and a mk2 version , but I still carry a khukuri now and then .

 

[Corso]

combat and survival magazine was basically my Christmas wish list in the 80's

A SAK/GAK and the USN Pilots knife top of it unfortunatly all I got was chinese knock offs

still loved them but they didn't last long

 

[ONE]

I actually ended up with a Tramontina bowie, which was about a tenner from a shop in a local seaside resort. Being now the owner of several 'name' knives and even a couple of handcrafted ones, I can honestly say it's one of the sharpest 'out of the box' blades I've ever owned. Lost it when my whole tent and contents were stolen at some point in the nineties.

 

[Murat_Cyp]

The knife of choice for me in my youth was the old cheap Chinese hollow handled "survival" knife with the big ball compass on the pommel.
The steel was so soft the tip would bend.
The amount of times I cut my fingers trying to sharpen the blade with that tiny oilstone!
Never did manage to catch any fish with the fishing kit either.
Managed to find a photo online of one.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

+1

 

[tombear]

The first knife ( excluding craft knives for modeling ) was a horsemans pocket knife with the big hooky tool for scraping boy scouts out of horse shoes that had bee my great grandfather's who had been a farrier- blacksmith at the pit. I got that when my grandad died when I was about 6 after seeing where my dad had hid it on top of a wardrobe. My next one was a cheap and nasty Made in Ireland hobo knife I bought in a News Agent's/tourist tat shop in Matlock when I first started going camping with my mates. My first SAK I bought with my first grant cheque when I went off to uni in 87. That stayed my main user until 2 years ago despite buying numerous other penknives etc over the intervening years.

My first sheath knife was a battered uk made sloyd knife bought on a carboot which is still in the godawful sheath I made for it from clothes grade leather stiffened with wax.

Combat and Survival was my main inspiration back then, in about 88 or 89 i got a leatherman from Survival Aids seeing their add in one addition. About the same time picked up a old MoD type D from a flea market in Newcastle under Lyme. The old dear practically gave it to me to stop some kids from hassling her over selling it to them. Still got it in a Aktis sheath I bought much later and it was just the job for splitting logs and hacking. A couple of years later I ground the pointy end down to a Bowie sort of shape and it was never the same.

When was courting herself I made the mistake of showing her a add for the Oakwood-Wiseman knife, my point being it was far too much knife for UK use , but no doubt would be useful in the jungle. The wrong end of the stick was taken and I was presented with one for my next birthday, apart from trying it out on some sticks in the backyard it remains unused. It's from when they were being made by some manufacturer of agricultural tools and is a bit rough under the heavy phosphating . I keep threatening to refinish it and replace the rubber grips with something prettier but it hasn't happened in 30 odd years so can't see it happening now.

Other uk made made knives have been the obligatory army jack knives from carboots and one new locking job, the pretty little Sheffield made single blade folder I got from one of the last little mesters when we were picking cutlary that was a wedding present which I carried on the day. Years later we took the kids to a open air museum in Shef' and I got myself a lovely two bladed Abblet (?) Since I'd temporarily lost my wedding knife.

The mid 90s saw me trying out various CRKTs which all but one are in the to sell or swap pile

During the late 90s I went through a Scandi knife phase ( still favour them for carving ) but my users are now either various Grohmanns from Canada or a couple of Bernie Garland blade blanks I finished handled and made sheaths for.

I do admire the stuff Individual uk knife makers are offering these days but can't see me ever buying any now. I've a couple of low end basic historical replica blades, the sort of things for living history bought as blanks but they aint really users.

That's basically it.

Atb

Tom








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