Whipsnade took a very dim view when I asked if I could do some big game hunting there.
They can be so petty!
UK Woodscraft knife?
- Thread starter Man of Tanith
- Start date
They can be so petty!
An army jack knife. Razor sharp, sturdier than a SA or Opinel, and that spike was an awfully useful tool too.
Like these...
http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/original-army-issue-clasp-knife-product,1339
Like these...
http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/original-army-issue-clasp-knife-product,1339
MoT - I think the idea of a fixed blade knife is really a modern one in Woodcraft and especially British woodcraft, where over centuries of developing and excelling at coppicing, our Woodsmen were using quite specific tools for their trade.
I believe that a man of the woods would have a pocket knife about his person. And that this would have been ample for all his non-agricultural tasks.
A Churri could have been quite common place. Many of the Romany community made a wage as charcoal burners and seasonal woods workers up and down the country.
Certainly in the 19th century this was taking place. You can often see evidence of managed, coppiced and plantation woodland containing a small area of grazing, enough to sustain a cob for at least a few days, perfect for hosting such migrant workers, of both the two and four legged variety.
Although the fixed blade By Rodgers shown were popular, and down clearly remember them fondly, it is worth noting that these were primarily produced for the US export market (arguably the life-blood of Sheffield's cutlery industry).
The antler handled knife, is base upon the Marbles Ideal hunting knife, introduced around the turn of the 1900's.
I believe that a man of the woods would have a pocket knife about his person. And that this would have been ample for all his non-agricultural tasks.
A Churri could have been quite common place. Many of the Romany community made a wage as charcoal burners and seasonal woods workers up and down the country.
Certainly in the 19th century this was taking place. You can often see evidence of managed, coppiced and plantation woodland containing a small area of grazing, enough to sustain a cob for at least a few days, perfect for hosting such migrant workers, of both the two and four legged variety.
Although the fixed blade By Rodgers shown were popular, and down clearly remember them fondly, it is worth noting that these were primarily produced for the US export market (arguably the life-blood of Sheffield's cutlery industry).
The antler handled knife, is base upon the Marbles Ideal hunting knife, introduced around the turn of the 1900's.
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A nice article on the Romany Churi here - I might have a go at one of these myself...
So many projects, so little time!
So many projects, so little time!
I grew up in the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk fens being born in 1962 I caught the beginning of mechanisation and the end of a lot of hand work. From what I remember, everyone who worked on the land, and most other folk, carried a single bladed folder of some sort - referred to as your "shut-knife". They were used for anything and everything light duty such as onion wringing, cutting string, eating your "dockey" (that's your packed lunch when working on the land), game prep in the shooting season etc etc. Often sharpened, seldom cleaned! Multi blade knives were scorned as being hard on the hand if you used them all day. My dad carried a Taylors Eye Witness most of his life, until the blade was snapped by my brother treading on it. Then he switched to an opinel.
Any job that needed a heavier cutting tool there seemed to be a specific tool for like a billhook and slasher for hedge work and clearing scrub, a beet hook for topping sugar beet, little reaping hooks and the like. Most of them seemed to be quite old, even back then. I still have a few things from clearing my father's shed, but sad to say lots of those old tools just went in the scrap.
Hope the above rambling makes some sort of sense.
Dave
Any job that needed a heavier cutting tool there seemed to be a specific tool for like a billhook and slasher for hedge work and clearing scrub, a beet hook for topping sugar beet, little reaping hooks and the like. Most of them seemed to be quite old, even back then. I still have a few things from clearing my father's shed, but sad to say lots of those old tools just went in the scrap.
Hope the above rambling makes some sort of sense.
Dave
My dad is a retired farmer on the beds cambs border and refers t his pocket knife as a shut knife too.
I think on reflection as MartiniDave and Scruff have said there wouldnt of been a specific belt knife but more the proper tool for the proper job.
Gonna have t play with a Churi though
I think on reflection as MartiniDave and Scruff have said there wouldnt of been a specific belt knife but more the proper tool for the proper job.
Gonna have t play with a Churi though
Actually, thinking about it, every single teacher at my primary school in our village (Little Downham), had a pen knife in their desk drawers, for sharpening our pencils.
I have to say I'm enjoying this thread, it's really brought some memories flooding back.
Although I'm a huge fan of the SAK in it's many forms, these days I quite often carry an Eye Witness lambfoot with the black delrin fake antler scales, its more than adequate for most things I need a blade for unless I'm crafting.
I have to say I'm enjoying this thread, it's really brought some memories flooding back.
Although I'm a huge fan of the SAK in it's many forms, these days I quite often carry an Eye Witness lambfoot with the black delrin fake antler scales, its more than adequate for most things I need a blade for unless I'm crafting.
You probably know this already - Bromham (Beds) now has its own Scout campsite, and very good it is too!
I do indeed
There was a Gent who left land to the Scout Movement and also the Guides.
I spent a lot of my formative years in Bromham
It was either my grandad or great grandad who started the cricket club there
Interesting how the our travelling brothers fixed the wooden handle on to the tang.
I will try it.
Also, interesting they used an "eating" knife as base. I was not aware of those being hardened and tempered.
Gives us another perspective on the blade thickness, as those knives are even thinner than an old Swedish knife (made in Mora and elsewhere)!
I will try it.
Also, interesting they used an "eating" knife as base. I was not aware of those being hardened and tempered.
Gives us another perspective on the blade thickness, as those knives are even thinner than an old Swedish knife (made in Mora and elsewhere)!
I suppose it came down to using what was available to them. They wouldn't have had the luxury of being too fussy.
Correct. They learned to use within the limits of the tools.
The log thick blades is a fairly new thing. It seems many of us have developed a need to bash blades.
The log thick blades is a fairly new thing. It seems many of us have developed a need to bash blades.
I'm not that old but the old boy's of the woods I knew carried a billhook and army jack knife or a single blade pocket knife, my step father a bowie, and for me my first was a SAK like single blade and then a scout knife like wicca posted.
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Interesting thread
I had one of these in my pocket most of the time when i was growing up in the 70s and 80s
It was given to me by my dad, who carried it when he was a lad too
Can't remember what happened to it....shame really, good little penknife at the time
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
I had one of these in my pocket most of the time when i was growing up in the 70s and 80s
It was given to me by my dad, who carried it when he was a lad too
Can't remember what happened to it....shame really, good little penknife at the time
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
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Interesting thread this. I think there are two questions being answered here
1. As the OP what belt knife was used years ago (at least partly for recreation)
2. What did working men use day to day
I think the belt knife ruled up until pocket knives became cheap enough for anyone to own.
Then for most folks (just as today) a folder will perform 99% of everyday cutting tasks and is just more handy to carry
The roger's scout knife and similar was for hobbyists and enthusiasts
The romany knife is just what most poor folk would have had....an old kitchen knife modded to suit
So if we are looking for a common mans belt knife from 100 years ago then the most authentic source would be either the scabbiest knife in the your kitchen drawer or the best one you can find at a car boot sale for pennies
1. As the OP what belt knife was used years ago (at least partly for recreation)
2. What did working men use day to day
I think the belt knife ruled up until pocket knives became cheap enough for anyone to own.
Then for most folks (just as today) a folder will perform 99% of everyday cutting tasks and is just more handy to carry
The roger's scout knife and similar was for hobbyists and enthusiasts
The romany knife is just what most poor folk would have had....an old kitchen knife modded to suit
So if we are looking for a common mans belt knife from 100 years ago then the most authentic source would be either the scabbiest knife in the your kitchen drawer or the best one you can find at a car boot sale for pennies
My Grandfather was a 'common' man but he had a decent knife for his hunting, fishing and outdoor activities. He'd had it since the 30's and was quite proud of it and delighted in my interest in it (50 years ago).
I was given my first 'belt' knife when I was about 12. An old gentleman then, who must have been a scout between the wars, gave me the knife which was sadly lost on a camp trip. It was a fairly plain, straight wood handled, through tan knife with a brass guard. Again, that was a decent knife and certainly not something made from a piece of cutlery. OK, he was a Methodist Reverend but still not well off.
Yep, as i say those are recreational knives. A modern comparison would be you or i having a nice bushy knife or folder for days out and a jobbing builder having a stanley somewhere in his tool box
A reverend might not be wealthy but he certainly wouldn't have been poor. I was talking about romany people....some of them lived near subsistence lifestyles
I don't think my Grandfather saw it as 'recreational'; most of the meat that was on their table was from his night-time activities. It was a working knife to him.
But yes, I agree, people with need had a skill of making useful stuff out of nothing (also points to the folly of some of our knife laws but let's not get into that on this thread
).
Mors Kockanski has a YouTube entry on bushcraft knives in which he comments that folding pocket knives were the norm in the bush in his early days.
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