So you want to do your bit for the environment. Reduce Reuse Recycle

The below knife was one of my fathers Butchers knives that has sat in a draw for over 20-30 years in my possession and probably 20+ years in my fathers.

Take a old German made butchers knife. Great steel made in the day, Carbon steel at its best, and even better being a Gustav Emil Ern Blade.


https://www.cooksmill.co.uk/blog/gustav-emil-ern-knives.html

Like this


Cracked handle


and

Turn it into a great knife Again







This is such a nice Hardwood handle



So next time your at a thrift store and see a old butchers knife for a few $$s

A knife like this would cost you at least a couple of hundred dollars with a blade nowhere near as good as the early carbon steel used before WW2 and being one of the last companies to employ highly skilled craftsmen to hand make knives whilst most other companies were mass producing knives

(Henckels and Wustof, who were the largest two competitors to Gustav Emil Ern, started mass producing their knives after World War 2. This lowered the cost of production immensely and made it difficult for Gustav Emil Ern to compete against them.)

 

I've got a small collection of knives;

A few Victorinox / Wenger (small, medium and large)
Spyderco Pingo
Spyderco Tenacious
Spyderco Resilience
Spyderco Caribbean (x2)
Fox Knives Vox Tur
Ontario Rat 1 - Aus 8
Ontario Rat 1 - D2
Buck 119

EDC rotates between the Tenacious and the Rat 1 D2, but the 2nd Caribbean will be taking up pocket residence soon....

 

Pictures?

 

I have an accumulation.

SInce Wisconsin no longer considers switchblades illegal, I have a nice Benchmade Infidel and its less aggressive brother, which I should sell. I am also a big fan of Victorinox, and I have a red alox Hunter, Swiss Champ, a few red alox Pioneers....

Then there is the USN Mk II from WWII, modern version as well, and, well, a couple of bayonets I can mount on my shotgun.

 

Is anyone into WE knives?
I am new in knives but there are few WE's which I really like, tho they are not affordable at all. For example 818B Tyche, 819A Drakon or 604L.
Do WE's keep the value in case I would like to flip them one day?

 

CIVIVI Wyvern.
A budget brand knife but much of the fun.

 

So I wouldn't say I "collect" knives, but I definitely carry one every day, and have gone through some iterations of my EDC. Here's a few pictures of what I have ready access to - others are around but I'm not sure where.

1.) Victorinox SAK - Aluminum scale Officer's model. These I ordered as groomsmen gifts for my wedding 10 years ago. This one was the one I got for my dad, engraved with his initials. He passed away in 2012.

2.) Opinel No.9 Carbon steel - my mom bought a case of these back in the mid '80s for around $3 a knife - closeout from somewhere. It's marked "Coughlin's". I carried this daily for several years after finding it when cleaning out her house when she passed away in 2015. In many ways this is a perfect pocket knife - sharp, super light, and just works.

3.) Ontario RAT 2 - AUS8 - this was purchased before the D2 model was available, and is absolutely my hands down 1st recommendation when someone is looking for an EDC pocketknife. The ergonomics are fantastic, it is easy to open, easy to close safely, inexpensive, etc. I honestly don't think it gets better than this knife for the price. I still want one in D2, but haven't gotten it yet.

4.) Ganzo Firebird FH21 - This one got good reviews for the price (around $26 iirc), is made of D2 steel and G10 scales, ball bearing flipper, etc. And it looks pretty cool. But for me that's about where it ends. It is HEAVY and really thick compared to the RAT 2. The flipper action is no where near as smooth as the thumb stud and washers on the RAT has become, etc. Just not something I enjoyed carrying, so it's relegated to a drawer.

5.) Massdrop Ferrum Forge Gent in S35VN - This one is a winner, especially for the bargain basement price of $40 shipped I got it for (that was a special sale combined with $20 off your first MD purchase). It's a titanium frame with G10 scales, and a terrific steel blade. The flip action is smooth and controlled feeling, as is the close. It's slightly smaller overall, and lighter than the RAT2, but has a slightly longer blade. It's been my EDC since I got it. Despite the pocket clip looking weak it absolutely is not - it works very well.

 

My recent acquisitions thanks to this thread and STANDY.

 

My Spyderco karambit with my name engraved on it and my Seiko (on my speedmaster's strap :-P ) are on my almost every day.

 

Where are you in the world @vitriol ?

WE are new in the game and making some nice knives but all made in China with prices that don’t suit.
I don’t touch any knives made in China

Spyderco or Chris Reeve knives would hold better value.

Spyderco are probably the best for selling later on if you can get sprint runs
( limited steels and colour handles in batches of about 600 )

 

Do like the Damascus fixed blade.

Looks like one I got a few weeks ago



http://www.walkaboutchef.com.au/component/content/article/9-walkaboutchef/50.html

Tell him Andy from Darwin put you onto him and he will look after you.

 

Jumping around the Europe, curenntly in Poland. The law here is Ok, it is pretty relaxed no abnormal restrictions in wearing a knife in public areas. I could've wear a two-handed sword if I wanted to do so.

I know Chris Reeve is a legend but it's too rich fo my blood and I am not feeling Sebenza magic.
That's interesting what you said about Chinese knives, has any of them ever failed you?

 

Yes. Have had many knives rust in under 12 months, break and chip. You can never guarantee the steel your paying for is the steel your knife is made with.
( ex-butcher So I know knives and sharpen for a lot of friends, family and work mates )
But it’s like many things you get nowadays since moving manufacturing to China it’s just not the same and many good brands have done it lately.
((Pakistan is another place flooding the market with cheap knives made out of cheap steel at huge prices. Damascus steel looking knifes are bought for $20 and sold by websites for hundreds))

Spyderco are the steel junkies dream as knives made out of so many different steels it’s crazy.

Plenty of good knife brands about, and once you look into steel you will understand.

https://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/

 

A birthday present from my wife. I doubt it’ll see any use as these have become quite collectible. The push button locking mechanism on these is brilliant.

 

Interesting that you should post that - I actually just opened the thread to post the following Gerber Paul 2PM that I have. It came from my dad's stuff and is apparently unused, but is just the bare knife with no box. This one is marked with a "2" on the inside of the backstrap.

 

Don't really collect knifes but bought this from the car boot for £1

 

I have one I was given as a present years ago. The mainspring snapped the first time I opened the main blade. Otherwise a very nice looking knife. I still keep it handy since The other tools still work and if need be I can use the blade for light work by holding the broken spring down tight with my thumb.

There are a few decent knife factories in China. I believe they used to subcontract parts for Japanese knife brands.

 

Knives made in India in the 80s, however.....

 

Quite a bummer, both knives in my "collection" are Chinese:/
CH.knife you probably never heard of before but that's fine, I love the design and don't care about the brand recognition. Very happy how CH is performig.



Civivi looks like it is trouble maker.
I have it since a month and it started to rusting.

Thing is I haven't really used this knife, the only 'job' it has done was flipping all around the house.

Going to return Civivi to the dealer.
I know D2 does not have any stellar corrosion resistance but it shouldn't be rusting out of nothing, correct?