The original knife thread.

[Zak]

No etch or any marking on the blade. The sheath has what looks like a Fiskars stamp and the sheath was clearly made for the knife, based on the perfect fit. It appears to be unused and unsharpened new old stock.

There's more of them for sale, here's the link:

Vintage Puukko Knife made in Finland | eBay

Genuine Fiskars Puukko Fixed Blade knife. This knife is 8 1/8" overall with a 4" blade and is complete with the silver banded Genuine Leather Finnish style sheath.

www.ebay.com

 

[Replicant]

No etch or any marking on the blade. The sheath has what looks like a Fiskars stamp and the sheath was clearly made for the knife, based on the perfect fit. It appears to be unused and unsharpened new old stock.

This one got me curious. It's definitely a Fiskars. From what I've been able to find, it was made in the seventies, likely. I had an opportunity to spend more money than I wanted to on a 'Tapio Wirkkala' Puukko model a while back and seriously regret not going for it. Made by Fiskars and possibly another maker.

 

[Zak]

This one got me curious. It's definitely a Fiskars. From what I've been able to find, it was made in the seventies, likely. I had an opportunity to spend more money than I wanted to on a 'Tapio Wirkkala' Puukko model a while back and seriously regret not going for it. Made by Fiskars and possibly another maker.

I was worried that the 40-50 year old rubber grip would be degrading, but it's in fine shape. I have always liked this style sheath with the dangling belt loop.

I once had a very nice puukko knife. I forget the maker, but the handle was triangular in cross section. No idea how I parted with it!

 

[Replicant]

Another pair of Silver Knights, made in Japan. The 'Tropical Hardwood' seems to be the most common along with the plain, brushed steel shown earlier. The larger knife is in checkered green, ABS plastic with the Gerber legendary blades emblem. These are not so common. The first year manufacture of the Silver Knight, was actually the Silver Eagle. I think it was a copyright infringement which required the name change. These knives also had the alpha-numeric sizing reference that would continue throughout Gerber's other lines in the 80s and 90s. 200 being the smallest, 250 and 300 being the largest. The knives below are 250 and 300.

 

[Replicant]

Another pair of more sought after handle materials. Gerber Silver Knight (250 size) in black lip pearl (top) and mother of pearl (bottom). For better or worse, Gerber really pushed the market for promotional, company logo, recognition and special orders on their knives back in the day. If it weren't for the bargain find in a second hand shop, I would not have pursued the top knife. The bottom knife is a less common two blade slip joint. Gerber even made a three blade, which is pretty rare. I had one briefly, but the condition was meh. More history below if you're interested.


The Silver Eagle/Knight line of knives was an Al Mar concept. I don't know why Gerber was intent on having these made in Japan, but I don't suspect that they were trying to push production offshore for higher profit margins at this time in their history. Allegedly, they were talking to their distributor in Japan about this 'gentlemen's' knife concept back in 72. Right around the same time, they introduced their first folding sportsman, which was made in Germany. My hunch is that they didn't have the tooling, or were reluctant to spend the capital. Again, that's just a hunch. The interesting thing to me, is that this line almost didn't get off the ground. When they originally started talking about having them made in Japan, they were surprised to hear (allegedly), that there were no top to bottom/vertical knife producers in Japan at the time. Individual components were jobbed out to various smith's. Knives were not made all in one house. The other thing was that Gerber wanted to make sure that the Japanese could adhere to Gerber's quality standards (Oh how the tables have turned). It wasn't until 76 that Gerber's man in Japan had put them together with the Sakai family. They essentially made a whole new company (mentioned before) Gerber/Sakai or GSakai. The knives were incredible. The quality was exceptional and they had a long, long run. Cost was probably a driving factor of terminating this line and Fiskars was all about mass production by the time they got their paws on Gerber. When the line was reintroduced in 2002, the MSRP on one of the knives above was $100.00 - I find the whole Japan thing interesting in that it paved the way for other brands like AL Mar, SOG and Spyderco to name a few.

 

[wanderingrichard]

Does the stamp day Japanese Imperial Postal Service or something to that effect ?

 

[Replicant]

Does the stamp day Japanese Imperial Postal Service or something to that effect ?

I can't get it to translate well, but yes I think you're right. It's a very common 'chrysanthemum' series from 1899 through 1907 (some sources say thru 1913.)

 

[Replicant]

A pair of 200 (size) Gerber Sakai lock backs. The top one is in Abalone. Overall, one of the most desired versions, as no two are alike. The bottom is the Eagle scrimshaw ( I call it the sad eagle), some scrimshaw versions included a bass, deer, ducks and more versions of eagles. These were made from the early 80s through the early 90s.

 

[Replicant]

The aptly named Vulcan - Not part of the Silver Knight series, but still part of the international series, made in Japan. Black checkered rubber scales. This one is the small. They were in the catalog for one year only in three sizes / 1989.

 

[Replicant]

Another 'International' series knife by Gerber, made in Japan. This 'Stallion' model is not very common, but was in catalogs in the mid 90s. The blade profile is similar to their more popular 'Gator' series. This knife was completely enshrouded in soft, grippy rubber. Even the lock back was encased, which to be honest is a bit annoying. A big knife and very comfortable in the hand, but kind of an oddity in the early Gerber line up.

 

[Brute]

My dad made a couple drop point knives from ss spackle knives a long time ago…he would shape them on a grinder, then finished them with a file. He also made the sheaths from an old leather police belt…I wish I still had one of them…great little bird knives

 

[SurfnFish]

for decades there was a custom knife maker in the little town of Davenport, David Boyle, which is on the coast between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. He'd get worn out saw blades from the local mill, Big Creek Lumber, and cut blade blanks from them. His work was pretty amazing.

 

[Replicant]

for decades there was a custom knife maker in the little town of Davenport, David Boyle, which is on the coast between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. He'd get worn out saw blades from the local mill, Big Creek Lumber, and cut blade blanks from them. His work was pretty amazing.
View attachment 173690

That’s beautiful. Any chance that it’s David Boye, not Boyle?

 

[SurfnFish]

That’s beautiful. Any chance that it’s David Boye, not Boyle?

think you're right...during my decades in Half Moon Bay, would often stop at the little Davenport store on the way back from surfing Santa Cruz, wandered into David's shop a few times, drooled over the few knives he had on display.

 

[Replicant]

think you're right...during my decades in Half Moon Bay, would often stop at the little Davenport store on the way back from surfing Santa Cruz, wandered into David's shop a few times, drooled over the few knives he had on display.

I wondered. His custom work is amazing. I used to have this basic folder of his. If I recall correctly, the blade is not steel, but cast, dendritic cobalt or cobalt alloy 6. Possibly the same as stellite or talonite. Your knife is a gem.

 

[SurfnFish]

I wondered. His custom work is amazing. I used to have this basic folder of his. If I recall correctly, the blade is not steel, but cast, dendritic cobalt or cobalt alloy 6. Possibly the same as stellite or talonite. Your knife is a gem.

View attachment 173724

those lines...and to be clearer, not my knife, from an article I came across that flashed the recall

 

[Replicant]

Part of the Escort series. These were sold along side the Silver Knight series, and were also made in Japan. Not really my area of interest, but complete with box is hard to resist. This is the Smoker's knife. They made a couple of money clip knives in this series as well.

 

[wanderingrichard]

Part of the Escort series. These were sold along side the Silver Knight series, and were also made in Japan. Not really my area of interest, but complete with box is hard to resist. This is the Smoker's knife. They made a couple of money clip knives in this series as well.
View attachment 173731
View attachment 173732

Had 2 of these taken away when I was in the army, even though I legitimately smoked a pipe back then. They classified these as "drug paraphernalia", tho a different version of that tool was allowed. Honestly I think someone was jealous they hadn't bought one.

 

[Replicant]

Gerber LST - First generation in Micarta.

Top to bottom on first pic - LST Classic in white/Ivory Micarta c. 1981-1985, LST Classic in brown Micarta c. 1981-1982, FSI Maroon Micarta (Folding Sportsman), c. 1981-1982, FSI white/Ivory Micarta c. 1981 - 1982.

Bottom pic - Comparison to their brass body counterparts.

More Gerber nerd history on these knives below.




According to legend, Legendary Blades frontman, Pete Gerber really liked the Folding Sportsman I (bottom knife, bottom picture). He thought this to be the ideal, everyday knife. His only complaint was that it was heavy in the pants pocket. He wanted something with the same dimensions, but lightweight. So, Gerber came up with the LST, which stood for Light - Smooth - Tough. They produced them in both the Folding Sportsman and the Classic, and both in white and maroon, AND a few Classics can be found in black (rare). These were made from 83-85. The problem with this first generation of LST's is that while they were lighter, they weren't that smooth, and they definitely were not that tough. The white ones especially are prone to failure. I have no idea why Gerber made so many classics in white for so long, but the top knife can be found more often promoting reloading equipment than without.

I don't know if Gerber knew they were on to something with this knife, but this turned out to be the beginning of one of largest, longest lasting range of knives in modern knifemaking history. More to come.

 

[Bob N]

This is a knife I found while cleaning out my in-laws. I’m guessing it came down family lines, most likely from the mid-west. The blade has Marbles, Gladstone, Michigan on the blade. Anyone familiar with it?