The original knife thread.

Weighing in at 0.4 ounces, the Microlight was the smallest LST to be produced. As usual, black is the most common to find and correlates to their longer production (1989 - 2006). Yes, i'm missing one. I still need a yellow. The red and blue were made from 89 to 93, while the toxic green and pink was made from 89 - 92. Finally, the purple/mauve and the missing yellow were only made in 1990. Strangely, I find that the green is the hardest to find. Even Pete Gerber was surprised to come across one in a shop while vacationing on the Oregon coast.

Are these a gimmick? Sure. Strangely, they are among the most collectible of the LST line and most valuable. I have seen any of the colored varieties sell for above $100, and almost always if they are in their original box or blister pack. The black one's will consistently outsell their larger counterparts. Sometimes two three times as much. Every once in a while you will see a desperate soul plunk down a Benjamin for one in the box.

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Technically, not in the LST family, but a good place for me to mention these as we make our way into the larger knives. This is the short lived FieldLight model. I think it was an attempt to make a hunting knife in the injection molded zytel form. These were only made from 86 through 89. Note that the top knife is a Benchmark and is identical to the Gerber below. Basically, they are the same knife. I'll do my best to add some nerd stuff below. My personal take on these (I've owned three of them) is that they are good looking and seemed like a logical step to a larger knife in the lightweight category. The problem is that the examples I have had were pretty rough compared to the LST knives, and dare I say it, wimpy and kind of flimsy. Gerber could do better. And they did.

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I don't have the clearest details on the history of Benchmark. But this is what I've read. Benchmark was started in 1978 in North Carolina. It may have been started by Blackie Collins and he subsequently sold it to Jenkins metal corporation, but held his position there. Gerber purchased Benchmark in 84. Pete Gerber is quoted as saying that they bought the company to get direct access to Blackie Collins and his designs (Even though Blackie had been designing knives for Gerber for a few years already). Many of these knives were ultimately transferred into the Gerber lineup in time. The Fieldlight may have been made by Benchmark. They are famous for some really interesting designs and of beautiful manufacture. Most notably, the Benchmark Rolox, which was a manual, out the front blade. Gerber sold Benchmark back to Jenkins in 91 where they resumed production of the knife below. A lesser version of the the original Rolox. This being the Rolox II. It was interesting, but I sold it. The Benchmark knives of today are generally regarded as junk. Unfortunately.
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Another new to me knife. This is a Sami-type knife from Finland. I am not sure whether it is one of the knives made for tourists, or not. Anybody read Finnish? It has gotten a lot of use, clearly.

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I sometimes feel like each new knife is my favorite knife. That's true today! This knife feels great and well-balanced in my hand. The pommel is wood and I think the handle is made of birch bark rings. The only thing that needs work is the dangler belt loop, which is very dried out and needs replacing.
 
Zak said:
Another new to me knife. This is a Sami-type knife from Finland. I am not sure whether it is one of the knives made for tourists, or not. Anybody read Finnish? It has gotten a lot of use, clearly.

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I sometimes feel like each new knife is my favorite knife. That's true today! This knife feels great and well-balanced in my hand. The pommel is wood and I think the handle is made of birch bark rings. The only thing that needs work is the dangler belt loop, which is very dried out and needs replacing.
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That's beautiful.
 
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Zak said:
Another new to me knife. This is a Sami-type knife from Finland. I am not sure whether it is one of the knives made for tourists, or not. Anybody read Finnish? It has gotten a lot of use, clearly.

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I sometimes feel like each new knife is my favorite knife. That's true today! This knife feels great and well-balanced in my hand. The pommel is wood and I think the handle is made of birch bark rings. The only thing that needs work is the dangler belt loop, which is very dried out and needs replacing.
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New dangler loop cut from an old belt.
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The 500 size Gerber LST's. Or technically, Gerber LST Magnum Jr. These came into the catalogs in 1989 and made a pretty good run (at least 25 years, maybe more). The standard black (in the middle) is of course the most common. Color was not a strong promotion on these beefier LST models. I have only seen the olive on the right for Buckmasters promotions and on no other. Leupold-Stevens on the left features a medallion and a leather sheath. I have only seen this combination for Leupold Gerbers. They did make these with serrated blades and they did have a black blade Realtree camo as well (I don't have one yet), but I do have the Mossy Oak camo in the blister pack below. I believe this was Gerber's attempt at introducing a hunting version of their very popular LST line. Interesting to me is that these knives were designed in house, but more on that in my nerd files below.

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Dimensionally, the 500 Magnum Jr is nearly identical to the LST 400. Very slight differences, mostly in the blade. The weight is nearly double on the 500. I have seen early versions of this knife in the box labeled as 400 Magnum. Maybe they saw the potential for confusion, so they gave it a new number. Regardless, these are excellent knives. Very stout, very comfortable in the hand with the ergonomic finger grooves. If I have any complaint, it's the lack of a lanyard hole. It took me a long time to find out why and how these came about. From what I can tell, Gerber had an employee who worked his way up the ladder, ultimately becoming a designer and modeler. His name was Brad Parrish. Sadly he is deceased. Outside of Gerber nerds, he is not well known. He should be, he designed or had his hand in lots of models including the BMF, LMF, Gator, EZ-OUT, Multi-plier, Pro Guide series, Applegate Fairbairn folder and more. These knives have sold in the 10s of millions.
 
The largest of the LST's - Gerber Magnum 600 LST's in black (heavily used), Realtree camo with black blade and a comparison to the namesake Magnum Folding Hunter from the 70s. Second picture is of the last of the LST's produced in now desirable Mossy Oak camo. Say what you want. They ain't fancy, and not pretty, but they were well designed and surprisingly tough for a very light knife. The Magnum weighs in at just 4oz. Half of what the original Magnum hunter weighed. A Brad Parrish design. These are no longer in production, but people are still snapping them up.

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These are the very first generation Gerber "Bolt Action's", introduced along side the first LST models in 1981. This was a big departure from the brass body lockback folders that were popular at the time. Designed by Blackie Collins, these first generation knives were made of Dupont Rynite, identifiable by the pebble finish. The black handled was only in production from 1981 thru 1982, whereas the white stayed in the catalog until 1984. The nylon pouch came standard, where the leather scabbard was purchased separately. This black leather scabbard was only made for the bolt action and only available for a few years. The 'bolt' is held forward by a strong spring. To open, you open the knife blade as you typically would and the bolt locks in place. To close, you pull back the bolt and close the blade. If you have the dexterity, you can do all of this with one hand.

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Replicant said:
These are the very first generation Gerber "Bolt Action's", introduced along side the first LST models in 1981. This was a big departure from the brass body lockback folders that were popular at the time. Designed by Blackie Collins, these first generation knives were made of Dupont Rynite, identifiable by the pebble finish. The black handled was only in production from 1981 thru 1982, whereas the white stayed in the catalog until 1984. The nylon pouch came standard, where the leather scabbard was purchased separately. This black leather scabbard was only made for the bolt action and only available for a few years. The 'bolt' is held forward by a strong spring. To open, you open the knife blade as you typically would and the bolt locks in place. To close, you pull back the bolt and close the blade. If you have the dexterity, you can do all of this with one hand.

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hey, i have been reading your knife posts as they have sucked me in. a minor diversion here - what are your thoughts on the benchmark knives ?? they are made locally to me in the pdx area. thx
 
goinoregon said:
hey, i have been reading your knife posts as they have sucked me in. a minor diversion here - what are your thoughts on the benchmark knives ?? they are made locally to me in the pdx area. thx
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Benchmade knives are generally excellent. I've had several and I may still have one. I'm a big fan of the axis lock as I'm left handed and I like the ambidextrous controls. I used to have an Osborne model, McHenry Williams and something else. I will post the pictures when I find them. I have gifted a 'Bugout' to my niece. She was a firefighter at the time. She loves it and it has quite a large following. I would definitely recommend that model. The only negative I have is that I had an early griptilian / Mel Pardue collaboration with the spyderco hole. I changed out the scales to a custom set made by some famous knife designer (forget his name). I used the knife frequently, but I was shaving a piece of wood of some sort and was shocked to see that the tip broke off. Not just the very tip, but like a quarter inch or more. I would be honest if it were operator error, but I don't believe it was. Other than that, Benchmade and Spyderco are the knives I recommend most to people who just want a good solid folding knife with good quality steel options. Hope that helps.
 
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goinoregon said:
hey, i have been reading your knife posts as they have sucked me in. a minor diversion here - what are your thoughts on the benchmark knives ?? they are made locally to me in the pdx area. thx
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Oh, I need a clarification. Did you mean Benchmark or Benchmade? I assumed Benchmade, and my comments still stand. Benchmark was once an excellent company, but it has gone overseas and they are generally regarded as garbage.
 
Replicant said:
Benchmade knives are generally excellent. I've had several and I may still have one. I'm a big fan of the axis lock as I'm left handed and I like the ambidextrous controls. I used to have an Osborne model, McHenry Williams and something else. I will post the pictures when I find them. I have gifted a 'Bugout' to my niece. She was a firefighter at the time. She loves it and it has quite a large following. I would definitely recommend that model. The only negative I have is that I had an early griptilian / Mel Pardue collaboration with the spyderco hole. I changed out the scales to a custom set made by some famous knife designer (forget his name). I used the knife frequently, but I was shaving a piece of wood of some sort and was shocked to see that the tip broke off. Not just the very tip, but like a quarter inch or more. I would be honest if it were operator error, but I don't believe it was. Other than that, Benchmade and Spyderco are the knives I recommend most to people who just want a good solid folding knife with good quality steel options. Hope that helps.
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thx.. i looked. and my benchmade is 3.5" folder. has been great. it clips to my pants pocket, and i have not lost it in.... +2 yrs... i bought the red/orange so i would have better odds of not losing it at some river camp. thx
 
Sort of a second generation of Gerber Bolt Action's. The two knives on the right are identical and have the standard 'utility' blade. These were introduced in 1983/84 and because they have the polished blade, the medallion and the stainless lanyard hole, they were produced in this style for just a couple years. The knife on the left features a matte finish "Hunter" blade and while it says on the blade that it was from the first production run in 1984, this blade option wasn't officially available in the catalogs till 1985. Note the lack of the Stainless lanyard sleeve. Just a sign of cost reduction already. The closed knife on the very right was my second Gerber ever, and was given to me by my dad in 1983. More on that below. All of these knives feature the checkered handle as opposed to the pebble texture of the first generation. Blackie Collins was a known as a gun aficionado. I think you can get an idea from where his inspiration came from on this model.

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As I've mentioned before, I had a boring and typical childhood of working on fish processors and gill-netters during my summer's. If you did this kind of work, you had to have a knife. There was just no way of avoiding it. At that time, I was barely a teenager, but I remember the knives I carried. One was a stainless Lock-back by Zippo (Case xx) with the Alaskan flag on it and the other was an unknown rigger's knife with shackle key and marlin spike (fid). By the time I got up to Bristol Bay in the summer of 83, I had lost the Zippo and the back spring of the rigger's knife had broken, making it useless. When my dad found out I was doing deck-hand duties with no knife, he took me into town in one of the two 18' Lund's that we used to get from ship to shore and took me into the local hardware store. (Imagine a shelter, slightly better than a shed). He asked the proprietor, "What's the coolest knife you got?" I remember the man pulling two weird looking knives off of the shelf behind him. One was the white pebble texture Bolt Action, posted previously and the other was the knife on the right. I just thought they were wild looking. Even the sheath was weird. You need to remember that the really popular knives back then were Buck's, Kershaw, Gerber and Puma. All brass body lockbacks. This knife was a huge departure. I chose the black one and the rest was history. I carried that knife all through my teens and into my twenties. Sadly, I beat the living snot out of it too.
 
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