The original knife thread.

I picked this up a while back ( bargain) to strap on to my NRS Chinook PFD. After looking at some reviews, the knife was rated very favorable among whitewater rafter's and paddle sports types, but it's the sheath that apparently lacks retention. One reviewer suggested that the reason why these are still in demand (although no longer produced) is that many of them are on the bottom of various rivers around the country. Considering other options now.

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Replicant said:
I picked this up a while back ( bargain) to strap on to my NRS Chinook PFD. After looking at some reviews, the knife was rated very favorable among whitewater rafter's and paddle sports types, but it's the sheath that apparently lacks retention. One reviewer suggested that the reason why these are still in demand (although no longer produced) is that many of them are on the bottom of various rivers around the country. Considering other options now.

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Good little knives. Own several.
 
Replicant said:
I picked this up a while back ( bargain) to strap on to my NRS Chinook PFD. After looking at some reviews, the knife was rated very favorable among whitewater rafter's and paddle sports types, but it's the sheath that apparently lacks retention. One reviewer suggested that the reason why these are still in demand (although no longer produced) is that many of them are on the bottom of various rivers around the country. Considering other options now.

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This is the knife I have on my PFD:

Enuff™ Salt® – Spyderco https://share.google/9FjUYyZ4R13eKqjTl
 
Never say never. I thought my chances of picking up another one of these (without breaking the bank) was gone for good. There were at minimum, ten different 'Guardian' Series knives put out by Gerber and designed by Blackie Collins. Amongst those were three different sizes, designated as the 'Backup', Guardian I and Guardian II. This camo 'Guardian I' (below) was only available in catalogs from 1983 - 84.


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Yes, I have posted most of these before, but not with my recent acquisition of the yellow on the far left. This is now a complete collection of LST 200 series Microlight knives. It's taken me a couple of decades to put together without selling a kidney. Think I'm joking? A green one sold recently for $139.00 - Crazy. Anyhoo, the yellow was challenging because it like the purple was only made for one year. 1990

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Downsizing seldom-used gear before a move, fellow member Zak bought my Hennessy Hammock listed in the Classifieds. After meeting to finalize the deal, he reached in his pocket and gifted me this sweet Kershaw Corral Creek 3115 EDC. Thanks again Zak!

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Kent Lufkin said:
Downsizing seldom-used gear before a move, fellow member Zak bought my Hennessy Hammock listed in the Classifieds. After meeting to finalize the deal, he reached in his pocket and gifted me this sweet Kershaw Coral Creek 3115 EDC. Thanks again Zak!

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May it serve you well, Kent! It was great to meet you and I look forward to camping in the hammock!
 
A bit of a photo dump. No surprise that I'm a big fan of the Gerber LST. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, they were the first to experiment with a one piece, injection molded fiberglass reinforced nylon handle. Soon after, everyone wanted to get on the band wagon. Some were well executed, but most didn't even try to meet the quality standards of Gerber. CaseXX makes a 'Caliber' model which is close to being a near copy of the Gerber LST, and yet it's a disappointment in my opinion.


A couple of Buck's. Good quality, but something in the execution is lacking. I sold these.
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I still have these. The two SOG microdots are exceptional and are hard to find. The Al Mar Sportsman is a good looking knife and definitely a 'borrow' from Gerber. It's a big knife, but doesn't have the shear strength for any serious cutting in my opinion.
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This Aristocrat was made by G.Sakai (as in Gerber Sakai). Very well made and in my opinion, kind of interesting. There are a lot of obscure brands out of Seki Japan. Not surprising, considering that these same manufacturers make knives for some of the better knife companies in that era and even today. Al Mar, Spyderco and Kershaw being just a few. Sold
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Schrade came out with the SP series and there is no ignoring who they were going after. Three sizes, SP1, SP2 and SP3. Sometimes they can be found in different colors. I'm a fan of USA era Schrade, but these knives were terrible in my unprofessional opinion. Sold.
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Timberline started out as a very high quality knife maker out of Colorado (I think). Interesting and even tragic history. They have been sold at least twice now and there knives today are nothing like what they once were. This Timberlite was a bit of an oddball. You opened the knife normally and it locked. To close it, you pull or push the blade forward via the thumb-studs to unlock it and then close.
Sold.
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In my very biased opinion, the only manufacturer to improve on the Gerber LST is Spyderco. While I have several Spyderco knives, I'm no expert, nor do I consider myself a Spyderco collector. With that said, they absolutely revolutionized the knife industry with their spydie hole thumb opener and their incredible variety of blade styles and options. Spyderco came out with the FRN handle in 1990. Right in the middle of Gerber's prime using the same or similar material. The models below are from their Ladybug series. I just love these knives. Small, but very useful. Are they better than the LST? Yeah, in many ways they are. The problem is that when you were paying $20 bucks for an LST, you had to pay four times as much for a Ladybug. You get what you pay for.

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A couple of mid sized Spyderco FRN handled knives. The top is the ever common Delica with flat grind VG-10 blade and Boye indent lock. I opted for an aftermarket 'deep' pocket clip as I carry this knife off and on and prefer the less exposed look and feel. The lower knife is a 93 era Merlin. Considered a collectible these days. Has the ATS55 blade, non Boye indent lock and no grooves on the blade spine.

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The stainless counterparts to the knives above. The bottom knife, a Harpy, is a slightly more modern version of the Merlin above. The top knife is the half serrated Delica. I have a bad habit of picking up bargain knives, and both of these fell into that category. The top knife had seen a lot of use. I cleaned it up some years ago, but my wife took it over as her barn knife. Cutting grain bags and hay bale twine. The Harpy had a broken tip. With some mad skillz and my belt grinder, I was able to bring it back to life.

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Hey @Zak, I bought this knife from Milk Street. It was a collaboration with Henkles. If I had it to do over, I would look for a genuine Japanese Nakiri. The handle on mine is not comfortable and has square edges. Genuine ones have round handles and they’re larger. Functionally it’s not a huge improvement over a traditional chef knife. A step up would be a genuine cleaver. Japanese cleavers have a light and thin blade. Watch a Ken Hom video, he uses a cleaver like a chef knife.
 
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Roper said:
Hey @Zak, I bought this knife from Milk Street. It was a collaboration with Henkles. If I had it to do over, I would look for a genuine Japanese Nakiri. The handle on mine is not comfortable and has square edges. Genuine ones have round handles and they’re larger. Functionally it’s not a huge improvement over a traditional chef knife. A step up would be a genuine cleaver. Japanese cleavers have a light and thin blade. Watch a Ken Hom video, he uses a cleaver like a chef knife.
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Thanks, @Roper !
 
Not gonna lie. This one doesn't get a lot of use. With that said, the angle is set up for meat and bone. We tend to eat more fish these days. Wondering if I should put an angle on it to suit veggies.

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I might have posted the top knife before, but I post it again as these two knives represent the very first models that Spyderco produced. The top knife is a second generation C01 Worker - I believe they started production on this model in 1981, but this variant was from around 1983, and there were only 2000 left hander's made. I think there were a total of 15 'Worker' variants to date.

The bottom knife is a fifth generation C02 Mariner, new with box, and is also a lefty only. While this model started around 1982, mine is later, around 97/98.

These knives are not pretty. But, this is what helped define Spyderco's success and dominance in the industry. While other's were focused on military and fancy designs, Spyderco maintained a focus on practical, functional tool knives and developed an almost cult like following as a result.

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