Kwakster's Collection

[kwakster]

This Puma 3587 Jagdnicker (designed by German Chief Gamewarden Walter Frevert) from 1969 was my entry into quality knives, and i still have it.
The knife was meant for performing a mercy kill for deer and the like (German: abnicken) and the price around 1980 was about 80,00 Dutch guilders.










It was once resharpened by a local knife sharpener who at that time had a good name, but the man managed to ruin the appearance of the blade by putting it flat on the wet beltsharpener and thus not only removing all the etching but creating a new facet in the surface as well (something that cannot be seen in the pics)
Although the knife is still fully functional it was a sad day, and for me that was a sign to learn how to sharpen knives.

Specs:

Overall length: 20,2 cm
Blade length: 10,0 cm
Blade thickness: 4,1 mm
Steel: Stainless Super Keen Cutting Steel
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag
Bolster: Nickel silver
Weight: 135,0 grams
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

This is the second quality knife i bought in the '80's: a Rigid Sidewinder.
Rigid was started by two former Buck Knives employees, Bill Duff & Don Collum who were both supervisor on the Buck assembly line.
The first Rigid knives were made during their lunchbreaks.
My example is one of the first knives that was made in the Rigid workshop in California, later the company moved to Arkansas.














Specs:

Overall length: 23,3 cm
Blade length: 11,0 cm
Blade thickness: 4,1 mm
Steel: 440C stainless
Hardness: +/- 60 HRC
Handle material: unknown hardwood
Bolsters: brass
Weight: 273 grams
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

This was the first Laguiole model i bought, made by Forge de Laguiole, a French firm who makes one of the best versions of this knife and is actually based in the French city of Laguiole.
I use it mostly when i go out to dinner above the level of pizzeria's as a replacement for the standard serrated steak knives.





Selling points for this knife are the highly evolved & very functional shape as well as the unexpectedly good performing steel with the proprietary name T12.
It's not so much very hardwearing (it has good sharpenability), but it has very good edge stability.
This i found out when steeling the knife with it's accompanying little knife steel, and the edge literally was able to cut small pieces out of the steel without chipping or rolling.
This with an edge of 40 degrees inclusive, so it's good stuff in my book.

Specs:

Overall length open: 22,3 cm
Overall length closed: 12,4 cm
Blade length: 10,2 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: forged T12 stainless steel
Hardness: unknown
Handle material: Horn tip
Bolsters: Brass
Weight: 96,0 gram
Extra: Awl
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

Our 2012 forum knife; an old school styled Laguiole model, handmade by the French knifemaker Renaud Aubry.
It's actually the second Laguiole i bought, and it has a high polished blade in Sandvik 20C27 stainless steel, hardened to 61HRC, while the handle is ironwood on stainless liners with fileworked backspring.
Each knife is marked on the inside of the backspring with "MF 2012" and the number, in my case # 10.
We think Aubry did a good job,

 

[kwakster]

This beautiful vintage Blackjack 1-7 i received as a present from one of the Dutch forum members.
It's actually a quality replica of a Randall Model 1.








Specs:

Overall length: 30,5 cm
Blade length: 18,0 cm
Blade thickness: 5,5 mm
Steel: most likely 1095 carbon steel (could also be 52100)
Hardness: 57-58 HRC
Handle material: Leather washers
Guard: Brass
Butt: Aluminum
Weight: 303 grams
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

Still one of my favourite outdoorknives, a K9 Dingo from the first numbered series.
At the time these pics were taken i had just started using it, after a bit of reprofiling on the Wicked Edge.
The CPM-3V steel sharpens easier than CPM-S30V and holds a razor edge much longer.
For me it's a fantastic outdoor knife: neither too big or too small and built to withstand a thermonuclear war.
The only minor gripe i found in actual use is that the handle screws had a tendency to come loose with chopping and batoning, but some teflontape on the threads made that a thing of the past.








Specs:

Overall length: 26,5 cm
Blade length: 13,6 cm
Blade thickness: 6,5 mm
Steel: CPM-3V
Hardness: 60 HRC (Paul Bos heat treat)
Handle material: Green Canvas Micarta
Handle length: 13,2 cm
Weight: 319 gram
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

Vintage boyscout knife from the late '40's / early '50's from the German brand of Schneidteufel (translation: Cutting Demon)




As a 12 year old boy i had almost exactly the same knife, but one made by Puma.
This type of knife was manufactured in large numbers by many brands, but nowadays they are quite rare (and pricey), especially in good condition.

The interesting thing about this knife is that is a good cutter as well as a good throwing knife (something that boys like to do, as you know), and was also advertised as such by the manufacturers.
They were sold in masses to boyscouts, and it's completely cut to the size of a boy's hand (the handle measures 8,3 cm including guard & butt)
Most examples you find nowadays are heavily used/abused and/or sharpened to a stub.





I bought this knife through a Dutch auction website for very little money from someone who claimed it came out of the unsold stock of a store, which could very well be true as besides some peppering on the blade the knife is basically new.
The factory edge was still there but only very rudimentary, so i gave it a nice semi-polished edge on my Paper Wheels which also helps to protect it from corrosion.
Sadly the sheath is totally dried out and the material between the belt cutouts is cracked.






Specs:

Overall length: 20,5 cm
Blade length: 12,4 cm
Blade thickness: 5,0 mm (ricasso)
Steel: Unknown carbon steel
Hardness: Unknown
Handle material: Brown leather washers & white fiber
Guard: Brass
Butt: Aluminum
Weight: 108,0 gram
Sheath: Fake leather

Knife & sheath are also identical to the Puma 8101 Scout knife:

 

[kwakster]

Another one of my favorite outdoor knives, a Kullervo Puukko made by the Finnish knifemaker Veikko Hakkarainen.
(puukko means knife)














The forged carbon steel holds a very good edge, which i currently maintain on a leather strop loaded with 3 micron diamond compound.
The handle is made from birchbark discs, a material that Hakkarainen collects himself.
It has a velvety surface structure, is never cold to the touch and offers an almost unexpected good multi-position grip.
Very well designed knife.

Specs:

Overall length: 19,5 cm
Blade length: 8,4 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: forged carbon steel
Hardness: unknown
Handle material: Birchbark & Brass
Handle length: 11,0 cm
Weight: 97,0 gram
Sheath: Reindeer leather with plastic safety insert

 

[kwakster]

This is one of my more rare vintage Puma knives, a right hand 6385 Trapper's Companion made in 1968.
The model was available in a dedicated right as well as a left hand model, the latter being even more rare as only 1 in 10 knives was made a lefty.
As you can see the knife was never used, it even has the Rockwell sticker on the blade.
Both the blade itself as well as the edge has a chiselgrind, with a completely flat backside.
Also notice the thick brass guard.








Specs:

Overall length: 21,8 cm
Blade length: 11,0 cm
Blade thickness: 4,1 mm
Steel: Stainless Super Keen Cutting Steel
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag
Guard: Brass
Weight: 138,0 grams
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

A vintage Puma 6396 Bowie made in 1980.
This one still had it's factory edge when i got it, but it was so horribly done i reprofiled & polished the edge on my Wicked Edge sharpener.







Specs:

Overall length: 27,5 cm
Blade length: 16,5 cm
Blade thickness: 5,0 mm
Steel: Genuine Pumaster Steel (forged & hard chromed carbon steel)
Hardness: 61 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag
Guard: Aluminum
Weight: 216,0 gram
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

Vintage Puma 6383 Buddy from 1972;









Specs:

Overall length: 24,3 cm
Blade length: 12,2 cm
Blade thickness: 3,1 mm
Steel: New Stainless Super Keen Cutting Steel
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag
Bolsters: Nickel silver
Weight: 179 grams
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

Vintage Puma 563 Medici from 1978.
This model was specifically designed to quickly finish off small game, and it has a folding guard to protect your fingers.





Specs:

Length open: 18,2 cm
Blade length: 7,9 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: Stainless
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag
Bolsters & guard: Nickel silver
Weight: 82,0 gram

 

[kwakster]

Another one of my favorite outdoor knives, a Scrapyard Scrapper 5 which now resides with a new owner.
This knife started out as a sharpening project for my Wicked Edge sharpener, but turned into a real good user with it's new edge.

Still with the factory edge:




After reprofiling:






After polishing to a hairwhittling sharpness:







Specs:

Overall length: 25,6 cm
Blade length: 14,4 cm
Blade thickness: 4,8 mm (including black crinkle coating)
Steel: SR101 (differentially hardened & modified 52100 ball bearing steel)
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: Resiprene C (high quality artificial rubber)

 

[kwakster]

My standard lego Strider SMF, bought a few years ago from True North Knives.




When i got it the knife had a rather coarse edge of an estimated 50 degrees inclusive, but after a Wicked Edge treatment that changed to a semi-polished 40 degrees inclusive.




The model really appeals to me, and the main reasons for that are a very sturdy build quality coupled with a low weight of only 170 grams.
The functional ergonomics do help as well.




Due to my smaller hands however the SMF doesn't handle as well for me in comparison to it's little brother the SNG, and that's the reason it never became part of my EDC.




Specs:

Length open: 23,0 cm
Length closed: 13,0 cm
Weight: 170 gram
Blade length: 10,0 cm
Blade thickness: 4,8 mm
Steel: S30V
Handle materiall: lockside Titanium, other side G-10 (with integral backspacer)
Locktype: Framelock with Hinderer lockbar stabilizer

 

[kwakster]

A vintage Benchmark Rolox Sidewinder from August 1982, in original box with leather pocketpouch & papers:



The Benchmark knives from the Rolox series had a different opening mechanism that sadly never really caught on with the knife buying public.
Models were designed by the late Blackie Collins and handmade from the best materials available at the time.
Due to a lack of commercial succes the company was sold to Gerber in 1984, who brought a few cheaper versions on the market that also failed to get the public attention.
In the end the company was resold to the original owner R.B. Jenkins, and later CRKT also made some cheap versions under license.

The Sidewinder was the smallest knife in the series, and my example has India Stag handles:



To open the knife you push on the thumbrest, after which the point comes up, and then you continue to slide the blade out the front until the lock mechanism kicks in.
Here a few pics that show the opening sequence in steps:











Top of the knife once open:



Underside with lock, also in the open position:



Specs:

Length open: 12,5 cm
Length closed: 7,5 cm
Blade length: 5,3 cm
Blade thickness: 3,2 mm
Steel: Sandvik 13C26 stainless
Handle: India Stag on stainless frame
Weight: 67,0 gram

 

[kwakster]

And here the largest Rolox knife, the Diamondback model with India Stag scales from March 1982.
(also in existence is an intermediate model named the Viper, but i haven't been able to track one down yet)
The opening mechanism is of course the same on all three models.







Specs:

Length open: 18,7 cm
Length closed: 11,3 cm
Blade length: 8,0 cm
Blade thickness: 3,2 mm
Steel: Sandvik 13C26 stainless
Handle: India Stag on stainless frame
Weight: 170,0 gram

A few comparison shots of Diamondback & Sidewinder;

 

[kwakster]

A vintage Gerber Guardian, designed by R.W. Loveless and made between 1981 and 1987.
It's is a first generation with the Loveless logo still on the blade & a black leather sheath with handle clamp & steel pocketclip.
Later versions don't have the logo and a Cordura sheath with FRN clip.
The blade has a few shiny spots, but for the rest it's basically like new.







Specs:

Steel: 440C stainless
Handle material: cast-on aluminum with black epoxy coating
Overall length: 18,3 cm
Handle length: 9,6 cm
Handle length: 8,7
Blade thickness: 4,1 mm
Weight: 91,0 gram

 

[kwakster]

A vintage Puma 6329 Schwimmmesser (swimming knife), made between 1945 & 1950.
The knife will float thanks to a handle made of natural cork.









Specs:

Overall length: 20,6 cm
Blade length: 9,0 cm
Steel: stainless
Handle material: Cork
Weight: 54 grams
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

Vintage Puma miniature Scout knife, made between 1945 and 1950;






Specs:

Overall length: 14,7 cm
Blade length: 7,4 cm
Steel: Carbon steel
Handle: Stag with brass "guard" and aluminum butt
Sheath: Leather

 

[kwakster]

A Puma gentlemen's folder from the 1930's, with large & small blade and beautiful stag scales.
Apart from a little scratching on the ricasso's from opening and closing basically in new condition.








Specs:

Steell: unknown stainless
Handle material: Stag on brass liners
Length closed: 8,4 cm
Blade length large blade: 6,5 cm
Blade length small blade: 3,9 cm
Weight: 31 grams