Anyone still carry a christy knife?

J

jdcovington1122

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Dec 7, 2012
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39
I wasn't sure if this would go here but the christy knife is kind of a tradition, dontya think?
Anyway, I love the looks and history of this knife and I plan on getting one soon but I wanted to know if anyone had any first hand experience with it. Pics are very welcome!!!!
Thanks everyone, jdc
 
Haven't had one in a couple of decades. But, they do qualify as fodder for the Traditional mill.
 
Yeah just read up on the history of it, I would call it a traditional. Never heard of it before, though I am new to traditionals still. I must say there is a certain type of beauty in that knife with it's simplistic and minimalist design.
 
Those are pretty neat. Seems like someone made a reproduction at some point a few years ago, just can't remember where I saw it.
 
10955884384_25ceaef0a6_c.jpg


Here's a pretty old one that has a lot of blade loss from use. My father carried it during the last several years of his life, due to arthritis in his hands that made opening a conventional slip joint a painful problem. The make a pretty good light duty penknife kind of cutter. They went under for a little bit, but Earl Christy's son, I think it is, has re-started the company. You could say, that although it is a dated design, and outdone by a legion of one handed knives these days, the Christy knife was the first one hand knife of the 20th century. It's kind of historic, like the switch blade Schrade's and Hammer brands of the 40's and 50's. The occupy a niche in knife history.

Carl.
 
Technically... no, since it's out of the EDC rotation at the moment. But I've had this one for 20 years, at least:
Christyjpg.jpg~original

(Sorry for the very dark photo.)

They are good little cutters, being extremely thin and flexible like a fillet knife. Also, ordinarily, the blade goes the other way -- I have mine flipped for left-handed operation (there are two screws on the other side that let you disassemble the 'slide' in case you want to remove/flip/replace the blade) It has 3 'stops' on the slide, so you can run as little as 1/2" of blade out for little packaging cutting jobs, etc. About the only bad thing you could dream up to say about it is that it does a pretty poor job of turning closed-length into blade-length, if you look at it. But for what is basically a pen knife, that's a bit of a nit to pick.

Hope you enjoy yours!
--Mark
 
I think I just discovered what I'm getting for friends for Christmas.
 
That is a neat little knife, never heard of them before. If I didn't have a SAK Classic I could see picking one of these up for the keyring.
 
You know, my significant other has a hard time with slipjoints due to small hands and long nails. This looks like just the thing, if I understand the operation.

I'd love to buy direct from the company but $10 to ship this little guy??
 
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So that's a Christy knife! I had one when I was a kid. The little latch holding it open wasn't very strong, and I don't think I ever got it really sharp, but I was a kid so I probably made some mistakes with it.
 
rune1279 said:
Technically... no, since it's out of the EDC rotation at the moment. But I've had this one for 20 years, at least:
Christyjpg.jpg~original

(Sorry for the very dark photo.)

They are good little cutters, being extremely thin and flexible like a fillet knife. Also, ordinarily, the blade goes the other way -- I have mine flipped for left-handed operation (there are two screws on the other side that let you disassemble the 'slide' in case you want to remove/flip/replace the blade) It has 3 'stops' on the slide, so you can run as little as 1/2" of blade out for little packaging cutting jobs, etc. About the only bad thing you could dream up to say about it is that it does a pretty poor job of turning closed-length into blade-length, if you look at it. But for what is basically a pen knife, that's a bit of a nit to pick.

Hope you enjoy yours!
--Mark
Click to expand...

Rune1279, I love that picture because im a huge fan of The jotters, i carry my made in usa navy blue jotter everyday. this makes me want the christy knife even more.
Thank you, jdc
 
Sonnemann said:
You know, my significant other has a hard time with slipjoints due to small hands and long nails. This looks like just the thing, if I understand the operation.

I'd love to buy direct from the company but $10 to ship this little guy??
Click to expand...

Yea, the shipping is kind of ridiculous, but for as long as they have kept the doors open making one knife and its a "made in the usa" knife, i think $30 is worth it.
Thank you, jdc
 
Still have mine that I got back in the 70s. Had it on my key ring back then. Nice little knives.

Ric
 
I heard of this knife the other day and had to order one. Actually, due the high cost of shipping, I ordered (2) of them. It made the shipping cost easier to bare. One of them is now riding on my keychain. So far, I really love this little knife.
 
An old thread I know. I was looking one their website and they certainly seem like smart little knives!

I am in Canada though and international shipping costs more than the knife. That, combined with the slow Canadian dollar I am looking at about 65 dollars to get one of these knives to me door.

There must be another way!!
 
I still carry a Christy knife often. They are a nice little light duty pen knife kind of cutter. I don't think I'd care to try to survive the Amazon with one, but for most urban/suburban slicing they do well. Very thin blade that gets razor sharp with very little effort, and disappears in the pocket. My father was a huge fan of them, and my sister Anne thwarted two attempted assaults with one. The first was while she was in her early 20's, the second in her early 40's. Dad had given her a Christy in high school, and gave her a bit of training drown the basement on what to do with it.

They have at various times been issued by some government agencies including the U.S. customs service, the U.S. Navy in WW2, Postal Inspectors, and a few others. They were the first of the one hand pocket knives aside from the old 'switchblades'. In the Christy Company files is a letter/report from a Navy pilot who used a Christy to cut himself out of his belts to bail out. He had been wounded, and did no that the use of one hand, so he used the Christy knife.

They are an interesting little knife that has some real world use. By todays standards, they may seem a bit antiquated and obsolete, kind of like a little Remington over under derringer. The Remington may be an 1866 design, but I wouldn't want to be in front of it when it goes off. And I wouldn't want my finger in the way of the thin Christy blade when it's cutting something. Plus the feature of the blade locking in three different positions makes the thing an outstanding plastic blister package opener.

21414005196_66735b5f56_c.jpg
 
Very cool Jackknife! I would love to pick one up but they are just too expensive to ship here to Northern Canada unfortunately. A lucky chance at a community sale may be my only chance.
 
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