British army style folding knives

J

James Mc

Joined
May 3, 2019
Messages
10
Hello
I am extremely knew here, This is my first thread in fact. I have always loved the old style of of British army folding knives with the black-diamond scales on the handle. In fact I have several in my possession and have always wondered if there were modern made folding knives which look like the originals and are still functional. So far after some digging around I have found 3 possible contenders;
-The first (and the one I am leaning to so far) is this one:
1_Blade_Heavy_Duty_Locking_Knife.html

I like the single blade style and the black handle scales however it is a locking blade which isn't legal here in the UK and if possible I'd try to avoid that.
-The second contender is this one,
13-86.html
perhaps the most faithful to the originals however I am ideally looking for an option with no spike (the proper name escapes me) as from what i believe this was for the Navy issued knives only and my favourite knife is a "2 piece" with just a blade and can opener
-
john-nowill-knives-navy-knife
The final option strikes me possibly as a better made version of the previous but with no can opener, this looks ideal apart from again the spike.
I was wondering if any of you guys had come across anything in terms of modern British army folding knives or if not if any of you had come across any of these 3 knives and could speak of their quality. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, Thank you
 
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I won't call that spike a marlin spike because the army had them too and found things to do with them. I have a couple of old clasp knives but don't know about current ones.
There's a thread dedicated to the old ones around here somewhere. @Jack Black will be able to give you chapter and verse.
 
scrteened porch said:
I won't call that spike a marlin spike because the army had them too and found things to do with them. I have a couple of old clasp knives but don't know about current ones.
There's a thread dedicated to the old ones around here somewhere. @Jack Black will be able to give you chapter and verse.
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Thank you for the reply, I will have a deeper search through the forums here
 
My Dad was in the Royal Engineers & was issued the marlin spike version. I think which version you were issued was more to do with what your role was than which branch of the services you belonged to.
 
That is interesting, I have a feeling you are correct. The main reason for my search for a modern counterpart is that I used to carry a clasp knife in almost the exact same style as seen below (with knife and can opener) however the black scales came off when I lent it to a friend, If I could find one in the same sort of style I could use that as my replacement knife
30001207
 
scrteened porch said:
Replace them with checkered ebony!
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That is a good idea, my father has been searching for a replacement handle for his one of these knives as its handle scales also came off. I have been trying to find black plastic of the same texture as the handles (it reminds me of photography case material) but haven't been able to locate anywhere that sells anything of the sort. Thanks again for the suggestion
 
abcdef said:
Welcome James.

To save me hours of reading, could someone firm that the steel is 440A? I was able to find this article pretty quickly. Thanks.

http://rigger.hegewisch.net/VN21307.html
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This is another thing i was trying to figure out, I couldn't seem to fins out the quality of the knives however I still haven't gone through the large forum thread posted above by another user. If i find out i will let you know. In my searches I stumbled across this video and he looks at 1 or 2 or the modern re makes at about the 10 minute mark, it may be worth a look.
 
This one is kind of neat looking. Anybody have more info on this?
 
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Norcaldude said:
This one is kind of neat looking. Anybody have more info on this?
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It does indeed! that's my top pic from my first post here, it is also being sold at Sheffieldknives.com I believe. I can find hardly any information on it so I thought I might email the Winksworth Gunroom asking for basic dimensions and of they know anything about the steel. I will post anything I find out here
 
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Norcaldude said:
This one is kind of neat looking. Anybody have more info on this?
Click to expand...
I managed to find it listed on an Ebay page with more details on the dimensions.
Edit: Due to a moderator issue I will re post the knife i found but following the guidelines. The description read as following:
  • Sheffield British Army Lockback Knife
  • Stainless Steel Clip Point Blade
  • Nail Nick
  • Black Checkered Composition Handle
  • Blade Length: 3 1/2"
  • Length Overall: 4 5/8"
 
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Please read the Traditional Forum Sticky on posting etiquette.
Do not link to stores which are not BF Dealer members. That includes eBay auctions.

To post a pic from such a store, right click the picture. Select "copy picture address".
Then go to your post and click the picture tool on the tool bar. It's next to the smiley tool. Paste the link in. Make sure it ends in .jpg or similar so that the tool recognizes it as a picture.
 
Norcaldude said:
This one is kind of neat looking. Anybody have more info on this?
Click to expand...
Hello, the distributor got back to me with the following :
Folded: Length 120mm, height 40mm (over locking release lever) thickness 15mm.

Open: Overall length 210mm, blade length 92mm, cutting edge 75mm.

Sheffield steel, synthetic grip scales
 
Hello all,
I have been doing a fair bit more looking into this topic over the past week, when i have more time I'll post all the options I have found here. I have also purchased a Joseph Rodgers model 3 piece Jack knife which i am eagerly awaiting.
 
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