Do We Have Knives With Strong Pull? Honest To Gosh REAL Nail Breakers?

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BrotherJim

Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
4,083
English knives are known for strong pulls ... and then there's this Taylor's Eye Witness Sheffield Clip Point Barlow

You got walk 'n talk? ... Here's your stomp 'n holla
Not only strongest pull of any knife I own, strongest pull of any knife I've ever seen !!!
Due in no small part to a squared off bolster and square blade tang. Nothing rounded off here
This dang thing could be used as a stupid roofing hammer ... all day long

You'd think there is enough blade sticking up to just pinch and open
No sir. Not happening. There's a nail nick for a reason. You will use it
Thinking of walking the blade closed ... don't
Think of Pamplona and Running of the Bulls ... a leash won't work

Don't know if or when this thing will ever break in
Yep calling it a thing, it's something else
Need a knife the kids can't get into ... here's one
And it's a gin-u-wine pure D beauty

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There certainly does seem to be plenty of blade sticking up to pinch it open. This is a first for me. I've never had a knife with that much blade sticking up that was easier to open with the nail nick than with a pinch. Normally, if I can't pinch a blade like that open, the nail nick isn't going to work either.
 
Railsplitter said:
There certainly does seem to be plenty of blade sticking up to pinch it open. This is a first for me. I've never had a knife with that much blade sticking up that was easier to open with the nail nick than with a pinch. Normally, if I can't pinch a blade like that open, the nail nick isn't going to work either.
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Actually have to use a combination of pinch pull AND nail nick ... one handed even. The other hand a firm grip on the handle of the thing.
I'm always happy to get to the half-stop. I switch to pinch entirely (or will break a nail on further opening) and 'bout got it made from there.
 
BrotherJim said:
Actually have to use a combination of pinch pull AND nail nick ... one handed even. The other hand a firm grip on the handle of the thing.
I'm always happy to get to the half-stop. 'Bout got it made from there.
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I misunderstood your comment, Jim but I get it now. I have plenty of knives of which the nail nick makes pinching easier.
 
Railsplitter said:
I misunderstood your comment, Jim but I get it now. I have plenty of knives of which the nail nick makes pinching easier.
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I don't have another knife that even comes close to the pull of this Eye Witness Barlow. Could be because I don't have another knife with a square tang ... what were they thinking ?!?!?!
Next strongest puller I have is WAY down the line in a Camillus Rigging Knife and it isn't even close to the pull of this Barlow.

EDIT: I take that back my Douk-Douk and MAM knives have square tangs (maybe others... GEC #71 and a #73)) but they're easy peasy to open. This Eye Witness Barlow is just a special case I think.
 
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I've had a few early GECs that were an 8 pull, mainly #73s, but one #54 and one #78 as well. The heaviest I ever had was a Queen built Wildcat Driller pattern with the big spear main. It was a 10 all day every day. If it was any harder to pull I'd have needed a pliers . . . and I have strong hands!
 
:D:D:D:D:D
BrotherJim said:
I don't have another knife that even comes close to the pull of this Eye Witness Barlow. Could be because I don't have another knife with a square tang ... what were they thinking ?!?!?!
Next strongest puller I have is WAY down the line in a Camillus Rigging Knife and it isn't even close to the pull of this Barlow.
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When I see a Band-Aid in your in-hand photos I’ll know how it got there.:D
 
black mamba said:
I've had a few early GECs that were an 8 pull, mainly #73s, but one #54 and one #78 as well. The heaviest I ever had was a Queen built Wildcat Driller pattern with the big spear main. It was a 10 all day every day. If it was any harder to pull I'd have needed a pliers . . . and I have strong hands!
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Yep, my #73 is a good 7, maybe 8 ... and so is my #71 Bull Nose. Neither of which is even close to this dang Eye Witness Barlow. I REALLY like the knife and it's unique flair for pull. But one is enough LOL.

Railsplitter said:
:D:D:D:D:D
When I see a Band-Aid in your in-hand photos I’ll know how it got there.:D
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HA !!! D'OH !!!
 
... when I get to the half-stop on this Eye Witness Barlow, it THROWS my fingers OFF the blade as it *SNAPS* to the half-stop harder than most knives snap completely open or closed.
Opening and closing this knife is something I pay strict and deliberate attention to, and have to want to do it LOL ... closing is easier than opening but watch the fingers !!! I use my palm and just snap it closed.

I wish y'all could feel the pull on this Barlow but watching someone else open it, I'd be cringing the whole time thinking, "This is gonna hurt" HA
 
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I had a nail breaker, but traded it off. Pen blade on a small Rough Rider Sunfish.
A pry and pliers were required to open it. I'd rate it at no less than a 16 or 17 pull.
The main blade,on the other hand, was a solid 5 pull.

To date, the only "lemon" I ever got from Rough Rider.
 
Sounds like my one and only GEC. A 73 is as I recall the #. On the average scale folks seem to use, it was a good 12 or 13. Gets to half and jumps out of the fingers? Yup that was it! If you weren't careful it'd almost take a finger off.

I took it apart and rounded those stupid corners off the tang.

I'd do the same to that Eye Witness, or at least take a file to them with it together...

Or get a belt sheath and carry it open! ;)
 
Strongest pulls I've experienced on Sheffield knives are on the WW2 issue Army and Navy knives. Opening them must have been part of basic training! :D :thumbsup:

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Pinching open the blade on the 2-blade Army model can be a struggle, but it's better than losing a fingernail! :eek:
 
Somewhere, I have a very beautiful bone GEC 73 that nearly defeated me...must have been a 9+ and the match strike pull didn't offer a good nail purchase either :eek: Had it in a padded vice for a while opening it dozens of times, I could just open it by hand but it's frankly no fun and I pride myself on strong grip and tough nails. Pity as it's a beautiful colour bone.

Prefer the French approach, many of their knives are quite easy & smooth to open but hard to shut and this is the way it should be :)
 
I like calling half stop knives "square tang" knives... I used to wonder about what machining trends were used when. Not sure that this is historically accurate at all, but in the Tarantino movie Hateful Eight, Sam Jackson's character has a folding slip joint with square tangs, and it seems like a certified bear trap.

Railsplitter said:
There certainly does seem to be plenty of blade sticking up to pinch it open. This is a first for me. I've never had a knife with that much blade sticking up that was easier to open with the nail nick than with a pinch. Normally, if I can't pinch a blade like that open, the nail nick isn't going to work either.
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afishhunter said:
I had a nail breaker, but traded it off. Pen blade on a small Rough Rider Sunfish.
A pry and pliers were required to open it. I'd rate it at no less than a 16 or 17 pull.
The main blade,on the other hand, was a solid 5 pull.

To date, the only "lemon" I ever got from Rough Rider.
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These stories remind me of an old Case Barlow I had... There was no opening the pen blade without pliers. The blade was an anchor, looking to pull down a ship, and snapping fingernails in an unconscious blink of an eye.

Will Power said:
Somewhere, I have a very beautiful bone GEC 73 that nearly defeated me...must have been a 9+ and the match strike pull didn't offer a good nail purchase either :eek: Had it in a padded vice for a while opening it dozens of times, I could just open it by hand but it's frankly no fun and I pride myself on strong grip and tough nails. Pity as it's a beautiful colour bone.

Prefer the French approach, many of their knives are quite easy & smooth to open but hard to shut and this is the way it should be :)
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The end of that French quote is why I like a solid 7 pull - I like it to take some force to close... Seems like the knives that are engineered to have progressive pulls are some fewer and further between.
 
traumkommode said:
I like calling half stop knives "square tang" knives... I used to wonder about what machining trends were used when. Not sure that this is historically accurate at all, but in the Tarantino movie Hateful Eight, Sam Jackson's character has a folding slip joint with square tangs, and it seems like a certified bear trap.
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They are the older design. Cam tangs were introduced by the French, the main benefit being that there was less wear of the spring, which was a bigger consideration in the past, with some knife frames even being designed to accommodate the rising tip of the blade, as the spring and tang wore. Some Sheffield cutlers allegedly didn't like the idea, as they saw it leading to a decrease in knife sales :rolleyes:
 
I had an old George Wosthenholm single blade Jack that was pretty stiff, but I must've gotten used to it or something because eventually it didn't seem that bad.

It wound up in the GAW box because I hadn't carried it for quite some time , and I'm pretty sure someone was pleased enough with it to keep it.
 
Hickory n steel said:
... eventually it didn't seem that bad.
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And that's what I'm hoping for this one because I really like the knife a lot. Just won't make it into the rotation until it breaks in a bit. I can only work it for so long and have to put it down. Just needs more repetitions and apparently it will be a good while yet to get where it needs to be. When I can pinch and open I think we'll be getting there. Until then, we continue going through the bonding phase LOL
 
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