Input required -> Italian Stilettos (Manual, non-automatic)

O

Ossia

Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Messages
22
Hi all!

Been bitten by the collector's bug again - this time by the Italian Stilettos (folding). Where I'm at, automatics and dagger style blades are illegal.

I was just wondering about the different ones that are currently out there. This was the video that piqued my interest:

So far, I've found some beaten-up oldies floating on the bay, but have a greater interest in current makers who are using modern steels and currently taking orders - I would appreciate direction in acquiring good quality (new old stock, mint condition..) pieces.

Cheers!
James
 
Last edited:
Do you like the traditional traditional stilleto, as in fixed blade dagger? or just the folding look alike that people referred to as traditional? or modern stuff?
 
Deino said:
Do you like the traditional traditional stilleto, as in fixed blade dagger? or just the folding look alike that people referred to as traditional? or modern stuff?
Click to expand...
All of the above! But a stronger lean towards the folders, there's just something about being able to stow the business end away that does it for me.
 
Viper from Italy has the Keeper 2 that is coming next month with blade in Elmax, an excellent PM steel. It is a modern design.

AGA Campolin from Italy makes more classic folder stilettos, some in more modern steels like N690, not super steel or anything though.

Fox used to have a line of stiletto, but apparently discontinued. It is in 420C (aka 4034), cheap steel, but fit their traditional theme.

Cold Steel Counter Point and Ti-Lite are also modern, in AUS-10A and AUS-8 respectively. They are very decent.

I don't recommend to get United Cutlery or some Budk brand stuff. They are really not good.
 
I myself have long had a passion for folding stilettos, both manual and automatic. They are my favorite type of knives.


If you are interested in single edged manual stilettos, Kissing Crane stilettos are single edged, the older ones were made in Italy by Angelo Campolin. Many people mistakenly believe they were made in Germany because the blades say "Germany" and "Rostfrei", but the reason they say those things is because Kissing Crane was a German company, the knives were made for a German company, and they were sold by a German company. Some time back however BudK bought Kissing Crane and started having the knives made in China. So if you want an Italian-made one you have to buy an older one. The older ones come in a variety of sizes, but I believe BudK only makes the 9" open length (8-3/4") size. So if you buy larger than that you are getting an Italian-made one. The steel is likely 420. Older KC stilettos can sometimes be found on the secondary market.

I own, and carried a Kissing Crane stiletto for many years.

Angelo Campolin also had his own line of manual folding stilettos made and sold under the name Falcon. These can sometimes be found on the secondary market.

But I would say that my favorite traditional-style manual folding stiletto is the Rite Edge brand. Single-edged blades. They measure almost 11", have stainless steel liners, solid stainless steel bolsters, and the bolsters are actually welded to the liners, this makes for a very solid and robust handle, which is unusual among traditional folding stilettos. They are made in China, and fit and finish is hit or miss. The blade steel is a mystery, but I found it to be quite capable for basic cutting tasks. I started out customizing Rite Edge stilettos before moving into making switchblades, converting them into one-hand openers (and sometimes also one-hand closers), as well as replacing handle scales. Below is a picture of a few, and a video. The reddish wood handles are the originals, but the thumb stud is my addition.

As for the knife in the video you posted, AKC (Automatic Knife Creations) no longer make such knives (the AKC brand is owned by the Campolins). The Campolins also used to produce and sell identical manual swing guard stilettos under their own name, but I don't believe they do anymore. There are a lot of fake "AKC" branded stilettos out there that are made in China.

As for modern style folding stilettos, as Deino mentioned, Cold Steel sells the Ti-Lite series (the Ti-Lite 6 being my all-time favorite knife). It is available in two sizes, three different handle materials (Zytel, aluminum, G10), and currently in three different steels- AUS8, AUS10, and s35vn. Based on torture test videos I've seen, I consider the Ti-Lite 6 to be the strongest folding stiletto available.

There is also the Al Mar Quicksilver Slimline stiletto, with D2 blade. I have no experience with those.

That's about all I can think of at the moment as far as manual folding stilettos. There are a lot of cheaper ones out there, like MTech, or "Godfather", but I'm very leery of really cheap liner lock folders, and I wouldn't bother with them.


MGK5eKB.jpg

 
Last edited:
I'm not a Stiletto fan. I don't own a Stiletto, but I was seriously considering two models for a while. These are A.G.A Campolin zero and Bear and Son auto bold action stiletto.
 
killgar said:
I myself have long had a passion for folding stilettos, both manual and automatic. They are my favorite type of knives.


If you are interested in single edged manual stilettos, Kissing Crane stilettos are single edged, the older ones were made in Italy by Angelo Campolin. Many people mistakenly believe they were made in Germany because the blades say "Germany" and "Rostfrei", but the reason they say those things is because Kissing Crane was a German company, the knives were made for a German company, and they were sold by a German company. Some time back however BudK bought Kissing Crane and started having the knives made in China. So if you want an Italian-made one you have to buy an older one. The older ones come in a variety of sizes, but I believe BudK only makes the 9" open length (8-3/4") size. So if you buy larger than that you are getting an Italian-made one. The steel is likely 420. Older KC stilettos can sometimes be found on the secondary market.

I own, and carried a Kissing Crane stiletto for many years.

Angelo Campolin also had his own line of manual folding stilettos made and sold under the name Falcon. These can sometimes be found on the secondary market.

But I would say that my favorite traditional-style manual folding stiletto is the Rite Edge brand. Single-edged blades. They measure almost 11", have stainless steel liners, solid stainless steel bolsters, and the bolsters are actually welded to the liners, this makes for a very solid and robust handle, which is unusual among traditional folding stilettos. They are made in China, and fit and finish is hit or miss. The blade steel is a mystery, but I found it to be quite capable for basic cutting tasks. I started out customizing Rite Edge stilettos before moving into making switchblades, converting them into one-hand openers (and sometimes also one-hand closers), as well as replacing handle scales. Below is a picture of a few, and a video. The reddish wood handles are the originals, but the thumb stud is my addition.

As for the knife in the video you posted, AKC (Automatic Knife Creations) no longer make such knives (the AKC brand is owned by the Campolins). The Campolins also used to produce and sell identical manual swing guard stilettos under their own name, but I don't believe they do anymore. There are a lot of fake "AKC" branded stilettos out there that are made in China.

As for modern style folding stilettos, as Deino mentioned, Cold Steel sells the Ti-Lite series (the Ti-Lite 6 being my all-time favorite knife). It is available in two sizes, three different handle materials (Zytel, aluminum, G10), and currently in three different steels- AUS8, AUS10, and s35vn. Based on torture test videos I've seen, I consider the Ti-Lite 6 to be the strongest folding stiletto available.

There is also the Al Mar Quicksilver Slimline stiletto, with D2 blade. I have no experience with those.

That's about all I can think of at the moment as far as manual folding stilettos. There are a lot of cheaper ones out there, like MTech, or "Godfather", but I'm very leery of really cheap liner lock folders, and I wouldn't bother with them.


MGK5eKB.jpg

Click to expand...

Killgar,

Thank you so much for imparting your experience in the manual stiletto world, I appreciate the guidance and clearer direction :)

I think I am looking for something similar to your craft, perhaps even more customised (e.g., customised blade / blade swapping). I was just thinking if there are currently any makers who can take up making something like the AKC I posted or converting vintage pieces into something modern - there was a time when a cold steel Ti-Lite was in my collection, but I gave it up because of the aesthetics. Just something about the swinguards that do it for me. Again, appreciated for the warnings about the cheaper models, was about to bite on some of those.

I'm a little curious as to whether Kissing Crane or Falcon made bayonet grinds for their manual pieces, a lot of the manual stilettos seem to have the blade profiles that you have shown in your videos / attached image.

Cheers!
 
Falcon made swing guards and fishtails with flat ground blades and stilettos with bayonet blades. I have a few of them.
Also don't be too deterred by the Chinese Kissing Crane knives they're not bad.
And for Swing Guards you might want to consider the Case Cutlery Cheetah too.

A few years ago, a large US distributor bought the remaining stock of Italian made KC stilettos, so there are quite a few of them floating around.

Falcon

falc2.jpg

Chinese Kissing Crane

cc6.jpg

Case Cheetah

case_cheetah.jpg
 
JPD1998 said:
Falcon made swing guards and fishtails with flat ground blades and stilettos with bayonet blades. I have a few of them.
Also don't be too deterred by the Chinese Kissing Crane knives they're not bad.
And for Swing Guards you might want to consider the Case Cutlery Cheetah too.

A few years ago, a large US distributor bought the remaining stock of Italian made KC stilettos, so there are quite a few of them floating around.

Falcon

View attachment 2332542

Chinese Kissing Crane

View attachment 2332544

Case Cheetah

View attachment 2332547
Click to expand...

JPD,

Thanks for sharing your fine collection. I really enjoy the Falcon horn handles that you have, those are something that I covet. Just something about the smooth translucent finish.

Haven't really heard of Case Cheetahs, I'll check them out!

Cheers!
 
Ossia said:
Killgar,

Thank you so much for imparting your experience in the manual stiletto world, I appreciate the guidance and clearer direction :)

I think I am looking for something similar to your craft, perhaps even more customised (e.g., customised blade / blade swapping). I was just thinking if there are currently any makers who can take up making something like the AKC I posted or converting vintage pieces into something modern - there was a time when a cold steel Ti-Lite was in my collection, but I gave it up because of the aesthetics. Just something about the swinguards that do it for me. Again, appreciated for the warnings about the cheaper models, was about to bite on some of those.

I'm a little curious as to whether Kissing Crane or Falcon made bayonet grinds for their manual pieces, a lot of the manual stilettos seem to have the blade profiles that you have shown in your videos / attached image.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

You're welcome :) .

As far as stiletto brands and blade types, the only flat-ground Falcon stilettos I've seen are swing-guards, all of the fixed-guard Falcon knives had either bayonet blades or kris blades.

As far as Kissing Crane stilettos, I've only seen flat-ground and kris blades on their fixed-guards, and there are some single-edged flat-ground swing-guards in the Italian style (pic below, model KC2051), but they can be hard to come by.

As for other flat-ground swing-guard stilettos, the Campolins produced them years ago. But again, you would only find one on the secondary market.


I would imagine that it's possible to find a custom knife maker who would be willing to make a new blade and perform a swap on an existing knife, but I don't know of any. One issue with finding such a maker is that not only would they need blade making skills, but they would also need to be able to disassemble a pinned knife, and then reassemble it. And if they only make screw assembled knives, they might not want to attempt the task. Also, some, perhaps many custom knife/blade makers don't like to work on knives made by others, they prefer to make their own.

As far as custom knife makers who make folding Italian-style stilettos, two I can think of are Paul Panak (Burn Knives) and Reese Weiland. Mr. Panak makes both swing-guard stilettos, and manual stilettos, and he uses steels further up the scale than 420 or 440, but his work is expensive, think over a grand (possibly way over), and these days it might be difficult to get a stiletto out of him, particularly if he's focused on other projects.

As for Mr. Weiland, I've only seen automatic swing-guards from him, but being a master craftsman I have to imagine he could make a manual. But again, his work is very expensive.

I'm quite confident in my belief that neither of those gentlemen would be willing to replace a blade on someone else's knife. They both have websites.

The only other maker of custom swing-guard stilettos I can think of is Antonio Contini. He's Italian, and lives in Italy. I've only seen him make autos, but I have to believe he could produce a manual version if he wanted to (an example of his work below). I've seen several people in the US successfully order his knives. And again, his work is not cheap.

Robert Klaas/Kissing Crane KC2051

ChVX2pa.jpg



Antonio Contini

QQdeiiQ.jpg
 
killgar said:
You're welcome :) .

As far as stiletto brands and blade types, the only flat-ground Falcon stilettos I've seen are swing-guards, all of the fixed-guard Falcon knives had either bayonet blades or kris blades.

As far as Kissing Crane stilettos, I've only seen flat-ground and kris blades on their fixed-guards, and there are some single-edged flat-ground swing-guards in the Italian style (pic below, model KC2051), but they can be hard to come by.

As for other flat-ground swing-guard stilettos, the Campolins produced them years ago. But again, you would only find one on the secondary market.


I would imagine that it's possible to find a custom knife maker who would be willing to make a new blade and perform a swap on an existing knife, but I don't know of any. One issue with finding such a maker is that not only would they need blade making skills, but they would also need to be able to disassemble a pinned knife, and then reassemble it. And if they only make screw assembled knives, they might not want to attempt the task. Also, some, perhaps many custom knife/blade makers don't like to work on knives made by others, they prefer to make their own.

As far as custom knife makers who make folding Italian-style stilettos, two I can think of are Paul Panak (Burn Knives) and Reese Weiland. Mr. Panak makes both swing-guard stilettos, and manual stilettos, and he uses steels further up the scale than 420 or 440, but his work is expensive, think over a grand (possibly way over), and these days it might be difficult to get a stiletto out of him, particularly if he's focused on other projects.

As for Mr. Weiland, I've only seen automatic swing-guards from him, but being a master craftsman I have to imagine he could make a manual. But again, his work is very expensive.

I'm quite confident in my belief that neither of those gentlemen would be willing to replace a blade on someone else's knife. They both have websites.

The only other maker of custom swing-guard stilettos I can think of is Antonio Contini. He's Italian, and lives in Italy. I've only seen him make autos, but I have to believe he could produce a manual version if he wanted to (an example of his work below). I've seen several people in the US successfully order his knives. And again, his work is not cheap.

Robert Klaas/Kissing Crane KC2051


Antonio Contini
Click to expand...
I've spoken to Mr. Panak but he mentioned that he doesn't do manuals - couldn't reach Mr. Weiland on his e-mail either. In fact, I've taken your recommendation to contact Antonio Contini to work discuss some possibilities. He has produced some very handsome knives, albeit the conversation is done mostly with the help of Google Translate :)

I had found this website after consulting Bill Deshivs on folding Stilettos for all to know: https://www.knifeshop.com/en/product/5295/antique_italian_folding_knife_ant-245.html

antique_italian_folding_knife.jpg

Price seems more than decent but I'm curious as to who made the knives and the available quantity.

Cheers all and please keep the ideas coming!
 
Ossia said:
Hi all!

Been bitten by the collector's bug again - this time by the Italian Stilettos (folding). Where I'm at, automatics and dagger style blades are illegal.

I was just wondering about the different ones that are currently out there. This was the video that piqued my interest:

So far, I've found some beaten-up oldies floating on the bay, but have a greater interest in current makers who are using modern steels and currently taking orders - I would appreciate direction in acquiring good quality (new old stock, mint condition..) pieces.

Cheers!
James
Click to expand...


These may not be legal to own in your jurisdiction, but you'll love 'em anyway: Camillus used to make a licensed version of the nDarral Ralph Madd Maxx. The Camillus version was called the "Cuda Maxx" and they still come up on e_Bay. A double edged folding dstter with 5.5" D2 blades in a Titanium Fram locking body.

I get that a fixed balsw dagger is our of the question for you but you can look at pictures of the RandallMade model2 "Fighting Stiletto" along with the Gerber Mark-II and the various iterstions of the John Ek dggers.

I think that Cold Steel does an all plastic Gerber Mk-2 . . .you might b3e able to convince the authorities that it is a training knife not a real one.

Camillus "Cuda Maxx"; a dscontinued model that comes up often on e-Bay.

There are similar knives named "Madd Maxx" from Darrel Ralph.

I take that fixed blade daggers are totally out of the question for you, but you can look at pictures of the Randall Made Model -2 "Fighting Stiletto". Then of course is the Fairborn Sykes
Commando knife.
 
Last edited:
Peregrin said:
Here's mine. 1991 Swing guard in some awesome stag.
3ZdN2Oy.jpg
Click to expand...
This is super sick! Thank you for sharing. I've noticed the Puma(s) are a little on the high side. Any reason as to why (e.g., construction is extremely solid, good steels..)?

The swinguards are beautiful!
 
VorpelSword said:
These may not be legal to own in your jurisdiction but you'll love 'em anyway:

Camillus "Cuda Maxx"; a dscontinued model that comes up often on e-Bay.

There are similar knives named "Madd Maxx" from Darrel Ralph.

I take that fixed blade daggers are totally out of the question for you, but you can look at pictures of the Randall Made Model -2 "Fighting Stiletto". Then of course is the Fairborn Sykes
Commando knife
Click to expand...
Already loving them sir. I've seen the pieces Darrel Ralph made - it is a shame he is no longer with us and I wish him peace.

The workaround to acquire those are import licences, but the easiest workaround is a single edge.
VorpelSword said:
.
Click to expand...
 
Ossia said:
This is super sick! Thank you for sharing. I've noticed the Puma(s) are a little on the high side. Any reason as to why (e.g., construction is extremely solid, good steels..)?

The swinguards are beautiful!
Click to expand...
I'm no expert on the Puma line. I do think that they were generally considered a premium knife, and the few that I have are all very well made. I bought the swing guard a few years ago, and it wasn't cheap. The other Pumas I have were purchased new back in 90s at a Cutlery World. I remember paying $100.00 for one of them at the time. It was the most I'd ever spent on a knife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top