-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 ea (shipped within CONUS). Now open to the forums as a whole. If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges. If there are customs issues? On you.
The 80's!! Anyone remember knives from the 80's??
- Thread starter bored2deth
- Start date
JTR357
Gold Member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2007
- Messages
- 13,819
martiini explorer from , i think, the late 80's , this model exists with 4 blade lenghts, wish I had bought a longer one cause I have no use for such a short blade.
http://flic.kr/p/fKvVAC
http://flic.kr/p/fKvVAC
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2012
- Messages
- 4,320
Yeah I remember the 80's, lol... Graduated HS in '81 so that makes me an "old guy" I'm sure. I remember those hollow-handled "survival knives" for sure, they were the rage. I had a Craftsman folder that looked just like a Buck 110 basically (who made it I don't know, it's at my other home and I'll have to look next time I'm there - anybody know who made those 80's Craftsmans?).
John Johnson
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 1999
- Messages
- 938
Tekna boot knife. Check! Still have it.
Buck 184. Check! Traded for a 1st Gen Glock in the early 90's.
Gerber Bolt Action. Check! Had it until a few years ago.
Assorted hollow handled survival knives. Check!
Atlanta Cutlery khukri. Check! Dull as a butter knife.
British MOD Combat knife. Check! Sold, but what a brute with a soft edge.
Gerber Command 2. Check! Still have it.
Gerber Frisco Shiv. Check! Sold long ago.
Cold Steel Urban Skinner. Check! Carried it daily when I lived in Chicago. Alas, I sold it.
K55 folder. Check!
Knives Annuals for the 80's. Check! Literally worn them out looking at them and flipping through them. They sparked a huge interest in knives for a young teen in the early 80's.
And finally a huge assortment of crappy knives because that's what I could afford as a teen, but they were all learning lessons on what NOT to buy so they were a good education. And several Explorer brand knives, generally of fairly good quality
But the one that bugs the crap out of me was probably the first folding survival knife. It was a lockback with a huge drop point blade, had removable aluminum handles and had a wire saw built into the handle that unwound for use. Then it had an allen key for reeling it back in located in a vinyl belt pouch along with a sharpening stone. Anyone remember this one? It was advertised in Soldier of Fortune, and one of the selling points was being able to use to stop a fall down a hillside among other things. I believe this was around 1980 or the later parts of the Seventies. Well, I finally found that early grail about four years bought from a famous collector's collection but he had no info on it either. Zero maker's marks on it. I would gladly post a pic, but my collection is all packed up and in the process of moving after our house flooded from a burst pipe last week. So hopefully this weekend or early next week I can post a pic. But does anyone else remember this one?
Buck 184. Check! Traded for a 1st Gen Glock in the early 90's.
Gerber Bolt Action. Check! Had it until a few years ago.
Assorted hollow handled survival knives. Check!
Atlanta Cutlery khukri. Check! Dull as a butter knife.
British MOD Combat knife. Check! Sold, but what a brute with a soft edge.
Gerber Command 2. Check! Still have it.
Gerber Frisco Shiv. Check! Sold long ago.
Cold Steel Urban Skinner. Check! Carried it daily when I lived in Chicago. Alas, I sold it.
K55 folder. Check!
Knives Annuals for the 80's. Check! Literally worn them out looking at them and flipping through them. They sparked a huge interest in knives for a young teen in the early 80's.
And finally a huge assortment of crappy knives because that's what I could afford as a teen, but they were all learning lessons on what NOT to buy so they were a good education. And several Explorer brand knives, generally of fairly good quality
But the one that bugs the crap out of me was probably the first folding survival knife. It was a lockback with a huge drop point blade, had removable aluminum handles and had a wire saw built into the handle that unwound for use. Then it had an allen key for reeling it back in located in a vinyl belt pouch along with a sharpening stone. Anyone remember this one? It was advertised in Soldier of Fortune, and one of the selling points was being able to use to stop a fall down a hillside among other things. I believe this was around 1980 or the later parts of the Seventies. Well, I finally found that early grail about four years bought from a famous collector's collection but he had no info on it either. Zero maker's marks on it. I would gladly post a pic, but my collection is all packed up and in the process of moving after our house flooded from a burst pipe last week. So hopefully this weekend or early next week I can post a pic. But does anyone else remember this one?
Last edited:
JPD1998
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2004
- Messages
- 3,491
This was the first knife that I actually sought out by brand and model.
Most of what I bought back then were flea market or no name catalog knives.
They were selling for around $30 plus shipping , it seemed expensive but I finally got one on sale in the SMKW catalog.
Most of what I bought back then were flea market or no name catalog knives.
They were selling for around $30 plus shipping , it seemed expensive but I finally got one on sale in the SMKW catalog.
pvicenzi
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2008
- Messages
- 6,580
Nice knife. I had one and the button fell off. Still used it for years, it was just harder to unlock.
This was the first knife that I actually sought out by brand and model.
Most of what I bought back then were flea market or no name catalog knives.
They were selling for around $30 plus shipping , it seemed expensive but I finally got one on sale in the SMKW catalog.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 19,385
I carried a Vic Tinker in the mid 1980's. That was my first exposure to swiss army knives in terms of using them.
Had a Schrade two blade folding hunter (model?) that is similar in size to the Buck 110. I avoided the 110 because I always had trouble at that time sharpening their steel. Also carried a Case Trapper pattern a good bit (which I had for years prior to that) and later a Gerber Gater folder to beat around in the field.
The Rambo knives appealed to me (but I knew they were essentially junk), but I really didn't begin to buy any big knives until the around 1990 at gun, and gun & knife shows. Attended the early Blade Shows in Knoxville TN. At that time you could buy Randalls for regular pricing. Traded a Mossberg 22 mag rifle for my first custom fixed blade about that time. Bought my first "survival" knife the same day; Ek Comando fixed blade. Those were fun times as I would get so excited going into these shows. Everything was new to me. Believe it or not, those two knives were my very first fixed blades. Many followed.
I have to admit that the Rambo movies profoundly affected me and prompted much of my interest in bigger knives. The first Rambo movie came out in 1982.
Had a Schrade two blade folding hunter (model?) that is similar in size to the Buck 110. I avoided the 110 because I always had trouble at that time sharpening their steel. Also carried a Case Trapper pattern a good bit (which I had for years prior to that) and later a Gerber Gater folder to beat around in the field.
The Rambo knives appealed to me (but I knew they were essentially junk), but I really didn't begin to buy any big knives until the around 1990 at gun, and gun & knife shows. Attended the early Blade Shows in Knoxville TN. At that time you could buy Randalls for regular pricing. Traded a Mossberg 22 mag rifle for my first custom fixed blade about that time. Bought my first "survival" knife the same day; Ek Comando fixed blade. Those were fun times as I would get so excited going into these shows. Everything was new to me. Believe it or not, those two knives were my very first fixed blades. Many followed.
I have to admit that the Rambo movies profoundly affected me and prompted much of my interest in bigger knives. The first Rambo movie came out in 1982.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,354
No one mentioned the Buck Titanium 186 or the Bowen Belt Buckle knives.
As I looked through the pics I realise that the 80s coincided with my most prolific collecting period.
As I looked through the pics I realise that the 80s coincided with my most prolific collecting period.
I bought my first Victorinox SAK, a Spartan, in 1981. It was an older-style version; its red plastic handle scales seemed more solid and durable than today's Cellidor scales; and it did not have the tweezers or toothpick. I carried it through 1997.
Jim
Jim
I've had this one since some time around the early 1980's. It belonged to one of my uncles and he gave it to me for a birthday when I was around 10-12 or so, I carried it every day when I was in high school (I graduated in 1989, so I guess that qualifies as being in the 80's). I carried for quite a few years after, it's been sharpened so many times, I had to file the lower part of the blade down so the point didn't stick out above the handle scales. Lots of memories with this one. Sorry for the crappy pictures, I took them with my phone, I have no idea where my wife's camera is.
