- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 224
In case anyone is at all interested, here are a few photos of my collection, well to be more precise 23 photos of the majority of my collection. You will probably see how I am a child of the 70s/80s with influences running through many of my choices.
After an initial attempt to photograph my collection a few years ago, Ive now filled in a few gaps in it and wanted to take an updated set of photos with an insight into how it built into the collection it is.
Starting where it all began, these three are what got me hooked. My brother got himself the Texan in the middle and it grabbed my interest. He then generously gave me the Victorinox for my 8th birthday (after asking our parents). The Mauser seemed a logical upgrade to the Victorinox, and after the Texan bit my brothers thumb pretty badly, he decided to give it to me. The seed of my interest in knives and using them as tools was sown.
Here are a few more early milestones. Right at the top is a balisong I bought back from Austria at the age of 16 (with parental assistance) and well before the law changed restricting their sale/purchase in the UK. Second from the bottom is an early SOG Tomcat folder, which at the time was a very expensive knife for me. Just above it is a Whitby clone of the Tomcat which I bought as I wanted to use the Tomcat, but it felt too expensive to use. The last knife is the first ever assisted knife I came across, the Kershaw Ken Onion Chive.
Once bitten by the large folder bug I had to have a few. The Opinel Le Giant No. 13 is still my largest, and below that are a user Rajah II, unused Rajah II and a Rajah I (UKPN for scale).
Finding more interesting UK EDC legal knives than a Victorinox became another quest, so adding to the Victorinox and Mauser (legal on the 3 cutting edge approach), a Spyderco Grasshopper and UKPN.
Still on UK EDC legal, top to bottom is a Boker Plus XS, Byrd Wings, Boker Plus Trance 42, and UKPN FRN.
And yet more EDC, but this time including a modified knife. The Dragonfly II, has had the lock disabled turning it into a slip-joint. Below this is the Spy-DK and Spyderco PITS.
In this photo are assisted knives, flippers and composite blades. At the top is a Chinese large assisted knife. Next down is Kershaw Junkyard Dog composite flipper, then the Kershaw Tyrade which is an assisted knife with composite blade, and last, the SOG Flash II.
A few unusual knives. The Spyderco Schempp Bowie has a lot of negative rake, making it look almost bent. SOGs Architech Damascus has a mother of pearl thumb stud and titanium and carbon handle. Bokers Boker-Matic is an OTF knife with sprung blade retraction (not an auto).
Not as big as the largest folders, but still larger than most, the Spyderco Tatanka, Spyderco Manix 2 XL (EDCF Glow edition) and Mil-Tac MTF-4.
Taking a different tack, Im looking at multi-tools with the oldest and newest which are also the smallest and largest I have. Of course the original Leatherman PST and a limited edition SOG Blacktip fishing multi-tool.
Another three multi-tools, all EDC converted (either by blunting the blade or disabling the lock). The Paul Chen, Gerber Suspension and a Silverline mole-grip type plyer tool.
The multi-tools group shot, all folded.
Although by no means every folder I own (probably about two thirds of them), this is a grouping of the main ones from smallest (Gerber LST Ultralight 22-06050 right at the bottom) to largest (Opinel No. 13).
There is then the inspiration of movies. These three are (do you know them all?)
The first large fixed blade I bought is a Wilkinson Sword (model unspecified). After getting into survival largely thanks to a friend getting the SAS Survival Handbook (by Lofty Wiseman), what I really wanted (and perhaps controversially still like) was the Wilkinson Sword Survival Knife designed by Ray Mears. Rounding up this tri is the Buck 184.
A bit of a quest in this photo. At the top is the first of this series I bought, the BMF 9 plain blade. I wanted the saw-back version in the previous movie knife photo, but ended up with this. Getting closer, I then found the 9 saw-back, but it was still not quite what I wanted. The original 8 saw-back version came along, but has seen some real action as it was used by a soldier. The wear on the visible blade flat was where the soldier had engraved his name (to stop it going walkies), and subsequently rubbed it out. Finishing off the set is a matching LMF.
Gerber Mark II, Mark I tactical, and Guardian daggers.
A few field knives, Buck Woodsman 619, SOG Northwest Hunter (now known as the Northwest Ranger), and a Fallkniven F1.
The top knife was also purchased early on with the previously shown Wilkinson sword (unspecified model) and is also an unspecified model. Then the much maligned Bear Grylls Ultimate survival knife and the Compact model in the same series.
Inspired by the Ray Mears Wilkinson Sword Survival Knife, before they went out of business Wilkinson sword created the Dartmoor Knife. This is a post factory-closure example. A modern tactical tanto design the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Testudo, and a popular Gerber military knife the LMF II Infantry.
Excuse the repetition, but this felt like a more appropriate tactical knife line up with the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Testudo, Spartan Blades Harsey Model II, and Gerber LMF II Infantry.
Now for something very different, a large Kukri which my uncle obtained while stationed abroad in the army, a pair of Scandinavian knives and an unmarked Damascus Stuart Mitchell kitchen knife.
Lastly a group shot.
Throughout this set of photos Ive tried to show how my collection developed, and some of the main ideas I followed. It should give an idea of the general aspects of my collection as it stands in July 2015 .
TBC of course!!!
After an initial attempt to photograph my collection a few years ago, Ive now filled in a few gaps in it and wanted to take an updated set of photos with an insight into how it built into the collection it is.
Starting where it all began, these three are what got me hooked. My brother got himself the Texan in the middle and it grabbed my interest. He then generously gave me the Victorinox for my 8th birthday (after asking our parents). The Mauser seemed a logical upgrade to the Victorinox, and after the Texan bit my brothers thumb pretty badly, he decided to give it to me. The seed of my interest in knives and using them as tools was sown.
Here are a few more early milestones. Right at the top is a balisong I bought back from Austria at the age of 16 (with parental assistance) and well before the law changed restricting their sale/purchase in the UK. Second from the bottom is an early SOG Tomcat folder, which at the time was a very expensive knife for me. Just above it is a Whitby clone of the Tomcat which I bought as I wanted to use the Tomcat, but it felt too expensive to use. The last knife is the first ever assisted knife I came across, the Kershaw Ken Onion Chive.
Once bitten by the large folder bug I had to have a few. The Opinel Le Giant No. 13 is still my largest, and below that are a user Rajah II, unused Rajah II and a Rajah I (UKPN for scale).
Finding more interesting UK EDC legal knives than a Victorinox became another quest, so adding to the Victorinox and Mauser (legal on the 3 cutting edge approach), a Spyderco Grasshopper and UKPN.
Still on UK EDC legal, top to bottom is a Boker Plus XS, Byrd Wings, Boker Plus Trance 42, and UKPN FRN.
And yet more EDC, but this time including a modified knife. The Dragonfly II, has had the lock disabled turning it into a slip-joint. Below this is the Spy-DK and Spyderco PITS.
In this photo are assisted knives, flippers and composite blades. At the top is a Chinese large assisted knife. Next down is Kershaw Junkyard Dog composite flipper, then the Kershaw Tyrade which is an assisted knife with composite blade, and last, the SOG Flash II.
A few unusual knives. The Spyderco Schempp Bowie has a lot of negative rake, making it look almost bent. SOGs Architech Damascus has a mother of pearl thumb stud and titanium and carbon handle. Bokers Boker-Matic is an OTF knife with sprung blade retraction (not an auto).
Not as big as the largest folders, but still larger than most, the Spyderco Tatanka, Spyderco Manix 2 XL (EDCF Glow edition) and Mil-Tac MTF-4.
Taking a different tack, Im looking at multi-tools with the oldest and newest which are also the smallest and largest I have. Of course the original Leatherman PST and a limited edition SOG Blacktip fishing multi-tool.
Another three multi-tools, all EDC converted (either by blunting the blade or disabling the lock). The Paul Chen, Gerber Suspension and a Silverline mole-grip type plyer tool.
The multi-tools group shot, all folded.
Although by no means every folder I own (probably about two thirds of them), this is a grouping of the main ones from smallest (Gerber LST Ultralight 22-06050 right at the bottom) to largest (Opinel No. 13).
There is then the inspiration of movies. These three are (do you know them all?)
SOGs Trident or Bowie 2.0 from Terminator II, Gerbers BMF from Deadly Pursuit, and the Gerber Mark II from Alien.
The first large fixed blade I bought is a Wilkinson Sword (model unspecified). After getting into survival largely thanks to a friend getting the SAS Survival Handbook (by Lofty Wiseman), what I really wanted (and perhaps controversially still like) was the Wilkinson Sword Survival Knife designed by Ray Mears. Rounding up this tri is the Buck 184.
A bit of a quest in this photo. At the top is the first of this series I bought, the BMF 9 plain blade. I wanted the saw-back version in the previous movie knife photo, but ended up with this. Getting closer, I then found the 9 saw-back, but it was still not quite what I wanted. The original 8 saw-back version came along, but has seen some real action as it was used by a soldier. The wear on the visible blade flat was where the soldier had engraved his name (to stop it going walkies), and subsequently rubbed it out. Finishing off the set is a matching LMF.
Gerber Mark II, Mark I tactical, and Guardian daggers.
A few field knives, Buck Woodsman 619, SOG Northwest Hunter (now known as the Northwest Ranger), and a Fallkniven F1.
The top knife was also purchased early on with the previously shown Wilkinson sword (unspecified model) and is also an unspecified model. Then the much maligned Bear Grylls Ultimate survival knife and the Compact model in the same series.
Inspired by the Ray Mears Wilkinson Sword Survival Knife, before they went out of business Wilkinson sword created the Dartmoor Knife. This is a post factory-closure example. A modern tactical tanto design the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Testudo, and a popular Gerber military knife the LMF II Infantry.
Excuse the repetition, but this felt like a more appropriate tactical knife line up with the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Testudo, Spartan Blades Harsey Model II, and Gerber LMF II Infantry.
Now for something very different, a large Kukri which my uncle obtained while stationed abroad in the army, a pair of Scandinavian knives and an unmarked Damascus Stuart Mitchell kitchen knife.
Lastly a group shot.
Throughout this set of photos Ive tried to show how my collection developed, and some of the main ideas I followed. It should give an idea of the general aspects of my collection as it stands in July 2015 .
TBC of course!!!
Last edited:
