An European(Dutch) view on traditional knives.

S

spydutch

Joined
Jul 4, 2005
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Greetings you all:)

For as long as I can remember I've been interested in knives.

However, as much I like the looks and craftmanship of the American classics, I don't have the same feeling about it as you guys who grew up with them.

The knives I grew up with were SAK's(or their imitations) and the Herder Solingen Sodbusters of my Dad/Granddad.

Until I discovered internet and this forum, I'd never seen a Peanut, Trapper or the likes.

Heck, they don't even sell them over here. Not even online. Plenty of SAKs, Some Herder Sodbusters and imported Tacticals(Spyderco, Cold Steel) which cost about 2 times as much as in the US.

I just wondered what the traditionals will be over here in Europe. France has his Opinel, Langouile. Finland his Puuko's, but for the rest I wouldn't know.

Maybe SAK's for Switzerland?

At the moment my Alox Solo is my "traditional", but I don't know how traditional it is in your eyes.

However, at a German site I ordered a yellow handled Peanut in CV. Was about as expensive as when I would order it from the US (bit your fault Carl:D) And we will see if I get the "feel" with that knife.

Just wanted to share this with you all.

Thanks for reading :thumbup:
 
Certainly the Opinel, Nontron, Douk-Douk, Laguiole, and Sodbuster are all equivalent to our traditionals. There are Italian slipjoint or friction folder patterns that go back to Roman or medieval times. The Spanish navajas date from the Arab era.
 
I'm American, but have lived in Europe off and on since 1993. Being a knife knut, naturally I can't pass a knife shop without at least looking in the window, if not going in. Also, like you guys, when I'm near someone who pulls out a knife to cut something, I take notice of what he's toting. In all the time I've lived over here, I have never ever seen anyone using a knife that would be considered traditional in the U.S. - not even in Germany, where they make so many fine trappers and stockmans and soddies, etc. Also, of all the knife shops I've been in, I'd say approximately 1% of the stock was made up of stockmans and trappers and whittlers and so forth. And that would be a generous estimate. It's been my experience that the VAST majority of knife carriers here favor a Victorinox SAK, with one-hand wonder knives from Boker, Spyderco etc. (and of course cheapo knock-off versions of those) running a close second. With that said, most of my time is spent in cities -- this might be different out in the sticks.
 
henckels & eyes from germany make tons of great traddies. should be able to find those since both companies go back 100s of yrs. dennis
 
Related, but as an aside Blues and I have talked about traditional knives from a global perspective and those discussions and pictures are more than welcome here.
 
Very interesting that traditionals aren't that popular in Europe. :confused: I would have thought them to be a big thing especially with the excellent French and German slipjoints I've owned. Plus Europe's strict knife laws would seem to make slipjoints more desirable.
 
comoha said:
Very interesting that traditionals aren't that popular in Europe. :confused: I would have thought them to be a big thing especially with the excellent French and German slipjoints I've owned. Plus Europe's strict knife laws would seem to make slipjoints more desirable.
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But what we consider traditionals, are just the opposite to them.

Between 1961 and 1971, I had the pleasure of serving in the Army. Okay, sometimes it was not a pleasure, but it was interesting. I got to travel to places that I most likely would never have got to. England, Germany, Libia, Vietnam, and all over the continental U.S.

While stationed over in Europe, I took advantage of the chance, and used every weekend that I didn't have CQ duty, or other commitment, to travel around. Buying a cheap used VW beatle helped me get around better, and I used leave as well, knowing this was a chance of a lifetime for a young man. Europe is a contenent with great history as well as natural beauty and great camping and fishing spots.

But aside from being a history nut, and going to Flanders, Normandy, Waterloo, I browsed the great knife shops and took notice of what people were using. I found out what we consider traditional, is anything but.

Most people I ran into who were carrying a knife, was carrying a plain single blade low cost working knife of some sort. No stockmen, no barlows, not a single peanut or trapper in sight, exept for my fellow GI's. The traditional knife of the European, no matter waht country you're in, seems to be a sdbuster type of knife. Either an old Herter, or Kissing Krane. In France it really was an Opinel, or a similar knife like a Nontron or such, with a Laguole here and there. In Spain, where I used a week's leave, the same layout of a single blade simple folder, sometimes with a backspring, sometimes just a friction folder, was the knife of the workiing class of bricklayers, field hands, sheppards, and bus drivers.

Even when they needed some engineers for some construction work at Wheelus Air Force base in Libia, and a bunch of us went TDY down there for a few months, all I ever saw in the hands of locals, knifewise, was a low cost single blade wood or horn handle folder, that looked like local manufacure. Once in a while a Douk-Douk or Opinel.

The ubiquitious Swiss Army Knife, or one of it's clones was the other knife seen a lot. If not a real sak, then a Henckels or Puma, or other makers version of it. And even then, it was a much more minimum model than an American would carry. Maybe just a blade and a bottle opener and corkscrew.

I came to realize that the vast bulk of all those nice stockmen, and trappers, and other patterns they make, were being made mostly for the American market. It seems to me that the Americans and our English cousins are the users of knives of many blades. The sole exeption of this seemed to be the two blade penknife. Apparently, in Europe, if you are not carrying a simple single blade work knife, then you must be an office worker or some other 'white collar' kind of person, then you have a small two blade pen knife, like an old Buckmann or Henckels, or a nice English Sheffield style of pocket jewelery. Handles would be buffalo horn or pearl, or ivory. Maybe even wood, but it will be nice wood, like a tropical hardwood. There may be a small corkscrew on the back of it.

To the vast bulk of Europe, a low cost single blade work knife is the traditional knife.

Carl.
 
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jackknife said:
The ubiquitious Swiss Army Knife, or one of it's clones was the other knife seen a lot. If not a real sak, then a Henckels or Puma, or other makers version of it. And even then, it was a much more minimum model than an American would carry. Maybe just a blade and a bottle opener and corkscrew.
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Agreed. You mainly see models about like a Spartan or Tinker or alox Soldier.

jackknife said:
Apparently, in Europe, if you are not carrying a simple single blade work knife, then you must be an office worker or some other 'white collar' kind of person, then you have a small two blade pen knife, like an old Buckmann or Henckels, or a nice English Sheffield style of pocket jewelery. Handles would be buffalo horn or pearl, or ivory. Maybe even wood, but it will be nice wood, like a tropical hardwood. There may be a small corkscrew on the back of it.
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Over the past 17 years, I've traveled a fair bit in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Holland. I've never seen anyone carrying anything like that. I wish I had. :(

-- Mark
 
mnblade said:
Over the past 17 years, I've traveled a fair bit in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Holland. I've never seen anyone carrying anything like that. I wish I had. :(

-- Mark
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I don't think that in the 60's, the sak had reached the popularity it has in recent years. Plus, I think the supply of old Bruckmann's have dried up, which is too bad. They were an extremly nice little pocket knife.
 
I am european and I love traiditonals. However I've found out that I like mostly single or double blade knives. Of course Parker-Frost large stockman or Schrade 34OT rides regularly in my pocket but I mainly carry Northfield 250109 single wharncliffed, Queen small Dan Burke Barlow, Trapper, Canoe (well, I gave Canoe to GF and I hope to get mine sometimes) and such patterns are close to my heart. I like peanut but its rather small for my fingers so perhaps pen knife next?

Its those or one of my numerous SAK's. I love traditional american knives. They're... so unique in here and pleasure to use. The fact bone was used as material for most handles felt first weird but its very good material.
 
Opinel certainly are used a lot in France still. Around the house, on the land and for food prep on pic-nics.

European, American, Asian, African whatever we who collect and carry Traditional pocket knives are all a tiny minority in whatever continent, most people just don't do it., and not like we do, WITH STYLE!
 
Thank you very much for the history lesson Carl:thumbup:

Furthermore you'll have a hard time to find a person who carries a knife on their person at all over here.
Maybe they have one in the toolbox, but not on the person

We have a Dutch knife forum over here who has about 20 active members.

Not much if you consider we have a population of about 17 million people.

I think the majority over here are either knife fobic, or just don't care.

Too bad I think.

Glad I found all of you guys over here ;)
 
Is there an American pattern that you are particularly interested in and would like to try out?

We consider SAK's, Opinels and such as traditionals here as well.

The only SAKs I have ever owned have been the little classics that many companies used to give as adverising gifts. I am going to have to get a couple of SAKs because the Tinker, Pioneer, Soldier models have a strong fan base here in the states and I just can't stand not having a couple in my stash. Notice I don't have a collection really. It's more of a stash. If I see something I like and have the money available, I'll pick it up and put it in my stash. I have quite a few now in my stash. No peanuts or trappernuts yet though.

Ed
 
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I spent some time in Switzerland a couple years ago, and I saw an awful lot of SAK's, unsurprisingly. In fact, SAKs seemed to be about the only affordable thing in the whole country. Everything else seemed to be about twice as expensive as in the US, but SAKs were about the same price. Victorinox has a display in almost every store in Zurich, so they're either extremely popular with tourists, or with locals, or both.

I found a really cool knife store in Luzern. Aside from the expected, dazzling array of SAKs on offer, they also had an impressive stock of what Americans would consider "traditional" knives. A lot of Boker and other German knives- stockmen, canoes etc., but they also had a few Case offerings. The only other store outside of the US I've ever seen Case knives was in Paris.

When I'm in Korea, I always wonder if I'm the only guy with a Case in his pocket in the whole country, except for maybe some soldiers on US bases. SAKs are the only pocket knives I have ever seen there, and I've been looking for ten years. Knives just are not as much a part of the culture in other countries as they are in the US, it seems. The more developed and urbanized the country, the less knives seem to matter to regular folk.

I wonder what farmers in rural Russia carry?
 
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