Any good hollow handle knives?

If we're going to resurrect a thread, we might as well do it right. :D

Timberline Survival - 1983 American Made Knife of the Year.

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Obviously the naysayers of hollow handle knives are judging them by the El cheapo mass produced ones from China or Pakistan, and by those cheapie that so many of us got duped with during the First Blood/ Rambo knife craze of the 80"s!

The truth is there are some seriously high quality handmade and high end produced hollow handle knives. For the handmade ones: Andrew Clifford, Martin Knives, Greg Wall, Randall Made Knives (with a 8 to 10 yr wait at least for a custom brand new one), and my newest knife maker, Big Custom Knives aka BCK.

On the produced side for hollow handle knives: Aitor Jungle King line, Baker Plus Aparro, and Kizlyar Supreme Xtreme hollow handle knives such as the Kizlyar X model and Z model. I got a Kizlyar X hollow handle knife shortly after they were made available. I got mine earlier this year. They have 2 different steel versions...the D2 steel and AUS 8 steel versions. And I tell you, if the blade on the Kizlyar Supreme hollow handle knives were just a couple of inches Longer, it would be the Perfect hollow handle knife!! But even with its 7.5" blade, it is like Dynamite in that small package.

Bottom line is everyone has their different likes and dislikes. We are all different. That is what makes us people...what makes us human.

No one should be ridiculed or made fun of for what they like in life, and no one should be ridiculed or made fun of simply because they don't like or don't agree with what others like.

Instead of bashing and trying to Tell people they should not like this or that, or vice versa, we should just accept each other despite our differences...and just simply agree to disagree when it permits.

And besides, as long as all of you will listen to me and agree and like everything I do, things should be fine....LOL just kidding.

Seriously though...There are us that like a certain thing, and there are those of us that Don't like that same certain thing. But none of us are Wrong, despite our differences. That is it...We are all just different!!
 
Seriousbladeno1 said:
Omg that's a pure beauty! What is the exact name /code of this knife please? Is this classic vintage still somewhere for sale?
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Hackman Finland Sorsakoski Survival Knife (Vietnam era), DIN X90CrMoV17 stainless steel blade, hollow handle, open leather sheath containing a survival kit and compass, designed by Ken Warner and Pete Dickey.

It would probably be a major chore to get one in this condition. They are sometimes available on E-bay. Have not seen one for a long time though.

~Paul~
 
dePaul said:
Hackman Finland Sorsakoski Survival Knife (Vietnam era), DIN X90CrMoV17 stainless steel blade, hollow handle, open leather sheath containing a survival kit and compass, designed by Ken Warner and Pete Dickey.

It would probably be a major chore to get one in this condition. They are sometimes available on E-bay. Have not seen one for a long time though.

~Paul~
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Thank you Paul for informative reply,are you the lucky one to have this knife in your collection? What's their price tag rough guess?
 
NECRO, NECRO, NECRO THREAD!

I had to say it three times to banish the devil spirit that keeps resurrecting this zombie!
 
Seriousbladeno1 said:
Thank you Paul for informative reply,are you the lucky one to have this knife in your collection? What's their price tag rough guess?
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I have one sitting on my desk, with a probably ruined heat treat and a whole lot of scratches. I'll sharpen it up sometime and see how it holds.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
thedemonbeast said:
I love hollow-handled survival knives, and my most favorite types are the Rambo style serration ones. And I am not talking about the el cheapo United Cutlery knives and the even more el cheapo Master Cutlery ones. I am talking about the highest end, high quality handmade hollow handles. Knife makers such as Andrew Clifford (BTW, Andy has fully recovered from his hand injury which resulted in several different surgeries on it. Anyway, he is back in business and making knives again after having to be off for almost a year). Black Starr Knives, Ray Matton, Martin Knives, Steve Voorhis, and several others all make very high end hollow handled knives that are made to use to the extreme.

I particularly like the Voorhis and Martin hollow handled knives (I have a Voorhis and soon will have a Martin knife) because their tang construction is such that the knife tang comes almos halfway through the handle and is connected by a very high impact thick bolt oif sorts, I also have a very rare handmade First Blood movie knife that is my dream knife and I always wanted one. The reason I call it a rare knife is that a master smith with over 50 years of knife making and teaching knife making, is the one that made it. And it is the Only First Blood handmade movie knife that he ever made. Also, it is the Only handmade First Blood movie knife that is made with 440V steel.

Now, if you are one that no matter what is said, ou just don't understand the durability of a well made handmade hollow handled knife, but yet you love the round handle look, then you don't have to look any further than Andrew Clifford. Some years ago Andy devised and designed a way where he could make what is called a full round tang knife. He makes this style, which is his own style and is the most difficult knife styles to make. Anyway, the knife I am mentioning here is actually a full tang knife. However, the handle is shaped round. Believe me, it is no farce. And you can tell it is really full tang when you pick one up and handle it. You can just feel the weight of the handle, but also how incredibly well balanced it is. Andy then wraps the handle with 550 lb military grade para cord.

And hence, a full round tang cord-wrapped knife that looks like a hollow handled one, is born!! With Andy back to the knife making grindstone, I will be getting my 3rd knife from him very soon!! He made one for me for me to dedicate to my late Father, who to me was the real John Rambo (not his name tho). dad served in the US Army Special Forces back before they were even known as Green Berets, but then became a Green Beret during the Vietnam War. He retired from the US Army Special Forces 21 years later from the time he joined. And he could sit down and really tell some great true stories about Korea and Nam.

Anyway, I contacted Andy via a reference from a friend who mentioned him to me, back in late 2009. When I shared with him about making a high end brand new survival knife in honor of my Dad, Andy immediately accepted the request and got on it right away. It took a few months longer than anticipated due to recurring issues. But Andy pushed through, showed his true dedication, and even paid for the knife to be Overnighted to me just in time for my Dad Dedication Night. To quickly just sum this up, Andy did for me what no other knife maker was willing to do. Andy and I have since become good true friends.

And so, folks, that is what I can share about hollow handled knives. I know hollow handle knives are made fun of and mocked, and people say they are worthless. But these people that say these things against hollow handles, my belief is they are judging all hollow handled knives based on the ones they can afford, those being the cheap United Cutlery and even more cheaply made Master Cutlery ones. Because if they ever bought a genuine high end handmade hollow handled knife, they would definitely change their minds about them!! Thanks for reading.
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That's a great input you made to this topic and I may say, I have very similar taste for these knives - unfortunately couldnt gather enough money for Martin Knives or Voorhis, I have scouted a lot of information on Martin Knives especially,,,, also initially on Brit Guddovsky 's Black Star knives - (it was sad story he went on slippy road after what he had achieved, Brit could made beautiful business for himself as his knives were looking fantastic and I believe they were real deal at his time) ,,, have seen few Voorhis knives on Arizona Custom Knives online sale,,,, too very beautiful masterpieces from him.... A lot of guys don't truly understand way of making high end hollow handles and are having prejudice against them, because of misconception....For some reason, people still compare them to 10 bucks ("Rambo style" plastic toys) made in 80's sold all over the globe... However, this is misleading. And hell yes, I love large blades and don't care what some may say - it's useless because it's big - nothing can be further from truth! Large blade will do a lot, when it comes to any general tasks and sometime only large blade is capable of certain tasks... Some may love folders, some may love small bushcraft knives, I love huge, giant blades,shiny, razor sharp,that will chopp the elephant into half :) :) :) that's the way I like them....
 
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Hibben, Neeley, Sanders, Schiller, Matton, Wood, Clifford, Martin, and Borger...

Here is just a slight few of my handmade survival knives...All but 2 are hollow handle!
 
Blade Runner 7 said:
I have a buck 184 and I love the hollow handle knife idea. Of course the problem is the lack of a blade tang. Most of the hollow handle knives have this problem even Randall Made. I was thinking about getting the Chris Reeve Shadow since it's one piece construction but then I saw the destruction test on youtube. That was the fastest destruction test I have ever seen. It just makes me think there will never be a good hollow handle knife. Do any of you trust hollow handle knives? Am I missing a model that is better than the rest?
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On the value side of the spectrum, the Schrade SCHF1SM and SCHFF1. Run about $50-60 and the reviews on them are excellent. The SCHF1SM is on my purchase list, I don't like the F1 with partially serrated blade. 1070 High Carbon steel, one piece construction.
 
Blade Runner 7 said:
I have a buck 184 and I love the hollow handle knife idea. Of course the problem is the lack of a blade tang. Most of the hollow handle knives have this problem even Randall Made. I was thinking about getting the Chris Reeve Shadow since it's one piece construction but then I saw the destruction test on youtube. That was the fastest destruction test I have ever seen. It just makes me think there will never be a good hollow handle knife. Do any of you trust hollow handle knives? Am I missing a model that is better than the rest?
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The problems with the Buck 184 are the same as on all the Chris Reeve one piece: A small inner handle diameter that allows only about 15 (small) matches(!), and most of all a serious lack of blade heft owing the sub 10" blades... The extra handle inner depth on the Reeve design is not really a big help compared to its lack of inner diameter...

There is a Japanese-made Buckmaster clone called either the "Parker Imai K-692" or the "Oryx Raider II" that is far improved on the Buck, since it has a 9.8" blade: Unfortunately, it inherited the pitifully small handle capacity of the 184... It is actually dirt cheap at $200 when they show up, but they are much rarer than the ubiquitous (and less useful) Buckmaster...

Lile made handles have much greater capacity, are just right in outside handle diameter comfort, and the knives are much lighter overall: They are worth getting for all these reasons, especially the 10" blade "Mission" which is by far the best. In comparison, the inner handle capacity of the Parrish "Survivor" is poor and the saw is not as great as claimed, being definitely second to the Lile saw on wood (About 3/4" notches to the Lile's 1.25": A big Voorhis, which is an oversized Lile saw, goes a full 2", but it is made in 5160 steel that needs to be coated, and is not a great edge-holder no matter what)

I would rate the Buckmaster as no weaker than any Chris Reeve, especially if it turns out the separate parts help dampen vibrations... The fact it is stainless should get it the nod over a CR, but its sheath is clunky and it is much too heavy for a 7.5" blade... I would say never go under 10" of blade on a hollow handle, because the loss in chopping utility for a given weight, especially if the handle is heavy, is just huge if the balance point moves into the handle...

Gaston
 
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