Australian traditional

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pa knifeguy

Joined
Jun 8, 2004
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I was wondering if there is an Australian traditional pattern?
We know about Opinels from France, Mercators from Germany and the real lambsfoot from England.
What do workin folks from Down Under use?
 
I've been to Australia several times (for work) and I get the impression that few "workees" carry knives on a daily basis. Outdoor stores that I've visited carry primarily multi-tools like Swiss Army Knives and Leathermans.
Nor do I know of any knife manufacturers, either historic or current, with production facilities in Australia.
I'm no expert on Australian pre-history, but my understanding is that the native aborigine people had no metalworking capabilities.

Please mates, I'd love more information if any of these statements are inaccurate. :thumbup:
 
I just checked out an Australian dealer's website, looks to me like a major business, and despite their advertisement "100% Australian", I could find no products that were actually made in Australia. :confused:
 
Aren't 'Down Under' knives Australian?
 
There are many knifemakers but as far as production knives go check out "toledo australia knives" and "gregsteel" although these may have closed down after ww2.Its all a bit misty.
We do have the full range of stuff made in the place with a big wall.
Generally speaking (Jack) anything emblazoned with the words "aussie" or "downunder" is not made here.
Oh and check out Dewey knives- www.deweyknives.com.au/‎ his camp wombat is about as aussie as it gets. Such a great name too.
cheers.
 
I saw Steve Irwin, God rest his soul, use a sak on his show once.

That bushman guy who goes around barefoot always had what seemed to be a Rambo 3 knife on him. There doesn't seem to b much of a cutlery industry down under.
 
G'day guys
I have wondered the same thing. Historically it seems we have made do with what was available. Stockmens folders, simple clasp knives and the ever-useful butchers knife. Cane knives were or are used in the sugar cane harvest but I dont know where they originate from. Choice of knives is very much utility based. We also have stringent laws regarding knife carry. As someone mentioned Dewey Knives are an aussie manufacturer and I think they were producing fixed blades for the Australian Army at one stage.

There are quite a lot of custom knife makers here and there is one ambitious guy working on a business model for a new knife production enterprise...
 
jackknife said:
I saw Steve Irwin, God rest his soul, use a sak on his show once.

That bushman guy who goes around barefoot always had what seemed to be a Rambo 3 knife on him. There doesn't seem to b much of a cutlery industry down under.
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bullseye.
 
To answer the OP - there is no specific pattern of Australian traditional knife. Indigenous people used numerous materials for cutting, including stone and shells of fresh and salt water mussels. They did not have metal prior to arrival of Europeans.

Growing up in country Australia in the 50s and 60s, I was used to seeing knives carried and they were nearly always folders. Many farmers and stockmen carried them in leather belt sheaths, both vertical and horizontal, but I would say that pocket carry was more common.

The patterns were Barlow and stockman styles. The barlows were often referred to as "bunny" knives. Most came from England but German and American brands were not uncommon. Later on, Schrade folders became quite common as did Japanese takes on the traditional patterns. In urban settings many men carried small pen knives for sharpening pencils, cutting string etc.

Knives have been manufactured in Australia but no longer. Plenty of older examples can be found. Aside from military stuff, many were focused on the needs of meat workers and cooks.

Toledo is often cited as Australian (the company probably is) but I have never seen a knife of theirs that was made here. Many of their early fixed blades were Swedish ( Frosts) and later traditional folders were Japanese. The more recent examples I have seen are Chinese.
 
Hey Bob, check out Australian Blade Forums. Lots of makers and collectors on there.
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I've seen several custom makers from Australia.

And there was a well-known customizer/modder from Australia, Oupa. This is one of his, a Camillus with bone salvaged from a historic cattle slaughter house:
OupaCamillus.jpg


But as far as actual manufacturers...
 
Yeah they tried their own pattern for a while...sharpened Boomerangs had a tendency to remove the users hand when it came back!:D
 
Our traditions were imported, 99% from Europe. Along with our livestock, crops, & feral pests.

In my mind, the most traditional Aussie knife would be a rabbit skinner kit. Rabbits were a serious feral plague animal in Australia in the first half of the 20th century. Plagues lasted into the 60,s & were controlled eventually by release of the myxoma virus in the late 50's.

A rabbiter's kit, as I saw numerous times in my childhood, was a FB trade style knife, ~5 inch blade, wooden or leather handle, sheathed together with a handless steel. Most were made in Sheffield or Solingen. Gregsteel may have made some, an Australian manufacturer, now defunct.


These are currently made Sheffield knives. J. Nowill brand.
Despite the barlow style folder being named a "bunny knife," I don't think folders were much used for rabbiting.

The excess of rabbit skins lead to a secondary industry that still survives: Akubra http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...yTRF6XTRNv-WC2puKfypKYQ&bvm=bv.49478099,d.aGc
Rabbit fur was made into felt hats.
 
The 'Bunny Knife' was the name given to a Joseph Rodgers pattern, a smallish jack knife with a clip and pen, it had the name on the main blade. They were very common at one time (my grandad carried one), so I imagine the name was also used for other similiar knives.
 
Just out of interest the South Sydney rugby league team -one of the oldest in the league (the one owned by russel crowe) are the "rabbitohs" or bunnies. "rabbit-o" was the cry of the man who came round the streets selling rabbits in the depression.
 
meako said:
Just out of interest the South Sydney rugby league team -one of the oldest in the league (the one owned by russel crowe) are the "rabbitohs" or bunnies. "rabbit-o" was the cry of the man who came round the streets selling rabbits in the depression.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, but isn't selling rabbits in Australia a bit like trying to sell coal in Newcastle, England? ;)
 
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