Australian traditional

Jack Black said:
Prison?! ;)
Click to expand...

XXX_8700_1266440209_1.jpg
 
elof_alv said:
Iron Cross??? :eek:
Click to expand...
I guess the Aryan Brotherhood hasn't made it down under yet...?

Nobody has mentioned Svord yet? I know they're in NZ and not Australia, but as they're so close by I would have expected to hear of their popularity or at least presence.
 
puukkoman said:
I guess the Aryan Brotherhood hasn't made it down under yet...?

Nobody has mentioned Svord yet? I know they're in NZ and not Australia, but as they're so close by I would have expected to hear of their popularity or at least presence.
Click to expand...
Correct, the Brotherhood aren't here.
Svord have a presence, but not in a traditional sense. They are contemporary users. Big Bowies like the Von Tempsky are not really an Australian tradition, despite the Dundee movies.
 
mtangent said:
I lived in Mudgee for a while. My favourite vineyards are Thistle Hill & Botobolar.
Click to expand...

OT: My favorite is the Show Reserve Cabernet from Two Furlongs, and I love the Italian desert wines from Di Lusso. The Montrose Black Shiraz is excellent, from Robert Oatley.
Never found much in the Hunter Valley that was exceptional, and I haven't spent time in other Australian wine regions.
 
puukkoman said:
I guess the Aryan Brotherhood hasn't made it down under yet...?

Nobody has mentioned Svord yet? I know they're in NZ and not Australia, but as they're so close by I would have expected to hear of their popularity or at least presence.
Click to expand...

That would be akin to calling calling an American a Canadian....Close but not quite.......FES
 
Bob W said:
OT: My favorite is the Show Reserve Cabernet from Two Furlongs, and I love the Italian desert wines from Di Lusso. The Montrose Black Shiraz is excellent, from Robert Oatley.
Never found much in the Hunter Valley that was exceptional, and I haven't spent time in other Australian wine regions.
Click to expand...

You should come to South Australia some time then; we have about 6 major wine regions within a few hours' drive from our capital...life is hard ;)
 
Australia had/has very little need for a domestic civilian knife industry and it was only post WW1 that the Australian military procurement wasn't decided in Whitehall. Unlike New Zealand there were no domestic wars against fierce indigenous opposition, so no need for a para-military force like Von Tempsky's Rangers, who gave us the Von Tempsky dirk and the Von Tempsky bowie. It was WW2 (the first truly global war) that saw the need for local production of military "knives" and operating mainly in the "jungle theatre" gave the Aussie military forces a degree of licence regarding military issue. As well as the Australian stiletto (a variation of the fairburn skykes but with some distinctive features) There were also these knives which were fairly common issue.
http://www.australianmilitaryknives.com/util/utilaust.html
http://www.australianmilitaryknives.com/machete.html The whittingslowe at the bottom of the page
http://www.australianmilitaryknives.com/survival.html
I am fairly surprised that we don't see many modifications of broken shears being used as knives. However, the terrain and cultural background of white australians probably has a lot to do with a sparse domestic knife scene. Apart from the usual "domestic" day to day tasks normally handled by the ubuquitous clasp knife, the majority of the terrain doesn't require a close combat defensive tool and brush clearance was hardly much of an issue (and would be dealt with by standard agricultural tools anyway) so those large multi purpose tools like Kukhri, E-nep, golok, etc. never evolved. Culturally, the vast majority of White Australian heritage was Irish, with English administration. Hence Australias early disaffection with the British Empire. Australia really only started becoming "multicultural" in the late '70's so the cultural ties with the UK are still fairly strong and this has definitely influenced knifemaking in terms of style. Plus the majority of bladesmithing/blacksmithing would have been largely agricultural in use and agricultural in finish. Having been fiercely anti-elitist for the vast majority of it's history, there was no great drive for perfection and no real need to form a distinctive culture. Race relations have never been an australian strong point and even today there has not been much take-up of the indigenous culture, certainly not to the degree of the US, Canada or even New Zealand. I lived in Australia for 3 1/2 years until 1984 and have been back to visit (and until 1995, renew my permanent residency status) many times. The Australia I knew from back then has largely disappeared. Now we have a multicultural, modern, thriving, pc driven society struggling to find a national identity that isn't "ocker". Once they sort that, I'm sure distinctive cultural items/icons will flourish, including a domestic style of "cutlery".
 
Parbajtor...as much as I don't want to I think I have to agree with you on a few things (and admittedly I only don't want to because I read your post with a really over-the-top British accent in my head :) ). Culturally, modern Australia is very new and probably quite unstable; we don't have centuries of "Australian" culture. We borrow a lot, steal some (mostly from New Zealand when they become really successful at something...I imagine we will be claiming Svord soon enough ;) ) and focus on what works.

One side of my family are farmers; for several generations they've scraped a living out of some pretty inhospitable land (it was cheap at the time). I can't imagine any of them caring too much about the aesthetics or design of a knife that in all likelihood was going to be used to pry a rock out of a piece of machinery or the ground. What they did - and do - use were small folders...not to mention the "old" knives from the kitchen (they become old quickly after they're stolen from the table and used outside).

I imagine population is also a factor; we've always had a relatively small number of people living here. It would make sense if that meant historically there were fewer craftsmen capable of producing a specifically Australian knife; they seemed to be busy making plows that jumped rocks and stumps and better clotheslines.

The other thing to consider is we are one of the more urbanised populations; most people would barely see the bush. As mentioned we haven't had a great historical need for knife fighting, we've always farmed a lot more than we've hunted, we don't have any real sort of culture regarding carrying weapons and for a long time there hasn't been any need for most people to edc a knife.
...someone really should look into Australianising Svord though...

:) Good thread guys - I've been thinking along these lines for a long time and this one is definitely generating food for thought...
 
festerfromnzed said:
That would be akin to calling calling an American a Canadian....Close but not quite.......FES
Click to expand...
Yikes! I hope I haven't stepped on anyone's toes... although in North America, our cutlery crosses the Canadian/US border pretty readily. I guess I assumed it would work that way elsewhere.
 
puukkoman said:
Yikes! I hope I haven't stepped on anyone's toes... although in North America, our cutlery crosses the Canadian/US border pretty readily. I guess I assumed it would work that way elsewhere.
Click to expand...

PUUKKO...No offence taken..Australia is obviously our closest neighbour (we affectionately call it WEST ISLAND), and our constant nemesis at all things that are sporting..We have a mutual LOVE/HATE relationship that has spanned many generations,but when it comes to conflict there are very few Kiwis that would not prefer an Ozzy by their side..We are brothers...SVORD is a Kiwi icon much like the All Blacks....Ours......................FES
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top