Building the collection... What would you consider the iconic knives in US culture?

[gytheran]

Ok... I'm looking for the quintessential knives that even non-knife people would recognize... in the US. You know, the ones you grew up with... you dads or grandpas always had them, and now are a part of US culture.

And no, I don't think the Leek, Griptillian, or Tenacious count... nor do I think the opinel or Mora count either as I never heard of them until I came here.

My goal is to come up with a list of widely known 'iconic knives'(in regards to US culture, as 'must have' knives covers a much broader spectrum) that everyone knows and should be a part of any knife collector's collection. These should be identifiable(at least vaguely) by the average knife person(not talking 'us' here).

Examples in my mind would be:
The Buck 110(or similar)
The Swiss Army Knife
A Bowie of some kind(help me out here, not sure if there is an 'iconic' brand or model)?
Ka-Bar USMC
Some Peanut/old timer knife?

I know I'm not thinking of everything and that's why I looking for opinions.

And the US culture bit is not being xenophobic, I'm looking to jog my mind of the knives I remember as I grew up.

So what are the iconic knives in your mind?


~Joe


Edit*

Ok, So far I've got(Alphabetical) :

Barlow
Bowie Knife
Buck 110
Buck 119/120
Butterfly Knife(balisong)
Case Knife (Eisenhower, Jack, Peanut, Pen Knife, Sodbuster, Stockman, Trapper... something with natural handles)
Schrade Old-Timer
Stiletto Switchblade
USMC military knife - from Camillus, K-Bar, or Pal
Victorinox SAK

 

[Cereal_killer]

I'm not saying a tenacious but I really think you should have a spyderco of some type on the list. The same way any time a bad guy in a movie/tv show has a gun its a glock any time a bad guy has a folding knife its a spyderco (usually a lock back model, often an endura or even police and often with full SE).

It may not be "the knife your grandpa had" but you can't argue a spyderco is quintessentially American to the core.

 

[Bob W]

Something from Case. Everyone knows Case knives.
Buck fixed blade. 119 or 120 are instantly recognizable as "Buck Knives."
USA-Schrade Old Timer. Those plastic-Delrin handles are instantly recognizable. Uncle Henry and their plastic-staglon handles almost as much.
Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. Doesn't matter what model.
USMC military knife from Camillus, K-Bar, or Pal.
Those checkered Purina promotional knives are definitely American icons.

I grew up in the midwest in the 70s, and the most common knife was perhaps the Imperial Barlow knives made in Rhode Island.

 

[DShiflet]

I'm not saying a tenacious but I really think you should have a spyderco of some type on the list. The same way any time a bad guy in a movie/tv show has a gun its a glock any time a bad guy has a folding knife its a spyderco (usually a lock back model, often an endura or even police and often with full SE).

It may not be "the knife your grandpa had" but you can't argue a spyderco is quintessentially American to the core.

Most non-knife people can't identify a Spyderco by sight(or have even heard of Spyderco, for that matter), and wouldn't know the difference between it and any of the junky gas station knives you see with an opening hole.

And I see plenty of movies where bad guys carry guns other than Glocks, and the last bad guy I saw use a folder in a movie used an auto of some sort, not a Spyderco.

 

[gytheran]

Ah ha! There's another. The OTF switchblade!

Yep, I'm trying to come up with a list of "iconic" blades.

Now Bob, are you saying both the 110 AND the 119/120 or do you think the 119/120 is more recognizable than the 110?
Anything particular in regards to case? Is there one design that is more recognizable over another?

 

[mmarkh]

Case has many iconic patterns.

 

[rajincagin]

Barlow!

 

[jc57]

Knives I remember from growing up in the 60s-70s:
Boy Scout knife - blade, awl, can opener, bottle opener, bail.
Red-handled Swiss Army Knife - pretty much same blades as the scout knife, but plus a corkscrew
Barlow knife - I used to think it was a brand name, not a style.
Buck fixed blade hunter - the one with black handles
Buck folding hunter (110)
"Army knife" - the Ka-bar military knife
Switchblade knife - from movies
Bowie knife - also from movies

 

[BladeScout]

 

[Cereal_killer]

Ah ha! There's another. The OTF switchblade!?

The Benchmade 3300 would be a fine example of that one, sure lots or times you see cheapies but they're patterned after the "iconic" Mchenery design.

I really have to disagree with dshiflet (big surprise there), sure not every villain had a spyderco but lots of them do and the part about not being able to tell the difference between a spyderco and an unlicensed hole opener doesn't matter cause the cheap gas station knife is trying to look like a spyderco. Just think about (one example) fast-and-furious and the chick's clipped-to-the-outside Civilian. Ok there's your answer- either a spyderco stainless steel SE police or a civilian. People may not know what it is, even that its a Spyderco, but they recognize it.

 

[DShiflet]

The Benchmade 3300 would be a fine example of that one, sure lots or times you see cheapies but they're patterned after the "iconic" Mchenery design.

I really have to disagree with dshiflet (big surprise there), sure not every villain had a spyderco but lots of them do and the part about not being able to tell the difference between a spyderco and an unlicensed hole opener doesn't matter cause the cheap gas station knife is trying to look like a spyderco. Just think about (one example) fast-and-furious and the chick's clipped-to-the-outside Civilian. Ok there's your answer- either a spyderco stainless steel SE police or a civilian. People may not know what it is, even that its a Spyderco, but they recognize it.

But that's the thing, the vast, vast, VAST majority of Americans DON'T recognize it. Seriously, the vast majority of non-knife guys wouldn't know the difference between a PM2 and these:

Show someone one of those knives, and a stainless Spyderco Police, and most people wouldn't know ANY of them. Hell, even if they actually saw it in a movie(and again, it's not nearly as common as you make it out to be), most people don't pay that much attention to what knives are used in movies and STILL likely wouldn't remember seeing it. But I guarantee you those same people would recognize a Buck 110 or a Ka-bar.

Also, the knife clipped to the outside of Michelle Rodriguez's pants the only time I saw it had a stainless handle-pretty sure that's not a Civilian?

 

[gytheran]

I have to say I agree about people not recognizing a spyderco. I worked with an older guy for a few years who used a spyderco knockoff every day and was none the wiser. Unless they're into knives, many people wouldn't even know what a spyderco is. There are many knives that are in movies and television, but that doesn't make them 'iconic'. Millions of people have been watching a show for several years now that features a Busse knife being used by one of the main characters. That doesn't mean the majority would recognize it, let alone know what a Busse even is.

Another one for the list I believe is a Leatherman or perhaps a gerber multitool?

 

[Bob W]

Now Bob, are you saying both the 110 AND the 119/120 or do you think the 119/120 is more recognizable than the 110?
Anything particular in regards to case? Is there one design that is more recognizable over another?

The Buck 110 has been around for a long time, and maybe it is one of their most popular patterns. But practically every company has made a knife so similar as to be indistinguishable.
Their fixed blades on the other hand, if you show a black handle fixed blade to a group of people you can bet someone will call it a Buck Knife even if it isn't.
So if you're to pick a single Buck knife, make it a 119 or 120.

Anything particular in regards to case? Is there one design that is more recognizable over another?

No particular pattern. Just something traditional with natural materials, like jigged bone. Stockman, pen knife, Eisenhower, trapper, jack...

 

[Bob W]

Another one for the list I believe is a Leatherman or perhaps a gerber multitool?

I do think the Leatherman is becoming iconic. Give it more time though, like 50 years, and see if they're still around.

 

[wolf-man-12]

The good ole Gerber Gator ~ Buck 110 ~ Case Peanut or the Case Stockman and the forgotten Case Sodbuster.!!
I think all of these as iconic in one way or another.!*****

 

[marcinek]

Ok... I'm looking for the quintessential knives that even non-knife people would recognize... in the US.
...
Examples in my mind would be:
...
A Bowie of some kind(help me out here, not sure if there is an 'iconic' brand or model)?

"Bowie" is an interesting question. The most recognized Bowie would probably be the "Iron Mistress" Bowie.

Which is interesting since it has nothing to do with historical reality and didn't exist until until the movie The Iron Mistress was released in 1952.

 

[BladeScout]

.............that movie in conjunction with others certainly sparked a certain image of what a 'Bowie' knife was thought to have looked like back when.
Some ridiculous knives was born of this and one tenacious 'collector' for years even waged a crusade to have a certain silly looking clown knife established as having been THE knife used by mr. Bowie himself.
I belive, that he even sued or threathended people with suing them for disputing, that the knife in his collection was the 'one Bowie to rule them all.'

 

[jac_solar]

"Bowie" is an interesting question. The most recognized Bowie would probably be the "Iron Mistress" Bowie.

Which is interesting since it has nothing to do with historical reality and didn't exist until until the movie The Iron Mistress was released in 1952.

Does anyone currently produce one of these? Or any of the standard bowies?

Regarding Iron Mistress bowie, I don't think I've seen any production releases of this, outside of the ones by United Cutlery and Hibben.

 

[sirupatespecial]

Case stockman/old timer stockman

 

[not2sharp]

A while back every would be Mall Ninja in the U.S. wanted a Cold Steel Tanto, a Gerber BMF, or a Buck Buckmaster 184 (they were featured in every issue of Soldier of Fortune); and just about everyone else got along with a Buck 119, A Schrade Sharp Finger, or one of the many Soligen made fixed bladed knives imported by the General Cutlery Company. Our pocket carry was a red Swiss Army knife, a Buck 110/Gerber Gator (or one of the many clones), or perhaps trapper or stockman offered by numerous U.S. brands.

n2s