From what I hear the 80s were a seriously interesting time for knives. Being born in 1997 I obviously missed out on a fun decade (Reagan, New Wave, piano keyboards, and cocaine. Well maybe not cocaine hahaha.) and also missed out on a fun time for knives. Regardless of all the crazy "Rambo knives" and the explosion of chinese junkers I hear lot of cool stuff happened. The tactical knives started becoming popular and I think the Spyderco worker came out in the 80s. But to get to my question, what did I miss out otherwise? Any of you 80s teenagers have some stories? I'd love to hear all this stuff. Thanks.
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Did I miss out on the 80s?
- Thread starter Showler
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You didn't miss out on much but it was a turning point in knife enthusiasm, beginning with like you said, the Rambo knife. Knives have come such a long way since and you are living in what I consider the best time in history to be a knife aficionado.
In the hunting and fishing stores, it was still traditional with the Buck 110 still way out in front and more modern spins on that like the Gerbers.
Not only did we have Rambo, but we also had McGyver and his do-everything SAK. That show alone is reason enough to never ever own an SAK.
At the end of the 70s, we had Emegency! and SWAT both of which made tactical cool before it was "tactical". I sort of think this softened up the ground for Spyderco.
Retail was still local stores and mail order. REI and Cablelas were ascending. You could still buy Schrades in hardware stores.
My sense is that changes in manufacturing technology were coming onto the stage in the 80s. I suspect the actual big changes like fine blanking were to come in the 90s but the 80s definitely saw advances in automation.
Not only did we have Rambo, but we also had McGyver and his do-everything SAK. That show alone is reason enough to never ever own an SAK.
At the end of the 70s, we had Emegency! and SWAT both of which made tactical cool before it was "tactical". I sort of think this softened up the ground for Spyderco.
Retail was still local stores and mail order. REI and Cablelas were ascending. You could still buy Schrades in hardware stores.
My sense is that changes in manufacturing technology were coming onto the stage in the 80s. I suspect the actual big changes like fine blanking were to come in the 90s but the 80s definitely saw advances in automation.
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The absolute mind blower between then and now is the Internet and the vast amounts of knowledge we have access to. Think about this: if I want to make a knife out of S7, I can get on the Internet, fire up my Googlefu, and within minutes know how to heat treat it, who has used it, some of its quirks, and probably chat with 3 guys who have done it. Then if all went well, I could order some of said steel. I can do all this on my smartphone, at morning coffe. Imagine in the 1980's, you would have to go to the library, check out a book on metallurgy, study different steels etc. then maybe you would write a few letters to some custom guys that you may or may not know about, hope they answer, and remember, there weren't as many makers back then. It is truly mind blowing what technology has done for us and our hobby.
OP, I am a PERFECT 80's kid. I was 10 in 80, an 20 in 90, so having lived it, you didn't miss anything bro. We have everything so good now, we just don't realize it.
OP, I am a PERFECT 80's kid. I was 10 in 80, an 20 in 90, so having lived it, you didn't miss anything bro. We have everything so good now, we just don't realize it.
Back in the very early 1980s I lived in Kansas City MO. I had a few knives given to me by my uncle, a NYC PO. I read in the paper that there was a knife show (one of the first Guild shows) in the hotel a 1/2 block from my 1-room furnished apartment. My EDC was a swiss army pioneer; I was in my early 20s. I stepped into the show and had my mind blown. Could not believe it. All kinds of knives, all kinds of prices. The bejeweled ones were just unreal. Didn't know what I was seeing until I got into knife collecting in the late 1990s. I met people there I did not really know about until 20 years later (e.g. Russell, Loveless, etc.).
I remember the eighties as the birth of the modern folder. IMO it was the Gerber LST model. (Blackie Collins design I think.) Decent Stainless locking drop point with Black FRN scales. It was the first time you could get a truly useful knife that looked different than your dad's or grandfather's. Spyderco was doing some serious innovation with one hand opening and clips but like Vegas Blade pointed out, NO internet. If it wasn't in your local shop, you probably didn't know about it. (Most magazine racks around my town didn't carry much, one hunting magazine, and one gun mag...Gun's and Ammo.)
I had three knife stores available to me. First was the local hardware store with some Case and Schrade knives, second was the Green Dragon, which in addition to Dungeons and Dragons stuff, offered a fair number of throwing stars and poorly made fantasy blades/swords.
Finally I had one dedicated knife store in the mall which sold a small selection of Gerbers, Buck, a long coveted yet never purchased Puma Great white hunter knife, swiss army knives, and scissors.
I think the local K-mart used to have a fair number of Buck knives available also.
The only bright spot was I grew up when all kids usually carried a pocketknife, yes even to school. The bad boy's carried switchblades. (Usually some cheap orange handled model.) They started clamping down on carrying knives when I was a senior in high school...heck when I was in middle school, the high school had a smoking area outside for students.
I only learned about knives when they were written about in hunting magazines. I remember drooling over the Smoky Mountain knife catalog, but I never did order anything from it. (As a young kid I got turned off from ordering stuff mail order. Pay two weeks of grass cutting money, wait a month or more, and receive stuff that doesn't work, or breaks almost instantly.)
Another thing, knife companies produce tons more models than 'back in the day'. Buck had maybe 40 folders in 1985. Even that's a little misleading as they offered the same blades with different handles materials. And good luck finding more than five different ones for sale at any one place. When I got my first Benchmade I think they produced under ten different knives. And steel choices? forget about it.
We've got it good these days. Have you looked at the Benchmade custom shop? Three blade shapes with four different steels. That's 12 possible knives right there before you consider the handle/screw/coating/clip options.
Plus the internet 24/7 with unlimited knife reviews, youtube tutorials on sharpening and bushcraft. (I just learned last weekend how to make a figure four trap.)
It's a great time to be a knife enthusiast!
Grizz
I had three knife stores available to me. First was the local hardware store with some Case and Schrade knives, second was the Green Dragon, which in addition to Dungeons and Dragons stuff, offered a fair number of throwing stars and poorly made fantasy blades/swords.
Finally I had one dedicated knife store in the mall which sold a small selection of Gerbers, Buck, a long coveted yet never purchased Puma Great white hunter knife, swiss army knives, and scissors.
I think the local K-mart used to have a fair number of Buck knives available also.
The only bright spot was I grew up when all kids usually carried a pocketknife, yes even to school. The bad boy's carried switchblades. (Usually some cheap orange handled model.) They started clamping down on carrying knives when I was a senior in high school...heck when I was in middle school, the high school had a smoking area outside for students.
I only learned about knives when they were written about in hunting magazines. I remember drooling over the Smoky Mountain knife catalog, but I never did order anything from it. (As a young kid I got turned off from ordering stuff mail order. Pay two weeks of grass cutting money, wait a month or more, and receive stuff that doesn't work, or breaks almost instantly.)
Another thing, knife companies produce tons more models than 'back in the day'. Buck had maybe 40 folders in 1985. Even that's a little misleading as they offered the same blades with different handles materials. And good luck finding more than five different ones for sale at any one place. When I got my first Benchmade I think they produced under ten different knives. And steel choices? forget about it.
We've got it good these days. Have you looked at the Benchmade custom shop? Three blade shapes with four different steels. That's 12 possible knives right there before you consider the handle/screw/coating/clip options.
Plus the internet 24/7 with unlimited knife reviews, youtube tutorials on sharpening and bushcraft. (I just learned last weekend how to make a figure four trap.)
It's a great time to be a knife enthusiast!
Grizz
What??? why would it be a reason to never ever own a SAK? I played McGyver as a kid and would drool over my dad's SAKs (he had 2 or 3 of the 3 or 4 layer ones).
I agree wholeheartedly! At least we had The A-Team to make up for him.
Simioh, McGyver was just so unrealistic that it was annoying. He'd "accidentally" get the bad guys' weapons, and instead of using using them, even just to hold the bad guys for the police, he'd throw them off a cliff and do something impossible to win....
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I graduated from high school in 1980, so to me, the present is exciting times compared to when I was growing up. Like others have said, my exposure to knives was very limited, just catalogs, the local small town hardware store, distant mall cutlery shops and gun shows. In general, for me, the 70's were better than the 80's; school was crazy times, and then I got married and had kids right out of high school (so the budget was extremely tight).
I guess it depends on how old you were. I remember watching McGyver (in spanish in Mexico lol) between the ages of 7 and 10 and thinking he was a badass. I haven't watched an episode since then, maybe I would feel the same way as you guys if I did.
JPD1998
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I remember the first time I saw a Gerber Mark 1 in a local mall sporting goods store, early 80's. I wanted one so bad ....I was working as a waiter and $75 for a knife was just way too expensive.
The ads in the back of gun magazines always had plenty of knock-offs for around $10.
The ads in the back of gun magazines always had plenty of knock-offs for around $10.
Probably. I was in the Army then.
The Rambo knives were cool, and so were some of the Bowie knives coming out of Western Cutlery.
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And if you still sport a Mullet, you could have lived in the 1980's and be stuck in the 1980's.
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You got that right, what did we have in the 80's? Hardware store knives where their stock was hit and miss and SMKW catalogs in the mail.
