Holland Swiss Army Knife??

[252chevyboyz]

Hey everyone I was looking for a little help on finding some info on this knife. It appears to be made in Holland and has maker marks on the other side on the main knife blade. I will post pics below. It is a knife I have had in my collection for quite sometime now and I was looking to finally ID this thing and get some info and may a date it was made? Any help is much appreciated.

 

[pietje]

hi chevyboyz!
Where are you from and how did you got this knife?

Dont know anything about the model but i can help with a lil useful translation and history. On one side of the blade ""Holland'' is written -> name of the Netherlands. It can indicate the origin of production, named after two provinces, but that's something from a different era. After looking at the company's history its not the case.
The other side is more interesting: ''Amefa fabrieken'' means Amafa factories. Amefa is a Dutch knife and household metal builder. They make anything from kitchen knifes till SAK like folders. Some history: http://www.amefa.com/home/about-us/history/

Although the Dutch army used there military SAK the products are not really best-spoken upon knife enthusiasts.

 

[252chevyboyz]

Thank you pietje, I am from Eastern NC and I came across this knife when I was just a little guy. Just got off the phone with my dad to find out how exactly this knife came to my possession because I was so young I didn't remember too much. Anyway my Dad and I were members of a hunting club called "Camp P.D." (still in existence) and the club was located in a little town in Northeast NC call Como, NC. The club was established in 1890 and has quite a lot of history behind it. I will put a couple links below to help show you the cabin and the 10,000 acres it is sitting on. The 10,000 acres belongs to International Paper Inc. but we just lease the land along with about 115 other members to hunt on every year. I came across it while walking with my dad down some of the logging roads in which all the logging roads are named up there and this knife Came into my possession while walking down "Hugh Piocut" road. It was half buried in down in the dirt and I managed to see it and start digging around it then finally pulled it out and realized it was a knife of some sorts. My father said he cleaned it up with a old tooth brush and some "Dawn" soap. We never tried to restore it because we are scared it would brake. I also asked my father to email me a pic of back when we found it and he didnt have any pics of the knife but emailed me a pic of me and him in front of the cabin which I will post below also. The only thing I have done to it since it has been in the collection is put a little "Rem-Oil" on it every now and then.

Kinda a long story but that is how it came into my possession. A couple other questions are would anyone know an approximate date for this knife? Would it be worth it to try to remove the rust and restore it? or should I let it remain as is? Also with the knife not being "best spoken upon knife enthusiasts" what is the reason for this?

Camp P.D. (page):
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CAMP-PD-HUNT-CLUB/190788114285170

Old Picture from the year me and my father found the knife:

Best Regards,
James

 

[Harayasu]

Amefa is a contraction of Apeldoornse Messenfabriek, which means knife factory of Apeldoorn. Apeldoorn is a city in the Netherlands.

Amefa made knives for the Dutch army from the 1960's until the early 1980's and I believe it was in 1984 that the government switched to Victorinox mainly. I'm not sure about that, but the oldest Victorinox Dutch army knife that I've seen has the 84 stamp on it. The Amefa knives aren't bad, but just like all multi purpose knives of these kind, they are often compared to the high quality Victorinox knives and the Amefa knives are of less quality than those.

I'm not sure about the age of the knife you found, but based on the tools and used material handle, my estimation is that it is from the early 1960's, but it could be older. On you're knife there's a tool that looks like a 'fork' (an old style can opener?) and on my oldest pocket knife there is this same tool. It's an old military pocket knife from the 1950's and according to the previous owner, it was the standard issue knife of the Indonesian army in that time. Indonesia was then a colony of the Netherlands and I think they brought it to Indonesia.

 

[pietje]

Im not sure if it has collectors value in this condition or as properly restored. If you like to restore the knife it will look better in your collection. Or keep it as it is with a nice story behind!

The Amefa knives aren't bad, but just like all multi purpose knives of these kind, they are often compared to the high quality Victorinox knives and the Amefa knives are of less quality than those.[/IMG]

Well said!

 

[252chevyboyz]

@hara: Thanks for all the info on the knife and the pic of what one should look like. Good to see one with all the details still there. also had no clue Indonesia was a colony of the Netherlands. That is one reason I like learning the history behind knives because each one has its own story. I kinda like the fact its a brand thats not as well known as Victorinox.

@piejte: I dont really have any interest in selling it as I tend to hoard all the knives that come my way haha. I'll sell one if I know it is going to a good home where it will properly cared for though and the buyer really wants it

 

[pietje]

Chevyboyz; if you can find a year or other number on that knife its history will be more clear.

I used to have that 1984 Amefa Duch army knife, Harayasu refereed to. Found is somewhere as well. The KL84 stands for ‘’Koninklijke Landmacht’’ Royal Army -> Royal Netherlands Army. And the year code. I can e-mail you the original pics it you leave me your mailing address by PM.
After a good cleaning, shaping and a drip of oil I came to conclusion that someone else would like it better. Before I sold it the knife looked like this:






Link to google pics: http://www.google.nl/search?q=amefa....,cf.osb&fp=333766f148504af5&biw=1440&bih=757

 

[252chevyboyz]

I am lovin the aluminum. Im not too much on the whole "red" swiss army type knife. I like the kinda different different knives or the odds and ends of knives. Especially knives from the small knife makers here in the US. Thanks for sharing the pic. I am also gonna try to look for a date on my knife but without cleaning it up.