Recommendation? Iconic American fixed blades

BrotherJim said:
Couple that many only ever hear about ... Ruana Knives and Randall Made Knives ... yes they can be kind of spendy
I'm lucky to have one of each ... both non-catalog knives
Ruana Vic's Blade in hammer forged 1095
Randall Denmark Special Stainless ... 440 series I think

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No doubt that Randall is an American knife. Both are sweet little knives. Thanks for sharing.
 
I think the woodcraft or the L66 is the ticket. That’s what comes to mind when I think of a classic knife.

Now the buck 119 is a next generation from that and is a classic now, a good place to start.

Others that I think you might like are the case 5” Buffalo hunter, case ridgeback, schrade 153UH golden spike. That latter one is very popular as a hunting knife in the southern US.
 
The Marbles Expert was the knife that started the hunting knife thing in America. Most every American made hunting knife in the past 100 years or so has its roots with the Expert. Marbles also pioneered the military "fighting" knife. The Ideal was and still is the basis for the MKII fighting knife and all of its cousins and descendants.
 
Being a Buck fanboy, I'll post a photo of a Woodcraft model Buck produced for Cabela's. Not sure of the production dates, but I think early '90s. There was some talk of Marbles being upset about Buck copying the design, don't know what became of it but Buck only produced the 914 for a few years.
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I agree with the Gerber Mark 1, Randall Model 1, and Western L66 being deserving of the iconic descriptor. I'll throw in the Cattaraugus 225 and Kabar 1217 (those may have been mentioned, I only skimmed). Fairbairn/Applegate and/or Fairbairn/Sykes Dagger is/are a must.
I'll begrudgingly add the Gerber Mark II...I hate the thing; but this isn't about me.

While I suspect that the Dozier Modified Personal doesn't quite have the name recognition to make it iconic; I feel it belongs on this list.

Oh, and - also begrudgingly - the Rambo First Blood style survival knife.
 
Ruari said:
You can get a 'sterile' version of the Ka Bar 1217 without any service markings. Great knife.
In the picture below (all variations of the USN MK II knife design, all 7" blades), my old (bought 2003) Ka Bar 1217 is 2nd from bottom, a new one is bottom (bought 2018). The 'new' one has the sabre grind taken up to the fuller. The top two are the Cold Steel Leatherneck and the Ontario 498 Marine Combat knife.
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I guess the “civilian” version of the USMC 1217 would be the Dog’s head 1317?

I have the Fighter 1271, but perhaps I need to expand my collection with more Ka bars 😊
 
pjsjr said:
Being a Buck fanboy, I'll post a photo of a Woodcraft model Buck produced for Cabela's. Not sure of the production dates, but I think early '90s. There was some talk of Marbles being upset about Buck copying the design, don't know what became of it but Buck only produced the 914 for a few years.
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What were they upset about? The patents expired nearly 100 year ago and there have been copies made by many knife manufacturers ever since...
 
tongueriver said:
Remingtons and Marbles saw a lot of service among hunters for a few decades.
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I showed these to the wife. I was telling her I like the top and bottom remingtons and the woodcraft. She said of the woodcraft, “ I wouldn’t take it if you’d give it to me, it’s bout the ugliest knife I ever seen”. I laughed so hard. I used to think they were ugly too but for some reason they are growing on me.
 
baxtrom said:
I guess the “civilian” version of the USMC 1217 would be the Dog’s head 1317?

I have the Fighter 1271, but perhaps I need to expand my collection with more Ka bars 😊
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It is the Kabar 1320, exactly the same, just not stamped with 'USMC' or 'ARMY', just a plain ricasso and sheath.
 
Camillus said:
My reaction too JM2 JM2 . Guess tastes change.

Here is an interesting article that confirms they deserve an iconic status
https://www.fieldandstream.com/story-behind-americas-first-hunting-knife/
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Camillus said:
My reaction too JM2 JM2 . Guess tastes change.

Here is an interesting article that confirms they deserve an iconic status
https://www.fieldandstream.com/story-behind-americas-first-hunting-knife/
Click to expand...
Camillus said:
My reaction too JM2 JM2 . Guess tastes change.

Here is an interesting article that confirms they deserve an iconic status
https://www.fieldandstream.com/story-behind-americas-first-hunting-knife/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the article, that was interesting. It’s official, I want a woodcraft.
 
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