If you went back in time 200 years…

AdamFuzzyballs

AdamFuzzyballs

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If you were to go back in time, what modern folders do you think would be particularly sought after in terms of ease of use or dependability? In other words which knives do you think would have replaced the stockman, the sodbuster, etc.

I love traditionals, but I can’t help but to think that a wealthy gambler would have loved an OTF for its discreetness, or a farmer might have loved a heavy titanium frame lock for its sturdiness..
 
At first pass, this seemed like a very simple question to answer....until I started thinking about the culture and socio-economic state 200 years ago.

Assuming you literally mean dropping a present-day knife into the 1800's, chances are only the most wealthy elite could afford any of the quality offerings of today.

It is an era of industrial and mechanical advancement, but the working man at the time would not be able to afford a large percentage of any knives that we consider quality, today.

Now if we want to play the game of time travel, I think that if we were to go back in time and GIVE any number of the quality knives available today to the average working man, they would be more impressed with the metallurgy of today, more so than the knife itself. Knives were only tools back then - not objects to collect (except to certain royalty or religions perhaps, that owned them as status symbols). I don't particularly think the average 1800's working man would appreciate a Hinderer or Loveless for what it is - as long as it cuts long and well. In that case, just about any current quality folder would be sure to impress, given the advancement in metallurgy in the last 200 years.
 
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Like “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”? I think what would impress are the higher-performing steels found in bushcraft and field knives, and incidentally, fighting knives. Knives from makers like Busse and Carothers would blow our forbears away. If Jim Bowie could have picked up a BK9, he would have gone with that.

I doubt that modern folders would have been such a big deal.
 
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Henry Beige said:
Like “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”? I think what would impress are the higher-performing steels found in bushcraft and field knives, and incidentally, fighting knives. Knives from makers like Busse and Carothers would blow our forbears away. If Jim Bowie could have picked up a BK9, he would have gone with that.
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Henry Beige said:
I doubt that modern folders would have been such a big deal.
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Absolutely.
 
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I think there is a skewed parallel between this question, and the pre-and post- electric tool eras of construction history that would result in the same answer: mixed feelings. A carpenter of 1800 would marvel at glu-lam beams, and frown at cheap tract houses with leaky roofs. He’d be hugely impressed by the most basic of table saws and chop saws, but dismayed by the poor quality of mass produced hand tools. He’d say, “What blacksmith could sell you THIS with a straight face?”

In both scenarios, I believe there is a wider performance gap between the worst and the best today than two centuries back.

Parker
 
Hmmm......
If I went back to 1795 to visit my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather: I'd take him a Buck 110...

... and a Winchester model 64, along with10,000 rounds of ammo.
 
I was going to say a Hinderer or a ZT 0200, something heavy-duty and low maintenance. Then again most people wouldn’t be able to sharpen the newer high-end steels very well.
Like Henry said, fixed blades would be more desirable, with a steel that would be easy to sharpen (420hc, 8cr, etc).
 
I think anything that locks for starters, also, one hand opening on smooth PB washers and stainless steels would blow their minds. Like a Spyderco Caribbean SE in LC200N or a Tasman Salt SE in H1. An S90V Carbon fiber Native Chief and Military.

I don't think they had any damascus, so city folks could go crazy for some Sebenzas with a nice pattern... Or how about a fully anodized Olamic?

Now and then, the most useful knives would still be in 3V, CruWear, 14C28N, that can be sharpened on a stone and stropped on leather.

But, a Vic Spirit or a SAK would be a bit useless. No need for a philips, a cap lifter, can opener, not even for a flathead.
 
Cold Steel mega folders, and most stuff stainless and synthetic. The stainless would probably be best as really stainless and mid quality - 440, AUS class.. As Kobold mentioned you'd still want it work able on regular stones, etc..... Heat treating was very hit or miss until even the mid 20th century. Even folders consistently in the mid 50's rockwell would be considered magic.

Many people carried much larger folders back then. I'm sure they'd marvel at the Cold Steel stuff.
 
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AdamFuzzyballs said:
If you were to go back in time, what modern folders do you think would be particularly sought after in terms of ease of use or dependability? In other words which knives do you think would have replaced the stockman, the sodbuster, etc.

I love traditionals, but I can’t help but to think that a wealthy gambler would have loved an OTF for its discreetness, or a farmer might have loved a heavy titanium frame lock for its sturdiness..
Click to expand...
I doubt that it would have an impact. 200 years ago thing would have been different, but not necessarily primitive. The technology for knives and swords was fairly advanced and our so-called super steels wouldn’t be recognized by anyone outside of the lab. They also would have been used to working with their own tools and would have little need for a modern folder. It’s more likely that you would have been impressed by the tools and methods that they were using.

What we imagine knife fighting or survival to be would have been part of their ordinary daily routine. They would be far better equipped to deal with that than we are.

n2s
 
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For the OP,
I would still want a chuck of consistently hardened 58rc carbon steel.

Preferably a large chuck that I could dice up and make a knife, a chopper, a pick, a spade, maybe a Ox shank soil ripper or two...
 
I think people back then would have been impressed by the locks we have on folders. And the many ways we have to open them one handed. Maybe across the population more so than today, because more people relied on knives back then than today.
 
I don't think they'd like modern steel unless they had modern diamond stones to sharpen with otherwise it'd be a beast to sharpen and take all of their off hours to by candlelight!!!!!

Good old carbon steel.and a.rock!!!!!! Life was.simpler
 
It would have to be something that's very easy to maintain, so no super steels, no bearings, and so forth. I think the perfect knife to take back would be something that uses CRKT's fieldstrip technology, since they could easily take it apart and clean it, and the steels used on those models are easy enough to sharpen on ceramic.
 
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