Is this a Navaja? Any info please.

[Siddhant]

I received this from my father in law, who received it from his Navy friend. Does anyone have any info on exactly what this is? Thank you in advance.

 

[Rich S]

Yes,navaja - Spanish, early (?) 20th C IMHO.
Rich

 

[Planterz]

Does it "ratchet" when you open it?

 

[K.O.D.]

All I know is it's badass! What a gift!

 

[Siddhant]

Yes,navaja - Spanish, early (?) 20th C IMHO.
Rich

thank you!

 

[Siddhant]

Does it "ratchet" when you open it?

yes it does, quite a cool locking mechanism that i believe G and G Hawk utilized on one of their models

 

[Siddhant]

All I know is it's badass! What a gift!

ha, agreed. thank you

 

[cbach8tw]

Nice.

 

[ChrisLee]

That is a gypsy knife. Gypsies were outlawed from carrying swords. So they started carrying very long folding knives like this. They would slide them into the belt or down in the pants that’s why they were very thin on the end when folded. They were basically folding short swords. The history of gypsy knife fighting is very interesting but I don’t know what would be a good book to read about.

 

[Siddhant]

That is a gypsy knife. Gypsies were outlawed from carrying swords. So they started carrying very long folding knives like this. They would slide them into the belt or down in the pants that’s why they were very thin on the end when folded. They were basically folding short swords. The history of gypsy knife fighting is very interesting but I don’t know what would be a good book to read about.

wow, that is interesting. Yes this is 18" long, feels like short sword.

 

[ChrisLee]

https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Baratero-Handling-Scissors-Gypsies/dp/1581604718

If you have $100 you can get this.

 

[dirc]

https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Baratero-Handling-Scissors-Gypsies/dp/1581604718

If you have $100 you can get this.

if you have good net searching skillz - you can get it free ; )

enjoy
https://archive.org/stream/JamesLor...mes Loriega - Manual of the Baratero_djvu.txt

 

[Prester John]

I received this from my father in law, who received it from his Navy friend. Does anyone have any info on exactly what this is? Thank you in advance.
View attachment 1353916 View attachment 1353917

Beautiful! I have a small modern navaja

but that one looks more traditional. Awesome!

 

[cbach8tw]

I thinking the tale is that if you heard the crack of the blade being open, it would convince you to turn over your money without a fight. No stereotypes meant.

 

[DangerZone98]

Beautiful piece man. It seems to be one. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[jackknife]

Ya'll need to watch the old movie "The Pride And The Passion" with Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, and Sofia Loren. Lots of good Navaja scenes including a nice navaja fight.

 

[Llasi]

I think it has subtitles in English:

 

[Siddhant]

Beautiful! I have a small modern navaja

but that one looks more traditional. Awesome!

That is a beautiful piece and pic, thank you for sharing.

It looks like yours also has file work on only one side of the spine?


there are also some faint etchings on the blade that make me wonder about the age of this piece

 

[Siddhant]

@Llasi J jackknife D dirc C ChrisLee

thank you all for the info, I appreciate it!

 

[Prester John]

That is a beautiful piece and pic, thank you for sharing.

It looks like yours also has file work on only one side of the spine?

View attachment 1354583
there are also some faint etchings on the blade that make me wonder about the age of this piece

View attachment 1354587

View attachment 1354588

Here is the other side:

The maker's initials are on the underside of the palanquilla (the tab that allows the blade to unlock to close); the handle is a polished antler point. It is just over 4 inches, and fits easily in the pocket.