Mall Ninja SUB-HILT FOLDER: ID for criminal case

bernard_levine

bernard_levine

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For a criminal case, I need to ID this unmarked sub-hilt folder, and find a couple of identical knives (exemplars).

It might have had a light etch or a decal marking, but none is visible now.

The ruler is metric (cm). Blade length is about 5 inches.

The handle is a textured rubber-like material.

The bolsters look plated.

I would appreciate any help.

BRL...

subhilt-folder-001.jpg
 
BRL, try to run down some old catalogs for Self-Defense Supply out of the Dallas area, it looks about like the grade of stuff they sell. Eric A.
 
I used to have what looked like that exact same knife, years ago. The bolsters were plated (chromed) over thin stamped sheet metal (brass?) Except I think the blade on mine was stamped "Pakistan". The guy who gave it to me said he bought it in Chinatown in DC. It was a pretty awful knife, so I got rid of it.

That knife could have come from any truck stop, gas station or chintzy junk store, or inner city head-shop in the country.
 
The Bud K catalog might have your answers. It has a plethora of fine cutlery items.
Bill
 
Looks like a typical cheap folder made in either Japan, China or Pakistan. I have a similar knife marked Buccaneer made in Japan. Same style handle, different blade, painted all black. Bud K used to sell them, probably still do. They could be had for a couple bucks just about anywhere, gas stations, head shops, dollar stores, anywhere that sold cheap junk. They had names like Dragon, Defender, Penetrator, the sort of thing that mall ninjas eat up.
 
Arathol has it right, and they also had best defense on the handle. They were mostly imported by the Double Eight ( now Master Knives) of NJ. Turkey Creek imports (Balitmore) also imported them.....
 
No, those defender knives have a black double hilt / bolster. The evidence knife has a single hilt / bolster that is plated bright; also a different blade shape.

Here is Bud K's current lineup of 332 folders, including 4 variants of the defender. Nothing close to the evidence knife.

http://budk.com/search.asp?t=c&c=2300&ipp=1000

The evidence knife is almost certainly Chinese. It is not Pakistani. Possibly Japanese, but unlikely.

BRL...
 
The Sportsman's Guide catalog use to sell knives like this, as well as the analogs that have brass-knuckle-style handles. Unfortunately I don't think they do anymore.
 
I checked a 1993 mail order catalogue and it's very similar to the Maxam X5 "Green Beret Commemorative" knife. The differences are that the Maxam X5 has a plated double hilt and can also lock into a "T" position like a push dagger.

The grips are the same as the evidence knife and it has an identical blade with the same number of teeth on the spine.

It appears to be a knock-off of a Maxam knife from the 1990s.
 
Nash The Slash said:
I checked a 1993 mail order catalogue and it's very similar to the Maxam X5 "Green Beret Commemorative" knife. The differences are that the Maxam X5 has a plated double hilt and can also lock into a "T" position like a push dagger.

The grips are the same as the evidence knife and it has an identical blade with the same number of teeth on the spine.

It appears to be a knock-off of a Maxam knife from the 1990s.
Click to expand...

I just found another 1993 knife using what look to be some of the same components. It was imported by United Cutlery Co.

UnitedCutleryUC528Cyclone-ProCut1993-p37.jpg


This same United Cyclone knife (in a different photo) is shown in a 1994 Smoky Mountain Knife Works mail order catalog.

I think we are getting warm. Indeed with a grinder and a file, I could turn this Cyclone into a near clone of the evidence knife -- although its blade is 2 inches shorter. But since that knife does not APPEAR to have been modified, I guess I gotta keep looking for one just like it... :(

subhilt-folder-001a1.jpg


... although now that I look at this lightened version of the photo, I can see that the chrome(?) plating seems gone from the ends of the cap bolster, revealing underlying copper color.

BRL...
 
I can offer no help on your question, except maybe to ask where the crime occured. With over 86,000 members on Bladeforums, chances are somebody lives close enough to check out a few of those chinzy junk shops in the area that were mentioned. Ya might get lucky.

Also, just out of curiosity, do you know how the knife was involved in the crime? I wish I could help out the good guys, but I'm probably more versed in the using of knives than the stuff usually discussed in this forum...
 
My assignment is to identify this Chinese-made knife, for purposes of locating and purchasing an exemplar -- another identical example, preferably unused.

The nature and location of the crime are irrelevant to this, so I have intentionally not disclosed them.

I do not know what part the knife played or is alleged to have played in the crime, only that it is evidence.

Several other knives are evidence in the same crime, and I was asked to identify one other of them, which I did, and then found a matching exemplar on eBay. Discovering the importer brand made this possible, as online searching by anything other than a name is a serious challenge. For example, on the knife shown above, I have tried searching for sub-hilt or subhilt folder or folding knife or pocketknife, with no luck. Indeed none of the similar knives that I have found were marketed as subhilts, though to me that is their most distinctive feature.

In some legal cases, such as this one, I know little more than the small part assigned to me. In others I know much or all of the background. Either way, I am usually not at liberty to disclose any of this information until the case is closed -- and in civil cases, sometimes not even then, for example if they end in settlement.

BRL...
 
The knife I mentioned is the same as the United Cutlery knife except with teeth on the spine. The catalogue I have gives its length closed as 5 1/2 inches but unfortunately doesn't give its blade length or overall length. The rubber grips sure do look exactly the same as the evidence knife.

You might have better luck finding one in the Blade Discussion Forum where the thread would reach more members.
 
Either they got the thumb stud direction wrong in the '"Cyclone" thumb stud shown' closeup image, or this is a pre-Emerson wave. :)
 
Bernard try the local mom & pop stores around you you may just find one in very short time . id also recomend checking with a local "Flea" market ,pawnshop ect those guy's love to sell this kind of stuff
 
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