My latest knife order placed because of a blued & fullered blade...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
3,989
So, as the title states, my latest online knife order was made because I'm a sucker for the visual appeal that a blued blade with deep fullers have, (at least to my eyes).
While perusung all sorts of online knife vendor sites, I ran across this knife given the model name of "Israeli Commando Knife". That model designation is not what attracts me to the knife, nor does it seem to have any actual proven meaning, (probably just used for marketing purposes). It's the knife's blued blade and deep fullers that caught my attention. It's the same reason I added the Cold Steel Frontier Bowie to my collection, it also having a blued blade and deep fullers... screams out "old school" :) Most black blades made today have some sort of baked on finish, but, "old school" stuff usually came in bare steel, parkerized, or even with the occasional blued finish. Having a stacked leather handle, blued finish, deep/wide fullers, and heavily peened over tang, makes this knife kind of a dinosaur by modern day made knife standards... I love that! :)
I just ordered the knife yesterday, so all I have are some pics I found online. They seem to come in all sorts of different shades of stacked leather handles, so it may come light to very dark. Also, they seem to be offered with brass guard and pommel, and with steel guard and pommel, (my order states the steel variant). The Star on the blade may seem hokey to some people, but to me it adds a touch of unique flair. The pics I have found online of the sheath they come with, seem to all be the same, appearing to be of a thin and cheaply made leather construction.
Anyhow, the deep fullers, the blued blade finish, just seem cool to me. I mean, especially on a modern day traditional fixed blade knife. It sort'a has a Marbles Ideal look to it's blade... Actually, I see the Marbles Ideal, the Ka-bar, and the Fairbairn Sykes Dagger, all wrapped up together to make something kind'a unique in it's own right.
I think the "Israeli Commando" being used in it's title/description may be a bit much, but since it's not marked as such on the knife itself, it can easily be ignored.
I ordered it strictly as an addition to my collection of "do-dads", so it won't be getting any use, other than to be displayed. But, there is at least one video out there done by "Wealljuggleknives" that tests the knife with some pretty rugged use, and it passes with flying colors.


The blade tang goes through the handle and is secured via peened over pommel method. I always believed this was the best method when the handle is of the stacked leather type. I mean, the pinned on through the pommel and tang method does not allow for a retightening of the handle if the leather dries out, or otherwise loosens a bit with age and use. The tang peened over the pommel method worked well on swords/knives for centuries, and allows the end user to tighten up things when/if it becomes necessary, by peening down the tang a wee bit more.

This knife having a gimmicky title or not, it does seem to be a bonafide fully functional tool.

To top it off for me, it's a Sheffield England made knife, and if I decide to keep it after it arrives, it will be the only Sheffield made knife in my collection. It will be unique to me in many ways. I'm hoping for a nice representative piece, so my fingers are crossed ;)

Here are some online pics I found of this model knife....


 
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scrteened porch said:
I used to admire that knife in a catalogue, maybe Sportsman's Guide. That and the British military's jungle survival knife.
Click to expand...

I believe this model knife has been offered for a long time now, but I personally don't recall having seen one anywhere.
Once I ran into a picture of it online, my immediate thought was... "Is that a blued blade?"... And... "Wow, look at that fuller!"... lol! :)

I know that Sheffield knives have suffered much the same fate as the big "old school" American name brand companies. Foreign competition from Asia and rising overhead costs, have pushed most out of business. I also know that consistent quality has been a problem for many of the makers that remained, (especially when one considers their price vs the foreign competitions).
Knowing this, I am still hoping I receive a nice example of what the remaining Sheffield knife industry can offer with this moderately priced specimen.
I was surprised that I was able to order the knife from a USA based vendor for about as much as they sell for overseas in Great Britain. I would have expected the cost to be much more over here. It may just be because the Sheffield knives made today are not very sought after anymore in America, so the prices over here for them remain modest, (my order for the knife running me $70). I guess the price is on par with what my Kabar specimens have run me, and if the knife is as nicely assembled as I have seen in online reviews of them, then it's a very good deal on them. I guess I'll know in a few days, when the mailman brings me my specimen ;)
 



The knife arrived today, and these pics above show it after I cleaned and lightly oiled her, (including a little bit of mineral oil to it's leather handle). I know mineral oil on leather is frowned upon by some, but I wanted to even out it's look a little bit.
Anyhow, I will share my observations and opinions about this knife, (spoiler... my feelings were a bit mixed on this knife).

Let me first mention that the knife is supposedly being made in two variations... One has a steel pommel & guard, the other a brass pommel and guard. Although mine was supposed to come from the vendor as an all steel version, I was sent the brass one. This is no fault of the manufacturer, being the vendor's improper description of the product he was sending me. That said, I actually like the brass look with the blued blade, and would have likely ordered it that way anyway, so the vendor's mistake worked out a-okay for me.

As for the sheath... It's exactly as pictured above in my original post where I show an online stock photo of it. In other words, it's definitely not going to win any prizes as a high quality sheath. But, it is made from leather, and it will likely do until you have one made up, make one yourself, or otherwise find a better made replacement, (if you indeed choose to have this knife as a user).
I am strictly owning it as just another collecting do-dad, so it's shearh matters little to me.

This knife came in a plastic bag, (no manufacturer's box), and is listed that way by all the vendors that I see offering them. This info is usually shared by vendors by them writing "bulk packaged" in the description.

Now, for what I think about the knife itself, (and I will start with the negatives first)...
The leather handle is not up to the standard of, let's say, a modern day made Ka-Bar. It's a little bit on the rough side, but nothing like I have seen on most OKC, (Ontario Knife Company), stacked leather handles, (which are usually pretty crude). The handle on this knife has four small quarter moon divits cut into them, (two on the back, two in the front), to help in the gripping of the handle, but they are not in line/centered with the blade and handle, (a sign of mediocre care taken while doing these cuts at the factory). I felt the need to use a little mineral oil to help a little in the handle's overall appearance, it was a bit dry looking. So, in general, the leather on the handle is what it is... simply a wee bit on the overall rough side in it's fit and finish.
The small brass pommel is nicely polished, but I had to touch up the guard a tad bit in order to match it's appearance to the pommel, (just a few minutes of hand polishing with some polishing rouge & soft cloth). No big deal, but again, it needed a little help, and showed the lack of detail in that respect as well.
The ricasso area of the blued blade, and the surrounding brass area, had some pretty hard glue stuck to it. It seems that some glue is used within the handle to help secure the tang in the leather handle, (along with a peened tang end), which is okay... but not so okay to leave the oozed out glue on the blade and guard. My taking a few pieces of broken pieces of plastic that I had in my junk drawer, I was able to scrape this glue substance off. It was a bit of a pita, ugh! Anyhow, just another sign of neglect in detail by the manufacturer.

But, wait... There are some good points about the knife too!
The blade fullers are deep and wide on both sides, and pretty well match each other, (well executed). The cutting edge is sharp, very evenly done... Again, simply very well executed on both sides. The blued finish is very attractive on a nicely polished blade, and a coat of factory grease helps keep it that way until it gets to the consumer.
The blade's spine is slightly rounded, and it adds a touch of overall class to it's look, a nice touch... (well, at least I think so). The blade is also beefy, does not look fragile in any way.
Truth be told, it looks like the blade has a lot of hands on effort... Although machines are likely being used, there seems to be a real touch of hand craftsmanship with the blade. The blade on this knife shows where the little details were not overlooked. It's a beautiful blade, imo, and was the one thing on this purchase that actually surpassed my expectations, (and I'm very much the picky sorts) :)

So, do I regret buying the knife?... No, it has a unique charm about it. I wish they had put as much effort into the handle as they did with the blade, but it is what it is, and I still think it's a pretty cool knife, (at least in my book!).

Yup, just another addition to my collecting hobby :)

Do I recommend this knife?...
Well, it cost me about $70, (and in general can be found online at the same price range as the basic Ka-Bar knife). If you want it as an outdoor user of any kind, you will almost certainly want/need to get a better sheath than what comes with it. But, other than the gripes I mentioned above, the knife is indeed, (imo), worth the asking price. It's somewhat rough leather handle aside, the blade actually makes this knife quite the little looker :)
 
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I gave the leather handle a light coat and rub down with a leather conditioner this morning. It again added a bit more even look, truly enhancing the overall appearance of this Sheffield made knife.

Anyhow, today I also found locations for my latest aquisitions, (the Sheffield knife & a Union Cutlery 'Spike' straight razor). They are now placed within the world of my collection.
Part of the fun in my collecting hobby, is finding ways to incorporate them into my decor. I feel if you surround yourself with things that you're interested in, they'll always help in making you smile :)



 
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Hello PKJ from the UK ,
Dont know if you have had time to read my other replies to your posts regarding the Case USMC Fighting / utility knife which incidently I have bought and am awaiting delivery (probably tomorrow ) ?
Anyway regarding your Sheffield made (John Nowill ) Israeli Commando knife . I have been aware of these for some time now without ever having checked them out at all ! I have to say after viewing your particular purchase and how you have cleaned it up as a show piece , I do like the look of this knife and no doubt when funds allow will consider buying one . Just going off looks alone , like yourself I really like the old fashioned look of the parkerized / blued blade which in my opinion as a collector has a much classier look , and with a little attention to the leather handle as you have done it does look an overall nice collectors piece . As a traditionalist and purist myself I do like the look of the brass fittings on your knife . I have also watched the practical video on its use outdoors and it does seem to stand up reasonably well to a bit medium use in a bushcraft environment although like every knife the user should and must be aware of its limits .
My first ever fixed blade knife was a Sheffield made sheath knife back in about 1970 ( possibly a Nowill knife) when I was twelve years old . What does surprise me is that the Sheffield manufacturers have never been big on a good solid sheath to go with their knives which is a great pity and is a definite failure on their part and such is with this Israeli Commando model !!! Also for a company with a long historical background in the Sheffield steel and cuttlery industry , Nowills should go that extra mile with quality control and better materials to put a bit pride back into Britain ,
I am aware that you use your knives for collection and display items only but can you tell me in your opinion how you think this Israeli Commando model stacks up against the KA BAR , Ontario , and Case model USMC knives in solid build and strength etc ? The Sheffield model does seem to have a bit larger through tang .
Anyway PKJ thanks for all your input on these knives as it is a great help when considering buying one .
 
bigeard09 said:
Hello PKJ from the UK ,
Dont know if you have had time to read my other replies to your posts regarding the Case USMC Fighting / utility knife which incidently I have bought and am awaiting delivery (probably tomorrow ) ?
Anyway regarding your Sheffield made (John Nowill ) Israeli Commando knife . I have been aware of these for some time now without ever having checked them out at all ! I have to say after viewing your particular purchase and how you have cleaned it up as a show piece , I do like the look of this knife and no doubt when funds allow will consider buying one . Just going off looks alone , like yourself I really like the old fashioned look of the parkerized / blued blade which in my opinion as a collector has a much classier look , and with a little attention to the leather handle as you have done it does look an overall nice collectors piece . As a traditionalist and purist myself I do like the look of the brass fittings on your knife . I have also watched the practical video on its use outdoors and it does seem to stand up reasonably well to a bit medium use in a bushcraft environment although like every knife the user should and must be aware of its limits .
My first ever fixed blade knife was a Sheffield made sheath knife back in about 1970 ( possibly a Nowill knife) when I was twelve years old . What does surprise me is that the Sheffield manufacturers have never been big on a good solid sheath to go with their knives which is a great pity and is a definite failure on their part and such is with this Israeli Commando model !!! Also for a company with a long historical background in the Sheffield steel and cuttlery industry , Nowills should go that extra mile with quality control and better materials to put a bit pride back into Britain ,
I am aware that you use your knives for collection and display items only but can you tell me in your opinion how you think this Israeli Commando model stacks up against the KA BAR , Ontario , and Case model USMC knives in solid build and strength etc ? The Sheffield model does seem to have a bit larger through tang .
Anyway PKJ thanks for all your input on these knives as it is a great help when considering buying one .
Click to expand...
If you order a Kabar, your chances of getting one that is all around pleasing, is high. They use a lot of modern machinery that makes consistent knives knife to knife. So, if you are going to order sight unseen, the Kabar would be my recommendation.
The Nowill, on the other hand, seems to incorporate some more old school production methods, including a nicely done blued blade that is more comparable to an old Marbles made knife, than one from Kabar...
But, the Nowill products are also less consistent from knife to knife, so I would recommend the Nowill be purchased from somewhere that that you can actually inspect it first.
If you do that, you may indeed obtain a specimen you can be proud of, and it showing a pretty cool more old school look about it than the Kabar.

Oh, and by the way, if you wind up with a stacked leather handled knife, like the Kabar or Nowill mentioned above, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you treating it with a generous amount of Renaissance Wax, (which is made in the UK). I have found it to work wonders on leather 👍
 
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Well my Case XX USMC knife arrived today and I am well pleased with it , nothing against KA BARs but I am pleased I went with the Case . First of all out of the box I gave it the once over and everything seemed tight and fit and finish were better than I expected . The sheath seems half decent quality and no reason if looked after should last always . The knife itself feels really good in my hand and I have medium sized hands , I have to say I like the round hadle shape and provides a good grip I have been used to knives since I was around eight years old and even today 57 years later there is hardly a day goes by when I dont do a little knife handling practice using the William Fairbairn ( Fairbairn Sykes fame) techniques .
I have already given the sheath and handle a couple of coats of Virgin olive oil to feed and darken the leather slightly . I will let it soak in then give it a few good rubdowns with beeswax and to finish off a coating of renaissance wax . The blade I have lightly sanded using very fine wet and dry paper , enough to take the rougher black coating down to a more parkerized look . I will remove the leg tie that comes fitted on the sheath and replace it with a desert cammo paracord one .
 
bigeard09 said:
Well my Case XX USMC knife arrived today and I am well pleased with it , nothing against KA BARs but I am pleased I went with the Case . First of all out of the box I gave it the once over and everything seemed tight and fit and finish were better than I expected . The sheath seems half decent quality and no reason if looked after should last always . The knife itself feels really good in my hand and I have medium sized hands , I have to say I like the round hadle shape and provides a good grip I have been used to knives since I was around eight years old and even today 57 years later there is hardly a day goes by when I dont do a little knife handling practice using the William Fairbairn ( Fairbairn Sykes fame) techniques .
I have already given the sheath and handle a couple of coats of Virgin olive oil to feed and darken the leather slightly . I will let it soak in then give it a few good rubdowns with beeswax and to finish off a coating of renaissance wax . The blade I have lightly sanded using very fine wet and dry paper , enough to take the rougher black coating down to a more parkerized look . I will remove the leg tie that comes fitted on the sheath and replace it with a desert cammo paracord one .
Click to expand...
Yeah, Being that the Case brand knife is made by the Ontario Knife Company, it's essentially the same knife that Ontario has made for the US Military for decades now, (sans the black anti fungal finish).
Does your Case knife have sharpened top swedge?
Both my Ontario and Case branded specimens came with the sharpened swedge.
My commercial Kabar specimen from the late 1990's, came with a sharpened swedge as well. But, my more recent Kabars, (purchased within the past 10 or so years), did not come with a sharpened swedge. It's likely because some jurisdictions consider them to be double edged, like a double edged dagger, so they likely just stopped sharpening all of their knives to play it legally safe for everyone.

Congrats on your latest acquisition, enjoy! 👍😎👍
 
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Hello PKJ , yes my Case XX came with the sharpened top swedge . Got it looking good now after finishing off with REN WAX ! Also as the knife sits just a little too loose in its sheath for my liking , Ive colour matched a couple of pieces of thin leather and glued them into the mouth of the sheath and so the knife is heald more securely now and its not noticible at all .
For some reason this Case XX USMC Iis my overall favorite fixed blade !
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:



The knife arrived today, and these pics above show it after I cleaned and lightly oiled her, (including a little bit of mineral oil to it's leather handle). I know mineral oil on leather is frowned upon by some, but I wanted to even out it's look a little bit.
Anyhow, I will share my observations and opinions about this knife, (spoiler... my feelings were a bit mixed on this knife).

Let me first mention that the knife is supposedly being made in two variations... One has a steel pommel & guard, the other a brass pommel and guard. Although mine was supposed to come from the vendor as an all steel version, I was sent the brass one. This is no fault of the manufacturer, being the vendor's improper description of the product he was sending me. That said, I actually like the brass look with the blued blade, and would have likely ordered it that way anyway, so the vendor's mistake worked out a-okay for me.

As for the sheath... It's exactly as pictured above in my original post where I show an online stock photo of it. In other words, it's definitely not going to win any prizes as a high quality sheath. But, it is made from leather, and it will likely do until you have one made up, make one yourself, or otherwise find a better made replacement, (if you indeed choose to have this knife as a user).
I am strictly owning it as just another collecting do-dad, so it's shearh matters little to me.

This knife came in a plastic bag, (no manufacturer's box), and is listed that way by all the vendors that I see offering them. This info is usually shared by vendors by them writing "bulk packaged" in the description.

Now, for what I think about the knife itself, (and I will start with the negatives first)...
The leather handle is not up to the standard of, let's say, a modern day made Ka-Bar. It's a little bit on the rough side, but nothing like I have seen on most OKC, (Ontario Knife Company), stacked leather handles, (which are usually pretty crude). The handle on this knife has four small quarter moon divits cut into them, (two on the back, two in the front), to help in the gripping of the handle, but they are not in line/centered with the blade and handle, (a sign of mediocre care taken while doing these cuts at the factory). I felt the need to use a little mineral oil to help a little in the handle's overall appearance, it was a bit dry looking. So, in general, the leather on the handle is what it is... simply a wee bit on the overall rough side in it's fit and finish.
The small brass pommel is nicely polished, but I had to touch up the guard a tad bit in order to match it's appearance to the pommel, (just a few minutes of hand polishing with some polishing rouge & soft cloth). No big deal, but again, it needed a little help, and showed the lack of detail in that respect as well.
The ricasso area of the blued blade, and the surrounding brass area, had some pretty hard glue stuck to it. It seems that some glue is used within the handle to help secure the tang in the leather handle, (along with a peened tang end), which is okay... but not so okay to leave the oozed out glue on the blade and guard. My taking a few pieces of broken pieces of plastic that I had in my junk drawer, I was able to scrape this glue substance off. It was a bit of a pita, ugh! Anyhow, just another sign of neglect in detail by the manufacturer.

But, wait... There are some good points about the knife too!
The blade fullers are deep and wide on both sides, and pretty well match each other, (well executed). The cutting edge is sharp, very evenly done... Again, simply very well executed on both sides. The blued finish is very attractive on a nicely polished blade, and a coat of factory grease helps keep it that way until it gets to the consumer.
The blade's spine is slightly rounded, and it adds a touch of overall class to it's look, a nice touch... (well, at least I think so). The blade is also beefy, does not look fragile in any way.
Truth be told, it looks like the blade has a lot of hands on effort... Although machines are likely being used, there seems to be a real touch of hand craftsmanship with the blade. The blade on this knife shows where the little details were not overlooked. It's a beautiful blade, imo, and was the one thing on this purchase that actually surpassed my expectations, (and I'm very much the picky sorts) :)

So, do I regret buying the knife?... No, it has a unique charm about it. I wish they had put as much effort into the handle as they did with the blade, but it is what it is, and I still think it's a pretty cool knife, (at least in my book!).

Yup, just another addition to my collecting hobby :)

Do I recommend this knife?...
Well, it cost me about $70, (and in general can be found online at the same price range as the basic Ka-Bar knife). If you want it as an outdoor user of any kind, you will almost certainly want/need to get a better sheath than what comes with it. But, other than the gripes I mentioned above, the knife is indeed, (imo), worth the asking price. It's somewhat rough leather handle aside, the blade actually makes this knife quite the little looker :)
Click to expand...
Just from an interest point of view , I contacted the Sheffield Knives PR Dept regarding the type of steel used in the manufacture of the Israeli Commando knife . The answer came back as AISI 1085 1% carbon steel , not sure how good a steel this is ?
 
bigeard09 said:
Just from an interest point of view , I contacted the Sheffield Knives PR Dept regarding the type of steel used in the manufacture of the Israeli Commando knife . The answer came back as AISI 1085 1% carbon steel , not sure how good a steel this is ?
Click to expand...
I believe the US Military carbon steel blades are specified to be made from 1095 steel.
If each steel is heat treated properly, there won't be much difference between 1095 and 1085. Done equally, the 1095 may hold an edge ever so slightly than the one in 1085.
But, the 1085 may be ever so slightly less prone to breaking. Either way, good basic carbon steels for these types of knives 👍
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I believe the US Military carbon steel blades are specified to be made from 1095 steel.
If each steel is heat treated properly, there won't be much difference between 1095 and 1085. Done equally, the 1095 may hold an edge ever so slightly than the one in 1085.
But, the 1085 may be ever so slightly less prone to breaking. Either way, good basic carbon steels for these types of knives 👍
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info , I would imagine then that the Israeli Commando knife should hold its own with any of the USMC combat / utility knives
 
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