Navalha before there was Opinel?

F

flintrocker

Joined
Sep 1, 2014
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I came across this at a local gun show:

Navalha1.jpg

The box says gives the name Navalha, and says "Fabricado em Portugal" and "since 1870," which would make it a few years before Opinel was founded in France. The knife itself is marked MAM as a registered trademark, and the blade is marked with MAM and "INOX-PALACOULO." The wood looks very similar to the Opinel beech. Here is a picture next to an Openel No. 8:

Navalha2.jpg

The knife has an ingenious liner lock, which is "left handed" (push away from you to unlock) compared to my other liner locks. Because one side of the blade slides against steel instead of wood, is operates very smoothly.

Navalha3.jpg

Has anyone seen one of these before, or an you add some other background about this interesting knife?

Also, how do you control picture sizes in your posts? I can't figure out how to make them larger. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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AFAIK Boker is the company importing these knives. They're several varieties to chose from including a wicked sheepsfoot and drop/spear point. Most have liner locks but you can get some that are true friction folders. My favorite is the drop/spear point, it's almost unreal how much blade they have crammed in the handle of that model! :thumbup:
 
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Here are a couple from I UK supplier I use the handles are beech an the blades are SS
 
Funny you should start this thread, I just ordered three different variations of these MAM knives over the weekend. I found them through a search with the parameters friction folder. These look pretty nice for the price, and really piqued my interest.


[video=youtube_share;N-nqSThmfuY]http://youtu.be/N-nqSThmfuY[/video]
 
Very very interesting knife!

i'd love to get my hands on one to look coon finger and chicken eye. Very curious as to how the lock is secured in the wood handle, since I don't see any rivets in the body, just the one pivot in the bolster. Nice thin blade, should be a great slicer like the Opinel.

As for history, it does look a lot like an Opinel distant cousin of some sort, but with one critical difference. It's possible that Joseph Opinel saw one, but then a lot of European peasant knives have a similar look to them. Like the resolza and the Laguiole.

Are there any U.S. distributors?
 
Jackknife: The lock is held in by the pivot pin, it's maybe an inch long piece of metal that extends into the handle along side the blade.
 
jackknife said:
Very very interesting knife!

i'd love to get my hands on one to look coon finger and chicken eye. Very curious as to how the lock is secured in the wood handle, since I don't see any rivets in the body, just the one pivot in the bolster. Nice thin blade, should be a great slicer like the Opinel.

As for history, it does look a lot like an Opinel distant cousin of some sort, but with one critical difference. It's possible that Joseph Opinel saw one, but then a lot of European peasant knives have a similar look to them. Like the resolza and the Laguiole.

Are there any U.S. distributors?
Click to expand...
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/854159-Forty-two-Blades-Baryonyx-Knife-Co
Forty-two Blades only stocks a couple, I found the third one fishing the bay...

It wouldn't surprise me if MAM copied Opinel either, my take on the date is that is how long they have been producing knives.
 
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AFAIK, 'navalha' is Portuguese for folding knife, the same that 'navaja' is the Spanish word for it. MAM-Palocoulo is a rather common brand of Portuguese hard-use, non-expensive folders.
 
jackknife said:
Very very interesting knife!

i'd love to get my hands on one to look coon finger and chicken eye. Very curious as to how the lock is secured in the wood handle, since I don't see any rivets in the body, just the one pivot in the bolster. Nice thin blade, should be a great slicer like the Opinel.

As for history, it does look a lot like an Opinel distant cousin of some sort, but with one critical difference. It's possible that Joseph Opinel saw one, but then a lot of European peasant knives have a similar look to them. Like the resolza and the Laguiole.

Are there any U.S. distributors?
Click to expand...

Looks like KnifeCenter carries them (they're a BF member dealer). Searching their site for 'Boker Filmam' yielded the results linked below:

http://www2.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_store.html?usrsearch=Boker+Filmam

Pretty interesting knives...


David
 
How do you like the knife some months on?

Is it a decent office-friendly light pocket knife?
 
jackknife said:
Very very interesting knife!
i'd love to get my hands on one to look coon finger and chicken eye.
Click to expand...

LOL! Thank you, sir, for expanding my education. After spending two entire days last weekend at a knife show (California Custom Knife Show in Anaheim, Calif.) your expressions describe perfectly what all us knife knuts were doing.

flintrocker - Thank you, too for introducing me to a type of knife that I didn't know about.

Very Sincerely,
Jeff
 
I have bought a couple of these knives in the last few months, a sheepsfoot and one that very closely mimics an Opinel No. 8. The sheepsfoot, in particular, has been getting a lot of pocket time. If I had to say where I read about them, I would have to say somewhere on this forum.
 
This thread has got my curiosity up so I just ordered 3 different ones. First a Canivete Com Garfo a three blade, a 3&1/2 inch spear blade with an interchangeable fork and can opener that appear to attach to a key ring. A Tipica with a 3 &1/2 inch Sheepsfoot blade. And finally an Iberica Pequena a 2&3/4 inch drop point with the liner lock. I will post pictures and opinions when they get here. The best part was that all three combined were less than $50.
 
This thread has got my curiosity up, but in a different direction. The first question that occurred to me was, what is the difference, if any, between navaja and cuchillo, the more familiar word (to me, at least) for knife in Spanish. One answer that popped up was, one is for fighting, one is for eating. This ditrinction was news to me, as i had always thought a cuchillo could as easily be a weapon as a dining impleent. Navaja is described variously elsewhere as a fighting knife, folding knife, utility knife or clasp knife. Navaja de barbera is a razor.

Second, is there a Portuguese cognate for cuchillo, and would the same distinctions hold as in Spanish? I note incidentally that my language widget translates Navaja/Cuchillo to rasoir/couteau in French. FWIW, the Italian cognate forcuchillo would be coltello. Dunno about any italian counterpart to navaja/navalha.

Whichever came first, I still think of Opinel as the real deal and Filmam as an imitator, especially since they do not appear to be available in carbon steel. The Portuguese knives do ride a little easier in the pocket, however, as their handles have flat sides.
 
Interesting questions about meaning of words in different languages, Henry. :cool: I know we have some Spanish BF members who could weigh in on your questions. FWIW, I know very little Spanish, but somehow had developed the impression that cuchillo was a more general term for knife (or even cutlery in general), while navaja referred to a folding knife. But, as I said, what do I know about Spanish vocabulary! :o

Coincidentally, this thread is as good a place as any to "debut" a couple of knives I recently acquired. With information and encouragement from sitflyer maybe 6 weeks ago, I ordered a couple of MAM knives that arrived a week or two back (thanks for your help, Duane:thumbup:). I just haven't found time to show them off until now.

One is a MAM 2015B Iberica linerlock, about 4 3/8 inches closed.
BDOYFVMl.jpg

6Q6KIqHl.jpg

w8r5yttl.jpg


I often see the liner lock referred to as being "backwards", but I like it. With the blade open and edge down, held in my right hand, I find it very natural to use the tip of my index finger to push the linerlock tab to the left, allowing me to start closing the blade with my left hand.

The other knife is a MAM 3B medium sheepsfoot friction folder (no linerlock), just under 4 inches closed. This is the MAM model I first remember seeing and admiring in posts here.
mwT0bpRl.jpg

62l2CuYl.jpg

TxDDgoyl.jpg


I was somewhat surprised to see the difference in color/finish of the handles on these two models.
SSTU6RSl.jpg


As to MAM's relationship to Opinel, I have nothing to add. I was able to snap a couple of photos of a French-Portuguese wooden friction folder summit. The Opinels are a #7 and a #6.
VHUuAs6l.jpg

gKXlAlUl.jpg


- GT
 
Mine came in the mail today, a 3BB sheepsfoot and an Iberica pequena, both locking.

I don't care if Opinel was first, this Iberica is awesome and the 3BB is like a dream Opinel too.

The lock is sturdy enough to keep the blades secure and steady when opened, more so than the Opinel locking collar.

They are light, the fittings are nicely made, and the handles are well shaped.

Try one out!
 
5K Qs said:
I was able to snap a couple of photos of a French-Portuguese wooden friction folder summit. The Opinels are a #7 and a #6.
VHUuAs6l.jpg

gKXlAlUl.jpg


- GT
Click to expand...

I love the shape of that sheepsfoot blade. I ordered the Tipica with liner lock and got something a little different, a little longer and a bit wider at the tip than at the tang. It turns out to be quite useful. I have been slicing a lot of limes with it, but it is really good with bagels: first slice the bagel, then use the broad tip to spread the cream cheese.
 
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