Not Swiss Army Knife

btmccutcheon

btmccutcheon

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Jul 10, 2013
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After a very long day yesterday I returned home to find a package postmarked from Germany. Finally. A knife I first learned about 30 years ago has found it's way into my possession. Opening it up I was surprised at how large it was but still relatively light. it's an ADLER German Bundeswehr Army Military Multi Blade Pocket Knife. Or just simply a GAK. From what I understand, Victorinox made the first iteration of these, before other contractors picked it up and started producing for the German army. I've read recently that Victorinox actually supplied the parts to Adler to produce theirs.

It's seen some hard use but is still in relatively good shape. Pull is about a 5, fit is finish looks pretty good considering the wear from use. Unfortunately, there is a slight bend about a 1/4" from the tip of the main blade as though someone tried to pry with it. I can't capture that in pictures but it is there. I'm hoping to clean and polish this old soldier up, fix the bend and see if I can find it a job.

I love SAK's and know we have a lot of SAK fans here, as I am one myself. But I would like to give a little attention and honor to the other military folders out there. Knives like this one that have Victorinox heritage are welcome but let's keep the Swiss cross to a minimum.

Any further information on this Bundeswehr knife would be welcome as well.

 
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btmac, is that "loose piece" a saw guard?
Cool knife; congrats! :thumbup::thumbup:

- GT
 
I have a Victorinox GAK and it is my go-to pocketknife for actually going into the woods. Lightweight, large FFG blade, and the saw are all great features. The combo tool and the awl just seal the deal. This pattern in its various incarnations can be found for dirt cheap on certain auction sites and elsewhere; as long as you can get an idea of the quality of the different makers you can score some good deals.

I wish mine had the match striker and the saw guard!
 
They are nice knives. I had one as well when I was in the German Army (Bundeswehr) - Mountain Division (Gebirgsjäger) in the Alps. We got the knife from the army, but we had to give it back when we left the army after our nine months of service. So I gave mine back. And bought one in a surplus store. I still have it today but I don´t carry it that frequently.

The knives were usually made by Victorinox but Robert Klaas made some as well. I´ve never heard about ADLER (which means eagle in english language), I also don´t know about if it was a subbrand of any other cutler. Whoever made it, did a good job, it seems. Great knife in many ways!! Congratz on that one. :)
 
5K Qs said:
btmac, is that "loose piece" a saw guard?
Cool knife; congrats! :thumbup::thumbup:

- GT
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Yes it is. The older Victorinox stamped versions I've seen for sale haven't had one (not to say they never did), so when I read that Vic supplied Adler with the parts I figured I was getting a Vic anyway. Just re-branded. The older Vics apparantly didn't have the file/match striker either.
 
Several years ago, I bought a couple of these from a local surplus place. They had a cardboard box full of 'em, several different makers, looking like they came straight off the field. They all had the same kind of use you describe: tips showing signs of prying/twisting. A few had a point reground as it seemed a few had lost their tips while in service. Most had bits of mud embedded in the crevices. Saw tooth covers were mostly missing. I picked up a Victorinox and an Adler. Aside from the tang stamps, they can't be distinguished from each other.

After cleaning them up, they revealed themselves to be very solid knives with lots of life still left in them.
 
I scored 2 of these in a discount bin at a massive surplus store -barn really- in Exeter in the UK a few years ago. They were around 2 quid each . One for each foe my 2 youngest boys. They are Vic but no Adler which would be cool. Yes one had a saw guard and the other was missing. Good saw blade too.pic to follow.
 
Only GAK I have is a Victorinox. Can't find a saw guard though.

German%2520Army%2520Victrinox%2520Open.jpg
 
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meako said:
I scored 2 of these in a discount bin at a massive surplus store -barn really- in Exeter in the UK a few years ago. They were around 2 quid each . One for each foe my 2 youngest boys. They are Vic but no Adler which would be cool. Yes one had a saw guard and the other was missing. Good saw blade too.pic to follow.
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Wow! Bargain! :thumbup: I've not seen one in ages, and never at that price. By coincidence though, I was carrying my Vic-made Mauser Officer's Knife today though. I'd reccomend snapping those GAKs up if you ever come across one :thumbup:
 
I had an Aitor-made GAK, got it in brand new unissued condition, but it went into a giveaway last year. There were about a dozen different makers I think.
 
I had a B & H too, passed it on to one of our friends here. It had seen a certain amount of hard use, but he made it nice again :)
 
Love the GAK's. They're my primary hiking knives these days. I have both a Vic and a B&H. Here is the B&H:

GAK.jpg

GAK2.jpg


And no collection would be complete without a Camillus MLK knife and a TL29:

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Picture077.jpg

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IMG_3094.jpg

Would one of those saw blade covers work on my Safari Hunter? It doesn't look like it would have enough clearance to close to me.
 
Saw them in base camp stores in Germany (96/97). I've never seen any one of these issued to any soldier.

What we were issued at that time were old East German army AK saw back bayonets.

The ones for sale were expensive and in bad condition. Rusty, sticky from grease, broken blades, messy tips, very tight blade or very floppy ones.

Never thought of them as official army knifes. More a gimmick like camouflage wallets and other non official which they tried to sell to us grunts.

Cool to know now that they were actually issued to some. Maybe the once in our store were just floppy seconds from other units.
 
I too have a bunch of these GAK's, a couple are Victorinox, not sure which the others are but i had no idea how many different manufacturers have made these. I've picked up a new, unused one for about $20 on ebay but usually they go higher.
kj
 
OTC said:
Would one of those saw blade covers work on my Safari Hunter? It doesn't look like it would have enough clearance to close to me.
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It should, it's made to fit them all (AFAIK). I have no idea how you would find one......never seen them for sale separately.
 
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