Obsolete Knives

pmel018 said:
Fleams were also used by vets, the same ideas on physiology persisted far longer amongst animal practitioners
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Speaking of practitioners of the dark animal arts, I've gotta wonder how many vets still regularly use a blade like this Kutmaster I picked up last year on a lark (not my pics as the knife is not with me today). This particular kind might be creeping towards obscurity as well. I'm always a sucker for esoterica, and I like a stainless handle from time to time as well. :D





Oh, the sights that hook has likely seen... :eek:
 
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DShiflet said:
Not really. If you look at the military definition of the term, there are many "obsolete" weapons that are still being used all over the world. They still work, they still kill people, but they've still considered obsolete compared to more modern technology. So going by that definition of the term, manual typewriters, turntables, etc are still considered obsolete, despite the fact that they still function and people still use them.
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Outdated. Not obsolete. If you look at the dictionary definition of the terms, that's what you see.

They are in use and made. Hence, not obsolete.
 
marcinek said:
I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding between "obsolete" and "not popular" going on here.

Something like a Prest-O-Lite key blade is obsolete (Prest-O-Lites were auto headlights that used on compressed acetylene gas in a canister that was fitted to the running boards of automobiles and then devlivered to the headlights through tubing. The key opened the canister. What could go wrong?!?)

Those are obsolete.

Bread knives, straight razors, tube amplifiers, turntables, manual typewriters, etc are not.
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I have a limited edition Queen stag Barlow with a skate key in place of the usual pen blade coming. Might even get here today. Roller skates seem to be going the way of acetylene-based headlamps, despite any resurgence thanks to the hipster contingent.

Should "obsolete" be graded on a scale? :)
 
marcinek said:
Outdated. Not obsolete. If you look at the dictionary definition of the terms, that's what you see.

They are in use and made. Hence, not obsolete.
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Being in use and made does not make something not obsolete. There are still people who hunt and fight with spears. That does not mean spears aren't obsolete. Obsolete does NOT mean "not made or used AT ALL".

Also, here's the dictionary definition of obsolete that I see:
1.no longer in general use; fallen into disuse:
2.of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date:

A few people still use turntables and manual typewriters, but they are not in "general use", same with spears and swords.
 
I think part of the key in defining if a tool is obsolete is in defining the context. Because in certain contexts you'll find items in common use while in other contexts they will, indeed, be obsolete. For instance, with manual typewriters, places like India actually still actively use them, and there are street vendors who offer the service of typing dictated letters for the illiterate. They're sort of the Polaroid of printed text and remain popular there because of the context of use. However, in the Western business world, they have, indeed, gone the way of the dinosaur because they're not as suitable a match for that context compared to available alternatives.
 
cantona-obsidian-knives.jpg
 
DShiflet said:
Being in use and made does not make something not obsolete. There are still people who hunt and fight with spears. That does not mean spears aren't obsolete. Obsolete does NOT mean "not made or used AT ALL".

Also, here's the dictionary definition of obsolete that I see:
1.no longer in general use; fallen into disuse:
2.of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date:

A few people still use turntables and manual typewriters, but they are not in "general use", same with spears and swords.
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A "few" people....really? Literally everyone I know engages in battle with spears & swords, while listening to ethereal, turntable supplied, music on a daily basis...later keeping a neat accounting of the day's battle with their manual typewriters. What bizarro world are you living in?
 
I know this is a saw not a knife, but I'm glad I never had to use one of these for a living:

RedCedarMiseryWhip.jpg
 
Larcivs, what would be the italian name of those knives? So far...I found only "italian dueling knives" :).
 
Moonw said:
Larcivs, what would be the italian name of those knives? So far...I found only "italian dueling knives" :).
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they're from different Italian regions. there are the Roman, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Saracca Romagnola, etc. many of them were made oversize for the use in duels and street fights, and all have a locking mechanism (the locking backspring that was eventually used for the Okapi - all European technology). ;)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Specifically they were most heavily used in sugar beet harvesting. They're not much used for their original intended purpose, as the harvest of sugar beets is largely an automated mechanical process at this point on any industrially meaningful level, but they make handy harvest knives for other produce because you can use the spike for light excavation around vegetables before cutting leafy crops or before pulling/topping root vegetables.
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Interesting information. I never considered using it myself in a gardening harvest, but if such an opportunity arises, I may have to sharpen mine up and give it a try. It has a nice patina, and the handle scales are pinned solid, so I see no functional problems.
 
Sorry about the crappy pics - they're really old... As is the knife - Vietnam era piece my dad brought back ('67 or '68):





 
willseeyalater said:
Tableware in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries would have included silver fruit knives. They were nice so you could eat fruit without the carbon steel of other knives leaving a metal taste. Those would have been more common for wealthier homes and then less well to do depending on the going price for silver which varied.
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Here's what I think would have been a silver (or silver plated) fruit knife which was recovered from an 1878 shipwreck at Muttonbird Island off the southern Australian coast. The fruit knife is in the middle. These knives were salvaged in the 1970s, I believe, and remain in the collection of the local salvage diver.



Also, here is an example of a flint 'core' that would have been the source of different specialised flint cutting tools. You can still find these on beaches in southwest Victoria. Apparently, gaps and voids in the rock were filled with mineralised fluid which became the prized flint core.



Great thread by the way, Helleri. Thanks for starting it!
 
The "electrician's knife" is still used on the deck of Naval Carriers and are standard issue at Naval Air Stations. They aren't "obsolete" by any means.
 
Thought of another one:

The Barrel Knife.
finski.jpg

SchwedenmessertechnZchng.jpg


I think these can be counted as obsolete because they are out of manufacture (pretty sure the last ones were from the 1950's any ways). Outmoded (as to their reason for being) by modern locking mechanisms on good quality folders, and assisted openings as well. And they are not entirely well known (somewhat obscure although probably not to most vintage knife collectors). This is actually another one on my "to collect" list.
 
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