Old Alox Knives.

[mdsmith]

Hey guys, I was reading through a few different threads last night, and it got me thinking. By far, the most useful knife I own is my Vic soldier. I love everything about this knife, from the size, to the fit and finish, as well as the price. If I had to recommend one knife to someone looking for their first and only knife, this would be the one, hands down. That said, one of the things I love about the more traditional slip joints is how the materials age and give character to the knife. There's nothing like the look of a nice aged bone handle and a blade with a deep patina on it. I even like the way the red cross Vic pioneers look once the handles get all worn. So that leads me to my question. How does silver alox age? Does it darken, lose it's sheen, tarnish, ect? Anyone have any pics of some well used silver alox knives? Thanks.

 

[Mad_Maxx]

I love the soldier too, own 3 vic and 3 wenger and have one of each for edc in the rotation
I carry mine in a leather slip where only the last cm comes out, stays cleaner and fluff stays out

I have seen some used ones over the years, colored ones show the silver aluminum (like other alu knives and stuff like flashlights) below while silver alox one fade a bit as they're coated too, if you look at the sides you see the finish is (probably) uneven, well that's a preview of how it will eventually look in some time, takes a while in the pocket to get scratched though, had a black cadet for a couple months in the pocket with a nylon wallet (no change/keys) and it was 99% still new

hope this helps a bit at least
Maxx

 

[navihawk]

The aluminum scales on a vic soldier are anodized. It's a hard coat for aluminum and can be red, green, clear or some other color. Once the anodization wears off the aluminum will show where it's worn.Hope this helps.

 

[Zuchus]

Here's a well-worn red one from another thread (found via Google images on photobucket):