Old, Unknown Knife

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Kevin Mogee

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Aug 18, 2020
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I searched the forum for an 'Old knives' topic and didn't see one, so I thought I'd start.

I recently came across this really old slipjoint knife after my Dad died. It was in with his things, and my stepmom wanted to make sure I got it. I cleaned it up a bit, but it was in surprisingly good shape for a knife from possibly the 1940s. The only thing I could find about it online was this post on TreasureNet forums. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/22591-first-intact-pocket-knife.html

I was able to get it hair shaving sharp with only a couple of passes on a strop, but I have no idea what type of steel it is, or whether it will hold an edge for very long. It wasn't the least bit rusty, but the back spacer(?) was pretty badly rusted, so I imagine the carbon content is pretty low.

I don't think I'll use it all that often, but I carry it quite a bit. It's more about the sentimental value, knowing that my Dad had it for however many years, and quite possibly received it from his Dad.
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Sorry to hear about the loss of your dad.

Old knifes almost got a soul. I believe its earned.
I know you will cherish it.
 
Not from the 40s by any means. Made in Pakistan, probably sometime in the last 20 years.
 
Pakistan is known for their inexpensive and low quality knives, the market probably came about 20 years ago
 
lieferung said:
Pakistan is known for their inexpensive and low quality knives, the market probably came about 20 years ago
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I bought cheap Pakistani knives in the 1980s, various slipjoints and lockbacks. Looking at that picture, it sure looks like some of the knives the sporting goods store kept in a bowl in front of the cast register 35 years ago. They did not hold an edge at all - you might need to resharpen a couple of times to get all the way through cutting up one large cardboard box.

On the other hand, they've been making knives in Pakistan since the Bronze Age, and that knife could be just about anything. There are well-made Pakistani knives, although not many of them seem to make their way into the US. I wouldn't expect something to be labeled 'Pakistan' prior to 1947, I think, but this could probably be from anytime from that to last week.

Kevin Mogee said:
I don't think I'll use it all that often, but I carry it quite a bit. It's more about the sentimental value, knowing that my Dad had it for however many years, and quite possibly received it from his Dad.
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Regardless of its age or even cutting ability, it's worth carrying as a cool memento. Googling '13-852 Pakistan knife' turned up several results on auction sites, all looked similar to this, but no further info.

Hope you're able to find more on this.

-Tyson
 
A nice little treasure.

As I recall, Pakistan became a source of inexpensive manufacturing/mass-production for the world back in the mid 1980's (I was in my mid-teens), and it still is today. One of the all-time famous/infamous knife knock-offs was the "made in Pakistan" Buck 110 "copy" that started flooding the world in the mid 80's (it wasn't really a close copy, just a similar design and size).

Before Pakistan got into the cheap manufacturing business, Japan, Taiwan, and Mexico pretty much had the market cornered. Japan dropped out as their manufacturing improved significantly, and the costs rose with it. Then China moved in and remains a major player in cheap manufacturing today.

As for the knife itself, I'd be very surprised if you were able to learn much about its origins. Knives from Pakistan don't tend to have much of a"pedigree", or traceable history. They were, and still are, cranked out in mass numbers, often by unknown factories and companies. It's not like, say, a vintage Buck 110, where you can look up it's history, find out exactly where it was made (state, city, and even street and pics of the old factory), and narrow down the years in which it was produced based on slight design differences.

But all that aside, the value of a knife inherited from a loved one is never based on it's place of origin, or monetary value. The true value of such a knife is based on who owned it, who carried it, and who used it before you, and how it connects you to them.
 
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1980's would be the earliest I'd put it too. The 1980's is when you see Pakistan really try to become a player in the cheap knife mass market. Before that, Spain, Italy, Japan were sources in the 60's - 70's for cheaper stuff. They moved up by the early - mid 80's. Korea and Taiwan tried, but couldn't match Pakistan on low end. Taiwan moved up a bit, Korea mostly bowed out.

Before the the 80's, the Pakistani's concentrated on local styles which were either based on old Sheffield patterns or the Rampuri type folders.
 
Kevin Mogee said:
I searched the forum for an 'Old knives' topic and didn't see one, so I thought I'd start.

I recently came across this really old slipjoint knife after my Dad died. It was in with his things, and my stepmom wanted to make sure I got it. I cleaned it up a bit, but it was in surprisingly good shape for a knife from possibly the 1940s. The only thing I could find about it online was this post on TreasureNet forums. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/22591-first-intact-pocket-knife.html

I was able to get it hair shaving sharp with only a couple of passes on a strop, but I have no idea what type of steel it is, or whether it will hold an edge for very long. It wasn't the least bit rusty, but the back spacer(?) was pretty badly rusted, so I imagine the carbon content is pretty low.

I don't think I'll use it all that often, but I carry it quite a bit. It's more about the sentimental value, knowing that my Dad had it for however many years, and quite possibly received it from his Dad.
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https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/old-knives.527126/

There's a few old traditional knives in this thread.
A rusty back spring only means it's carbon steel, not stainless steel.

Good luck on finding out what the blade steel is, or what company (or back yard / garage "cutler") made it. There are thousands of small one or two man shops churning out knives for export, in addition to the larger companies. Pakistan has sent out knives with the blades made from repurposed auto body parts such as fenders and hoods (these cannot be heat treated by the way, any more than your low carbon steel or 304 stainless steel butter knife, spoon, or fork can) automotive springs (5160 carbon steel which just happens to make an excellent blade when properly heat treated.)
Pakistani stainless steel could be anything from the 300 series (some of which cannot be heat treated), to 420j2 at the "top" end.
They are not known for consistent heat treat (when/if they bother to heat treat a blade.) either.

The sheepsfoot blade looks pretty full. How long did your pop (sorry to hear he passed. My condolences.) have it? Did be use it much as far as you know, or did he carry another knife with it that he used more?

I'd carry it as a keepsake, along with one of your other knives, and use the other. (There's no "rule" that says you can only carry one knife at a time.)
That way you won't break the knife or wind up sharpening the blade down to a "toothpick", trying to keep it sharp.

Welcome to the forums, by the way. :)
 
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