"One Arm Bandits" aka the Razor Blade Barlow

A

Alnamvet68

Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
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Here's another chance to show off your "razor" knives, which are really not a common piece in many collections.

 
Here's a nice little Seki Parker in second cut stag. Good little cutter.

small1arm.jpg~original
 
The pattern has always held a morbid fascination for me. As I understand the history, the pattern was made/popularized due to all the returning Civil War Veterans who were missing an arm. This shows how important having a knife was in that time period. It also makes me think that a lot of Civil War soldiers lost an arm. The morbid fascination part is due to me being a Disabled Vet with only the use of one arm. I've figured out how to open quite a few slipjoints one-handed. Might look goofy, & take some time, but it gets the job done. Which then gets me wondering if these old Civil War Vets bought these knives, or just did what I do?

Nice knives.
 
Halfneck said:
The pattern has always held a morbid fascination for me. As I understand the history, the pattern was made/popularized due to all the returning Civil War Veterans who were missing an arm. This shows how important having a knife was in that time period. It also makes me think that a lot of Civil War soldiers lost an arm. The morbid fascination part is due to me being a Disabled Vet with only the use of one arm. I've figured out how to open quite a few slipjoints one-handed. Might look goofy, & take some time, but it gets the job done. Which then gets me wondering if these old Civil War Vets bought these knives, or just did what I do?

Nice knives.
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Thank you for that bit of history. As much as I love to do research on the history of things, I have had no luck finding anything definitive about the razor knife blade.
 
I've been really wanting and searching for a Crandall similar to yours. It's a great looking knife.
 
Canal Street Cutlery made a single blade version under the Union Cutlery name that looked very nice.
 
United Boker Handi-razor:
I don't think the pen blade would be easy to open one handed, but the razor catches OK on a pants seam or the side of a shoe.
handi-razor002_zps4b4ad690.jpg
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Great one arms ya'll, keep em' coming!!! Here's my contribution, a real nice Queen with brown saw-bone covers and full blades. Per the Goins book, that tang stamp was used from 1945-1955. Enjoy! :thumbup:



 
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Interesting, the variation in blade profiles from maker to maker. Lovin' that damascus!!!
 
csisland said:
Is there a specific use for the razor blade on a pocket knife, other than shaving?
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From what little I have been able to glean from the www, the idea behind the razor had nothing to do with shaving, and everything to do with a blade design that could be deployed by a one armed man; though I am sure there are those who have shaved, or at least tried to with this knife, but then again it's probably those same guys who claim they shave themselves with their tacti-cool $950.00 folders.
 
67nick said:
Great one arms ya'll, keep em' coming!!! Here's my contribution, a real nice Queen with brown saw-bone covers and full blades. Per the Goins book, that tang stamp was used from 1932-1955. Enjoy! :thumbup:



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Very nice....almost minty for a 50+ year old knife.:thumbup:
 
^^ Or a 60+ year old knife depending on when it was built... Thanks for the compliment!!!
 
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I can only wonder if the one arm knife was a timely marketing ploy of the period. I have some doubts about the one armed vets using the knife, if only that if it was truly for a one armed man, why would they put in a pen blade that a one armed man had no chance of opening?

And given the time period, if one needed a knife and had only one hand or arm, why not just carry a sheath knife?
 
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