question about First Blood knives

T

Tim Tolbert

Joined
Jun 2, 2010
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5
Hello,

My name is Tim Tolbert and I used to collect knives as a teenager in the 80s. When I saw the move "First Blood" I was floored by that awesome knife.

I've searched the web and this forum but I still have a few questions about those knives.

First, I've read that Jimmy Lile made 13 knives originally and that 6 went to Stallone then he made 87 more in the 12 tooth configuration. Were the Sly II knives part of these 87? I assume not.

Now I've read that after Jimmy died, his wife and shop continued making Sly II knives (ammong others) with a dot.

What I'm confused about is the next generation knife with the Lile makings currently selling. Is this a custom knife of good quality or is it even associated with the original makers?

Also, Is United cutlery still making these copies or are they all master cutlery now? How do those 2 copies compare?

Also, around the mid 80s, I remember seeing a knife that was obviously in the style of the first blood knife only that it didn't have cord wrapping but had a textured round hollow handle. Was of good quality as I recall but I've never seen another one. It may have not had the screwdrivers but otherwise it was "shaped" the same as Lile's knives.

Just trying to get it straight how many "copies" and variations of the original Rambo knife there have been.

Great forum guys!

Tim
 
Tim,

You are correct in that Jimmy Lile made the original knives (for the first two movies). All Lile knives made before his death had no dot above the i in Lile. Jackie ran the company for a while afterwards (with the same crew) and had a new stamp made with a dot above the i. The Rambo knives for the remaining movies were made by Gil Hibben. I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you much about the copies since then but would be surprised if the quality was the same. Maybe someone will post that does.

Gary
 
Tim google Robert PARRISH- He made several knurled handled knives in the pattern of which you are talking. There is also a person on the West Coast that is making a First Blood pattern out of 1095 but I can't remember his name.
 
Yes Mr. Lile is dead - he passed in 1992 or 93

There's a guy in California that makes very nice "First Blood" copies.

Robert Parrish wasn't made knives in quite some time.
 
I was lucky enough to have a Lile around 2002 that I picked up off of ebay (like an idiot I sold it). Anyway, I had the United Cutlery version also and all I can say is that there is NO comparison. The fit/finish was not up to par (even for a regular knife of that price) and the steel was horrible and would not come close to shaving sharp. The Lile was a great piece. I also had a Randall 18 at the time and would have to say that both are great pieces.

Martinknives.com makes a copy (MCE II) that looks pretty decent, but I have not had any experience with them.
 
Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know how the 2 copies compare to each other? I'm referring to the master cutlery and united cutlery.

I know either one wouldn't be near the quality of the handmade knives.

I had the opportunity to buy a Lile Sly 2 at a gun show a few years back for $800.00 and I could kick myself to this day for not buying it.

Tim
 
Tim,

The guy you want to talk with is Miles Welze; he has, or has had, most of the Lile knives of all ilks and as such is a wealth of information on the subject - his contact info can be found on his website www.mileswelze.com

Hope that helps,

Shel
 
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