Sodbuster History

A

ArfinGreebly

Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
369
The question recently came up (somewhere else) how long the "sod buster" pattern, under that actual name, has been around.

I did some research, and there doesn't seem to be a definitive work anywhere easily available (to a lazy guy on the web) that states when people started making "sodbuster" knives.

I can find references that indicate they were being made in the 1930s, but it's kinda fuzzy.

Of course, I believe the pattern itself would have existed before anyone started calling them "sod busters" (or "sodbusters").

The term "clasp knife" evidently predates "sodbuster" but I don't find solid dates for that term either.

Although I'm aware that the basic pattern concept can be expanded to include Opinels and other similar "peasant knife" types, what I'm looking for is the earliest appearance of today's sodbuster idea which I will generally describe as:
a knife having a single, plain-edged blade, whose profile is generally straight-backed but can include gentle trailing point or drop point slopes (with some clip-point examples), and having a backspring whose tension keeps the knife alternately open or closed, and typically having no locking mechanism (although locking examples are known to exist), and whose otherwise straight edge generally has a pronounced upward curve toward the point.​

Typical representatives of the pattern I mean to describe include today's Case XX Sod Buster and Sod Buster Jr., Böker large and small sodbusters, Kissing Crane and Eye Brand sodbusters.

Early German examples were, it seems, called "folding butcher" knives. Evidently the blade shape was/is very similar to that of German butcher knives of that day.

There are many brands and they are made all over the globe (USA, Germany, Italy, Argentina, etc.) but that actually is less helpful in finding their origins.

So, anyone?

Where did the sodbuster come from?

Who made the first example?

When did the name come into use (for the knife, not the plough)?

It would be cool if someone could date it pre-1900, but I'm beginning to think that, while we may find the actual pattern that early, we won't get actual "sodbuster" knives until the 1920s or 1930s.

Thanx, guys.

 
Last edited:
Your gonna get hooked!
Wait for the Soddie Experts to chime in!
I got two! :)
 
Arfin to give you an idea there is a clasp knife at the Daniel Boone museum (that is their term) that looks just like a large sodbuster That was carried by Daniel Boone as part of his kit. The museum folks say it was forged from a horseshoe. That kinda puts the pattern back there aways.
 
I believe "sodbuster" (with or without the space) was a somewhat denigrating term for farmers back in the Dust Bowl days, maybe earlier. Once we started to get real "citified" respect for the people feeding everyone else sort of trickled off, and working with the dirt (sod) was looked down upon. Hence terms like sodbuster, clod hopper, "dirt poor", etc.

Case may have just been using this name as a sort of reverse denigration. "Our knife is so good a farmer can't break it" kind of thing. Note that most other makers call their knife something else. It may even be trademarked by Case (I have no idea).

-- Sam
 
AG,

I'm the one that made the inquiry on another site. I'm very much looking forward to reading the responses here. Already, some interesting responses.
 
AFAIK, 'sodbuster' is the Northamerican name for an old european pattern. Now, the question is which european country can claim to be the place where the pattern was born.
And although there were well known French 'couteaux de mineur', and Spanish 'navajas de campaña' since the begining of last century (I mean XXth), most knife people think that the real origin is Germany, as folding butcher´s knives.
Just my 2 cents.
2916255830103511424S500x500Q85.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Last edited:
Another oldie but goodie! I'm bringing it back to life because it's so interesting and doesn't seem to have been solved. Sodbuster Jr. from Case will be my next knife shortly. So there are mixed ideas as to how the name came about and also how it was applied to the current design. But the question I have is; was Case the first company to refer to this knife as a Sodbuster? Or was it referred to as a Sodbuster by other knife manufacturers?
 
I thought its origins came from a style of knife used in Scotland and Ireland in the peat bogs/mires when harvesting peat for heat.
 
Just a little while back there was a thread containing a pretty impressive collection of soddies from around the world. I don't remember it going into a ton of history though.
 
sevilla said:
AFAIK, 'sodbuster' is the Northamerican name for an old european pattern. Now, the question is which european country can claim to be the place where the pattern was born.
And although there were well known French 'couteaux de mineur', and Spanish 'navajas de campaña' since the begining of last century (I mean XXth), most knife people think that the real origin is Germany, as folding butcher´s knives.
Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Does every European country have its own version of the sodbuster? Here's something Jack Black recently posted in mostho's GAW thread, where mostho asks entrants to share what they know about Italian knives. Jack's photo sure looks like an Italian sodbuster to me!

Jack Black said:
Thanks for the generous giveaway. Not an entry please, but if you PM me an address I'll be pleased to send you a postcard :thumbup:

Here's one of my Italian knives, a Maserin Marinera :)

Click to expand...

- GT
 
The pattern has many different names through out the world. Us stateside people refer to it as the sodbuster, Germany calls them Hippeknieps, France calls them Mineurs(Miners knife) and Spain calls them Navajas de campaña or Pastor knives. I'm sure their are many other names for the pattern throughout the world other than these.
 
dkblade said:
Thanks Jack Black! Good links.
Click to expand...

You're welcome :) The tip is to use the 'Search forum' function' just above and to the right of where the stickies are, rather than the larger 'search' box further up the page, which searches the entire forum rather than just the Traditional forum :thumbup:
 
Here's an observation by Lawrence Ruggiero...

The Sodbuster: An Appreciation

"One of the simplest pocket knives is a very traditional one. Its called a farmer’s knife, a miner, simply a work knife or utility knife or, even less elegantly, a “Sodbuster”.*

In the U.S. it is usually a “Sodbuster” - a name possibly derived from a German word having to do with butchery but this is not established. Some say the name refers to mid-nineteenth century American Homestead Act settlers who had to “bust” sod-filled land to plant in it or to build on it and lived in poverty as a result. More likely, “Sodbuster”, like its cousin, “Dirt- buster”, refers to manual labor in general and to the basic personal equipment of farmer, ranch hand, herder or digger in particular. It is also sometimes called a “Miner” which emerges from its association with coal miners. or a “Brown Mule”.

What America knows as the ‘sodbuster’ was and remains common in Spain where it is known as the “Pastor” or Shepherd’s Knife. The pattern is also believed to have been associated with fruit sellers and may have been known as a “frutera” (a fruit seller is a “frutera” in Spanish) in some settings although “pastor” was apparently the far more common name for the model.

One French company calls this pattern “terroir”, which is a term commonly associated with wine but which more generally refers to anything that is thought to acquire important distinguishing attributes from the particular environment - weather, soil, light etc. - in which it grew or in which it was made. The French often call the knife a “Mineur” for the same reason its sometimes called a “Miner” in English.

In Italy the pattern is called “Maniaghese” from the knife making town, “Maniago”, in the Northeast of Italy (Fruili) on the border with what was the Austrian Hungarian empire hinting at its Germanic popularity. But it also appeared in the farming areas of Tuscany and its surrounding regions before their transformation into sites for bands of traipsing tourists and second or third residences of the “Masters of the Universe”. Perhaps because mining was not as important as in France, the Italians don’t seem to associate the knife with coal.

Of course what all these names have in common is a strong sense and scent of the land, of earth, of soil and of toil. This knife is “earthy” in its nature and has a peasant soul.

As for its formal origin, the pattern is very close to antique Roman folding knives and appears in every country with a Roman past. While the Spanish Navaja and then the French Laguiole evolved from the same source in one direction, the “Sodbuster” evolved less dramatically and in a slightly different direction.

The major differences between the Sodbuster and the old Roman knife are the shape of the blade and the addition of a spring. The pattern has no bolsters (the metal parts on one or both ends of many pocket knives) or decoration of any sort - a characteristic further distinguishing it from its Spanish Navaja and French Laguiole cousins.

Its blade is a spear or more commonly, a drop point (unlike the elegantly attenuated clip blade of the classic Navaja and the Laguiole). It generally appears in three basic sizes from just over three inches to about 4 1/2 or 4 3/4 inches closed. It has a wood handle although bone, horn and, more recently, plastic, composition and derlin have been used. Needless to say, the unnatural handles predominate today.

In its post medieval form, the sodbuster has the simplicity and natural grace of an old shepherd or aged peasant - Jean Giono’s Man Who Planted Trees, for example. But the form has survived so long because of its suitability for almost anything one calls upon a pocket knife to do as one tends one’s crop, herds one’s sheep, or mines the company’s coal.

As this style knife is still today a “work knife”, it is rarely produced in expensive materials or sold at high prices. The real marvel of these knives is not their low cost but the fact that as long as the flame of historical perspective survives, its earthy nature and peasant soul survive as well - despite our contemporary situation amid industrial and intellectual pollution not to mention the end of civilization.

Sodbusters are one of my favorites because of their long peasant tradition, simplicity, the warmth of their often wooden handles, their texture, ever developing patina, their freedom from pretense and their deep historical sonority.

Best of all, you can use a wooden handled sodbuster like a Greek his beads or a nun her rosary allowing the natural oils of the hand to nourish its soul."
 
That's a very informative and poetically written piece Al, thanks for sharing :thumbup:
 
Very interesting info! I have a question. I have a large collection of "sod and dirt buster" style knives from Case, German Bull, Rough Rider, Bull Dog, Eye Brand and a few others. I also have several Kabar model 1179s in both solid wood handles and wood/brass handles. I have always viewed the solid wood ones as a form of dirt buster. Do you folks agree? The are said to model German butcher knives. Japan produced many folders styled after them in the 70s.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/large-kabar-1179-lockback-folding-knife-mint
 
Hi there just wondered if I could show you a knife I bought today from an antique shop on their rock of gibraltar. I am on holiday in Spain and saw this with the help of my wife and daughter who were scouting for me.ive taken just 2 photos at their moment .I think it's an early Navaja horn handle and no back spring. Here are there photos
e40cb2a7d19bb1920187b5f7e119731c.jpg
40f463e52d7c65163f48ce8f47893165.jpg



Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
tom19176 said:
Very interesting info! I have a question. I have a large collection of "sod and dirt buster" style knives from Case, German Bull, Rough Rider, Bull Dog, Eye Brand and a few others. I also have several Kabar model 1179s in both solid wood handles and wood/brass handles. I have always viewed the solid wood ones as a form of dirt buster. Do you folks agree? The are said to model German butcher knives. Japan produced many folders styled after them in the 70s.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/large-kabar-1179-lockback-folding-knife-mint
Click to expand...
7d756f1a4a64fe21cb4f7edf27427a81.jpg
051f5ea69d0e8fc1fd5aea24472913e0.jpg





Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]


Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top