South African one-piece?

A

alanforbes

Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
42
I was looking for a small fixed blade knife and saw a Chris Reeves Mountaineer 1 at a local gun shop. It was being sold on consignment and does not have a box.

I thought it was a very neat knife and bought it. I had an old hollow handle knife when I was a kid, though this one seems about a million times better made.

My question is this. It says MADE IN SOUTH AFRICA on the blade. It says CR (symbol) and 357 on the other side.

I know Chris Reeves is from South Africa, but I thought he lived and made his knives in Idaho.

Does he contract out the one piece knives to be made by a anothercompany in South Africa? Is there a Chris Reeves Factory in south Africa? I looked on the web site and saw no reference to the one-piece knives being made in South Africa.

PS I do have a large Sebenza and am very impressed by the CR knives.

Thank you for any information.
 
Your knife was made by CR in South Africa and he was numbering the knives as he made them there. Worth a bit more than the knives he's made/making since he moved to Idaho.
S
 
What you have is a knife that was made by Chris Reeve in South Africa before he moved his business to Idaho. The knife most likely has a hex type butt-cap and was made prior to 1986 (the year CRK moved to Idaho). A true rarity but a good knife nonetheless.

Does he contract out the one piece knives to be made by a anothercompany in South Africa? Is there a Chris Reeves Factory in south Africa? I looked on the web site and saw no reference to the one-piece knives being made in South Africa.
Click to expand...
Never in a million years!!!
 
How rare/valuable are these South African made one pieces? I'm curious because I know where I can get my hands on one for a fairly good price.
 
Thank you for the info. The knife belonged to a collector who never used or sharpened the knife. It does have a hex shaped non-textured butt cap.

The sheath is very nice, it is set up for horizontal or vertical carry.

If it is rare, that is nice, as the dealer charged the same retail price as I've seen for this knife on the internet ($175), though I am sure that is significantly more than it cost in 1986 or before.
 
What makes the knife a rarity is the fact that it is numbered and is marked South Africa. After 1986 you no longer could get a numbered South African CRK knife unless it was old stock that CRK had on hand. I believe Chris stopped numbering his knives when he moved to Idaho but I can't be to sure about that.
 
CRK one-piece blades are top-notch stuff. Will definitely put one in my hands one day - soon! :)
 
I'd like to add just a couple of corrections and a little more information. Ken, good shot at the date, but we actually moved to the USA in March 1989. Our first visit to the USA was in November 1986 when we exhibited at the New York Custom Knife Show.

# 356 Mountaineer I would have been made in October 1988. From around April 1987, all knives were marked "Made in South Africa" or "Made in RSA" - any knife that has no country of origin marking was made in South Africa. When we moved to the USA, we began numbering from 1 again, this time with the knife marked "Made in USA". We stopped numbering in 1994/5 because by then the numbers had little value.

The sheath that you describe as being vertical and horizontal carry must be aftermarket - we have always supplied the Mountaineer I in a simple wrap style leather sheath, designed for vertical carry.

There is added value to the Made in South Africa knives - they are part of the history of the company, they were all ground by Chris himself, they are now upwards of 15 years old. The amount of added value is difficult to advise - I have seen 30% more quoted in some places, double in others.

I hope this fills in some of the blanks!

Anne
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top