- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
- Messages
- 2,763
For some time now I've been getting a lot of blades made in Spain. I have found that many of them offer a very good bang for your buck although they may not be easy to find, apart from the bay, and then it is a toss between price-new vs used-known quality etc.
This is my current inventory, and waiting for 6 more to arrive from Spain soon:
As a kid in the 80's I remember getting my first taste of this addiction when I was given a U.S. Cavalry catalog. After a while I knew that catalog by heart. I even made a list of the knives I wanted and asked my parents for a never-granted loan...sigh...wish I could find that catalog again.
In that catalog (among many other things, there were also Chris Reeve's series of one-piece hollow-handled knives going for like 80 bucks...sigh again...) I saw an Aitor Oso Negro (black bear) for the first time. I liked the deep recurved belly, sawback spine and general meanness emanating from that piece of steel. As with the rest of the knives on the catalog, that's where it stayed. I always kept a lookout on the bay for originals, resisting the temptation of cheap knockoffs, until I found a Spanish website with decent prices that shipped to the states, so now this grail is my hands. It is a Spanish military knife with a civilian non-coated version called the Oso Blanco (white bear), and has spawned an endless amount of reproductions. The sheath on both this one and El Montero suck, already have drawn up a template for new leather pants.
But this was not my first Spanish knife. I stumbled across this Muela a couple of years ago. It is a Muela Arocho and is currently discontinued. It came without a sheath so this became my first endeavour into sheath making. I didn't pay attention when I traced it and after I cut it realized I had made a lefty. Fit is excellent, tho, with the snap coming from a jacket spare. The knife itself may have been a factory second since it has marks on both sides of the blade ( all Muelas I've seen have the marks on the left side) while the shield on the handle is on the left. After all, making a lefty sheath for it wasn't that bad
After the Arocho, I found this Aitor Survival 18 on the bay. After I received it I was blown away by the solid feel of this knife. It is a full tang, 1/4" thick with laminate wood scales and a mirror polish on the flats and the sheath, while ancient, was still serviceable with a cool styling. I did some research on spanish websites and it seems like this knife was made in the 70's and fetches quite a good price over there, with many variations and special editions done over the years. The knife seems to have been bought and put away with no use, so I made a new leather sheath for it following the original. This knife was the one that started my spanish steel obsession
It was downhill after that. I found the mentioned spanish website and ordered the Oso Negro, El Montero, a Nieto and a Cudeman, and have been scouring the bay for Muelas and Aitors ever since. Here are the rest of the blades
Aitors:
Aitor El Montero (kinda like an Oso Blanco on steroids)
Aitor Precise skinner. It has an indian head at the guard and came with a lefty sheath so I made a kydex sheath with leather loop for it, tried to replicate Aitor's logo on the loop:
Cudeman MT-1. My only gripe is the straps on the holster are held by velcros but I will rivet snaps there soon. One of Cudeman's flagships, solid performer, really dig the white slabs with red liners over the full tang
Miguel Nieto Toro. White ebony scales over a full tang. It's first use was this year's official Thanksgiving turkey carver.
Muela Commando. I do like these knives, but prefer the older versions as they are thicker and have a full rat tail tang. This one is a newer version that I took the rubber handle off to discover it was a half tang riveted to a pommel extension :thumbdn:. The hardware is not brass. Made a mold and poured epoxy mixed with glow-in-the-dark powder, polished blade
more...
This is my current inventory, and waiting for 6 more to arrive from Spain soon:
As a kid in the 80's I remember getting my first taste of this addiction when I was given a U.S. Cavalry catalog. After a while I knew that catalog by heart. I even made a list of the knives I wanted and asked my parents for a never-granted loan...sigh...wish I could find that catalog again.
In that catalog (among many other things, there were also Chris Reeve's series of one-piece hollow-handled knives going for like 80 bucks...sigh again...) I saw an Aitor Oso Negro (black bear) for the first time. I liked the deep recurved belly, sawback spine and general meanness emanating from that piece of steel. As with the rest of the knives on the catalog, that's where it stayed. I always kept a lookout on the bay for originals, resisting the temptation of cheap knockoffs, until I found a Spanish website with decent prices that shipped to the states, so now this grail is my hands. It is a Spanish military knife with a civilian non-coated version called the Oso Blanco (white bear), and has spawned an endless amount of reproductions. The sheath on both this one and El Montero suck, already have drawn up a template for new leather pants.
But this was not my first Spanish knife. I stumbled across this Muela a couple of years ago. It is a Muela Arocho and is currently discontinued. It came without a sheath so this became my first endeavour into sheath making. I didn't pay attention when I traced it and after I cut it realized I had made a lefty. Fit is excellent, tho, with the snap coming from a jacket spare. The knife itself may have been a factory second since it has marks on both sides of the blade ( all Muelas I've seen have the marks on the left side) while the shield on the handle is on the left. After all, making a lefty sheath for it wasn't that bad
After the Arocho, I found this Aitor Survival 18 on the bay. After I received it I was blown away by the solid feel of this knife. It is a full tang, 1/4" thick with laminate wood scales and a mirror polish on the flats and the sheath, while ancient, was still serviceable with a cool styling. I did some research on spanish websites and it seems like this knife was made in the 70's and fetches quite a good price over there, with many variations and special editions done over the years. The knife seems to have been bought and put away with no use, so I made a new leather sheath for it following the original. This knife was the one that started my spanish steel obsession
It was downhill after that. I found the mentioned spanish website and ordered the Oso Negro, El Montero, a Nieto and a Cudeman, and have been scouring the bay for Muelas and Aitors ever since. Here are the rest of the blades
Aitors:
Aitor El Montero (kinda like an Oso Blanco on steroids)
Aitor Precise skinner. It has an indian head at the guard and came with a lefty sheath so I made a kydex sheath with leather loop for it, tried to replicate Aitor's logo on the loop:
Cudeman MT-1. My only gripe is the straps on the holster are held by velcros but I will rivet snaps there soon. One of Cudeman's flagships, solid performer, really dig the white slabs with red liners over the full tang
Miguel Nieto Toro. White ebony scales over a full tang. It's first use was this year's official Thanksgiving turkey carver.
Muela Commando. I do like these knives, but prefer the older versions as they are thicker and have a full rat tail tang. This one is a newer version that I took the rubber handle off to discover it was a half tang riveted to a pommel extension :thumbdn:. The hardware is not brass. Made a mold and poured epoxy mixed with glow-in-the-dark powder, polished blade
more...
.
Methinks I'll let that one pass 