The oldest titanium handled knife

I know Chris Reeves used it when he invented the frame lock and Emerson used it in the early 80s. It was used extensively by the military since the 50s so I'm sure someone military-related used it in a knife at some point in between.
 
Synov said:
I know Chris Reeves used it when he invented the frame lock and Emerson used it in the early 80s. It was used extensively by the military since the 50s so I'm sure someone military-related used it in a knife at some point in between.
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US titanium scales in the 50's? Manufacturing titanium was difficult in the 80's as I recall. Russia was the leader in using titanium.
 
I don’t know the exact year, but titanium was restricted in the past to military use only and hasn’t been available to knife makers for all that long. As mentioned above, Chris Reeve was definitely using it in the 80s but I can’t think of another before that.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
US titanium scales in the 50's? Manufacturing titanium was difficult in the 80's as I recall. Russia was the leader in using titanium.
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I'm not saying one was made in the 50s, I'm saying one was probably made in between the 50s and 80s since it was well known in military circles at that time and a lot of knifemakers are military related. Certainly the Russians could have done it at the same time.
 
I would imagine it was used in applications where magnetic detection was undesirable as well as for lightweight durable weather resistant stuff and armor.
 
Not sure who was the first exactly but it was Chris Reeve who popularized the modern day titianium framed tactical folder in the mid 1980's. As I recall, it was the first titanium handled/framed knife available in the USA at the time.
 
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Böker made the Titan 1 in the '80s. I bought one in 1987 (and still have it).
 
Danke42 said:
True but that aircraft is not a Soviet product. That is where the US got all that Ti though so score one for international cooperation!
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Fair point! I misread the post.. heh... 😅

Also that must been one hell of a shell company Lockheed used.
 
Michael Walker is probably the first, and there were a handful of high end art knife makers using it around the same time. Buck and Boker were the first production companies I remember also.
 
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