What is THE American Traditional knife to you

[Omega Leather Works]

If the 110 is considered Traditional (I think so) I'd say that's it for me.

My dad always had one, and it was my first knife. I remember wondering what 440 meant.

Oh, and a Case Cigar pattern in stag.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Bowie, first and foremost. The big D guards, anything flashier the better. I've heard that most people outside the USA equate the cowboy to the USA. That said, I would mention the stockman knife, bigger cattleman or stockman. After that, the Buck 110 or Kabar Marine knife.

 

[brianv]

Very early on in this thread a commenter suggested that the original poster was probably more considering a type or style of knife as opposed to one particular knife. I think that the Bowie style also envelops the USMC Kabar as well as the classic Buck fixed blade as well as the Randell Model 1 and the Scagel. I would have to go with Bowie. However the Bowie style of blade was around during the Roman Empire and was widely used by the Vikings as well. Still I think the Bowie is the style of knife associated with the US.

 

[wazu013]

 

[LEOGREG]

[/IMG]

To me the only thing missing from this grouping is a Boy Scout knife and I was never even a Scout (Cub, for a brief time).

World War II issue USMC Combat / Utility knife made by Camillus. ( think they were the first actually)
Buck 110 ** Given to me by my stepfather who worked for Weyerhaeuser Lumber, in the mid seventies as I recall.

When I was a kid I'd pass through the checkout counter of the local hardware or sporting goods store ignoring the Schrades on display and lust after that huge, magnificent, mirror finished, walnut handled
, Western Bowie with its splendid, S shaped, glowing brass guard. ......So certainly a Bowie.

 

[festerfromnzed]

I too think BIG BOWIES when i think American knives....................Its not a bad thing?............................FES

 

[LEOGREG]

Good grief! How big is that Al Mar?

 

[Old Hunter]

Of course a pocketknife - I'll go with Tom Sawyer on that one, a Barlow and of course you have to include a hunters knife, I'll go with a Western for that one. Many others could represent the American knife (jackknife, stockman's knife, etc.) Fnally you have to include a fighting knife of some sort, those have varied so much from war to war - I'll go with the Bowie (a Schrade-Walden take on the Bowie here) it represents the Frontier period of American tradition.

 

[leghog]

Quintessential Americana. A pattern (with clip and spey blades anyway) originating in early 20th Century America. While sold in nearly every feed store across the land for decades, it was a sleeper just trudging along for the first half of its existence.

 

[Trout Tamer]

Someone should tally all the answers on this thread. I'd do it if I weren't about to sleep

My choices mirror an oft-repeated refrain:

Fixed blade: Kabar stacked leather handle or Schrade-Walden-style bowie, such as Old Hunter posted in #108.
Locking folder: Buck 110. Not as old as many patterns, but I'd argue it's a design that's known around the world and has been copied worldwide ever since its introduction.
Slipjoint: Case bone-handled or Old Timer stockman or, as a runner-up, a jackknife, like leghog posted in #109.

 

[festerfromnzed]

Good grief! How big is that Al Mar?

Just over 17 inches from memory?...........Al Mar sharp too......................................FES

 

[Cutty73]

Probably The 110 or Bowie.

Also the stockman and trapper come to mind as well, they were both being carried waaaaay before the 110 came to be. Just not sure if they are original American patterns?

 

[akadave2]

Whats interesting with everyone saying Bowie knifes as being "American" is that the first ones came from Brittain, made for the US market...and based on English designs. Also, it seems that most of the slipjoints we associate as being "American Classics" were made in Brittain as well!

 

[Cutty73]

^^^^

Yeah, that was my thinking on the stockman and trappers as well. Most of the patterns were originally made by the Brits or Germans and brought here later.


So maybe the 110 is actually the true American knife????

 

[AreBeeBee]

Buck 110 and 112, both two-dot models. I'd call these "modern" traditional because the design dates from 50 years ago. But there's also this:

Ulster Boy Scout knife, ca. 1962-79, but using a pattern that goes back to the late 1800s. EDIT: Oops, forgot the bowie, of which I have none. And going farther back in time we have trade knives and such, of which I also have none (unfortunately).