KalamazooKid's thread (Your "COOLEST" Gun?) has inspired me to post a sort of sister thread regarding Knifes.

Okay, so this question is likewise very broad, out of any knife you own, what’s the coolest? Not to be confused with your favorite, the oldest, the most valuable, the newest, etc. Your coolest knife should be fascinating, somewhat unique maybe, but overall just cool!

Mine won't likely be much of a tough act to follow since it's a relatively cheap clone of a much nicer knife; The Rothco Ramster.




Folks may recognize it for the likeness it bears to the old Buckmaster 184, of which this knife is a clone. There's a lot of interesting history behind that knife, but I've already posted a separate thread on this knife sometime ago which includes that information, so those who are interested may look it up.
In short, it was basically designed to be a real heavy duty Rambo Survival Knife with a hallow handle used to store a variety of survival items.

EDIT For 2022:

As of Christmas, I have obtained an even cooler knife; the Buck 639 Fieldmate!



Those of you who may be familiar with the Buckmaster 184 and 185 LT may recognize the similar profile of the blade.

The Buck 639 Fieldmate is essentially a miniature Buckmaster 185 LT sold at a lower pricepoint. The major difference is its size, as the 639 is more in line with the Buck 119 Special Purpose Knife while the Buckmaster 185 LT was more in line with the Buck 120 General Purpose Knife. Also, the 185 was skeletonized full tang with a polymer coated grip whereas the 639 has a hidden tang with a molded rubber grip.



From what I can gather, (information on this knife is quite scarce online and rather difficult to verify) the Buck 639 Fieldmate was manufactured for just under a decade from about 1986 until 1994, when it was discontinued by Buck in the midst of a lawsuit between Buck and Phrobis -- the designers of the Buckmaster knives -- who claimed the 639 Fieldmate as an unlicensed derivative of their Buckmaster design. Unfortunately, for all the clones of the Buckmaster 184 floating around on the market, nobody ever bothered to make any clones of the 185 LT or the 639 Fieldmate, which is a shame because they're both excellent knives.

The Buck 639 Fieldmate features a 5" 425M Stainless Steel clip point blade with sawteeth milled into the spine. Being a derivative of the Buckmaster Knives, these sawteeth were designed for cutting through thin aircraft aluminum and canvas rather than wood, although they can obviously still saw through wood in a pinch.

My particular example has "639<" on the ricosso, with the < being a date code indicating that it was manufactured in 1987, making it an early example of the knife. Later examples have a variety of differences from black rubber handles or black phenolic handles rather than the OD Green handle featured on mine. In addition, there are other models which lack the sawteeth on the spine, as well as a few special edition one-offs made from leftover blade stock once production had ceased.

While the 639 Fieldmate is thankfully nowhere near as scarce nor expensive as the 185 LT on the used market, it's still harder to come by than a 184, albeit significantly less expensive, so it makes for a decent alternative for those who desire a Buckmaster but don't want to pay hundreds of dollars or purchase a cheap clone like the Rothco Ramster.

I really wish that Buck would bring back these knives, or at the very least offer sawtooth spines as an option for Custom 119s and 120s on their website so that folks could sort of special order something similar.
However, I'm extremely happy to finally have my hands on one!

What this thread is all about is showing off your coolest knive, so feel free to post them below.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I have two knives that I think are pretty cool. The first is a U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Bowie bayonet, dating from 1900. Very few were made, and these were used experimentally in the field, mostly in the Philippines. They are rarely found; the last one I saw other than this was on display in the Springfield Armory museum many years ago. The scabbard is even rarer than the bayonet.



The next is this OSS/CIA stiletto. Also a pretty rare bird, especially when found with the "pancake flipper" scabbard. It was conceived by the OSS during WWII, modeled on the British Sykes-Fairbairn stiletto. It was completely blackened and unmarked. The CIA adopted it, and some were issued during the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba in the 1960s.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I don’t have a lot of knives. My best one would be this skinner that I had made up back in 1970. I designed the blade when I was still in school. I sent pattern to several knife makers in late 60s and none wanted to make it. They wanted to sell me one of their patterns. Finally down in Texas found a guy that would make it.
High Carbon SS, Stag handle, agate spacer and brass fittings. This knife holds a edge you can shave with. False edge on top helps in sail through skinning jobs. It’s dropped several critters out of their birthday suits.

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A Nepali’s Kuhkri manufactured in the mid 1800s


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Wheel guns are real guns too.

British "D Day" cruciform commando dagger.

This is probably my coolest knife, fork and spoon. In 1952 I found this boy scout marked set on the ocean side of Point Loma at San Diego, California.
At that time there were still deserted gun bunkers there from WWll and I found it there while exploring the bunkers.

Have a few- a Randall No 14 Border Patrol, Randall 10-5 Saltwater Fisherman and a Larry Page Bushcraft.

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Some Might Say.

John Lloyd Damascus metal mammoth grips

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I forged this knife from 1084 carbon steel. It has about a 4 1/2 blade. The neck sheath is by Lally House, one of the leading quill workers in the country.

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Kind regards, Heinz

Several years ago, I commissioned Dan Thornburg to make this knife for me...truly a work of art...

His website is a real treat...he's a true craftsman.

dtknives DT Custom handmade hunting & kitchen knives from high carbon steel nicholson files, sawblades, d2 and o1

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this knife was smuggled out of Czechoslovakia, in 1988, as a "thank you" present for me, for some audio cassettes of Blues, that I made for my friend to take to his friends, on the other side of the iron curtain. They were starved for American music, and sent this back, to show their appreciation.
Over the past four seasons, I've used this to gut and skin 4 deer. This year, I processed a deer for the first time, and used it for that, also. Finally had to sharpen it, for the first time.

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George

LOL, wundudnee... I have the same knife and fork, Girl Scout marked. Maybe we need to get them together?

I have the Buck knife that inspired the one in the OP, plus I have this one by Cold Steel.



I also have the original Indian Kukhri.

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Let's be careful out there

My definitely “coolest” knife doesn’t look like much, but it holds an honored space on my shelf.

It’s a Hungarian AKM 6X3 Type I export model bayonet, with an East German scabbard.

It was a gift from a former student of mine who was nothing but trouble in class (including for me), but we somehow connected. He ended up getting expelled, but then straightened out, worked through his issues, joined the military, and dropped by school after returning from an Iraq deployment to gift me this souvenir.

It still has desert dirt in its nooks and crannies, and I’ll be careful never to clean it.

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I am not sure if it is the coolest to others, but these are some I carry on occasion--reference enclosed image.

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Rather be outdoors

Going with the Dixon Fighter.
That is of course a Loveless Pattern.
Mine was made by Albuquerque Ace Knife Maker Hank Kubaiko.
That’s it on the bottom, under a Bark River Smoke Jumper and
a Randall No.1.
Yes I would Love an Original Loveless Dixon Fighter! Usually $10,000+

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

This Ben Hayhurst custom tanto I took on deployment.

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Psalm 27:2

Very cool knife with a very cool personal story behind it.

I'm a fan of the AKM Pattern Bayonets, including the American M9 Bayonet which clearly drew inspiration from the AKM Bayonet. In fact, the M9 is sort of a hybrid design between the Buckmaster 185 and the AKM Bayonet.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I have misplaced my photos but my coolest would either be an early, circa 1920's, Remington baby muskrat bullet knife with stag handles or my M.H. Cole WW 2 9 knuckle dagger.

My Randall Smithsonian Bowie is just the ticket for gutting out gun control pushes.
We have others as well. How about a pre Columbian Jade knife from Central America.

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This is mine. I used predator pattern Damascus and fossil walrus for the handle, thew Guard and pommel are file worked browned steel with polished stainless.


The skull crusher nut is removable for disassembly and all the pieces have alignment pins.

It's tough to choose just one, so here is an original Yarborough from the first run and a Buck 112 auto I just got yesterday.

Puma White Hunter that I’ve been beating up for quite a few decades.

My Coolest knife would be my Gerber BMF.

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Here is is one of mine.

enjoy,

bdGreen

Tap on image to enlarge.

I've got a lot of knives, but the one a friend gave me that he carried in Vietnam is my coolest. Gave me his patch too.

Steelslaver. I especially like the little anvils you have as a stand.

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Kind regards, Heinz

i can't recall manufacturer but is the best made auto knife I've ever had the pleasure of. paired with my 5 inch 27 i'm BBQ ready. krs

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Too good

My old Scout knife, received for Christmas in 1960.

Dressed out my first buck with it and used it as my required parachutist's knife during a 3-year tour with 2d ANGLICO of the Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic. The original sheath died an honorable death years ago, and the custom replacement was made by Treestump Leather.

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This is an Argentinian Gaucho's "dress knife"; I received it as a gift from a Colombian horseman who we bought a Paso Fino from about 25 years ago. The hilt and scabbard are Sterling Silver, with 18K gold leaf highlights. The rear of the scabbard is shown to display the tab that fits over the belt when worn. The blade is stainless steel and holds a nice edge, and is fairly thin from edge to back. For some reason, the blade was buffed from edge to back near the hilt, where the maker's mark is located. This mark has "Fuca" in script, with Industria Argentina inscribed above and below it. The rest of the blade is polished lengthwise. The blade is 8 inches long, overall length is 13 inches.

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This is a BIG shout out for ABSALOM and WOOD714. These fine members realize the importance of the history of a knife. Both have left their knives untouched and un-cleaned. The dirt and grime tell their items unique history. I am a knife, gun, and tool collector. I have in excess of 500 antique knives. I made a good part of my living, taking something old and not working and making it new. So, when I started collecting old knives, I did the same. To date I have ruined nearly 500 old knives. Lessons learned too late in life. I cleaned up my late father in laws little folder. And this is when I stopped. I removed all his history and adventures from that knife. Many of the adventures I was with him at the time. I would give anything to have left it alone. But it was dirty and had pocket lint and a broken blade, so I "fixed" it. Now it is just a shiny object sitting on a shelf and the casual observer gets no hint of the miles traveled and or the reason it had the tip one blade broken off. But most importantly they get no sense of the great man that carried it.

Mine is a tossup between these two.

A Marble's Special order for the Ohio Gun Collector's






Or this Geno Denning hunter; it's a mini version of his GM model scaled down to about 6" overall. This is the first one ever made; it went on to be a popular sub-model. Geno is no longer making knives.

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

I'm not much of a knife guy really. I've made do with SAK's in my pocket, and a couple of folding Bucks on my belt for years.

But I do have one that I bought from a guy across the river named Ben Shelor. He called it his "Alaska Hunter" or something like that. I paid $200 for it, which seemed like a stupid price back in 1979, but looking back at it now, 40 odd years later, it seems it was a bargin.



I carried it a lot when I hunted and it's skinned many a deer. It never seemed to lose it's edge. Everyone who used it, loved it.

I had told him I didn't want a long blade...something about as long as my palm is wide. Other than that, it was pretty much up to him.

The blade is scratched up, especially on the other side where I scratched it before I really learned how to sharpen a knife, but that's OK. I put the wear on it, so I'll take ownership. It's been a good knife.

Oh. The hole in the blade. Everyone asks about that. Ben called that the "eye" of knife. I assume he put it on every knife he made. At least every one I ever saw a picture of had it. I never actually saw another one.

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John 3:16 .

That is a really cool knife. I'm a sucker for sawback blades like these, it's a shame that they've sort of gone out of style. I would buy one if they were still made, same goes for the Buckmaster 184.

I must partially disagree here. While I can see leaving a well worn knife alone, especially if it's a family heirloom, leaving dirt, grime, and especially rust on a blade seems almost disrespectful to me. It's like, I just can't see one of my ancestors approving of me essentially neglecting a knife out of some sort of sentiment placed upon it being dirty/corroded, but then again, my Grandfather was the sort of man who kept all of his tools spotless, ergo if anything he would be angry to see me neglecting one of his tools by allowing it to remain dirty/corroded just because it became that way once he took ill and was no longer able to clean it himself.

I also cannot help but feel like if the original owner left their knife dirty and allowed it to corrode, then that implies that it meant nothing to them, that it was a disposable commodity that they couldn't be bothered to wipe down after use, and thus any sentiment attached to the blade by a future owner is misplaced.

Scratches, notches, chips... Those are all signs of hard use which certainly do allude to romantic stories of the untold adventures it was carried/used during.
Dirt, grime, and rust... Those just strike me as signs of neglect by someone who really didn't care about maintaining the blade because they could just buy another.

But that's just me, based largely upon my own personal experiences, with my own Grandfather in mind, who wasn't the sort to leave his tools dirty, and would likely scold me if he had left me any tools which I left dirty just because they became that way in his absence.

If you fancy something as a treasured family heirloom which you intend to pass down through generations, then it's detrimental towards that goal to allow it to stay dirty and/or continue to corrode, not to mention that it sets a poor example for future generations when it comes to taking care of their things if you sort of romanticize the fact that an ancestor never cleaned nor cared for their things, then indirectly encourage them to do the same.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I don't collect knives but of the ones I have this is the coolest. A WWII vintage US Navy Mk II KBar. Found at an auction in the bottom of a box that contained a 1970's Air Force survival knife and a military bayonet in poor condition.

Shown with my all original military contract 1943 Ithaca 1911A1.

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One that goes with me anytime I am out.



I flipped it to tip up carry and zip tied the Spyderco to wave open. Had it for decades and used it once for its intended usage one time many years ago when attacked leaving work.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

FORTE SMITTEN WESSON, I can relate to you above post. When and how much is the question. When I said I had ruined 500 knives, that wasn't entirely true. Many I rescued. It is the over polishing, re-bluing, blade buffing that makes us collector cringe. I bought a beautiful original, circa 1921 Honk Falls jumbo jack that was so over cleaned and polished it was of no interest to Honk Falls collectors. I didn't do that one. I used to re-blue WW 2 Western Sharks, if they had any wear. I admit this only because the statue of limitation on stupid acts has expired. It is not the cleaning, it is the turning them into "bling" condition that urks us. I still do clean certain knives. My most valuable folder is a vintage Remington bullet knife, baby muskrat with stag handles. I found it in a painters tool box, so covered in paint and rust, I wasn't sure what is was. Now at least after some cleaning you can tell its a knife. I stop rust to the point I am over zealous as rust is a cancer that will keep growing and completely consume an object. I will also try to remove scratches to the blade inflicted by a bench grinder. There is going to be a special seat in Hell for people who sharpen knives with a bench grinder or file. I acquired a stunning mint condition Case Tested XX green bone muskrat, absolutely mint, except someone sharpened it once with a bench grinder. Took a $1,000 knife and made a $20 knife out of it. Two examples I acquired this month are good examples of the extremes. One is a 1950's Kutmaster stockman with beautiful green swirl celluloid scales. It was found in such horrible condition that the blades could not be open. After some cleaning, but not polishing, it is a decent specimen. The other knife I bought was a 1930's era Roberson tickler with green bone scale. It is aging well and though the blades are not shiny and the bolsters dull it required and received no special treatment except a little oil in the joints and on the blade.

a couple of my many "favorites". first is a German knife, fork and cork screw. all you need in Germany. I probably bought 10 or 11 of these over 5 years there as presents. the stains on the blade are probably from MREs. next is an 1880s English Gentleman's horse knife. you can hurt yourself trying to open all of the blades/tools for a picture. the bleeding has stopped. enjoy. Lee

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VFW, NRA, VVA, S&WCA 1758

Some very "cool" knives indeed. Really nice collectable and special edition anniversary ones too. Knives make a collectible for the hobby. My only cool one would be the Puma Skinner from 1966 if you could call it that. Pumaster steel at least. Cost was around $28 back then so I would call the price pretty cool. Thanks to all for showing a fine group of knives.

Not my coolest...but a good story.
For near 20 years I hunted out of Rocksprings Texas.
Large ranch of 14,000 acres.

Always had workers from south of the border passing thru.
Many times off season they would climb in a stand build a small
fire for the night.
Surprised they did not burn one or more down.

Anyway, I was invited back for a hunt around 3 years ago.
Climbed up in my favorite spot and killed the pictured deer.
Came down and sat under the stand to give the deer some time.

Looked down and found this on the ground....

The worn leather sheath was inserted inside the canvas.

The deer...

For me it my marble sport 99. I passed on this knife when they came out. I held one at a traditional archery shoot in Michigan and just couldn’t justify spending that kind of money on knife. I regretted not buying it ever since. Well thanks to eBay I have one now and it’s on my belt every time I hit the woods.

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Dave
Regulators mount up!

In the early 70s, Dad rec. a Gentleman's Pocket Folder, brass handle with
ivory slab inserts from Jimmy Lile. With one small addition. Its a button spring actuated switch blade. Never seen another one. Mike

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

I found this one in the gutter when I was about five.

I haven't seen anyone post one like this yet.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Mine was made by a college room mate. He was making knives in college
and sometimes makes them now when he isnt building rifles. It is a damascus hunter with stage handles. I have a number of his knives from college days to the hunter. He is a Mastersmith in the ABS and just finished
a Ruger number 1 for me in 30-30. I sent him a beat up Ruger, he rebarreled, new trigger, refinished the wood and case color hardened the receiver. A true artist, craftsman and good friend.

I am computer challenged to say the least so I am trying to post a photo of some knives I have stored in my albums. If no pictures show up please disregard this post and stop laughing.

At work we dig up these railroad spikes from the late 1880s, and my friend makes knives out of them. I make the sheaths, and they go off to their next home.
He is getting pretty good at it.

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Not Even A Question



My RETIREMENT gift to myself

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Retired Career Security Guard