Jackal
Member
Though maybe a little earlier, I'd say M.W. Seguine's gut hook design on skinning knives. Even though it started out as a pot lifter, how many copies of his design have been made since? Millions?
Most influential knives of the past 50 years
- Thread starter hso
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It dates from 1958, but Deane Russell's Canadian Belt Knife by Grohmann Cutlery in Nova Scotia spawned a lot of copies.
I do like the Axis Lock Benchmades, some models. And some Spyderco items.
I like many Fallkniven products and the company began making knives in 1995
Many are derivative, but added modern features and laminated VG-10 steel.
Most knives I like were introduced before the 1965 date cutoff for this survey.
Please note that Gil Hibben has no "s" at the end of his name. I bought one of his early knives in 1965, a Jungle Fighting Knife, before he got into fantasy knives. Basically a Bowie or Randall variant, it was a nice knife.
Puma introduced some nice models after 1965.
And I like Gerber's Applegate-Fairbairn folders. The sheath knife in the series is also pretty good for its purpose. I think Boker still makes it. But it wouldn't be my own preferred combat knife.
I like the original version of SOG's SEAL 2000. I have also got a Muela Tornado that I suspect was inspired by that SEAL knife. It's one of the better items made by the Spanish cutlery industry.
Victorinox should get credit for something. When was the German Bundswehr pocketknife like they made introduced? I think post-1965? It's been replaced by a later design that opens one-handed via a hole in the blade. The original has been copied in Spain and Holland; perhaps elsewhere. And not all procured by Germany were made by Victorinox. I've seen them by Robt. Klaas and from an Italian maker.
I do like the Axis Lock Benchmades, some models. And some Spyderco items.
I like many Fallkniven products and the company began making knives in 1995
Many are derivative, but added modern features and laminated VG-10 steel.
Most knives I like were introduced before the 1965 date cutoff for this survey.
Please note that Gil Hibben has no "s" at the end of his name. I bought one of his early knives in 1965, a Jungle Fighting Knife, before he got into fantasy knives. Basically a Bowie or Randall variant, it was a nice knife.
Puma introduced some nice models after 1965.
And I like Gerber's Applegate-Fairbairn folders. The sheath knife in the series is also pretty good for its purpose. I think Boker still makes it. But it wouldn't be my own preferred combat knife.
I like the original version of SOG's SEAL 2000. I have also got a Muela Tornado that I suspect was inspired by that SEAL knife. It's one of the better items made by the Spanish cutlery industry.
Victorinox should get credit for something. When was the German Bundswehr pocketknife like they made introduced? I think post-1965? It's been replaced by a later design that opens one-handed via a hole in the blade. The original has been copied in Spain and Holland; perhaps elsewhere. And not all procured by Germany were made by Victorinox. I've seen them by Robt. Klaas and from an Italian maker.
OP
OP
Tirod,
Bob T's the father of "tactical knives" so I'm surprised he wasn't mentioned before, but he may have been before '65.
I'd agree with most of those, but while I love the Sting and it was designed in '77 I'm not sure it has been influential overall on the knife industry. The Glock bayonet is just another bayonet and nothing innovative or influential, unlike the pistols.
Bob T's the father of "tactical knives" so I'm surprised he wasn't mentioned before, but he may have been before '65.
I'd agree with most of those, but while I love the Sting and it was designed in '77 I'm not sure it has been influential overall on the knife industry. The Glock bayonet is just another bayonet and nothing innovative or influential, unlike the pistols.
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Just a bayonet, yes. The first to use FRN handles and sheath, which was the #1 trustworthy locking sheath ever, that was innovative.
I wore that knife for 8 weeks IOBC 4-83 and it never fell out. My Gerber MkII required constant observation.
The Glock bayonet was quite innovative - at least those of us who used them thought. And for $8 we didn't have to worry about them, compared to a $65 "American" knife we already knew was Made in Japan.
I've got a Gerber Epic fixed blade, what do you know, FRN grips and sheath. Lots of knives have a diecast FRN sheath and most of the lower end folders use FRN grips. Hence my mention of the LST.
While Kydex may have supplanted leather in higher end goods, FRN is often the sheath provided in lower end stuff. It just takes seeing enough market to justify the dies, and for a lot of quick flip knife designers who are churning out the next Knife of the Month, they don't see the profit. So they use other stuff with less tooling costs.
FRN itself was hugely innovating.
I wore that knife for 8 weeks IOBC 4-83 and it never fell out. My Gerber MkII required constant observation.
The Glock bayonet was quite innovative - at least those of us who used them thought. And for $8 we didn't have to worry about them, compared to a $65 "American" knife we already knew was Made in Japan.
I've got a Gerber Epic fixed blade, what do you know, FRN grips and sheath. Lots of knives have a diecast FRN sheath and most of the lower end folders use FRN grips. Hence my mention of the LST.
While Kydex may have supplanted leather in higher end goods, FRN is often the sheath provided in lower end stuff. It just takes seeing enough market to justify the dies, and for a lot of quick flip knife designers who are churning out the next Knife of the Month, they don't see the profit. So they use other stuff with less tooling costs.
FRN itself was hugely innovating.
OP
OP
The Blackie Collins Gerber LST was the first folder with an FRN body and Blackie rightly so deserves recognition for changing the knife industry with that innovation. The inevitable FRN fixed blade handles followed with Blackie and Gerber coming out with the Frisco Shiv line in 1982.
If the Glock bayonet predates Blackie's introduction of FRN with the LST and the Frisco Shiv then they certainly are a contender beating out the polymer handled M4s of the 50's which were just molded slabs replacing the earlier bakelite.
If the Glock bayonet predates Blackie's introduction of FRN with the LST and the Frisco Shiv then they certainly are a contender beating out the polymer handled M4s of the 50's which were just molded slabs replacing the earlier bakelite.
buckfynn
Member
The powder coated blades with the G10/Micarta handle "survival" knives craze which definitely seems popular within the last 10 years.
The Kershaw speedsafe ambidextrous assisted opening system. If I am not mistaken the Russlock by Case predates the Kershaw system. Same concept but with a bit of a twist on design.
The Kershaw speedsafe ambidextrous assisted opening system. If I am not mistaken the Russlock by Case predates the Kershaw system. Same concept but with a bit of a twist on design.
OpticsPlanet
Member
Tom Brown Tracker, currently produced by TOPS
Spyderco definitely changed the game with the single handed opening and serrated blades as common on a folder.
Cold Steel's tanto knives certainly changed the shape of blades to come. I had never seen a 'tanto point' before then (early 80's).
The Buck lock back knife was on everyone's hip at one time. Lockbacks weren't unknown before the late sixties but they were hugely popular in the 70's and 80's. Locking blades are the norm now.
Mutlitools. I dont know if Leatherman was the first but wow talk about often imitated.
Cold Steel's tanto knives certainly changed the shape of blades to come. I had never seen a 'tanto point' before then (early 80's).
The Buck lock back knife was on everyone's hip at one time. Lockbacks weren't unknown before the late sixties but they were hugely popular in the 70's and 80's. Locking blades are the norm now.
Mutlitools. I dont know if Leatherman was the first but wow talk about often imitated.
Gordon
Member
Holy smokes, you would have to get secret instruction from an old Indian in New Jersey to design a knife like that Tracker.... 
The Tracker descends from the early Marbles "Woodcraft," and the "Ideal" led to the issue Camillus and Kabar.
Old Indians traded pelts for knives from traders bringing European blades. We founded our nation on imported knives and only later started coming up with our own, much the same as happened with firearms.
First the Bowie, then as more city folk went back to hunting and camping at the turn of the 20th century, Marbles took off selling outdoor gear to the gentry.
The Tracker is just an embellished Woodcraft, and most of the fullered knife designs used in WWII were meant for camp use in the field - not as weapons. Same with the so called "Quartermaster" knife, another variant for Army soldiers in the field and issued in far more quantities than the Marine ones.
Just retail camping knives that have now become iconic "combat" and "survival" designs with reputations far out of proportion to their origins.
Old Indians traded pelts for knives from traders bringing European blades. We founded our nation on imported knives and only later started coming up with our own, much the same as happened with firearms.
First the Bowie, then as more city folk went back to hunting and camping at the turn of the 20th century, Marbles took off selling outdoor gear to the gentry.
The Tracker is just an embellished Woodcraft, and most of the fullered knife designs used in WWII were meant for camp use in the field - not as weapons. Same with the so called "Quartermaster" knife, another variant for Army soldiers in the field and issued in far more quantities than the Marine ones.
Just retail camping knives that have now become iconic "combat" and "survival" designs with reputations far out of proportion to their origins.
OP
OP
I doubt you'll get anyone to agree with you on that considering the 2 different grinds on the Tracker making it a fundamentally different knife. I certainly don't and I don't even like the Tracker and its variants. The Woodcraft is a bellied trailing point for hunters to process game and general camp use. The Tracker, OTOH is designed for chopping on the forward section and finer straight cutting on the separate grind nearer the handle. Those fundamental differences in design/grinds make them very different, and difficult to relate to each other.
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Deltaboy1984
Member
Very informative gentleman. I love my Buck 110, and I got to get another Spyerco..
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
I would trade 10 Tom Brown Trackers for 1 old Marbles Woodcraft if I needed a good knife.
An old Woodcraft is a knife to cherish.
The tracker appears to be a sharpened pry bar for some unknown use it will never be used for.
rc
An old Woodcraft is a knife to cherish.
The tracker appears to be a sharpened pry bar for some unknown use it will never be used for.
rc
OpticsPlanet
Member
If you don't like it, that's fine. But it's use is clearly documented. It is designed to be the "multi-tool of survival", the choice if you could only have one tool (one knife, hatchet, or whatever) to survive. It isn't the best at one thing but can successfully and reliably perform a wide variety of tasks. It can chop, cut, shave, baton, notch, skin, and more.
Tom Brown is not a dumb man and has experience in the field so I don't see how you can discredit his design. TOPS is an excellent company who makes quality tools so I don't see how you can discredit their product.
Like I said, if it isn't to your taste that's fine. But you are wrong in your assessment of the knife.
-Matt S.
OP
OP
Matt,
Smart knife people and companies make all sorts of over thought knives all the time trying to make a "better mousetrap". I'm sure you guys see the equivalent at Optics Planet in products that look "interesting", but often are a complicated solution in search of a problem to answer. One sure test of whether someone's discovered something that other's have overlooked is how often it is "borrowed" in other good maker's designs. IOW, how influential it is. In this case there aren't a lot of people borrowing the Tracker design elements. Liner locks, multipliers, gut hooks, assisted opening mechanisms, composite materials, front cross locks in various forms, etc. are seen all over the place. The only part of the Tracker you see elsewhere is the use of two separate grinds, one for hard destructive work and the other for finer more controlled, and that existed before the Tracker. I give the Tracker the credit for that though since no one was interested in doing it until then. Problem is it isn't seen enough to make it influential across the knife design/construction world.
Influential is the point of the thread.
I could try to make a case for the Benchmade Osborne Risk - I've seen the blade shape and handle shape copied separately on other knives, but it's not a large or widespread phenomenon.
On the other hand, saying the original Michael Walker liner locks contributed nothing to the field of knifemaking would be silly. That specific design feature is now the dominant one in folders and led to frame locks, which are the working standard in higher priced tactical knives.
Like FRN, tho, it's just one feature, and to be influential, even iconic, more is required. It needs to come on the scene as a stunning new idea, with good execution, out of the norm of convention, and having a different blade or handle shape - and primarily the blade, which is the working end.
After that the public's acceptance then powers the engines of corporations to get their share of the profits.
The ESEE wilderness series has done that, with others jumping on the bandwagon and even getting premium allow prices for knives made with simple high carbon steel. If anything those have been a great success, not only for the simplicity, but selling the "less is more" philosophy at a higher end price.
Plain vanilla 1095 spearpoints with no cross guards selling for $100? In fixed blades ESEE has had influence. It could be argued you get more workmanship and labor in a Kabar for less.
I could try to make a case for the Benchmade Osborne Risk - I've seen the blade shape and handle shape copied separately on other knives, but it's not a large or widespread phenomenon.
On the other hand, saying the original Michael Walker liner locks contributed nothing to the field of knifemaking would be silly. That specific design feature is now the dominant one in folders and led to frame locks, which are the working standard in higher priced tactical knives.
Like FRN, tho, it's just one feature, and to be influential, even iconic, more is required. It needs to come on the scene as a stunning new idea, with good execution, out of the norm of convention, and having a different blade or handle shape - and primarily the blade, which is the working end.
After that the public's acceptance then powers the engines of corporations to get their share of the profits.
The ESEE wilderness series has done that, with others jumping on the bandwagon and even getting premium allow prices for knives made with simple high carbon steel. If anything those have been a great success, not only for the simplicity, but selling the "less is more" philosophy at a higher end price.
Plain vanilla 1095 spearpoints with no cross guards selling for $100? In fixed blades ESEE has had influence. It could be argued you get more workmanship and labor in a Kabar for less.
Elkins45
Member
Or Ontario, which is the company that first produced the RAT designs before ESEE was a separate entity.
On a different note from another post in this thread: I still have my Gerber LST even though the blade shape is a little wonky from all of the sharpenings over the years. There's no doubt that the first successful use of FRN sparked a revolution in material selection for knives soon afterward.
OP
OP
The RATs were being done when Ontario picked them up. ESEE was specifically created to break the chain with the bad blood with Ontario.
DNS
Member
Would you say the Tracker is the inspiration for the KaBar Warthog?
Like it but somewhat leary of Taiwanese 1085.
Like it but somewhat leary of Taiwanese 1085.
Gun Master
Member
Schrade, etc.
Schrade has made several knives over the years that I liked, and several I bought. They also made Old Timer, Uncle Henry, Smith & Wesson, Imperial, Walden, and Taylor Brands.
I carry my Schrade 3" lock blade daily, clipped to my front right pants pocket.
Also, I inherited the Old Timer 3 blade folder, that I previously gave my Daddy.
Schrade has made several knives over the years that I liked, and several I bought. They also made Old Timer, Uncle Henry, Smith & Wesson, Imperial, Walden, and Taylor Brands.
I carry my Schrade 3" lock blade daily, clipped to my front right pants pocket.
Also, I inherited the Old Timer 3 blade folder, that I previously gave my Daddy.
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OP
OP
Schrade was influential with their Sharpfinger model when it debuted in 1974. They were a great American knife company.
No. It lacks the defining characteristic of the 2 separate grinds on a very heavy blade.
Deltaboy1984
Member
Dad still uses his Sharp finger and he got it in 74-75.
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