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Nautical Knives, Art and Collectables

This group is for you sea dogs who enjoy anything nautical. Two connections to iKC are divers' knives and sailors' knives. Other possible related topics are model ship building and collecting, nautical photography, boat building, sailing, etc.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on December 30, 2012 at 19:42

Been a while since anyone has posted. I recently picked up a 1980 2 Sheffield made 2 piece clasp knife. It has the little arrow on the handle so I think Genuine issue.

It is shown below along with a Rodgers 1 piece and the Genuine Army (Lewis) 3 piece Clasp Knife. All Sheffield made.

All three

Two Piece

Three piece

Comment by Tobias Gibson on June 7, 2012 at 12:22

If you're not in the group "Box Full of Knives" and haven't been following the Discussion "Military Knives" you might want to drop by. They've been showing a bunch of old Military Riggers.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on May 17, 2012 at 14:37

I need to re-cant my comments about the Davis Yachtsman Rigging knife. I said some pretty harsh things about when I first got it but after using for some time, I have to admit, it is better than I thought. I'm sure more than one person has formed a different opinion of a knife (either good or bad) after using it for a while.

I've updated my review at Amazon (if you wish to read it the link is below. Originally I had it 1 star, then it went to 2 stars after a few months of using it. It probably been close to two years now and it keeps doing what I want it to do. Hard not to give a knife 4 stars when it performs better than you thought it ever would.

Amazon Review

Comment by Tobias Gibson on March 15, 2012 at 11:40

So I check my email this morning and I find this notice from Amazon regarding my review of the British Army 3 pieces clasp knife offered through Rothco:

Knife sounds great but I question the veracity of the author. The comments read more like an advertisement from the manufacturer. So, either kudos to the earnest reviewer for great writing skill and time on his hands to write such comments. Or, boooo to the advertiser for trying to pull the wool over my eyes. However, like all comments, I tend to disregard the rants and raves. Bottom line.....looks like a good knife and will consider purchasing.

Apparently the comment was pulled by the author or Amazon or hasn't shown up yet. Either way, I'm going to take it as a compliment.

This the link to the knife. It has 2 five star reviews and 1 one star review.

British Army knife by Rothco (It is actually made by Lewis in Sheffield and distributed by Rothco.)

Comment by Jan Carter on October 26, 2011 at 18:28

Tobias,

My best practice on ebay, look up the knife at other sites and see what its going for.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on October 26, 2011 at 17:45

Someone is in for a big disappointment. Someone on eBay has a $26 bid on the S&W rigging knife. Retail is about $12. Of the stainless steel riggers, it is one of my least faves. Feels bad in the hand and the bail is in the way when you use the spike. See the bid under this eBay number: 400250486954

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 22, 2011 at 14:40

Thanks, Tobias. I have a knife with a shackle key and now I know what it's for

Comment by Tobias Gibson on May 22, 2011 at 8:17

The odd looking blade is a shackle key

The shackle key is unique to the world of sailing knives. It is a flat unsharpened blade with an elongated hole in the center that often narrows at the handle end of the blade. It is used for loosening shackles (butterfly like screw heads) on ships and boats. (To be more precise, the shackle key loosens the screw pin that holds the shackle in place, thus shackle key; it opens a shackle.) On folding knives, the shackle key is often a blade unto itself, a hole cut in the main blade, or is built into the frame of the knife. The shackle key is sometimes formed in the handle end of marlin spikes; giving the spike a resemblance to a large needle.

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 21, 2011 at 23:52

This appears to be an Ibberson "Doublesharp Yachtsman's Knife." Can you tell me the purpose of the odd looking blade with the bottle opener on it?

Comment by Tobias Gibson on May 21, 2011 at 19:21

That's one heck of bilge find!

Comment by Rino Smajo on May 21, 2011 at 18:34

gift from a friend (he found it in bilge)

Comment by Terry Waldele on June 1, 2010 at 2:35

Hi Jim,
Welcome aboard the good ship "Nautical 'Nives." I can relate to your comment about the impulse to buy rigging knives. When my son was a pre-teen, he told me he really wanted something (I forget now what it was, but whatever it was, it befuddled me as to why he would want one.) So, I asked him "Why do you want THAT?" His response was, "Uh, just to have." It really boils down to just that. You SEE it; you WANT it; so you BUY it - SIWIBI. BTY, I still have a ways to go to reach just the shoebox phase. (My rigging knives still fit in a cigar box.) One of my favorites is what appears to be a very old British rigging knife that I bought in an antique store near Prescott, AZ. It was so rusty you could barely make out what it was deep in the bottom of the "junk box." I de-rusted it, and that's all the clean-up I did on it. This is it:

Comment by Jim Child on May 31, 2010 at 10:19

Hey All! I figured I'd be polite and warn everyone that I'd come aboard.

Maybe 15 years ago I noticed that I owned three "rigging knives": a Kabar "system" with spike and multi-plier-tool and a Capt. Currey UK folder inherited from my Dad and a cheap SS Davis folder I'd picked up at one of the local "marine supply" stores. I announced to my family that I was "officially collecting rigging knives" and they should feel free to gift me with multiples of same!

For a lot of years I was happy just buying a blade when I happened to notice a new one at checkout while purchasing bottom-paint or some such. And, at different points in time, each of my sons did, in fact, give me a knife for my birthday.

And then, a few months back, I was on eBay for some reason and suddenly thought maybe I'd do a search for "rigging knife" and see what happened. Well, that was a BIG mistake!! The shoebox that had housed my entire collection for years is now being replaced by a 6 drawer wooden chest from Grizzly.

....and while I had been really good about only acquiring knives that incorporated a marlin spike in one way or another, I've discovered that I'm not always able to pass up a real pretty single-blade jack "rope" knife, USCG approved or not.... please pray for me! LOL

Jim

Comment by Tim the Wolfdog on May 26, 2010 at 19:30

i think bos'n knives are cool.

Comment by Rino Smajo on May 26, 2010 at 2:00

No,it didnt go overboard,i left it on one boat ;-)

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 25, 2010 at 22:32

CaptJeff,
Yeah, in your comment you said the knife was one you used to have. That's why I asked what happened to it. Just curious whether you sold it, lost it, or what? Come clean now; you lost it overboard, didn't you?

Comment by CaptJeff Saylor on May 25, 2010 at 17:51

great looking boat! what happened to the knife??

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 21, 2010 at 23:18

Hi Rimo,
Thanks for sharing you pics! Great shots of your boat and knife. What happened to your knife? Did you sell it?

Comment by Rino Smajo on May 21, 2010 at 16:31

Boat i was skippering,and knife i used to have.

Comment by Terry Waldele on April 21, 2010 at 21:00

Hey, Thomas, we've got plenty of room for you. Welcome aboard!

Comment by Thomas Johnson on April 21, 2010 at 8:40

Ahoy! Room for a blue nosed shellback?

Comment by CaptJeff Saylor on April 16, 2010 at 6:22

haha! good to have you HammerFist!

Comment by Terry Waldele on April 16, 2010 at 1:08

Welcome aboard, Hammerfist Forge! All Golden Shellbacks, Emerald Shellbacks, Royal Diamond Shellbacks and even Pollywogs and landlubbers are allowed to join.

Comment by Tim the Wolfdog on April 15, 2010 at 18:29

I meant Golden Shellbacks. Didn't proof before I hit send.

Comment by Tim the Wolfdog on April 15, 2010 at 18:28

are olden Shellbacks allowed to join? OOPS! Already did. How yaw doin, Guys?

Comment by CaptJeff Saylor on February 17, 2010 at 14:17

how could i NOT join this group!!
Glad to be aboard!

Captain Jeff Saylor

Comment by J.J. Smith III on February 17, 2010 at 10:30

Ahoy Captain, Permission to come aboard.

Tags: Art, Collectables, Knives, Nautical, and

6 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 25, 2014 at 18:56

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 25, 2014 at 18:58

My first Marlin Spike! Now to get a boat!

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on January 25, 2014 at 19:01

That's a classic style. A nice small one and surprisingly useful. Do you know the maker?

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Terry Ray on January 25, 2014 at 19:08

I like the Clasp knives, havent seen on like that in a while

Nice!

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 25, 2014 at 19:10

it just says Japan Tobias, and stainless steel
Tobias Gibson said:

That's a classic style. A nice small one and surprisingly useful. Do you know the maker?

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on January 25, 2014 at 20:18

Looks very much like the old Telo's and Sea-Lines. The thing with nautical knives is so many of them were made under contract for suppliers of boating equipment. This means there are literally dozens or even hundred of the same pattern knife with numerous names or no name at all. It's like the old fish knives you could buy in a bait shop! That makes 'em even more fascinating to me.

The one below is my Japanese Made Telo. I have the same knife by Davis. The Davis one was made in China. When I first got it, I thought it was a piece of junk. After a year of abusing it, I changed my mind. It turned out to be a real keeper of a user knife. Appearances can be deceiving. The little tear drop cut out is an integrated shackle key. It is used to loosen shackles (nuts resembling wing-nuts) on sail boats.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on January 28, 2014 at 18:49

This is my WWII Navy Sailors knife. I hope you enjoy the photo of this old vintage Navy knife.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on January 28, 2014 at 19:58

That would be Royal Navy or Commonwealth issue. (Unless of course it is an Italian copy of the British Clasp knife. These are known as the No. 317 Pattern. One of my faves! Should mention, it was used by all branches of service in the British Military. The call it a three piece clasp knife.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on January 28, 2014 at 20:45

I'm glad you like it and know it's history. Maybe we can make a trade one day.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on January 29, 2014 at 17:25

I think I may keep this old vintage knife, after learning of it's history. I don't collect this pattern but I do collect WWII stuff. I am glad now that I was able to get this knife. Thanks to everyone that helped out with the history about it.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on March 13, 2014 at 13:02

Question for all you nautical types. I'm looking to pick up a fixed blade rigging/rope knife. Which would you go with a serrated or plain edge. I'm looking at a Myerchin Pro-Gen2 I've heard positive and negatives about both types of blades. I'm leaning toward the serrated as I've had good luck with Myerchin serrated blades. However, I normally shy away from serrated blades as I find a plain edge more useful and easier to maintain. Blade steel is a said to be on par with 440C but less prone to rust. Price is within a dollar between plain and serrated so that isn't a factor.