Final getting around to clearing out stuff that's been sitting in storage at least 9 years - some stuff has been stored since before I left the AF back in 2000.  Found some knives and such, figured I'd do a thread instead of just posting in the pic thread as a couple might generate discussion, haven't seen these posted around much in recent years.

Anyone else have any old stuff that's been sitting around for years and want to post it, feel free.

From the '85 time-frame IIRC, a Western Cutlery W77 boot knife.  No date code I can find, but has a circle with a vertical line.  Stainless, 4.5" blade.  This was used little, and has been sitting stored since the late 80s.
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A few more knives on the way as I get the photos processed.

edit - not a sale or sale preview thread, so no contacts please.  Thanks.

An original Cold Steel Recon Tanto.  From '86-ish.  I think these were only produced for a few years before they made changes.  Bead-blasted blade and brass guard and pommel, Kraton handle material.

If you notice the edge looking weird, yes it is screwed up.  I allowed someone I worked with to take it for a weekend to see if he liked it as he was thinking about getting one.  He thought he was doing me a favor by sharpening it after he got done cutting stuff.  Problem is, he did it while drunk and used the wrong angle on his Lansky thing.  He called as soon as he sobered and let me know, and looked for a replacement.  Couldn't find one.  He gave me the cash to replace it, but I was never able to find another one that wasn't going for insane pricing.    Lesson learned.  I don't loan out anything other than beater knives now.  One of these days I need to get the edge restored.

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Al Mar SERE folder.  It should be the smallest of the three, so model 3001 I think.  From the late 80s - 89 maybe.  This thing dragged around in my flight suit with me until about '99.  Edge needs to be cleaned up a bit.  Not really visible in the crappy photos, but some small scratches and burrs on the handle, and two very tiny discolorations at the pivot pin I think might be the start of rust.  Back before the days of one-handed opening knives, very solid lock-back, a bit heavy, sharp.  Made in Seki, Japan.  I really wanted all three, plus the fixed blades that came out, but couldn't justify the expense at the time.  These weren't inexpensive back then.

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I have one of those! Carried it when I was in the Navy. Knives were acceptable then.

Had all three, sold all three, they're worth stupid money today

Yeah, knives and guns are scary and people are more paranoid these days or so it seems.  

Don't know about you, but it feels surprisingly good in the hand.

Definitely want to keep the SERE and the Tanto (and get it cleaned up if possible).

I have some thinking to do on the rest of my stuff.  Too much.  Of everything.

I'd love to have and use that first one.

About 10 years ago, an old co-worker was downsizing his life getting ready to do the RV living thing, and gave me a Gerber Mark II.  Tossed in a box with some other stuff I wasn't using, then into storage.  A bit surprised when I wiped it down today for these photos.

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After doing some searching, I guess this was a limited production run, with a presentation box and certificate of authenticity.  Of course, no box & no CoA.  Sheath has some wear from knocking around, but it doesn't even look like he used the knife at all.

I don't think any of the rest of my stuff is anything special, but maybe a few items may be something not normally seen.  May post a few more over the next day or two.

The MKII has a crazy following that will pay a premium for it.

Funny thing, those were "cheap" knives back then.  The one I have seems to be quite good in the quality department considering the price point.

Coleman bought Western, I know they continued that design.  Not sure if they kept the stainless w/wood handles or just the black coated steel and black plastic handles I remember seeing.  I think Camillus came out with a similar design after they picked up the pieces of Coleman/ Western knife production, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  They're out there if you want to look for them.

Yeah, I'm starting to see that as I look for more info.  Too bad it's missing parts of the total package.

Jack Burton's gonna need his knife back.

Wasn't that a Tac II, not the Mark II?

No idea, looks like his knife to me.

Grabbed some shots of a few more.

Explorer Stubby.  Small, but handier than I thought it would be.  Crew gift from our Aircraft Commander back in Desert Storm.
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Spyderco Mariner.  Got this sometime back late 80's/ early 90's.  Makes short work of cutting any type of cord/ rope/ strapping.
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Can't remember exactly what this is called or where I bought it, but it is a Japanese utility knife.  Works great, easy to keep sharp.
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Paired Hibben throwers.  Again, can't remember when or where I picked up this set.  They do work, it was fun learning how to properly throw.  When I get a place I can safely set up a target, I'll relearn and maybe add a throwing axe in the mix.
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Al Mar was good stuff back then.

Western was a fine company until Coleman bought it and they ran it into the ground lickety split. I remember reading how they did it - they insisted the company make profit every month, when in reality they would buy enough steel to get thru the year, make knives at a loss until the Christmas shopping season, then go into the black at the very last. Traditional knives were a weird business and didn't follow a normal cycle. Coleman couldn't understand that and proceeded to monkey with Western every which way but loose. There were a lot of early polymer handles and value engineered designs to make money early in the year but it couldn't take.

While not a Western fan the boot knife was a good seller in a time when there was intense competition from overseas in Mk 1 clones. And yes, early Gerbers were and still are a significant collector item, sold three in a case, early carbon steel, early stainless, and second version stainless in a case for $100. Paid less than $30 for each and wore one in the field during IOBC. Also tried a Glock field knife and it worked ok - they were selling for under $20. It would fit hanging upside down under the LBE suspender straps.

I remember wanting to get a Terzuola back then but that was crazy talk, $100 for a knife? A tanto grind folder with some kind of fiberglass grips from flat stock with a lock back was extreme then. Completely hand made in Central America, he really influenced a lot of makers here.

Back then we kept up buying Knife Annual year books which had pics from shows where they sold knives alone, all by themselves if you can believe it. Picked up a 1984 discounted for half price in the mid 80s and kept buying them, even filling the gaps from new old stock at one time. Paying 5x the cover price stopped that real quick. Still have them. Magazines and paper backs where how we communicated back then, or you actually went to a gun show to see what was the current trend, along with reading Soldier of Fortune to keep up with world adventures and what was being sold.

Remember the HK ad with the guy wading chest deep, rope over his chest, and a HK91 in his hands? A lot of us couldn't afford an M1A and FNFAL's were out of reach at $400 up. Big "commie killer knives" were a part of that time.

Yep - pre-internet days were a different world.  Had to go to shops or shows, or get the catalogs and send off an order and wait for the check to clear before item being shipped.

I really like the SERE.  Would have loved to bought the large folder and the fixed-blade version (or two?), but that was a chunk of change I didn't have at the time.

Western, too bad about the demise.  Back then, decent quality, decent price IMHO.

Yeah - I remember the HK ads.

Looks like a cool little knife.

Damn.

You and me can be knife buddies.

I have the Western 75 (slightly smaller) fixed blade from the 1990's, and the Gil Hibben Thrower set exactly like that. One of the Gil Hibben blades was used by "the cook" in the movie "Under Siege".

I got most of mine from some catalog, I think it was American Cutlery or something like that. (Atlanta Cutlery?)

Modern knives are cool and all, but the ones from "youth" are special to me.

It is IMHO - way more useful than I thought it would be when I got it.

I remember that.

I know I did a lot of ordering from Cutlery Shoppe catalogs back in the day, for stuff I couldn't get local.

I've still got an Explorer Stubby around somewhere. It made a great little pocket knife. IIRC I got it from a Mall Cutlery shop around 1992

Surprised me how handy that little thing is.  Still works well and in decent condition considering the age, and use before getting tossed in a box and locked in a storage room.  

I found a couple more in another box o' stuff.  May get some pics up tomorrow.  May take pics of the Victorinox/ Wenger stuff as well, just for grins.

I EDC'd the exact knife many years back.  Still have it somewhere, and yes, they WILL pierce auto sheetmetal and tires.

Paladin

I don't have much as far as knives go, only thing I have is 3-4 NIB older Schrade Old Timers from around 1992-3 or so. Never used.

Here is one that has been in my family for awhile.  I think it was made by my great uncle or something.  I don't know anything about it, except it's very very dull.

Cold steel sold these as Kiridashi

I also have a Gerber Mark II, but it has a black sheath. I had no idea what they're demanding these days.

Man that stubby is one of the coolest knives I’ve seen. The story makes it even cooler

I like the first edition (mine) better than the later copies - aesthetics mostly as they are pretty much the same knives.  They are stout.

Would be neat to see some photos if you have any.

Very cool!

Thanks!

Thanks!  great little pocket knife.

Finally quit procrastinating and got the remaining stuff I could find out for photos.  

One of the first Becker Companions.  Unlike the newer models, the first ones had a shiny gray coating.  This thing spent years bouncing around with a shovel and folding saw in the Taco.
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My SAKs.  Some bought because I liked them, haven't seen much if any use.  Others sat in emergency kits.  Funny, but the biggest one, the Rescue Tool, is the one non-knife people seem to think is most OK (PC) of the bunch.  The old red Camper was dummy-corded to my flight suit knife pocket for almost all of my years tooling around on Hercs, and has seen the most use.  A little worn, a bit gritty opening and closing, but still no rust, just keeps plugging along.  The wood Wenger is a few years old.  My current pocket knife when I throw one in my pocket.

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Somehow ended up with 2 Gerber multi-pliers.  Don't remember buying two.  One is older and smaller.  Both were buried in kits sitting at family locations.

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Got a hatchet, folding saw, folding shovel in the vehicle kit, and a few other odds and ends still buried in storage.

Enjoying your thread OP! Thanks for sharing it brought back memories for me as well!

Forgot - my ESEE knives had already been posted in the main ESEE pic thread.

Never realized how many bladed things I picked up in over 3+ decades of buying "stuff".  

Thanks!  After posting all of this, and remembering the earlier ESEE pic posts, I realize I wasted a bunch of money on a lot of stuff I may or may not have used or needed.  Ouch.  

OP, I’v Had that SAK Rescue shoved in the sunglasses holder on my Tacoma for ten years.  I always forget it’s there!

A little different than most SAK - has a locking blade.

Pulled out a few for this thread.  All from early to mid-80's:

Early Bali-Song.



Cold Steel says made in Japan on blade and sheath.  Medallion on the TAC II popped out years ago.  Carried the Spiderco in the Navy - good knife for around boats.

Love the SERE.

I’ve got the full size folder and the mini-SERE. Never saw the fixed blade though. My mini is a safe queen, but the full sized one has cleaned lots of deer.

Yut, a bit beefier than the others I have as well.

Nice.

Had a BaliSong a long time ago, no idea what happened to it.

That Tanto was one of the originals before the Recon series, right?

Mine is the middle model - the 3002-A, 3.5" blade, 8" OAL.

The fixed blades were almost like the folders, but fixed.  Hard to find photos that aren't fleabay or other sales sites.  IIRC there were at least three models - the 5, 6 and 7.  Different blade lengths, some with the Micarta scales and others with the neoprene, and some models had a back edge with some serrations for use as a sawback.

If anyone is interested in some of the not-so-easy to find history on the SERE line, here's some forum links I found over the years.

This one has the most first-person history of the three: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?s=749c7257ca024fc64d68d005d2983a0d&t=751

General info here: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/al-mar-sere-attack.757158/

More general history and some photos of some of the fixed blade models on page 2: http://www.knifetalkforums.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=166753

Yes, one of the early Tanto's, from when pretty much everything Cold Steel was high quality.  Their current lineup has a too much mass produced, lower end stuff.  I have their Hunter model from ~1990 - that one is pretty beat up from field use.

I had no idea there were so many models. Thanks for the links.

I have the same balisong.  Bought in '85 in a knife shop at the Mall of Memphis when I was stationed at NAS Millington.  Man those were the days

LOL.  Zombie thread.  I thought it had died.  

I was hoping others would have more photos of their older stuff, but the words and memories are a good read.

I think I still have a few more knives buried in storage boxes.  Should be a Becker Brute and Crewman, at least.  Somewhere.  No idea when I'll get to them.  If the thread is still living I'll post.