The Variable Wharncliffe

 

This is Kizer’s newest neck knife, the Variable Wharncliffe.

Kizer's Variable Wharncliffe neck knife

It’s an awful name, not at all descript. It’s a fixed blade knife and you have no options on blade or handle length.  Be that as it may, it is a cool knife.  Let’s look into it.

The knife was designed by Dirk Pinkerton, one of the up-and-coming knife designers who works with several companies.  

Dirk always had an interested in knives.  Following examples set by his father and brother, Dirk came to realize a knife was essential tool.  One can appreciate the work and craftsmanship that goes into a beautiful knife, but it is a tool first and should be used.  As his collection and interest grew, Dirk became friends with legendary knife maker and designer, the late Darrel Ralph.  If you don’t recognize the name, it sucks to be you.  Darrel started making knives in 1987 and his influence over the custom knife market pushed other designers to excel.  He had a significant impact on the tactical knife world.  He passed following a stroke in 2021.

Made from D2 steel

Dirk was influenced by DR who told him essentially, don’t ask me to modify one of my knives for you, make your own. 

That was good advice.  Dirk purchased his first professional grinder in 2005.  Utilizing his 18 years in the private security working with law enforcement, S.W.A.T., fire and life rescue, and  various military units, he drew on this experience to determine the optimal configurations. 

The Variable Wharncliffe is a 4.8-inch-long slice of D2 steel shaped into a neck knife with a 3.4-inch blade.  The blade is 0.1 inch thick at the spine and tappers down to a razor edge.  The handle is black micarta centered behind a 1-inch finger hole.  It come with a kydex neck sheath that secures the knife until you need it.

The blade features a reverse tanto that drops the point below the centerline.  The Wharncliffe is a high shoulder flat grind.  Unlike many wharncliffe blades the straight edge is canted up, creating a powerful driving point with the reverse tanto.  Coarse jimping on the blade’s spine gives you extra control over the blade despite the small handle.  The handle is a hexagon shape 1.4 inches long and 0.45 inches thick.  My social commentary and ring finger naturally lock down on the handle.

The coarse jimping makes for an enhanced grip

        

D2 steel is seeing a resurgence.  Invented in 1927, the properties and heat treatment of this steel have become well understood and is a fine  steel for 90% of our use.  While not truly a stainless steel, it straddles the border between high carbon and stainless steel.  D2 needs more attention and a thin coat of oil.  Take care of this steel and you will not be disappointed. 

I like it a lot.  I’m a big fan of smallish knives that can be concealed, but deliver big performance.  I’d carry this as a back up when I’m off the concrete or in non-permissible environments... you know what I mean.    You can find yours at the e-link below.  Its currently (Dec. 2024) on sale for under $23.  You better hurry!

https://www.kizerknives.com/products/variable-wharncliffe-1052a1?srsltid=AfmBOoqR0L-ut0cKvkq7l1BJLCqW4PTreIrum1OrJ2V6U15KKQh6KANz

Just a reminder: Nobody is sending me free knives or paying me for these blogs.  I just enjoy knives.

 

One In The Pocket

 The Mantis Civilianaire coin knife arrived the other day.  It’s very icey.

Mantis Civilianaire Knife  Was it inspired by OSS tools?

The red-rimmed, black-faced circular knife is striking.  Both faces have a geometric pattern pressed into black surfaces, creating highlights and improving friction.  The red circumferential surface is also textured to improve grip.  On small knives, friction surfaces are critical to enhance your grip.

An edge view of the open Civilianaire

These surfaces form the handle and are constructed of G-100, a micro glass fiber/resin composite.  Glass fiber has the advantage that it is dimensionally stable and chemically non-reactive to ordinary solvents.  It doesn’t expand by absorbing water and creating internal stresses.

The blade is a wickedly sharp curved slice of steel about an inch long.  The curve feeds material into the cutting edge and effectively lengthens the cutting edge.  The blade opens with a small spur that sticks out from the coin.

The curved blade makes cutting easier

The blade is a laminated structure of two 420 Damascus steels supported on a 420 core. 

The Civilianaire opens easy with the spur.  There is sufficient friction so it doesn't accidently open

I spoke to Gary West, the founder of Mantis Knife, and he explained that the Civilianaire coin knife was designed to fit most jeans' watch pockets.  My measurements found the closed knife to be 1.3 inches in diameter and about 0.2 inches thick.  Compare that to America’s least favorite coin dollar, the Susan B. Anthony, which clocks in with a diameter of 1 inch and a thickness of 0.08 inches.

Slightly bigger than the unloved Anthony dollar

Yeah, the Civilianaire is slightly larger and noticeably thicker.  You will not accidentally drop it into a coin slot!

The knife doesn’t lock open, according to Mr. West, because locking knives are prohibited in Europe.  I don't see that as a big problem.  I instinctively placed my index finger on the opening spur and pulled the knife to cut with it.

It’s not the knife you’d take on a raft trip up the Amazon or trekking across the Rockies.  It is a knife you’d carry to cut string, open packages, or in a non-permissible environment. 

Mr. West told me the company came into existence in 1999 when his son joined him after graduation.  At the time, they were selling night vision and metal detectors, but the son was interested in knives more than anything.  They looked around and called it Mantis Knives because Praying Mantises eat spiders, a dig at one of their competitors.

Mantis makes a lot of cool and interesting knives.  You can find the Civilianaire at https://www.mantisknives.com/product/mck-1-civilianaire/.  The MSRP is $50.00.

Check it out.  You will be surprised by the range and quality of Mantis knives.

Spooky!

             I’m not sure why I bought this Texas Toothpick.  For some enigmatic and unexplainable reason, I bought it.  I’m not a huge fan of slip joints.  The blade is… calling it a patina would be kind.  The tip is broken off, and the front third of the blade is bent to the left. 

Would it have killed someone to put a little oil on the blade occasionally?

I kept it on a shelf in the garage, and one night, I turned off the light, looked around to make sure I had closed the pedestrian side door and noticed something worthy of the Ghost Busters.  Something was glowing on my bench.  Thinking I had left a tool plugged in, I turned on the light. 

What is that glow? Protoplasm?  Better call Ghost Busters!

Nope, nothing left on.  I turned off the light, and the glow was still there.  What?

After playing games with lights, I discovered my Texas Toothpick had glow-in-the-dark scales.  I should have guessed, in faint letters hot pressed into the handle were letters that read, SPOOK Knife.  The "O’s” were made to look like cartoon eyes.

Oh! It's Spook the knife.

The tang stamp reads Camo – USA.  The tang reverse is blank.

Camo was a cheaper line made by Camillus.  It's impossible to date accurately since the tang stamp was never changed during its manufacturing history.  I understand that in 1980, some Camo Knives were made in Ireland, and currently, the brand is made in China.

You can just barely read the word SPOOK heat stamped into the handle.

Camillus follows a pattern familiar to many knife companies.  Following its failure in 1873, the hardware company Bodenheim, Meyer & Company was restructured as Meyer & Kastor.  Meyer & Kastor had to close its doors in September 1876.  Only a few weeks later, Adolph Kastor started his own company, Adolph Kastor & Bros., on Canal Street in New York City, where he imported and distributed German-made knives.

But times were changing.

Following the Dingley Tariff of 1897, knives became too expensive to import.  The only solution Kastor saw was to manufacture knives domestically.  That led to the formation of Camillus Knife.  Kastor and his partner, Charles Sherwood, bought new machinery, such as steam-driven drop forge hammers and fly presses, and utilized new techniques, like alumina grinding wheels.

They were successful.  Eventually, they had to build a dormitory to house its German immigrant workers.

While not shown, the handle material on both sides absorb light and glow.

Camillus had in-house brands like Camo, Sword Brand, and Mumby Peg.  They also made blades for brands like Case, Remington, Schrade, Keen Kutter, and Sears and Sons.

Camo was a lower-end introduction to the market brand established in 1948.  These knives were sold as souvenir knives and could be hot-stamped and used as promotional giveaways and gifts.

Like many knife companies, Camillus filed for bankruptcy in 2007.  It was bought by Acme United Corporation. 

I've owned this knife for years and just discovered this glow in the dark property.  Some day, I'll sharpen Spook and put it up for sale.  Maybe it will find a new owner.

WRCA's Hubertus

         Most of us are familiar with the Hubertus lever lock automatic knife.  I own several, and I think they have great quality and style.

Hubertus Lever Lock   Total icey!

It’s a company with a complicated history.  Why complicated?  WWII in Germany threw a lot of companies into the dumpster of history.  Some survived and had Nazi associations which still haunts them to this day.  Ask Degussa, now Evonik, about that.

On March 1, 1932, Kuno Ritter started a knife company in Solingen, Germany, and concentrated on fixed blades called hiking knives.  We might call them camping or bush craft knives.

Due to the Second World War, business operations were discontinued in 1941 but resumed in 1946.  I found a report claiming Kino Ritter Co. made Boy Scout knives during the war.  I also saw reports that German Boy Scouting was closed and their members had to join the Hitler Youth organizations.  Draw your own conclusion.

Following the war, Kuno Ritter Co acquired several trademarks, including Hubertus, a brand registered for cutlery since 1899.  For those wondering, Hubertus is the patron saint of hunters.

An unknown Solinger cutler received a utility pattern in 1897 for a folding lever release, making the knife safer to carry in your pocket.  We call it a lever lock.

Around 1950, the company was renamed Hubertus Schneidwarenfabrik Kuno Ritter KG and is now run by the third-generation Ritter.

The Hubertus I recently ran across was a Western Reserve Cutlery Association (WRCA) club knife.  The date etched into the blade is 1985.  This appears to be part of the Golden Era of WRCA club knives when style and uniqueness trumped price.

WRCA's 1985 Club Knife

The bolster has tiny numbers stamped into it, indicating it was 7 of 65 knives ordered.  The top edge of the blade has some simple but nice file work, and the blade is etched.  WRCA can be seen in the middle of the blade.  The knife shows minor wear, but it is almost 40 years old.

I’m told this knife was offered to WRCA club members in three different styles.  One was gold-filled, and the other was silver-filled, but my source couldn’t recall the third option.  I suspect it was just the plain etched.

The stag looks a little worn  and I like the file work on the blade spine

To my surprise, the knife was ordered from Hubertus factory and then etched.  The etching was done by Shaw Leibowitz.  I dug into the name and found out our master etcher was really a husband-and-wife team composed of Sherill Shaw and Leonard Leibowitz.  You can find an interesting article about them by Bill Karsten in the December 1981 issue of Knife World and a better article by Sherrill Shaw in its Sept 2011 issue.  Knife World is now known as Knife Magazine, an excellent publication for any knife fancier.

Hubertus from 1985 direct to WRCA

I discussed the price with the owner but decided not to purchase it.  I'm not terribly interested in club knives.  https://knifesearch.blogspot.com/2023/03/not-huge-fan-of-club-knives.html  It has to be really special.  Plus, it is my opinion, shared by several dealers, that club knives don't hold their value.  That's sad, but it is the way it is.

My Thanks to Ian for lending me the knife for some quick photos!

 

Gerber Pixie and Sportsman II

Most of us know the story of Gerber Legendary Blades.  Let me add to what I wrote at https://knifesearch.blogspot.com/2021/09/gerber-parabellum.html.

Gerber Legendary Blades is an American maker of knives, multi-tools, and other outdoor and military tools headquartered in Portland, Oregon.  Gerber was established in 1939 by Pete Gerber and is owned by the Finnish outdoors products company, Fiskars.

Gerber is claimed to be the largest maker of knives and multi-tools for the United States armed forces.  Backing up that claim is a wide variety of combat-style knives, Many of which are highly collectable.  Susan J Dorey states in her publication (1) that Gerber switched on December 8, 1941, from making kitchen knives to military knives.  That was the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 

Gerber's Folding Sportsman II -  From around 2000

Slightly off topic, but I found it interesting that Gerber and Emerson Knife formed an alliance to produce an automatic knife, AKA switchblade.  Interestingly, it was the first automatic knife made by either company.  The knife was based on Emerson Knives’ Raven knife design.  The auto was an issued item to specific military units.  You can look it up if you want to go down that rabbit hole!

NSN (NATO Stock Numbers): 5110-01-516-3243

A couple Folding Sportsman from "100 Legendary Knives"  by Pacella

I recently got hold of a Gerber Folding Sportsman II.  They were released in 1972.  The FS II was later discontinued in about 1995.  It’s a nice knife.  Many people found it a convenient substitution for the larger, clunkier Buck 110 Hunter.

The blade is just over 3.5 inches long and can be described as a flat grind, straight-back blade.  I couldn’t find anything listed but I suspect the steel is 440C, a common, but still used knife steel.  The handle is an attractive blend of brass and wood.  Of course, the blade locks open.

Gerber Folding Sportsman II

          The tang stamp doesn't appear to be anything unique.  The tang marking system developed by Case Knife is, without a doubt, genius!

It simply says 'Gerber' on the other side

It's an icey cool knife, and I'm lucky to find one this nice.

The other Gerber under discussion is the Gerber Pixie.  The Pixie could be best described as a bird and trout knife or a lightweight kitchen fruit knife.  

A Gerber Pixie

        There is an elegant simplicity to this knife.  It seems too nice to be used for kitchen work or field dressing.

The only identification is stamped into the handle "Gerber-Pixie"

The story here is a little more complicated, and I must find some reference books.  I thought I could fall back on my old trick of looking up Gerber's catalogs online, but they don't seem to have any.  Damn shame about that!

My limited research shows that the Pixie is a member of a family of Gerber aluminum-handled knives.  Some handles were given a coating to increase friction and improve grip.  I've found examples of Pixies with leather sheaths, the knife sans sheath, and at least one with a wooden sheath.  It is just an ordinary kitchen knife.

I find the smooth flow of the handle and blade attractive.  To me, it almost has a futuristic look

Here is what I consider interesting about this knife.  My friend Derrick found it at Harbor Freight in 2005.  "I don't know," he told me.  "They just had a pile of them.  Thought you'd be interested."  I was, but not enough to rush out, and by the time I did get there, they were gone.

(1)  http://www.susandoreydesigns.com/insights/GerberLegendaryBlades.pdf

 

Benchmade 730 Elishewitz

         I just came across a pristine Benchmade 730BT Ares designed by Allen Elishewitz.  It’s an amazing knife, and I'm lucky to have it pass through my hands.

Let’s walk through what we can find out about it.

Benchmade 730BT by Allen Elishewitz

The Benchmade logo has changed over time.  This logo says Benchmade across the butterfly and has two antennae.  Under the butterfly, you'll find U.S.A. printed.  This was the logo Benchmade used from 1999 to 2002.  The back side of the blade says Elishewitz next to his logo.  Above this, on the false edge, it says 154CM.

The 1999 to 2002 Benchmade Butterfly

Blade Forum claims the original release in 2000 was with ATS34 steel.  The following year, 2001, the steel was listed as 154CM.  Other variations were released, but the next important marker was in 2003.  The knives produced then did not have Elishewitz name or his logo on the blade.

This makes me think the knife was produced sometime during 2001 or 2002.  Pretty cool!

You only need to look at one of his knives and you would know Allen Elishewitz was born to design knives.  Actually, Allen was born in Texas and spent a good part of his childhood living in Southeast Asia.  Allen played a variety of martial arts and later became a Recon Marine.  This background gave him well-defined ideas of what makes a good knife for either self-defense or as a utility tool. 

The ARES is designed to allow the user to move the pocket clip to left or right carry.

The Benchmade 730BT Ares has an icy purple and black G-10 handle.  G-10 is a fiberglass/epoxy resin composite.  Fiberglass has the advantage of not absorbing most liquids, like water, beer, or blood.  G-10 has excellent dimensional stability and extreme resistance to normal environment hazards.

The blade is black coated 154CM steel.  You could describe it as a drop point, saber grind blade.  The blade is free of jimping, but the steel liners near the axis lock are jimped.  The blade has for all practical purposes a full length false edge.  The combination of grind line makes the blade interesting.

154CM steel is an interesting stainless steel.  It was developed and manufactured in the United States by Crucible Materials Corporation (now Crucible Industries).  154CM is a modification of 440C stainless.  Molybdenum was added to beef up its edge retention, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening properties. 

In case you’re interested, here is the formulation:

Carbon 1.05%  Chromium 14.00%  Manganese 0.50%  Molybdenum 4.00%

Silicon 0.30%  Iron 80.15%.

All this is very interesting, but you know what really matters?  It's how it feels in your hand.  And Allen’s design feels excellent.  The blade opens smoothly and locks in place with a click.  I like that.  The click tells me the knife is locked open, ready for whatever task I assign it.  The G-10 handle has two steel liners, so the weight of the open knife is kept in the hand.  The balance point is about an inch behind the axis lock.  This makes for a lively, controllable blade.

I like it a lot.  As I said earlier, it's just passing through my hands.  But then, it may stick around for a while.  Who knows?

 

Village of Knives

The world has many great knife communities. But in America, one of the more interesting must be the village of Little Valley, NY. It is an area filled with the corpses of dead and still-borne knife companies. The knife companies have been gone for quite awhile, but it is a rich area for historians and enthusiasts.

The Tee-shirt to prove I was there!

Authors have spent untold miles of paper explaining the history and complexity of the knife industry in Little Valley. Collectors have memorized family trees and connections to the families, cousins and in-laws involved. I can only imagine the scene as a bored wife holding up a flashcard with a name or date and the collector rattles off the family tree or the significance of the date late into the night.

Just to mention a few companies, Case Knife has its roots there, as does Ka-Bar and now Cutco. Kinfolks started and died there. Here's a meager and incomplete storyline.

J.B.F. Champlin started Cattaraugus Cutlery in Little Valley in 1882. He hired his brothers-in-law, the Cases. I wonder what he later thought of that because, in 1900, the Case Family started their own knife company. Little did Case realize their future product would be collectible knives.

Some of the Case presence

But not everything was peaceful in Little Valley. Family disagreements resulted in the formation of Standard Knife Co. in 1901. Standard didn't last long; it was gone by 1903. 

In 1905, Case moved production from Little Valley, NY, to Bradford, PA. Whenever I think about the move's impact on the area, a scene from 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe' comes to mind. All the dolphins are teleported to a ship as they migrate from Earth to a new and better location. Their last words to humanity were, as I recall them, "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"

In 1920, using blades made by Ka-Bar and Kinfolk, Case Knife reestablished a new Standard Knife Co. This created a low-end introduction product for the knife market. Twenty-eight years later, in 1948, they were gone.

1920 was also the start of the Kinfolks Company, which was connected to Case Knife.

In this rolling pot of knife history, let us remember that construction was chiefly wood, fire suppression wasn't what it is today. Fire companies were slow to respond, bad weather, accidents, fires, and God alone knows what else affected the factories, stores, and the small communities in Little Valley. All of this has created a rich heritage of knife-making.

Kinfolks ran until 1958. Rather than unionize they closed their doors, took their ball home and that was the end. Cattaraugus Company closed down in 1963.

In 1993, Zippo bought Case Knife.

Is that the end of knife-making in Little Valley?

John Burrell grinding, the last Case family member who makes knives

No.  John A. Burrell claims to be the last knife-making Case family member in nearby Ellicottville, NY. John told me he closed one company in 2006 and, after a few years, decided he wanted to start making knives again.

Case Family still has people in the area. I ran into a woman looking for a small pearl-handled knife. I showed her a very nice Rough Ryder with mother of pearl and an abalone shell insert. "It's nice, but I'm a Case so…"  I understood perfectly.

Case informational displays

Little Valley, rich with its tradition, in the county of Cattaraugus, was the perfect location for a knife show.

We were at the Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds and for a first-time effort, it was a qualified success. We occupied two buildings, but not to capacity. If you were in the second building, you may have missed out a bit. The show needed to have signs up indicating there was a second building. The second building had a few knife collectors, John Burrell, and a lot of flea market and high school booster tables.

Some of John Burrell's fixed blades

The show was scheduled for Friday from noon to six and Saturday 9-6:00 and Sunday 9-3:00. Since the admission was free, they started letting people in on set-up Friday morning at 9:00. 

Running to six o’clock proved to be a little too long. By three o’clock, we were down to trading between vendors and had run out of customers.

The second room

The organizers worked very hard to make it a success; they even bought radio coverage. I learned about the show from John Burrell, who attended a show sponsored by the Western Reserve Cutlery Association. He walked around and gave a flier to every table at the show.

Radio station mascot

You should understand that Little Valley and the surrounding communities have low population density. It is a beautiful rural area known for ski resorts and golf courses. But low population density makes it hard to draw people out. It's reported that over a thousand people were in attendance, but I doubt it. 

First Room

The vendors? We had tables of Randall knives, scores of WWII theater knives, Case knives, and edged collectibles. There was one table of new factory folders.

One wag exclaimed, "It's an old man's knife show!"  I don't know about that, but I could see his point.

There were a lot of oddball characters, and I felt at home. An employee of the National Knife Museum told me she was "not into knives" when I told her she was welcome to pick up the knives.  

An old man stopped by and asked me, out of the blue, "What’s the history of Kershaw?"  I was at a complete loss for words, but I managed a few coherent sounds about who owned Kershaw and how they made very nice knives. Of course, he didn't buy anything. Remember what I said about memorizing family trees? If that's your norm, then you expect that of everyone.

John's Table.  John is in the black Tee-shirt.

I struck up a conversation with a vendor who bemoaned his low sales due to the "youngsters who only care for 'black' knives.”  It turned out he was referring to modern locking blades, like Spyderco, Benchmade, CobraTec, and so forth. He never noticed that's what I was selling. He specialized in dirty stag and horn-handled friction folders with patinaed blades at high prices. He had a lot of competitors.

We stayed down the road a bit, and over breakfast I got into a conversation about Case Knife and their designs. I was told Ken Steigerwalt has been trying to meet with Case to discuss new knife designs, but Case is a hard company to talk to. I didn't ask him his connection to Ken.

Case Knife was a sponsor but had almost no presence besides a few door prizes and posters. During my setup, I was asked if I minded being next to Case Knife. Case had three tables reserved, including the endcap of my row. Of course I'm fine with anyone set up next to me. Case marketing showed up late Friday night, dropped off a couple boxes of Tee-shirts and departed, never to be seen again. 

Mark Zalesky, owner of Knife Magazine was on hand to evaluate older knives

        Later, Mark Zalesky, owner and publisher of 'Knife Magazine' occupied one of the tables reserved for Case Knife, and the show promoter took the end cap table away. That was a better result than I could have hoped for!

The best quote I got about Case Knife was, "Case never jumps into anything with two feet."  That may explain their stuttering presence.

Perhaps because the show was free, maybe it was the demographic, but I saw two types of folks at my table. Well, actually three. The third type were the ones who cheerfully admitted they had no money, but if they did, they would buy a knife and they’ll start saving to ensure they will have the bucks for the next show. They were amusing and a tiny minority. 

The other types consisted of folks who were there just to kick the tires and play with your knives. They are not a problem. After a few moments you tell them it looks like they like that knife and ask “Can I wrap it up for you?”  That usually moves them to another table.

You also get the ones who only want to tell you how they just bought the same knife as on your table. A slightly different variation is "I bought this in 1968, and I always carry it,"  This usually is accompanied by flashing me with an old pocket knife with a third of the blade missing from years of sharpening.

Okay, I’m a little mischievous about the show.

It was a great first effort. The show chairman, Brad Lockwood, worked very hard to promote the Village of Knives Show. There were many activities, tours, and interesting people to talk to. Forged in Fire champion Walter Baranowski foraged three special knives for the celebration and John Burrell handled them. They were amazing.

One of three made by John and Walter

We had customers, there were treasures to find, and everyone had an excellent time. It's lovely country, and Ellicottville Brewing Company has excellent beers and food. I wouldn't eat anywhere else if I was in town.

Put it on your calendar for 2025. You'll have fun.