u/sergiy00

Kershaw 1550 Blackout, designed by Ken Onion. 3¼-inch black DLC-coated blade in Sandvik 14C28N, glass-filled nylon handle, liner lock, and Kershaw's SpeedSafe assisted opening — about 7⅝ inches overall, 3.5 ounces, made in the USA. The Blackout goes back to 1999, one of the early SpeedSafe models, and it took Blade Magazine's Blade Show Best Buy that year. The detail collectors use to date them: the blade steel changed over the years, from 440A to 13C26 around 2007, then to 14C28N — and the steel is stamped right on the blade, so this one is a later example.

First of the six flea market knives: the SOG Flash II, FSA-98 version. 3.5-inch partially serrated AUS-8 blade, black GRN handle, about 8 inches overall and just 3.1 ounces — assembled in the USA in the early 2000s, though the parts were made overseas and only final assembly happened stateside. The interesting part is the opening: SOG's S.A.T. assisted system, where the thumb stud starts the blade and the spring takes over, plus a secondary safety that locks it closed in your pocket and a piston-style lock. Assisted openers are everywhere now, but SOG was doing this back when it was still unusual. The Flash II is discontinued, which makes early examples like this one harder to find.

Today's knife is the Schrade Uncle Henry 885UH. Three-blade stockman — clip point, sheepfoot and spey — 4 inches closed, with Staglon handles, brass liners and pins, nickel silver bolsters, and Schrade+ stainless steel. Made in Ellenville, New York from 1970 until Schrade closed in 2004. Here's the part most people miss: this knife was called the King Ranch for over 30 years — the Senior Rancher name only showed up around 2002, two years before the factory shut down. Mine is from the 80s–2000, so it's a King Ranch-era knife wearing the name everyone knows it by today.

This is my haul from this weekend. Bottom knife was a just a throw in. Everything is real and in new condition. Paid $40

Today's knife is the Buck 303 Cadet — and Buck didn't make it. The 303 launched in 1966 with Schrade building the first ones, then Camillus took over the contract in 1968. This one reads "BUCK 303 U.S.A." with no date code, which puts it in the 1974–1985 Camillus era — Buck only brought the 303 in-house in 1986, when date codes started. It's a 3-1/4 inch stockman with clip, sheepfoot, and spey blades and black Delrin handles.

Schrade, then Camillus, then Buck — who made yours?

Today's knife is the Case XX 63047 stockman from 1978. The two dots under the CASE XX USA tang stamp are Case's date code — the dot system started with ten dots in 1970 and lost one each year, so two dots means 1978. It's the classic three-blade stockman: clip point, sheepfoot, and spey blades, with jigged bone handles, nickel-silver bolsters, and the Case oval shield. This one's in mint condition.

Can you date a knife by its tang stamp? Case XX 63047 Stockman — 1978, 2 Dots

Today's knife is the Robeson Shuredge No. 20, a WWII-era U.S. Navy Mark 1 fighting and utility knife. This example carries the U.S.N. MK1 stamp on the blade and the Robeson Shuredge No. 20 tang mark on the reverse. It has a 5-inch clipped-point blade, stacked leather washer handle, steel crossguard, and an aluminum pommel — the early wartime configuration, before aluminum conservation pushed makers toward wood pommels later in the war. It sits in its WWII fiberglass scabbard marked NORD-4723, made by Beckwith Manufacturing under a Navy contract that ran roughly November 1943 through July 1944 and delivered about 600,000 scabbards for Mark 1 and Mark 2 knives.

What's the oldest military knife you own?

The Parker-Edwards Eagle Brand Model 036 One-Arm knife, made in Alabama, USA. A two-blade traditional slipjoint with a razor-style main blade and a clever one-arm opening feature. Cool idea or gimmick?

UC334 Trapper I

• Era: 1990s

• Blade: Two blades

• Steel: Surgical stainless steel

• Handle: Jigged bone, bark-stag style

• Bolsters: Nickel silver

• Mechanism: Traditional slipjoint

• Country: Japan 🇯🇵

The Schrade Old Timer 165OT Woodsman is one of my favorite vintage Schrades. Introduced in the late 1960s, it has a classic full-tang hunting-knife design, brass guard, sawcut handle and 1095 carbon-steel blade. The profile has always reminded me of a Randall-style hunting knife—although I haven't found evidence that the 165OT was actually based on a Randall. A great example of classic American knife design.

The Waltco SAF-T-SHEATH Outdoor Knife is an unusual American-made folding knife believed to date to the 1950s. Its two-piece handle pivots around the blade, giving it a distinctive butterfly-style opening and closing action. Marked “MADE IN USA” and produced by Waltco, an American outdoor-equipment company. Definitely one of the more unusual vintage knives I've come across.

The SOG Pentagon Elite I (PE14) was one of SOG's early tactical folders built around its Arc-Lock system. The 4-inch partially serrated blade, aggressive spear-point profile, Zytel handle and reversible pocket clip made it a distinctive design of the early 2000s. This example was made in Seki, Japan, and the Arc-Lock version was already shipping by 2000

Bob Lum's modern interpretation of the traditional Chinese Shilin Cutter — produced in Seki City, Japan. A unique combination of traditional blade design and modern Spyderco engineering. 🔪🇨🇳🇯🇵

Diving into a legendary piece of tactical blade history with this Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn Combat Folder from the First Production Run.Originally designed by WWII close-combat legends Colonel Rex Applegate and William E. Fairbairn, this particular mid-90s vintage model is highly sought-after by collectors. Unlike later production models that shifted to a symmetric dagger/bayonet grind, this rare first run features the distinct, highly efficient Full Flat V-Grind edge profile. Proudly built in the U.S.A., it remains an absolute holy grail for vintage tactical knife enthusiasts.

A traditional Filipino balisong, or butterfly knife. This example measures about 13" open with a 5.5" blade, buffalo horn handles, brass construction, and aluminum bolsters. 🇵🇭🔪

Balisongs from the Batangas region became well known among American servicemen during and after WWII, and many were brought home as souvenirs.