Pocket Knives

[Ozark Tracker]

Just curious,  when did pocket knives come about?  were they popular from the beginning or did it take some time for them to change over from knives carried in sheaths?

I can remember having one since before I started school.  I remember taking one to school and the only thing the teacher said was keep it put away till recess.

good old days

[St. George]

Folding knives have been recovered in Roman campsites and probably pre-date the times.

Dig a bit deeper on this Forum and look for the 'St. George's Note' that refers to them.

I believe it's Note # VII.

Good Luck,

Scouts Out!

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy!

There are sutlers who carry a few pocket knives, one of which is a repro of the pocket folding knife carried by George Washington.  They were well established by the time he carried one.

I got a pocket knife from  http://www.fcsutler.com/  that is from the (un)Civil War era.  It was a cheapo costing less than $8 and probably made in India, but thankfully it has no markings.  If you are familiar with Case brand knives, it looks like a wooden-handled "Sod Buster, Jr."  It's pictured in Fall Creek Sutlery's "Haversack Stuffers" section.

[RattlesnakeJack]

The Revolutionary War sutlers carry many styles of pocket knives from that period.  I understand that it was once thought they might be an uncommon item then, but excavations of campsites and the like from the era have turned up so many parts from them that it is now believed virtually every man must have had one.....

This is the type that I have, from that era, though mine has black horn scales rather than the bone shown here:

[Dr. Bob]

Howdy,

Pocket knives came in sizes from the pen knife, as small as 1 ¼ inch folded to folding bowie knives and the spanish Naragha (sp?) with 10 - 12 inch blades.  Penny knives had no spring to hold the blade open.  I have 3 lock blade knives from the late 1700's - 1820's.  Wenen't made of stainless steel in any quantity until the 1960's.  High carbon steel holds the best edge. 

Late 18th and early to mid 19th Century table knives with the horn or bone scales are called "thumbprint knives" because steel was expensive and was used only for the part that would be sharpened.  The tang was iron and was lap welded to the blade, leaving a "round swril" on one side of the back end of the blade.  This is before the type that we often see with the design in pewter in the wood or bone handles.

If only we could make some money by knowing this stuff! 

[Coop Trawlaine]

The period correct term for this style of knive was not a pocket or folding knife, those terms came along later.  The proper term was a "Clasp Knife".