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Whether I can call myself a Collector of knives, fine or otherwise, is debatable. However, as well as making and keeping a few knives for myself I also like to acquire the odd knife that really takes my fancy.
I'm no expert, but I always seem to find something to admire in a knife regardless of who made it or how much it costs. I'm not quite sure what actually moves me to acquire a particular knife, if I like it and can afford it I get it. I do have a very soft spot for Puma knives, especially the older models.
I'm sure that had I more cash to spare I'd be getting a few more knives to play with. Fortunately for me I'm not that addicted and just as happy acquiring a knife I like for a few quid just as much as I would for one costing much more.
If you have anything that you feel would be of interest to me, please let me know. If I like what you have to offer I'll do my best to make a fair deal with you.
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This was originally a Puma Skinner (136393) which came with a Kraton Handle originally. I wouldn't want to customise a Samba handled Puma Skinner, but a rubber handled one, very much so.
The knife comes in a cheap Cordura Sheath, so I made it a nice well figured Black Leather one.
Although I planned to make this knife up to add to my collection, I've decided instead to give it to Ken as a token of my appreciation for the kindness and generosity he has shown me towards the end of 2007.
The top knife is a Puma Trail Guide (136382) which also came with a Kraton handle and a Cordura sheath, this time with a solid plastic insert at least. This knife I gave to Ken's son Jamie as I thought it would suit him admirably.
The handles for these two knives are made from a combination of Red Deer antler and Black Buffalo horn. I also decided to play about with some figuring, the top knife more so than the bottom one.
Much to my surprise and undoubted delight, this set of Franklin Mint folders - all in a Labrador Retriever theme - was given to me by Ken. The photo doesn't do them justice of course because they're quite stunning.
In praise of Friends - 2007 wasn't a particularly good year for me, but there were some 'ups' thanks to a small handful of considerate genuine people who I have been lucky enough to get to know. I'm very grateful to all these good folk for allowing me to share with them some very pleasant experiences that proved to be just the tonic that I needed at the time. In my view at least, there's nothing to beat sharing a good experience with someone of like mind... as one would with a friend.
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Puma Waidblatt 3588 and a Puma Damascus lock knife. Both of which are my pride and joy... First Puma knives for well over 20 years! Won't be the last either...
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The very large Opinel Number 13 against the regular sized Number 8.
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The Eagle head folder is a Franklyn Mint knife that belonged to my late best friend Dave Lisle. He gave me it a few weeks before he passed away.
The lock back knife on the right is a Buck Alpha B279 Hunter that originally comes with rubber scales. I took those off and replaced them with a pair of Afzelia scales over red liners that I made.
The bottom knife is a Buck 560 XLT-TI Titanium Folding Hunter Lock back knife topped with a hefty lock knife and an even heftier one above it!
These are my four Buck 560 XLT-Ti (Black, Crystal and Grey) Titanium Folding Hunter Lock Back knives. The top one is a polished up Grey one.
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A highly decorative South American Machete having the blade embossed with the National emblems of all the Countries of South America.
A replica Tracker survival knife that I customised and made a nice leather sheath for. Not the best of knives if you want to travel light as it's quite hefty with the blade being 6mm thick. But it's a cracker of a survival knife for cutting and chopping. It has sawing and thumping capabilities and, it has two types of grinds along the one edge. The forward grind is hollow and the back grind is a flat sided V. In the handle there is the Compass and an assortment of items you might need in an emergency. |
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This little Nordic type knife is a particular favourite of mine, but unfortunately I can't remember who it's made by.
This knife is definitely of Scandinavian origin, with a Damascus blade! I'm trying to find out who made it and would welcome any information about it.
Its' a lovely little 'finger' knife made from first class materials and the craftsmanship is very good indeed.
I'm not sure what the two letter are; could be EF perhaps?
Two vintage Solingen Original Buffalo Skinners that I acquired separately. Both had plastic imitation antler so I decided to put some real antler on. and make them into a piggy back set. I really like these two knives and am still looking for a matching set of Bowies.
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...and now for my Pumas with a nice little starter...
1982 Puma White Hunter (Serial # 27282). This one is about the same age as one of the two White Hunters I lost whilst out shooting about 1986. The other one I got and lost was in 1989 if I remember correctly.
I don't know what it is about getting older, but very often you find yourself harking back to the good old days - or some of the good old days at least!
Of all the knives I owned, Puma knives have always been my firm favourites. There are better more prestigious knives I'm sure, but I still like Puma knives above every other make.
I can't say I'm too excited with any of the ultra modern original models (with one exception!). I much prefer the original designs with nice Sambar stag antler for handles.
PUMA SKINNER 116393
PUMA ORIGINAL BOWIE 116396
I hope to eventually acquire the 'Pumastersteel' forerunners to the above two models. They would be the 6939 and the 6396.
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PUMA HUNT WHITE HUNTER
282105 THROUGH TO 282111
In me view this set is the most innovative design from Puma so far. It originally only comes with three blades, but I decided to buy the other remaining blades to make the set complete. Next to the Waidblatts I like this knife set the best.
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My Puma Waidblatt Knives
One would think that because I make my own knives I would be very satisfied and have no need for any other knives whatsoever. As happy and proud as I am with my own knives, I can't help admiring and wishing to own other knives even if they're not Puma ones. Every so often I try and search for the odd Puma bargain and not finding anything that really grabs me my interest wanes for a while. Recently (October/November 2007) I got the urge to have another trawl for a Puma knife, more specifically for another vintage White Hunter, Bowie or Skinner. If I was lucky I might come across a Waidblatt to drool over.
So you can imagine my delight when I came across a Waidblatt, albeit not for sale. I made an enquiry anyway and to cut a long story short I managed to acquire it. I was chuffed to bits I can tell you! A week or so later I came across another Waidblatt, this time on eBay - two within such a short time of each other, unbelievable! I convinced myself that it was an omen and the second Waidblatt could well end up being mine as well. Now that would be greedy, but what the hell! I didn't think I stood a chance actually as they normally go for silly prices, but things worked out in my favour and I got that second Waidblatt too.
The top knife has markings on the blade and the number 76582 on the Bolster. As far as I am aware this knife was made in the second quarter of 1985.
The bottom knife is pre 1965 according to the following reply I got from Puma: Thank you for your mail. I can only tell the age of the knife when I have the 5-digit number on the bolster. When the knife has no number then it is older than 42 years. We started with the production numbers in 1965. You can check the age of the knife on our webpage under FAQ. I am sorry but this is all I can tell you about it.
Both knives are shown above with their respective sheaths. The bottom sheath has the securing tab missing, which I'll fix. The top knife has been further cleaned up by myself, but the bottom one is exactly as I received it. First chance I get I'll sort it out.
There is an actual difference in blade length, depth and width between both knives, with the 1985 knife being more substantial. The pins on the No.2 knife appear to be a fraction smaller than those of knife No.1
The '85 knife has markings on the blade and the pre '65 one has them on the coil.
Note the difference in composition of the Bolsters between the two knives - one is flat on the back and one is built up. Also note that the '85 knife has a lanyard hole but the pre '65 hasn't. Both have the metal inserts on the handle, albeit on opposite sides.
I do
not know any significant original ownership details about the '85 knife.
The pre '65 knife was bought new about 16 years or so
from a shop in Switzerland. It must have been new old stock obviously.
04/12/07 - I just had another lucky break with coming across a Waidblatt set this time (Knife models #3587 & 3588).
This set was made in the early 1950's and is made up of a Waidblatt (Blade Length: 8 inch, Overall Length: 13" inch) and Hunters Pal (Blade length: 3 1/2 inch, total length: 7 3/4 inch) in a green Piggy-Back sheath.
This Waidblatt is very similar to my pre '65 Waidblatt.
Both knives are shown as I got them and the sheath was in not too good a condition either. Needless to say I'll get them sorted in due course.
If you have anything of interest to contribute I would appreciate it if you contacted me on paulakafrenchy followed by @ and then talktalk.net
Puma Werks details: Puma GmbH IP Solingen,
An den Eichen 20-22,
42699 Solingen
A big thank you to those who contacted me with a view to offering me some very interesting Puma knives. I've done some fair deals and as a consequence my Puma knife collection has expanded a bit. Soon I'll take a photo of the whole collection and put it on here. Thanks guys...
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I make knives for myself and collect some other maker's ones as well. But when you only have limited space, storing them in boxes under the bed seems the norm. But I got fed up with storing some of my own knives under the bed! So I decided to hang a few up and at least look at them or handle them when I wanted to.
These knives are liable to be put to use as and when the right opportunity arises. At the moment my favourite is the Malachite handled Guardian in the coloured Sheath.
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My Tomahawk
During my trip to Oz I admired my son Jason's throwing Tomahawk so much that he got me one for myself as a present. With took both Tomahawks with us on our camping trip, along with our knives, guns, bows and fishing rods!
Once we set up camp I wasted little time at finding a suitable spot where I could practice throwing the Tomahawk, joined soon afterwards by Jason and his friend John. We did very well actually, even hitting our targets every so often. As Jason is a big lad he could throw very well with just the one hand. I did too initially, but soon felt that I would be better if I used both hands. This not only worked better for me, but the Tomahawk was digging in much deeper than before. John had a hard time hitting the 3ft tree trunk let alone getting it to stick in, just wasn't his thing. His thing is to shoot and drop a Goat at 600 yards while I could hardly even see it!
The handle was a bit too roughly finished and the shape where I gripped it didn't feel right. So I tidied everything up and rounded the handle sufficiently to enable a smoother release.
I worked on the head too and refined the edge into a smoother Convex grind for a deeper bite. I made a detachable hand strap for a bit of extra security when chopping.
The final touches include a 'quick release' sheath adorned with a few dangly bits.
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My Dad's Scissors
My Grandfather was a Tailor, after who I am named, my Dad was a Tailor, whose second name I have, and I was a Tailor, at least until the age of 18. I was trained as a Tailor at Technical college, but even though my heart wasn't in it, I had to do what my parents say I had to. That's how it was back then, unless you were the rebellious type. I was, and couldn't wait until I was 18 to rebel and fend for myself. And no sooner was I 18, I ran away from home and joined the Army!!! To this day I'm still not sure whether that was the most stupid move I could have made considering my situation now, or the best move considering how much I've done, experienced and travelled since then...
Sadly I was on active service when my Dad died and couldn't get back to see him before he died. I also I wasn't able to attend his funeral either, which is something I regret deeply to this day. Anyway, much to my Dad's concern, I was always messing about with machinery and broke more than I mended. I was even deadlier with scissors as I kept trying to sharpen any I could get hold; some worked fine and some just didn't. One pair of scissors he guarded and made sure I never got my hands on were his very own, a hefty pair like which I've never seen before or since. As luck would have it, after many years since his death and much to my surprise, I asked my younger brother whether he knew what happened to the big scissors. He said he had them stashed away somewhere and I could have them if I wanted them - what a silly question! All that I have of Dad's are his broken old pocket watch and his old big scissors, both meant a lot to him - perfect, couldn't have wished for anything more!
Take a look at my pride and joy, my Dad's scissors which I now use regularly myself - it's just amazing how things work out. I wonder what he would say if he could see me now cutting and stitching up leather using his precious scissors!?
They're big, just look how an Opinel No.8 compares in size. Thanks Dad...
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