Here's the story behind this item ...
As a family we have collected together a large and varied range of items from the creative world of the arts but there is more to life than the arts ... we also went on "group camps", going bush and retreating from the hussle and bussle of city life. As a family group, you know the old saying "safety in numbers" and the kids especially enjoyed "roughing it" with the grownups around. More than once we were woken by the sound of a gigantic beast (a Goanna) scrounging around the campfire for scraps of food ... exciting (not)
Sometimes, when out in the bush, we were called upon to improvise ... act like a sort of McGyver type character (from the TV Series) fixing (or trying to) all sorts of problems encountered while away from the 'big smoke' so I used to carry around this sort of pocket knife. Some of the more well heeled extended family members had their fancy 'Swiss pocket knives' but I had this "heritage unknown" pocket knife always in my pocket - I didn't need a fancy name on my pocket knife, as long as it worked!
This pocket knife is no longer of use to myself or anyone else in the family, at an age of 70 plus years I don't see any of us going camping these days ... so this pocket knife is seeking more adventures in someone else's pocket.
So here we go with the description, as best as I can describe (some things are a mystery to me regarding this knife (and life ... and the universe, but soon AI will explain everything I am told!)
MULTI-TOOL POCKET KNIFE
Country of origin is unknown
The markings or stampings in the metal ...
While I found a couple of places with added stamps or impressions, they didn't make any sense to me!
One is found on the inner shaft of the main blade and looks like this ...
The other stamping looks like very small multiple characters stamped in the inner shaft of the screwdriver attachment ... I just could not get a good photograph of this other stamping which limited my ability to figure out what either of these stamps may mean (I think that perhaps their story would be told by having both meanings together) and even tried Google image search but (as usual) it went completely off the rails and told me it was something to do with Royalty (rubbish!) - never trust AI!
I am scathing of AI because after quite a bit of experimentation with Google AI, I have found that if "it" doesn't know what something is ... it makes up stories! That is of no use to me.
It looks to be stainless steel with each side having had added a non-metal side.
Let me "think aloud" about these side pieces ... judge for yourself what the material may be.
Each side piece has three steel (positive to the magnet test) rivets which go right from one side of the knife to the other, flattened where the rivet meets the side material so that it is a flush finish.
I have decent 30x loupe and looked extremely closely at this material. It could be either a resin (more likely) or tortoise shell.
Looking downwards into the material, I can see Browns and Yellows which do not appear to be printed but are "swirling" or perhaps I should say, without sharply defined edges. I was even wondering if this is true Tortoise shell but embedded in a resin. Looking side on at these pieces, I can see what appear to be layers running roughly horizontally. Looking at this from the edge of the material, I tried to measure the thickness with my micrometer (a little bit tough because this side piece is sitting on a flat section of steel, I guess to reinforce it) and the best I can come up with is approximately 1mm thickness material.
In an attempt to establish if this is resin or real tortoise shell, I took a test I use when testing bakelite ... the BIG RUB! I rubbed very vigorously with a soft cloth and information I obtained online suggested that if this was plastic/resin based material, it may emit a light Vinegar smell. This didn't work for me, I couldn't detect any smell coming off the material at all, no matter how hard I rubbed 'er up!
While doing this "viewing" and "measuring" I did see some VERY light scratch marks but absolutely NO signs of cracking or material failure.
Moving right along ...
While obviously having been used over the years, the stainless steel finish is in pretty good shape and once again, all over the knife including the blade areas, I get a positive reaction from a magnet = iron is present.
The pocket knife 'feels' rugged in the hand but not too light - certainly not flimsy in any way.
Actual weight is 63g
The blades and accessories
Main blade (with a single sharp edge) is 55mm length and has a "finger notch" to help extracting the blade from the body.
A second shorter blade is located at the opposite end to the main blade, again with a single sharp edge, it measures 33mm length with a "finger notch"
One side has a can opener plus a strong, flat slot screwdriver.
The other side has a corkscrew plus a nasty, substantial "steel spike", something like a thick, sharp nail. This accessory did actually come in handy more than once, punching a hole in the top of steel cans (damn! where is that can opener!)
COSMETIC CONDITION:
I am not in the habit of examining pocket knives as part of my day but I know what this pocket knife has been through over many years and I was quite surprised at the condition when I took a closer look!
Clean
NO bent or misshapen accessories, this means the knife blades are NOT bent, the corkscrew is still a corkscrew and even the screwdriver blade is not slightly twisted (from trying to undo tough screws)
Yes, I can see some light oxidising (rust) down inside the accessory "wells" but nothing serious (in my opinion)
SIDE NOTE: While not in use, this pocket knife would be stored IN LIGHT OIL to both protect the metal and lubricate the various pivots inside. Of course it is no longer sitting in oil!
The spring action of each accessory is positive and VERY secure i.e if you open up the main knife example, it locks in the open position and STAYS THERE - no 'play' at all. This action applies to each of the accessories.
I have now placed this pocket knife within a sealed clear plastic packet (just in case any left-over oil oozes out) and it is now patiently waiting for someone else to make use of it.
