All About Pocket Knives

Hello All. I've got this unusual knife. It measures 8 inches open. It is certainly old. It fires HARD and sure works good! Bovine scales, blade has a sear ramp and interesting file work. Has a Mexican picklock feel to it. Guessing East Indian or Mexican. Put it on FB and some found pictures of similar knives but no one could identify it. Figured I'd try here and if nothing else, share some pics of a cool old knife. Anyone know what this is?

Pakistan is another possibility. They made the blade out of a file.

That is interesting. The scales look like horn, but I haven't seen horn crack like that at the pins.

I am wondering if it is a one-off handmade custom. It looks solid, yet has some crude features. The blade being made from a file is my main reason for saying that.

Tks Killgar and 1967redrider. Pakistan seems like a good possibility as well. Regarding a file being used, the pattern on the tang is not uniform. Does that matter? For the scales, they appear to be cow horn though some sort of early acrylic seems possible too.

Reverand wrote: ↑Wed Jul 02, 2025 2:58 am I am wondering if it is a one-off handmade custom. It looks solid, yet has some crude features. The blade being made from a file is my main reason for saying that.

Tks Reverand. I thought the same as a possibility. On FB, someone on there produced images of another one just like this that sold on Ebay a while ago. Another guy owned one for a while. He did not know much more about it. Whomever the maker is, they did a nice job. This knife is sturdy and operates very well.

The pattern on the ricasso is a telltale sign of a blade made from a file. It's not uncommon for knife blades to be made from old files. The portion of the file forming the ricasso was ground down, and/or possibly hammered a bit.


A similar knife. The blade of this one was also made from a file. I wouldn't be surprised if it was made by the same person as your knife. Aside from the blades being made from files, and virtually identical, the handle pins are placed in the same pattern, and the filework on the locks are very similar.

This knife has a makers mark. I have no idea what it says.

The scales probably cracked at the pins because the pins are steel and got rusty. Rusty steel is larger in size than uncorroded steel and the extra diameter would or could have cracked the scales around the pins.

Killgar wrote: ↑Wed Jul 02, 2025 7:23 am The pattern on the ricasso is a telltale sign of a blade made from a file. It's not uncommon for knife blades to be made from old files. The portion of the file forming the ricasso was ground down, and/or possibly hammered a bit.

This knife has a makers mark. I have no idea what it says.

Thank you Kilgar. The file sure resulted in a good blade. Was using files pretty common for Pakistani knife makers? The maker's mark is a good clue. Going to try some FB groups to see if something can be found.

Bartlow wrote: ↑Wed Jul 02, 2025 5:52 pm The scales probably cracked at the pins because the pins are steel and got rusty. Rusty steel is larger in size than uncorroded steel and the extra diameter would or could have cracked the scales around the pins.

Tks Bartlow. That certainly makes sense. The pins on the rear are certainly rusty. Though there sure are cracks and a chunk missing, remaining scale material is pretty solid. Going to spray a little WD40 down there to mitigate the rust. Might also send this off to a knife craftsman to fill the cracks and the gap to stabilize.

QGofLake wrote: ↑Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:16 am

Killgar wrote: ↑Wed Jul 02, 2025 7:23 am The pattern on the ricasso is a telltale sign of a blade made from a file. It's not uncommon for knife blades to be made from old files. The portion of the file forming the ricasso was ground down, and/or possibly hammered a bit.

This knife has a makers mark. I have no idea what it says.

Thank you Kilgar. The file sure resulted in a good blade. Was using files pretty common for Pakistani knife makers? The maker's mark is a good clue. Going to try some FB groups to see if something can be found.

I have no idea, or any way of knowing how common it is in Pakistan for people to make knives out of files. But since the Pakistani's are heavily into "recycling" (making blades out of melted scrap steel), it wouldn't surprise me if some knifemakers in Pakistan made some blades out of old files.

But then there are people in the US who make knives out of old files. So it's not a practice unique to any particular country or region.


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I have no idea, or any way of knowing how common it is in Pakistan for people to make knives out of files. But since the Pakistani's are heavily into "recycling" (making blades out of melted scrap steel), it wouldn't surprise me if some knifemakers in Pakistan made some blades out of old files.

But then there are people in the US who make knives out of old files. So it's not a practice unique to any particular country or region.


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Tks Kilgar. Your thougths are much aprecciated.

Files are good edge holding metal usually ,thats why they hold up as a file fo so long ,but when they start to dull some get forged into knives.I think not just 3rd world countrys,but hell many a cowboy and farmers or blacksmiths work shop. Its just in our nature to recycle or repurpose things.I always understood the files,what i couldnt understand is things like railroad spikes that are usually not good knifemaking steel.Basically modern Tourist knives from rustic tourist traps.

Files are actually too hard to use for a knife unless the steel is tempered back.
Railroad spikes are usually made of high carbon steel that can be heat treated to make a good knife.