Otter Messer/Hubertus

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Panzerfaust
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Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Panzerfaust »

As has been stated before, Hubertus lever locks are now made by Otter Messer and here is the link to their website:
https://www.otter-messer.de/en/products ... de-knives/
Tom19176
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Tom19176 »

Yes they are ! I love the Otter Mercator K55 s
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Panzerfaust
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Panzerfaust »

Tom19176 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 12:31 pm Yes they are ! I love the Otter Mercator K55 s
Tom, I have one of the Mercator K55s I bought new in about 1980 and bought one of the Otter versions a couple of years ago. The Otter is actually a little more sturdy than the one I bought in 1980.
TMD
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by TMD »

Did you notice the design change? now there is no hole in the lever like on the Böker leverlocks.
Jim Malone
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Jim Malone »

Yep, my new Hubertus is made by otter. Otter bought the rights to it (i believe in 2019) because apparently the machinery that Hubertus used was worn and they did not want to invest in new production machinery. So now Otter makes them. Only a few things seem to have changed. A single backspring + kickspring, the lever no longer has a hole and some minor, unknown to me, changes to make production easier. I like my knife. Fires hard, very good lockup, no bladeplay. The only thing i did was used air in a can to blast out the polishing paste in the little nooks and cranny's and oil the pivot. I'm just wondering how long the main spring will last because it can't be easily replaced by the customer beeing a monolithic piece with the backspring. Otter said they will service the knife if needed and Hubertus is using it's old stock to provide C.S. to the older models. The knife is still labeled Hubertus. What this will do to other models of the Hubertus brand is unknown to me.
button_man
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by button_man »

.

There are two interesting aspects of this change that came to mind immediately..... first: since the Otter knives can clearly be distinguished from
the O.H. (Original Hubertus) knives, the latter now all have stronger collector value. As the saying goes, "they ain't making any more of them".

The second noteworthy aspect is that I do not see the 25.5 cm (ten inch) O,H. being kept on by Otter. (photo below) Possibly Otter could not obtain
(or didn't want to bother with) the necessary Exemption License necessary to manufacture these knives for export, as they exceed the legal size allowed
in Germany (8.5 cm blade). Even though I felt that I was overpaying somewhat a couple years ago by purchasing another of these for $300, now I'm glad that I picked it up. I believe that this, the largest of their Springmesser, were always made in smaller numbers and will probably rise in value the fastest.

Since Otter has eliminated the hole in the lever, they should add some other feature that makes the lever more slip-resistant.
A heavy waffle pattern imprint, or some other such textured surface might be worth considering.

Does anyone know the month / year when O.H. made their last knife.....? Just wondering.
.
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Jim Malone
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Jim Malone »

This is the mail i got from Otter.

"Hubertus has not made its own knives for almost 3 years. Everything that is sold directly by them to date is either stock or bought in.

OTTER-Messer took over the production of Hubertus switchblades about 2 years ago. During this time we had to completely replace the tools etc. we had taken over because they were no longer usable.

That is why we have only been producing "new" Hubertus Springers since the end of last year. Hence the care instructions and the cleaning cloth with the OTTER emblem.

Changes in the appearance and construction of the knives are therefore also subject to us. For repairs, please contact us, as you have purchased the knife from us."
Jim Malone
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Jim Malone »

This is the mail i got from Otter.

"Hubertus has not made its own knives for almost 3 years. Everything that is sold directly by them to date is either stock or bought in.

OTTER-Messer took over the production of Hubertus switchblades about 2 years ago. During this time we had to completely replace the tools etc. we had taken over because they were no longer usable.

That is why we have only been producing "new" Hubertus Springers since the end of last year. Hence the care instructions and the cleaning cloth with the OTTER emblem.

Changes in the appearance and construction of the knives are therefore also subject to us. For repairs, please contact us, as you have purchased the knife from us."


Mail received on the januari 25 2022
Jim Malone
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Jim Malone »

Sorry double posted the letter itself.

The box it came in said Hubertus with the same model number as the "old" Springer. The legal German one. But it came with a printed card saying Otter and a polishing/cleaning cloth from Otter.
So i send them a note why Otter was making or selling Hubertus knives?
Apparently , acvording to this e-mail, Hubertus no longer fabricates their own knives in house and outsource everything. Maybe they circumvent the production of the "illegal" larger Hubertus Springers by making them somewhere else and distributing them factory direct? I have no clue. The website of Hubertus still displays the old models. Maybe Bill de shivs can shed some light on this? Iirc he is a licensed service point for Hubertus springers. I believe he is a member on this forum?
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Otter Messer/Hubertus

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Sorry, I don't have much more information on this.
Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler
http://www.billdeshivs.com
Factory authorized repairs for:
Latama, Mauro Mario, LePre, Colonial, Kabar, Flylock, Schrade Cut Co., Presto, Press Button, Hubertus, Grafrath, Kuno Ritter knives, Puma, Burrell Cutlery.
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