AGA Campolin Fish Picklock 2011 Limited Edition

[sethmerrell]

Shaped like a fish when the blade is in it's closed position, the fish pattern knife, is not to be confused with a fishtail knife. The latter merely has bolsters that are shaped like the tail of a fish.
Many Italian automatic knife manufacturers made fish patterns, including Latama, Milanese Maniago, B. Svoboda, Fabico, and more recently AKC and AGA Campolin have put out special limited editions. Historically, they did not sell very well and were more of a novelty in the day. Latama did not even feature them in their catalogs. I do believe they were all picklocks, but I have come across one that was button open, button close. That is all the information I currently possess on the subject of fish knives. As I have previously stated, these did not sell well , so the history is little to non-existent.

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2011 AGA Campolin fish pattern
SPECIFICATIONS

• Scale Material:Dark Buffalo Horn
  Open:10"
  Closed:5 1/2"
  Blade length:4 1/2"
  Blade Style:Clip Point
  Weight: 4.8 oz
  Tang Stamp: AGA Campolin Manigo-Italy 2011

Normal stiletto for size reference

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I purchased mine towards the end of March for $225. I was immediately struck by how beautiful the scales were.There was a nice fissure running down the knife near the firing button. It really makes you appreciate natural authentic materials like stag, wood, or horn. The overall build quality is extremely good, everything is straight and smooth. Like most Italian knives, this one has brass liners and nickel silver bolsters. I am not sure what the blade is made out of, but I am assuming stainless steel. The safety is functioning, it stays where it is put. I have had safety trouble with almost every Frank Beltrame I own.

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The action is very strong and fast. It has a very loud click. This is due to the extremely stiff lock spring. In fact, I was quite surprised by how difficult it was to disengage the blade. I had to use my t-shirt in the beginning, but now I have gotten used to it and I can now close it with little effort. The blade is a mirror polished clip point., which when closed, gives an appearance of a dorsal fin of a fish. The blade is devoid of scratches and has never been sharpened. The ergonomics of the handle are ok, but in all gives a strong grip.

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In conclusion, I have become proud to be the owner of this particular knife. AGA Campolin did a fine job in recreating the fish pattern. As much as I love this knife, I only take it out on special occasions. I could not risk actually cutting something with this knife, it is too nice to use.

[NorthCarolinaDude]

Sweet knife. I only have one example and it's nothing special...one of the Stiletto Italy fish knives from when 3K was offering them under their "Antique" section. Very similarly scaled to yours but smaller at about 7.75" overall.

My goal is to find another in honey horn or pearlex to bookcase it. Anyhow, nice knife you got there for sure! Peace.

[Fishtail Picklock]

This is my all-time favorite pattern (hence, my name). My father had one of the 1950s original Sicilian knives. I have an accurate replica of that knife. It is both useful and beautiful. IMHO, it is one of the best Italian autos ever manufactured.

[sethmerrell]

Sweet knife. I only have one example and it's nothing special...one of the Stiletto Italy fish knives from when 3K was offering them under their "Antique" section. Very similarly scaled to yours but smaller at about 7.75" overall.

My goal is to find another in honey horn or pearlex to bookcase it. Anyhow, nice knife you got there for sure! Peace.

Thanks! I think grindworx had a couple for $100 at one point.

[sethmerrell]

IMHO, it is one of the best Italian autos ever manufactured.

What makes it the best?

[Fishtail Picklock]

IMHO, it is one of the best Italian autos ever manufactured.

What makes it the best?

Dad carried his knife in a holster on the deck of both Minesweeps and Destroyers. Being a Boatswains' Mate, a sharp, reliable, automatic knife with a clip point blade was indispensable. Dad's Latama had a 1095 Carbon Steel blade that held a wonderful edge. (It saved both his left arm and life in an unfortunate incident at the Bremerton Naval Shipyards). The blade's "one-handed operation" allowed him to deploy the blade and sever a line that would have dragged him beneath the docks to his death.

Were It not for that knife, I probably wouldn't have been born.

[NorthCarolinaDude]

Sweet knife. I only have one example and it's nothing special...one of the Stiletto Italy fish knives from when 3K was offering them under their "Antique" section. Very similarly scaled to yours but smaller at about 7.75" overall.

My goal is to find another in honey horn or pearlex to bookcase it. Anyhow, nice knife you got there for sure! Peace.

Thanks! I think grindworx had a couple for $100 at one point.

I haven't seen any fishtails of the Italian variety on there for some time now. They used to have the exact knife shown in the OP but I don't believe it's been in stock for quite some time.

That said, I don't check Grindworx much these days as I'm a little "gun-shy" because in a two month period last year I ordered an 11" Frank B with filework and then next an 11" Frank B swinger (one from their BHQ site and one from their GW site)...both times I was shipped Frank B swivel bolster models with bags labeled as having filework or being a swinger!

To be fair, they let me keep the second one and gave a full refund, and apparently they tracked down a problem in inventory and the issue should be resolved going forward. I just haven't had the courage to go back to the proverbial well. Then again, they haven't had much in classic Italian of late. I did notice they have been offering some AKC swingers...but that's another topic altogether!

Peace.

[NorthCarolinaDude]

IMHO, it is one of the best Italian autos ever manufactured.

What makes it the best?

Dad carried his knife in a holster on the deck of both Minesweeps and Destroyers. Being a Boatswains' Mate, a sharp, reliable, automatic knife with a clip point blade was indispensable. Dad's Latama had a 1095 Carbon Steel blade that held a wonderful edge. (It saved both his left arm and life in an unfortunate incident at the Bremerton Naval Shipyards). The blade's "one-handed operation" allowed him to deploy the blade and sever a line that would have dragged him beneath the docks to his death.

Were It not for that knife, I probably wouldn't have been born.

That's an amazing story brother. And I seem to remember you posting pics of such knife after having one custom built from your memories, by Jeremy maybe? Or am I imagining that? I tried to search on it to see if there was such a post but I'm not too adept with the search function, I always turn up way too many posts to sort through.

Peace.

[Fishtail Picklock]

Yep, Jeremy made a copy of Dad's Fishtail Picklock. His was a "working knife". I prefer useful knives to "wall-hangers" every day of the week. It had the same dark horn as your picture (It is so impressive).

In the immortal words of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, "Truth is stranger than fiction."

[Tom19176]

I bought a bunch of manual ones back then in horn and stag in the two sizes they offered.

[sethmerrell]

There a little 6" one on sharperdeals.com for $180. It's in stag. I wanted to get it for my dad because he doesn't like big knives. But I've exhausted the knife fund this month already

[sethmerrell]

IMHO, it is one of the best Italian autos ever manufactured.

What makes it the best?

Were It not for that knife, I probably wouldn't have been born.

Holy crap man. Thank God for the knife

[Fishtail Picklock]

The true stories are the best. I wish that I had dad's old knife, but the replica is just as nice. At 10.75 inches it is big enough to handle larger cutting tasks. Were I on a ship's deck, I would rather use the KaBar USN Mark1 Deck Knife. (I have the modern version with a Kraton handle).

It is a great general-purpose sheath knife.