High School Graduaiton Present - Help Needed

[Tom H]

Hello, first post here. Have not owned a switchblade in 30+ years.

I have a friend whose daughter is a huge Outsiders fan. She is graduating high school and I am buying her a "Two-Bit" switch blade for her graduation present (with parental consent, they love the idea).
I am looking for that 1950's greaser look.

I am having a hard time pulling the trigger.
Looking for some expertise.
Budget $100~ish.
I have no expectation of the knife being used by the new owner.

I have reviewed:
My Switch Blade.com
directknifesales.com
https://swordsswords.com
https://www.bladehq.com
https://www.knifecenter.com
https://blade-city.com
https://www.nicnac.net
https://www.perryknifeworks.com
https://knifeworks.com
https://www.grindworx.com
https://www.3knives.com
https://www.directknifesales.com
https://latama.net
https://kaswords.com
https://german-knife-shop.com
https://www.smkw.com
https://www.arizonacustomknives.com
https://lightningotfknives.com

I cannot tell what a reputable site is and what is not or what is a low risk purchase. I am kind of lost in the internet knife sale sea over here.
I have spent a bit of time on a few forums and decide to ask for help here.
The combination of price, style and unknown credibility causes trepidation.

Does anyone have a site recommendation?
I am in STL, a local seller would be great too. All of the knife shops I have found just sell cutlery.

The closest to what I am looking for is this:
https://www.myswitchblade.com/shop/9-it ... itchblade/

What I am looking for:
Black handle
push button blade release (not a slide)
decent quality
used or new -
I would pay a premium if I believed the seller stole it from a hardware store.
I do not want a really short 3" type blade. I think it may end up a display for her unless she really goes Outside and carries it.

Thanks for reading.

Tom

[button_man]

.

I have often wondered why it is almost impossible to find an Italian 11" stiletto with a black plastic handle -- to me, this is the very epitome of the
Juvenile Hoodlum knife universally reviled by PTA mothers back in the 1950s.... and yet you almost never seen one; either from back then, or being
made now. I am fortunate to have an 11" A. Beltrame that I bought probably 20 years ago that is very narrow, meets the above specs, and just looks
cool as all get-out. But that black plastic handle is very tough to find anywhere; and I can't understand why.

You might have better luck settling for dark horn scales. Unless the young lady is petite, look for an 11" knife.... knives in the 8" to 9" range just don't
have the same impact as a decent-size blade. And while $100 seems like a very high price to a non-switchblade person (Switchblade Muggle?) you may need to adjust your sights to extend to the $125 to $150 ballpark just to get something that passes muster on a basic level. What does the REALLY expensive stuff cost......? A lot. Don't ask.

Check out allaboutpocketknives dot com -- tons of stuff for sale.... however, the prices do tend to be high. Best of luck with your search!
I think it's fantastic that a girl appreciates switchblades; and even more so that her folks are cool with the idea! However, if she's really into
"The Outsiders" try to steer her away from the non-filter Pall Malls...... those things are killers.....
.

[Tom H]

Thank you for the response.
I can go over budget if I am making a good decision.
I too am shocked at how hard it is to find black. Dark horn and other dark colors are easy but straight black seems hard.

I am looking a All About and I see a few possible hits.

Appreciate the hand.
No Pall Malls for this kid. She is sharp as a tack.

Tom

[Killgar]

Oh boy, where to start.

First, if I recall correctly, Two-bit (Emilio Esteves) had a butterfly knife, not a stiletto switchblade. He whipped out the butterfly knife as he, Pony, Johnny, and the girls were walking away from the movie theater and they were confronted by the car full of Soc's. But it's been a long time since I watched the movie. EDIT: I don't know what Two-bit had in the book. I never read the book.

If you are looking for a stiletto switchblade, is it important to you that you get a genuine Italian one, or would you settle for Chinese? Because there is a big difference in price (the Italians are a lot more expensive), and often a difference in quality.

And then there is size. Blade lengths produced these days tend to be 4", 5", and 6".

Frankly, I don't think you will find a "quality" stiletto switchblade for $100. If you want the best chance for quality, buy a Latama. But the lowest price I've seen on a 4" bladed Latama is $315 at pvkvegas.com. Pretty pricey.

As for where to buy from (if you are talking genuine Italian), first, 3knives.com is in Europe. So if you are in the US, and you actually receive your order, and if the knife you receive is defective, you might be out of luck. Good luck getting a refund, others have tried and failed.

For some places to buy from in the US that are known to generally be reliable, there are several, Grindworx.com, PVKvegas.com, myswitchblade.com, adamsknifeworks.com, nicnac.net, Latama.com all come to mind.

My advice is that you check to make sure whoever you buy from has a good return/refund policy, because quality control on stiletto switchblades can be hit or miss, and in some cases non-existent.

I have purchased switchblades from Grindworx.com (back when they were Bladeplay.com), nicnac.net, and directknifesales.com.

The knives (Frank Beltrame stilettos) that I received from Grindworx were junk (I decided to keep them and rebuild them). I bought two AGA Campolin Italian switchblades from nicnac.net, and although one of them was total junk (kept and rebuilt), I had a great experience with the company regarding the second knife (the one I ordered turned out to be out of stock, so they offered me a more expensive model at the same price). I bought an 11" Frank Beltrame stiletto from directknifesales.com, and it was total junk, I sent it back for a refund, but it was a hassle, and I got charged a restocking fee.

Arizonacustomknives.com is also a very reputable vendor for previously owned knives.

[sammy the blade]

Nicnac won't rip you off if that's what you're worried about but it won't be cheap. Guy used to hang out here back in the day. I'd buy there if he had what I was looking for.

[button_man]

.

Tom ~ I just remembered a Frank Beltrame knife that I bought locally about a week ago ~ see attached photo ~ ~ ~

While the handle is not solid black, the horn is about as dark as you can get. The back scale is, if anything, even darker than the front.
This knife looks especially "tuff" (a little Greaser slang there!) because the pins and buttons really glitter against the dark handle, black
blade, and black bolsters / backspring. Also, I would not have bought it (which took place in person, not long-distance) if there were any
problems. No banana, no peek, no wobble, no lockup failures, no safety-button issues, no problems at all. The ricasso is stamped
"Frank B" over "Italy".

If you're interested, send me a Private Message by clicking on the little 'word balloon' beside the word CONTACT at the upper right
of this post; and then click again on the icon that appears after the first click. If you're not interested, that's perfectly okay also....
--just thought I'd mention it. In any event, best of luck with the search ~
.

[button_man]

.

A knife that would meet most of your specs --with the exception of quality-- would be a circa 1960s - 1970s Japanese-made "Rizzuto".
These were very cheaply made; but as long as the knife is more or less just for display, it shouldn't matter a whole lot.
The only other possible consideration is that it's a fairly small knife.... somewhere around 8" OAL. However, this (smaller) version
does have black plastic scales; and you should be able to find one fairly easily, and at right around your $100 price target.
.

[XBMX]

If you are still looking try BladeOpps.com Good service low prices free freight.

[Scotchman]

Another place to check out is Latham's vintage knives.

[Scotchman]

Myswitchblade.com which I have purchased from. Swordsswords.com , Kaswords.com, Budk.com, Slash 2 Gash.com (last 4 are ones I found online so may be a crap shoot?). I am sure there are other places as well.

[NorthCarolinaDude]

I would go with MySwitchBlade and buy the 9 inch black ebonywood Frank B 2.0 he sells for 130. I know it's a bit high budget-wise but these newer models have thicker spines and are well made too. I bought one of the black acrylics Chuck had when they dropped but I want to keep it otherwise I'd sell it to you. A 9 inch is more of the average length for a "greaser" knife I would think, not too long and still very much the statement. Beltrame is the way to go if the intention is a special occasion gift but not necessarily a silver anniversary level switchblade!

Good luck with the hunt.

Scott

[Jay Blade]

Yeah, it's been years (About 38-40) since I read the book. In the Movie itself, Two-bit breaks a bottle on the fence, passes it to Pony-Boy and Two-bit flips open a Butterfly knife. If he used a switchblade in the book then I'm guessing they described it to be a Black handled Italian version?