Manual Labor

[HLangston]

While working on my collection of 16cm switchblades, I was compelled to pick up a half-dozen 16cm manual openers because... 16cm.

Half of them ended up in a junk drawer in the basement because of their crappy condition. One of them, a ROMO, must have spent a decade at the bottom of a septic tank... which is a shame because it has a real interesting and unusual blade lock.

I picked up a few 14cm and 18cm knives since they are cousins to the 16cm (those are the kind of excuses I make to myself) and then picked up some larger sizes with no excuses whatsoever.

The thing about all these knives is that they generally cost $20-$30 each on eBay, even the Black Beauty and the Coricama. I bought a set of three humpbacks on SharperDeal and they were closer to $50 each, but that's still a good price for a humpback, even a manual one.

So here's eight of the fifteen manual stilettos I've collected. From left to right:

14cm Manual Lockback, False Button
MADE IN ITALY

16cm Manual Picklock
MADE ITALY

18cm Manual Picklock
BLACK BEAUTY
MADE IN ITALY

18cm Manual Lockback, False Button
MADE IN
ITALY

20cm Manual Lockback
CORICAMA
INOXID
MADE IN ITALY

20cm Manual Lockback
G.C.CO.
M.ITALY

20cm Manual Humpback
ALAMO
ITALY
(verso) PATENT 77431

23cm Manual Humpback
INTER
ITALY
(verso) PATENT 77431

http://www.greatanswers.com/personal/Manual_01.jpg

http://www.greatanswers.com/personal/Manual_02.jpg

http://www.greatanswers.com/personal/Manual_03.jpg

[JulesVane]

Gee, the rest of the collecting world must have been sleeping while the knife God’s granted you that Black Beauty! What a great find! Congratulations!

[portlandmike]

Gee, the rest of the collecting world must have been sleeping while the knife God’s granted you that Black Beauty! What a great find! Congratulations!

[HLangston]

I've actually come to enjoy collecting these manual openers as much as my switchblades.

The thing about these knives is that they are guaranteed to open every single time. No idle seconds lost... no messy buttons... no broken springs.

And they certainly come in handy in desperate hunting and fishing emergencies.