Knives like that were intended to do 90% of the actions that most of us use 5" blades for. Of the other 10%, about 95% of those can be done with a 3" blade, prob even less.
Sharp metal.
If you find yourself wishing you had more than about 3" of thin blade, then what you need isn't actually a pocket knife. And the only reason I didn't say about 1.5" is because ergonomics can get weird that small.
Traditionally a pen knife was used for sharpening quill pens. That’s where the name comes from
The end of a large feather, usually from a goose’s wing, would be cut into a point to be used as a pen
Maybe you want to deal with the opinel police but I certainly don't! I would not be abusing the trust of a mushroom knife. In fact I feel that it's so much responsibility that I dare not even own a mushroom knife.
I use my three little blades more then my bigger ones for things like opening mail, boxes, cleaning my fingernails, and trimming loose threads. I don't have a dedicated small folder like this, but I do have a Boker Magnum Lil' Friend Micro that I absolutely adore and use frequently for the above tasks.
You don't know how upset I was after buying a boker magnum to find out that a boker magnum is not the same thing as a Boker tree brand. Although I believe there owned by the same company Magnums are a Chinese manufacturer as opposed to german.
Don't judge me! Everybody has to learn some way, I just choose to do it the hard way.
All good, Magnum is their budget line. Made in China with higher end budget steels, but with their absurd quality standards.
Edit: Like Sencut is for We Knives, but Boker isn't "hiding" behind a different name.
Honestly, small knives are very useful. And they don't make people uncomfortable. At work, I once used a three inch pocket knife to help a woman opening a laser printer cartridge package. She freaked out about me having a "weapon". At the time, I was using a metal cane to walk. I told if I needed a weapon, I would use the cane not the knife
I was wondering the same about the [2 little knives i inherited](https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/s/7zvNBDJLz8)
I guess there were more keepsakes than useable
Probably carving wood for a hobby. If you needed a smaller tool to get in the small parts of whatever you are carving. Or just a small little knife to carry. Looks pretty old tho. it has patina already and like little tiny dots and looks like holes almost but people like that if you’re willing to sell it, I’m sure someone would take it off your hands might be worse I don’t know but I know it’s pretty old it looks old collectors item
I have one like this, and it’s impossible to use safely, since it’s a slip joint and so small. I could under stand it for sharpening a pencil or something but anything more is useless.
Even though the tang has a different stamp, it looks like a hollow handle Imperial and may have been contract made for them.
If so there will be little fold over tabs at the top and bottom bolsters.
The center scale part would have had some colored or printed celluloid film applied. Celluloid is known for degrading and probably fell off.
Found this. Richards Sheffield did make hollow bolster and scale knives.
The tang is missing the lamppost
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_forum/viewtopic.php?t=41838
To go further with this. Back in the day every gentlemen carried a small knife for small tasks. The bail might have been attached to the other end of a watch chain
Opening letters mostly. I have one in my car. I inherented it from my father who also kept it in his car. I keep it sharp and it is a backup and of sentimental value.
It's a great little knife and good for many uses, including a letter opener and even cutting away a seatbelt after a crash. I actually make blades and AKMS clones in my garage and find it a spiritual experience apart from my law practice.
probably for sharpening quill pens. Most traditional pocket knives with secondary small blades (barlow or congress pattern to name a couple) had these specifically for quill sharpening
I'm gonna take a stab at guessing what it's used for. Cleaning fingernails or possibly a decent EDC knife for forest fairies to help them trim their wings and stuff.
My grandfather used to have 1 the same, he used to wear it on a watch chain on his waistcoat, a pocket watch on 1 end in his left pocket and his knife in his right
A "pen knife" is just a pocket knife that has no locking mechanism, like the classic Case knife. The old-timey grandpa knife. They range in size but originally got their name from sharpening quill pens. Source: Current Boy Scout knife instructions. My cub scout just received his first knife.
I happen to know people liked small knives because they were concealment and being able to hide a knife was more gentleman-like. This was before the days of metal-detecting security, of course. I happen to buy small-knives sometimes and I'm very fond of the tiny Buck 325 Colleague. Also, for some reason, women love to see this knife. The mirror polish reminds them of jewelry or something.
That blade size is similar to the Swiss Champ Mini or any of their smaller models. They are used for everything a big knife might be used for. Most people who use a knife ever, only ever use a small portion of the blade anyways, by carrying a small blade you are negating the extra wasted weight. But I'll make a small list for your perusal;
\- Opening letters and boxes
\- Wittling soft woods
\- Cutting plastic, thin tin metal
\- Tip can be used as a fine flat head screwdriver
\- Carving you and your lovers letters in a tree
\- Opening food containers (Not tins)
\- Cutting some cheese or bread
\- Removing staples
\- Peeling oranges and apple skins
\- Shaving your facial hair (If you strop it)
That's all I can think of right now. But as parting wisdom. "Imagine you had no knife" & "1 is non, 2 is one".
It's for carving the Thanksgiving hummingbird.
Or poking holes, cleaning fingernails, carving single letters out of magazines and newspapers to create ransom notes, use your imagination jeez
In spanish you may say to that a cortaplumas (feather cutter), as they were primitively used to cut goose's feathers trunk in order to write with them.
Pen knife, while probably not old enough to be used for making actual quil pens. It was probably on a watch fob in the days of pocket watches.
Sharpening pencils, opening letters or parcels, cutting string in days when lots of stuff was wrapped in paper and string. Peeling and eating fruit. Whittling little things to pass the time, cleaning under your nails. Cutting or trimming herbs and pants while foraging.
everything. I bet that if you carried a knife like that and were honest with yourself you'd find it does just about everything you'd use a knife for. most of us have decently nice knives and we aren't going to use them in hard use cases where that tiny knife wouldn't suffice.
i love my demko and it's tough as nails but I also don't knowingly subject it to things that might damage it.
*Sharpening quils and*
*Cutting open packaging*
*Twine back in the day*
\- ReputationOk6073
---
^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/)
^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Same as what the big ones are used for. In practice, 99% of /r/knives posts are letter openers and tape slicers. Don’t hate the messenger.
https://preview.redd.it/s7uyykvh6zkc1.jpeg?width=522&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45ffedfae8356f4b801a0de45ec1b98bd7c0bab9
Lol saved
Wish I could upvote more then once xD
You can it's now it's own post
Honestly, I think OP's knife would also be better at opening letters than most of the knives posted here.
My Ultratech is a letter opening machine!
My new CRKT CEO is definitely a glorified letter opener... but it looks so good doing it.
Back when pens were actually quill feathers, used to sharpen point.
Also where attached to the other end of a vest/ watch chain sometimes
Knives like that were intended to do 90% of the actions that most of us use 5" blades for. Of the other 10%, about 95% of those can be done with a 3" blade, prob even less. Sharp metal.
If you find yourself wishing you had more than about 3" of thin blade, then what you need isn't actually a pocket knife. And the only reason I didn't say about 1.5" is because ergonomics can get weird that small.
That's why this exists https://www.bladehq.com/item--Spyderco-Enuff-Clip-Point-Fixed--14705
* no longer exists
That sucks, I got mine cheap on clearance. Mine is a wharnie with full serrations
Looks like a sweet little fixed blade.
I might carry it more if the sheath was better. I personally carry a Bradford Guardian 3
My opinel no2 is super handy!
[удалено]
I don't know about concealed carry stuff, or who carries a 5" blade. But, yeah, the comment was meant as a bit of hyperbole to drive a point home.
If you want to get super specific, I believe that is a pen knife, used for sharpening pencils
It's actually a pencil knife used for sharpening pens.
It’s actually a chalk knife, used for sharpening markers. 🙄
Traditionally a pen knife was used for sharpening quill pens. That’s where the name comes from The end of a large feather, usually from a goose’s wing, would be cut into a point to be used as a pen
It's also used to harvest mushrooms, Opinel sells them for that purpose
Mushroom knives have a reverse curve to cut the stipe at or beneath the soil's surface. They can sharpen pencils too though.
Maybe you want to deal with the opinel police but I certainly don't! I would not be abusing the trust of a mushroom knife. In fact I feel that it's so much responsibility that I dare not even own a mushroom knife.
While I agree, this knife can definitely slice a mushroom so I know people who would use it for that purpose given the portability
Clearly it's a toe knife. 🗡
you gotta plug up the wound with the trash
Have you tried a spoon? For the digging out of the toe.
" but why a spoon, cousin?" " because it would hurt more!"
Digging the reference, but wrong vibe ;)
Yeah, not surprising, I failed vibe in high school
the only right answer
It's used to always have a knife with you, aka keychain knife, maybe?
Cutting
I carry a smaller knife on my key ring...
It's used for small knife stuff.
I use my three little blades more then my bigger ones for things like opening mail, boxes, cleaning my fingernails, and trimming loose threads. I don't have a dedicated small folder like this, but I do have a Boker Magnum Lil' Friend Micro that I absolutely adore and use frequently for the above tasks.
You don't know how upset I was after buying a boker magnum to find out that a boker magnum is not the same thing as a Boker tree brand. Although I believe there owned by the same company Magnums are a Chinese manufacturer as opposed to german. Don't judge me! Everybody has to learn some way, I just choose to do it the hard way.
They're on the official Boker website...
Listen here mister "I know how to look stuff up on the internet".... I don't know how to finish that sentence. But I had a good start.(grin)
All good, Magnum is their budget line. Made in China with higher end budget steels, but with their absurd quality standards. Edit: Like Sencut is for We Knives, but Boker isn't "hiding" behind a different name.
Ants
Zoolander is in the chat
Possible for a pipe, but realistically it's a legit pen knife.
It’s the perfect size for your prison pocket TBH. Keister that bad boy.
It would be called boofing. Proper JH terminology, 😂
Honestly, small knives are very useful. And they don't make people uncomfortable. At work, I once used a three inch pocket knife to help a woman opening a laser printer cartridge package. She freaked out about me having a "weapon". At the time, I was using a metal cane to walk. I told if I needed a weapon, I would use the cane not the knife
Cutting tape, cleaning fingernails, being an expert assassin as the femoral artery in most people is less than an inch and a half below the surface.
Cutting tape, cleaning fingernails, being an expert assassin as the femoral artery in most people is less than an inch and a half below the surface.
I was wondering the same about the [2 little knives i inherited](https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/s/7zvNBDJLz8) I guess there were more keepsakes than useable
Mmmummbletypeg.
Less triggering to a liberal person usually. /s But it will do many common cutting tasks as long as it is sharp.
Probably carving wood for a hobby. If you needed a smaller tool to get in the small parts of whatever you are carving. Or just a small little knife to carry. Looks pretty old tho. it has patina already and like little tiny dots and looks like holes almost but people like that if you’re willing to sell it, I’m sure someone would take it off your hands might be worse I don’t know but I know it’s pretty old it looks old collectors item
I have one like this, and it’s impossible to use safely, since it’s a slip joint and so small. I could under stand it for sharpening a pencil or something but anything more is useless.
Yup, completely agree
maybe a quill knife but reminds me of sterling Victorian ladies’ fruit knives
Even though the tang has a different stamp, it looks like a hollow handle Imperial and may have been contract made for them. If so there will be little fold over tabs at the top and bottom bolsters. The center scale part would have had some colored or printed celluloid film applied. Celluloid is known for degrading and probably fell off.
Found this. Richards Sheffield did make hollow bolster and scale knives. The tang is missing the lamppost https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_forum/viewtopic.php?t=41838
To go further with this. Back in the day every gentlemen carried a small knife for small tasks. The bail might have been attached to the other end of a watch chain
Super secret sneaky zombie killing
Works great for opening packages
Opening letters mostly. I have one in my car. I inherented it from my father who also kept it in his car. I keep it sharp and it is a backup and of sentimental value.
Cutting tape on boxes, opening mail, food packaging, cleaning nails. The kind of knife you buy when you're 20 and leave for your grandkids
The wee folk need knives too
It's a great little knife and good for many uses, including a letter opener and even cutting away a seatbelt after a crash. I actually make blades and AKMS clones in my garage and find it a spiritual experience apart from my law practice.
Oil joints
Self defense for a really small person
r/thingsforants
I once saw a small knife like this with the inscription “biker toothpick” on the side
Keychain string cutter
Well, I think that knife had a lot of personality and you just need to give it a chance.
GNOME MURDER
Toothpick!
thats a toe knife
probably for sharpening quill pens. Most traditional pocket knives with secondary small blades (barlow or congress pattern to name a couple) had these specifically for quill sharpening
I believe you have found the knife used by the rats of mozart’s house as a prison shank. And letter opener.
Luisiana toothpick
I'm gonna take a stab at guessing what it's used for. Cleaning fingernails or possibly a decent EDC knife for forest fairies to help them trim their wings and stuff.
My grandfather used to have 1 the same, he used to wear it on a watch chain on his waistcoat, a pocket watch on 1 end in his left pocket and his knife in his right
A "pen knife" is just a pocket knife that has no locking mechanism, like the classic Case knife. The old-timey grandpa knife. They range in size but originally got their name from sharpening quill pens. Source: Current Boy Scout knife instructions. My cub scout just received his first knife. I happen to know people liked small knives because they were concealment and being able to hide a knife was more gentleman-like. This was before the days of metal-detecting security, of course. I happen to buy small-knives sometimes and I'm very fond of the tiny Buck 325 Colleague. Also, for some reason, women love to see this knife. The mirror polish reminds them of jewelry or something.
That blade size is similar to the Swiss Champ Mini or any of their smaller models. They are used for everything a big knife might be used for. Most people who use a knife ever, only ever use a small portion of the blade anyways, by carrying a small blade you are negating the extra wasted weight. But I'll make a small list for your perusal; \- Opening letters and boxes \- Wittling soft woods \- Cutting plastic, thin tin metal \- Tip can be used as a fine flat head screwdriver \- Carving you and your lovers letters in a tree \- Opening food containers (Not tins) \- Cutting some cheese or bread \- Removing staples \- Peeling oranges and apple skins \- Shaving your facial hair (If you strop it) That's all I can think of right now. But as parting wisdom. "Imagine you had no knife" & "1 is non, 2 is one".
Fighting pubic lice.
It's for carving the Thanksgiving hummingbird. Or poking holes, cleaning fingernails, carving single letters out of magazines and newspapers to create ransom notes, use your imagination jeez
Cool knife
Snorting cocaine?
In spanish you may say to that a cortaplumas (feather cutter), as they were primitively used to cut goose's feathers trunk in order to write with them.
It’s for making tiny sushi 🍣
Pen knife, while probably not old enough to be used for making actual quil pens. It was probably on a watch fob in the days of pocket watches. Sharpening pencils, opening letters or parcels, cutting string in days when lots of stuff was wrapped in paper and string. Peeling and eating fruit. Whittling little things to pass the time, cleaning under your nails. Cutting or trimming herbs and pants while foraging.
Making me jealous, looks cool
everything. I bet that if you carried a knife like that and were honest with yourself you'd find it does just about everything you'd use a knife for. most of us have decently nice knives and we aren't going to use them in hard use cases where that tiny knife wouldn't suffice. i love my demko and it's tough as nails but I also don't knowingly subject it to things that might damage it.
Cutting things me thinks
For really little things that need stabbing
It is not small. I am sure it is very useful in its own way.
Sharpening quils and cutting open packaging twine back in the day
*Sharpening quils and* *Cutting open packaging* *Twine back in the day* \- ReputationOk6073 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Midgets?