Bravo1-3
07-30-2005, 22:18
WARNING Mr. Harsey, Ms. Frontsight, and any of the other blade makers viewing this thread: This is nothing approximating a "real" knife. You may find the quality of the build to be disturbing. View the attached photos at your own discretion. I am not responsible for any adverse side effects like laughter induced suffocation, coffee flying out of the nose, nausia, etc... You have been warned! :D
If there is such a thing as a Phillipino Leatherman, this is it. Anyone who has ever been to PI has at least seen one of these. This blade is all purpose, and despite being little more than a well made prison shiv constructed from a 1/2 piece if steel water pipe, it has traveled everywhere I have traveled in uniform. I paid $5 for it in 1988 one night out drinking in Olongapo. You can hammer nails with it, AND still slice a tomato! If it rusts, sand it clean. If it bends, beat it with a rock. If it gets dull, break out a medium grit file or find a flat rock.
It's been used to help some of the indigs outside of our main gate rebuild their homes after a typhoon, slaugther and butcher some pigs and goats, open countless ammo crates, cut and drive dozens of tent spikes, "liberate" pineapples outside of Kahuku and Kole Kole Pass, "filet" one Blue Tip Shark caught with 550 cord a laundry pin and some rotten chicken, and hold at least one Philipino wanna-be second story man who picked the wrong barracks to break into at bay. I even took it to Saudi Arabia with me in 1990. In short, there are a lot of memories attached to this cheap piece junk.
I loaned it to a good friend who was on his way to Panama for a few months in 1994, and that was the last I'd seen of it, until today. A few of us got together yesterday, and it was returned to me with a "new" (read "not the one I loaned him", not "just off the shelf") sheath.
I sanded off the surface rust, and here it is, ready to go to work. I had forgotten how Redneck these things really are. The blade is made of steel water pipe that has been cut in half down the long axis. It's hammered flat with a sledge, then hacksawed and blow torched into rough shape. The rest is hammering and grinding. The guard is made of melted shell casings, and is shaped with a hammer and grinding wheel. The handle is made of water buffalo horn, what we used to call "I hate the white man cows".
Unfortuantely, this thing is only an asset when it can be replaced easily, for little cost. Since I don't frequent the PI anymore, and couldn't reasonably expect to get another one, It's service life is over. Tomorrow it goes on my "I love me" wall underneath my NCO Saber and Smokey Bear.
The 3rd photo shows just how low grade these things are. That's a spot where the grain of the metal was so thick that it just cracked. I pulled out the splinter with a pair or needle nose pliers, filed it off, and charlie miked.
If there is such a thing as a Phillipino Leatherman, this is it. Anyone who has ever been to PI has at least seen one of these. This blade is all purpose, and despite being little more than a well made prison shiv constructed from a 1/2 piece if steel water pipe, it has traveled everywhere I have traveled in uniform. I paid $5 for it in 1988 one night out drinking in Olongapo. You can hammer nails with it, AND still slice a tomato! If it rusts, sand it clean. If it bends, beat it with a rock. If it gets dull, break out a medium grit file or find a flat rock.
It's been used to help some of the indigs outside of our main gate rebuild their homes after a typhoon, slaugther and butcher some pigs and goats, open countless ammo crates, cut and drive dozens of tent spikes, "liberate" pineapples outside of Kahuku and Kole Kole Pass, "filet" one Blue Tip Shark caught with 550 cord a laundry pin and some rotten chicken, and hold at least one Philipino wanna-be second story man who picked the wrong barracks to break into at bay. I even took it to Saudi Arabia with me in 1990. In short, there are a lot of memories attached to this cheap piece junk.
I loaned it to a good friend who was on his way to Panama for a few months in 1994, and that was the last I'd seen of it, until today. A few of us got together yesterday, and it was returned to me with a "new" (read "not the one I loaned him", not "just off the shelf") sheath.
I sanded off the surface rust, and here it is, ready to go to work. I had forgotten how Redneck these things really are. The blade is made of steel water pipe that has been cut in half down the long axis. It's hammered flat with a sledge, then hacksawed and blow torched into rough shape. The rest is hammering and grinding. The guard is made of melted shell casings, and is shaped with a hammer and grinding wheel. The handle is made of water buffalo horn, what we used to call "I hate the white man cows".
Unfortuantely, this thing is only an asset when it can be replaced easily, for little cost. Since I don't frequent the PI anymore, and couldn't reasonably expect to get another one, It's service life is over. Tomorrow it goes on my "I love me" wall underneath my NCO Saber and Smokey Bear.
The 3rd photo shows just how low grade these things are. That's a spot where the grain of the metal was so thick that it just cracked. I pulled out the splinter with a pair or needle nose pliers, filed it off, and charlie miked.