Did Mr Mears really design the Wilkinson swords survival knife

[CLEM]

Iam far from the expert on knives and such,ive only got a couple of Mora issue army knives myself and they will do me for now at least or i may even buy another and another when i eventually need one.However i do fancy one of those Falkniven f1 jobbies,very nice in my opinion.
Anyway am i right that ive read that Mr Mears designed the Wilkinson Swords survival knife? i am sure i read this somewhere.If so his thinking on knives has really changed and evolved over the years from the looks of things.As he says himself he is allways learning,i guess thats what bushcraft is all about really.

 

[bloodline]

I used a Wilkingson sword mod survival knife over 25 years ago and that is the same model you can still buy my mate still has the actual knife so i dont think he did

 

[leon-1]

Iam far from the expert on knives and such,ive only got a couple of Mora issue army knives myself and they will do me for now at least or i may even buy another and another when i eventually need one.However i do fancy one of those Falkniven f1 jobbies,very nice in my opinion.
Anyway am i right that ive read that Mr Mears designed the Wilkinson Swords survival knife? i am sure i read this somewhere.If so his thinking on knives has really changed and evolved over the years from the looks of things.As he says himself he is allways learning,i guess thats what bushcraft is all about really.

The Fallknivens are excellent knives true work horses and they don't rust to bits in five minutes like some of the high carbon steels.

If you mean the Wilkinson Sword Dartmoor (which was once termed as the Wilkinson Sword Survival Knife) yes, didn't bode well for future projects did it

 

[leon-1]

I used a Wilkingson sword mod survival knife over 25 years ago and that is the same model you can still buy my mate still has the actual knife so i dont think he did

Hi bloodline I have one of those and the current issue MOD survival knife, but wouldn't touch the dartmoor.

 

[CLEM]

Yes the Dartmore is the one i ment,did Mr Mears really design that? I guess it was designed in the 80s as it was the fashion and current thinking for giant rambo style knives at that time.

 

[Stuart]

Iam far from the expert on knives and such,ive only got a couple of Mora issue army knives myself and they will do me for now at least or i may even buy another and another when i eventually need one.However i do fancy one of those Falkniven f1 jobbies,very nice in my opinion.
Anyway am i right that ive read that Mr Mears designed the Wilkinson Swords survival knife? i am sure i read this somewhere.If so his thinking on knives has really changed and evolved over the years from the looks of things.As he says himself he is allways learning,i guess thats what bushcraft is all about really.

the answer to this is yes he did

on page 15 of the survival handbook by raymond mears published in 1990 there is a picture of the wilkison sword survival knife, beneath the picture it reads

"The wilkinson sword survival knife, designed by the author to combine the ideals of a woodsman's knife with the requirements of an expeditioner."

it is very possible that rays thinking on such a design may have changed since 1990, I work in design and there are a number of things which I designed many years ago which make me cringe now

 

[CLEM]

the answer to this is yes he did

on page 15 of the survival handbook by raymond mears published in 1990 there is a picture of the wilkison sword survival knife, beneath the picture it reads

"The wilkinson sword survival knife, designed by the author to combine the ideals of a woodsman's knife with the requirements of an expeditioner."

it is very possible that rays thinking on such a design may have changed since 1990, I work in design and there are a number of things which I designed many years ago which make me cringe now

I guess you have to think that you designed those things during that time and that time was then and this is now if you understand me,so you shouldent cringe too much really Stuart,same for Mr Ray Mears too i guess.

 

[Ryan Woods]

From what I read, the latest Dartmoor surival knife was designed with the help of royal marines. However, I have not heard anyone talk about the knife with a love for it.

 

[Andy]

If it had a micarta handle rather then the hollow thing it would be better IMO. It is better then the MOD issue knife but they do cost a lot.

 

[Spacemonkey]

The Wilkinson Sword knife was featured in Combat and Survival monthly issue 1 I think back in 1987!! I'll check tomorrow as I have it at work...

 

[Jjv110]

I've always thought that the Wilkinson Sword survival knife was designed with the influence of "Lofty" Wiseman. I hadn't even heard about Ray Mears when those knives first became known to me when I was still at school. But if I'm mistaken, then so be it.


I remember saying that I would definitely buy one of those knives when I had enough money, but today, I don't want one anymore! They were advertised in the old Survival Aids catalogue(now Penrith Survival I think).

The "Dartmoor" is different due to the bigger saw teeth on the back of the blade.

Julian.

 

[AUSSIE]

Even an Aussie from way downunder can tell you that John Wiseman was most involved and he collaborated a lot in the design of the original Wilkinson Sword Survival knife!

Ray Mears????? I don't know about that!

 

[JonathanD]

I quite like the old Wilkie Survival knife over the re-edition Dartmoor, much more macho lines and sleeker blade, reminds me of those years during the summer hols when I'd dream about owning one whilst trying to work out how to stop the blade on my £5.99 hollow handle Rambo knife from wobbling

Ray Mears original Survival Handbook does attribute the design to him, Lofty Wiseman was prolific at the time, but I can't remember a firm connection with him and the design. My old SWAT and C&S magazines have no mention of either gentlemen being connected to the design.

 

[Graham_S]

"lofty" wiseman designed his own survival knife at around the same time although it was more of a parang than a knife.

lofty wiseman survival knife

 

[Neil1]

Lofty designed the "Oakwood Survival Knife" which was a Parang in modern materials.
Ray Mears designed what is now called the Dartmoor Survival Knife, which when originally advertised by Survival Aids was described as being designed by "legendary outdoorsman Ray Mears" which Ihave always found curiuos as he wasabout the same age as me ,19 at the time..
Not long after this BBC2 screened a programme about a young man who worked in the city who had become a master of native techniques, the show included several apeareneces by Lofty.
At about the same time C&S magazine ran an advert for Woodlore and next to it was an advert for a book called Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski (published by Lone Pine) and later re-pubished as Northern Bushcraft.
Not long after this the Survival Handbook was published, which flopped in a big way, two years later it could be bought for £1 in most bargain bookstores.
After that came Operation Raliegh and then the "Tracks" magazine on BBC2, the rest is history.
Neil

 

[raiderrescuer]

In the book "Survival" edited by Len Cacutt (ISBN 1-55521-239-5 Chartwell Books) which was published in 1988 has quite a few pictures of the knife along with articles about how to use and choose "survival knives".

fwiw I have articles from the British Magazine "Outdoors Illustrated" 1993 era that featured Ray Mears quite often and in the article "Constant Companion" on knives he mentions the Woodlore & Mora and even a Parang but no mention of the Wilkinson.

 

[zackerty]

look here...

http://www.wilkinson-swords.co.uk/knives/

 

[zackerty]

http://www.armedforces-int.com/article.asp?pubID=15&catID=338&artID=541

 

[Stuart]

the wilkinson sword dartmoor survival knife (links to which are above) is a new version of the original wilkinson sword survival knife, I dont think Ray had any input into the new version.

I cant find a photograph of the original version on the web otherwise i would show a side by side comparison of the original designed by ray mears and the new dartmoor, it can be difficult to tell them apart at first glance

 

[Ryan Woods]

Ok hands up, who would buy it andd why? Or why not? To me it looks attractive but because no-one spoke positively about the last one I just would not buy it.