Ray Mears Knife Patent

[Sickboy]

Is this what everybodys talking about, can't for the life of me get the lank at the beginning of the thread to work!?
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Wilkinson-DARTMO...goryZ475QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem , just the blade so handle must have fallen off

 

[John Fenna]

Nah... that is the revised vertion without the huge number of gewgaws attached......

 

[spamel]

Can't believe they got rid of the bottle opener! Probably the most important thing on a survival knife, we've all heard of the beer bottle tree, haven't we?

 

[FGYT]

Can't believe they got rid of the bottle opener! Probably the most important thing on a survival knife, we've all heard of the beer bottle tree, haven't we?

lol read the patent it can be used to open Bottles but is actually for stripping bark of twigs

Forward of the saw teeth, the back edge of the blade is formed with a round-ended slot 1 Oc. This can be used as a crown cork remover but more particularly is useful in stripping bark from twigs as the twigs are pulled through the slot in a direction perpendicular to the flat sides of the blade. The strips of bark so formed can be plaited to form rope.

 

[spamel]

The saw back blade can be used to comb your hair, but more particularly is useful for sawing wood!



Stripping bark, me ar$e! It's a bottle opener!

 

[Dunelm]

Unless I'm very much mistaken this patent shows a knife invented by the man himself. Doesn't look anything like the Woodlore knife but makes an interesting read nonetheless..

http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=GB2171628&F=0&QPN=GB2171628

I can remember lusting after one of these, and the Puma White Hunter, as a kid. I also hid my copies of "Survival Weaponry And Techniques" between the bed and the mattras. What a difference 20 years makes...

 

[Moff8]

if you removed the 80's fashion of hollow handle and saw back I don't think it looks that bad. Similar to an HI kukri model (pen knife ?) and the TOPS tracker.

A bottle opener on a big knife though = not a good idea.

 

[ArkAngel]

I can remember lusting after one of these, and the Puma White Hunter, as a kid. I also hid my copies of "Survival Weaponry And Techniques" between the bed and the mattras. What a difference 20 years makes...

and i bet you had a "Survival Aids" catalogue as well

 

[nickg]

I have owned one of these knives since the late eighties. When bought from new there was an extensive explanation of the intended use of all the features of the knife. When you go through these a lot of the knife starts to make sense.
The bolster has an inverted taper both sides so that when lashed to a split in the end on a pole a thrusting impact would not force the knife back down the pole. It was a similar weight & balance to a light kukri which many jungle warfare instructors in the army today choose to carry for its ability to double as a small axe. the handle is shaped to allow two grip positions for swinging and cutting as well as an advanced position with the forefinger in the choil for finer control. The handle was the only one around at the time that contained a firesteel (relatively unknown at the time).
These are just a few of the points of thought that Ray put into the design of the knife, and remember that WS wanted a 'survival' knife not a bushcraft knife. No it wasnt perfect for our uses - but NO knife is perfect for us - but it ticked all the boxes that WS asked it to - and added a few they hadnt asked for as well.
In fact in my opinion the only REALLY bad thing about the knife was the sheath - which really was fugly.

Cheers
Nick


PS
The comment about a bottle opener on a knife I must disagree with. I often seem to find myself popping a crown cork with the back of my blade - this generally being the first utensil to hand - and to the detriment of the blade. The Israeli Galiel machine gun actually had a bottle & can opener built into the bipod 'to prevent other parts of the weapon bieng used for this purpose'

 

[rancid badger]

Yes, an unbelievable amount over the years thank you very much.

I rather agree with the above statement.

As I say not any kind of groupie, not even a fan but no one on this site or elsewhere, who now talks about "bushcraft", can deny Ray Mears, credit for promoting the subject and bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the public domain, never mind inspiring millions of people to get off their fat axxxs and actually do something constructive with themselves.

bad h2o!

Oh by the way, I owned one of these W.S. survival knives, I was actually given it by a mate of mine as a thank you for some work I did for him. Anyway it was already secondhand when he acquired it and he carried it when ever we were on exercise or training and the only time I recall it being used was to hammer the nails for trip flare kits on trees and such like!
It really was a load of poo, I tried to use it but it was simply far too heavy to use as a knife and too awkward to use as a hatchet etc. the blade was way too thick as well. Any way I sold it to another mate for £125 about 11 years ago now and don't miss it at all!

Never actually thought I would find myself sticking up for Mr. Mears but there you go.

sincerely
R. B.

 

[william#]

I rather agree with the above statement.

As I say not any kind of groupie, not even a fan but no one on this site or elsewhere, who now talks about "bushcraft", can deny Ray Mears, credit for promoting the subject and bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the public domain, never mind inspiring millions of people to get off their fat axxxs and actually do something constructive with themselves.

bad h2o!

Oh by the way, I owned one of these W.S. survival knives, I was actually given it by a mate of mine as a thank you for some work I did for him. Anyway it was already secondhand when he acquired it and he carried it when ever we were on exercise or training and the only time I recall it being used was to hammer the nails for trip flare kits on trees and such like!
It really was a load of poo, I tried to use it but it was simply far too heavy to use as a knife and too awkward to use as a hatchet etc. the blade was way too thick as well. Any way I sold it to another mate for £125 about 11 years ago now and don't miss it at all!

Never actually thought I would find myself sticking up for Mr. Mears but there you go.

sincerely
R. B.

you know its considered bad luck to give or recieve a knife you are apparentlty meant to give something for it

 

[Timinwales]

I remember really wanting one of these (WS Dartmoor), how things change I have never owned one so cannot really go overboard one way or an other, these days though I'm not sure what was so attractive about it in the first place.
All I can think is I was living under the impression that it was a 'one knife does all' solution how wrong was I?.
Anyhow I stuck with what I had MOD survival knife, and a small issue folder seperate FA kit, and in the best traditions of the British military a baccy tin full of odds and ends including one those really good tin openers we used to get in our rat packs (when every thing came in tins).
Cheers Tim

 

[rancid badger]

you know its considered bad luck to give or recieve a knife you are apparentlty meant to give something for it

When I say "given" it was most definitely paid for- I would call it barter in fact! however, even back then we knew all about a silver coin in exchange for a blade " lest the blade sever a friendship" or some such cods.
I forked out a full 50p for the damn thing!
Oh and I insisted on a quids worth of silver when I got rid of it!
I'm not the least bit stupidstishus me.

regards
R.B.

 

[chuckle]

Wow survival aids catalogue that brings back memories,stay alive with Eddie Mcgee on the telly and the book which i still have tho the pages are orange now.Seriously tho Ray needs a slap for bringing that monstrosity into the world.

 

[spamel]

OK, last night I met Ray, and I asked him about the knife. Ed was there aswell, but we are sworn to secrecy, but suffice it to say that one day you will read about it and Ray will include the photos of the knife that he actually developed, not that beast up there!

 

[JohnC]

That sounds intriguing!

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

Most of the stuff I know I learnt from Ray Mears!

 

[sandbender]

Here is a blog entry from Ray's former chief instructor Paul Kirtley where he takes said knife out for a try.

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/dartmoor-survival-knife/

 

[backpacker]

Most of the stuff I know I learnt from Ray Mears!

I learnt quite a bit from Ray Mears but John 'Lofty' Wiseman was where it all started for me as he was/is the Forces Favourite, when I was in the TA most of the infomation came from 'Lofty Wisemans' Training Manual.

Now I have a collection of various books and manuals on survival by different authors and surprisingly not all the advice is the same.

 

[presterjohn]

I have learned loads from Ray. As a child Lofty was the only survival bloke I had heard of and I followed his work this was long before the term bushcraft was ever used. Back in those days it was all about survival tins and lusting after knives I could not afford. I seem to remember being very partial to the idea of a Buck 119 which seemed ludicrously expensive to me though at the time I did have a poor quality Rambo sized knife that was pre Rambo and had no hollow handle though (I still have it somewhere). Ray Mears changed my perspective on Survival and the ideology he had was for me a far more healthy outlook to the outdoors and enjoying the lost skills of the past.