way back when!!!!!!

**httking** · 06-02-2007, 02:58 PM

I'm in hopes that someone out there will remember a knife from the early 80's. It was sold as a PETER KILKA LIFE KNIFE. They cost about $60 at the time which was a few years before the marto brewer explora was popular. It had a hollow aluminum handle with 2 caps, onewas solid brass the other was a compass cap. does anyone remember this knife or better yet know where I could buy one. thanks for the help

**marberry** · 07-01-2007, 08:11 PM

nvr buy a hollow handel hunting/survival knife. they break. i made the mistake of buying one a few years ago...

**Fog_Harbor** · 07-29-2007, 09:21 PM

Yeah, I know what your referring to httking, and marcraft is right - never buy a hollow handled knife. They look handy, but in a survival situation, if that knife breaks it will do so at the handle, leaving you with a blade.

**Sarge47** · 07-29-2007, 10:46 PM

There are waaay too many problems with a "hollow-handled" knife. They're made for "hollow-headed" people. Sylvester Stallone introduced them in the Rambo films. It was Hollywood's way of making folks think that a guy with the first name of "Sylvester" could be cool.

There are several serious problems with these knives. 1st is the obvious, a knife is only as strong as it's weakest point. That's exactly the reason I carry both a folder AND a fixed blade as they each have a different purpose. The folders weak area is the pin on which it pivots. The "Rambo-type" knife's weakness is the hollow handle itself. You want a knife that is one solid piece of steel from point to butt. the part of the steel that makes up the handle is called the "tang". that is the part that is missing in the hollow-handled knife.

It has been sacrificed so that survival items can be placed inside and a little bitty compass can be placed on the butt-end, completely negating the butt's use as a hammer. Furthermore, placing your trust in a survival kit carried in the handle of your knife is foolish as if you lose your knife you lose your survival kit. Also a compass' reliability can be comprimised if it's too close to steel. The 2nd dumbest scene in Rambo was where he was moving swiftly through the jungle, knife out, blade pointed directly downward towards his groin area while he read his compass.

(The 1st dumbest scene was where in one of the films he buried himself inside a clay bank to take out a bad guy. Lucky the sun didn't come out and bake him inside the bank, huh?) I will always carry a top quality "full-tang" knife and keep my survival gear and compass well away from it.

**trax** · 07-30-2007, 01:04 PM

In the entire Rambo series, thank you for delineating them for us Sarge! But hey, that's Hollywood! First thing any knife I'm going to own has to have is a full tang, period.

**Strider** · 07-30-2007, 03:21 PM

I've seen the knives all over the place for camping... a compass on the handle, matches, sewing kit, and a little extra space... they probly will just break... i like a good sheath knife made from solid steel handles... or something like it.

**Sarge47** · 07-30-2007, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by Strider

I've seen the knives all over the place for camping... a compass on the handle, matches, sewing kit, and a little extra space... they probly will just break... i like a good sheath knife made from solid steel handles... or something like it.

Not to mention the one they're trying to sell on the home page of this survival site.

**zadig39** · 07-30-2007, 06:36 PM

Chris Reeves makes a hollow handled knife that is forged from one piece of steel. Blade, hilt, handle all one piece. Looks pretty solid, and pricey. Cold Steel also sells the "bushman" all one piece, and cheap. Gets good reviews, but haven't tried it myself.

**HOP** · 08-03-2007, 07:08 AM

Assuming that a knife with a hollow handle is strong enough to which I think that Cris Reeves knives are what real practical use is such a tiny space in the handle. I saw a post on another thread about taking the handle off a Becker and hollowing it out again small space.

**lastboyscout** · 06-10-2008, 02:59 AM

Originally Posted by zadig39

Chris Reeves makes a hollow handled knife that is forged from one piece of steel. Blade, hilt, handle all one piece. Looks pretty solid, and pricey. Cold Steel also sells the "bushman" all one piece, and cheap. Gets good reviews, but haven't tried it myself.

He is correct the problem with other survival knives is the conection of the blade and handle. Randall made them in the past and they were expensive and still not that strong. I have a Reeves and several Cold Steel bushman. they are both great but the Reeves is costly and the Cold Steel is so inexpensive that I do not hesitate to use it.

**Sourdough** · 06-10-2008, 08:19 AM

I have three Chris Reeves knives. I only use the rhinoceros, as the other two are investments. You might brake the blade if you put it in a vise and hammered it, but it would not be near the handle, as that is solid bar stock.

**Ole WV Coot** · 06-10-2008, 10:20 AM

Chris Reeves knifes are a different animal. Turned from bar stock they won't break but the hollow handle is a waste. For a collector a good buy, too expensive to use or lose IMO. Those first knives mentioned were a piece of junk and if the compass did work you didn't have to worry about steel unless you held the thing near some.