The FOLDING KNIFE by Tyr Neilsen

There is a type of knife that Norwegian knife expert Bjørn Ingebrigtsen has with him all the time. At work, at play, and sitting up in the hills overlooking the Drammen fjord, having a cup of coffee and talking about knives.

“This is a tool I really appreciate,” Bjørn explains as he reaches to his belt, and with a quick movement produces a steel blade from a knife handle held firmly in his hand. “This folding knife takes up little space and can often do the work of a much bigger knife.”

 Bjørn slowly pushed the blade back into its handle. “It’s called the folding knife because the blade isn’t fixed,” he explained as he opened the knife slowly. “The blade is held in place within the handle in such a way that it can be released and used pretty much as you would use a fixed blade knife.” Bjørn deftly replaced the blade then ‘flicked’ it open with impressive speed. “The most basic design allows a pivoted blade to simply fold out of the handle, but there are many variations that use a backspring, slipjoint or blade locking mechanism.”

 “In English the folding knife is sometimes referred to as pocket knife, jack-knife or pen-knife,” Bjørn grinned, “but in Norwegian we call it a Foldekniv, which literally means folding knife.” The folding knife is not a new tool in Norway, there have been many folding knives found here dating back to the Viking Age. Some Viking knives had friction binders, but most of them used a closure to keep the blade open. Some were plain and basic, others had fine blades and wonderfully carved handles.

The earliest form of folding knife dates back to at least the early Iron Age. Folding knives have been found in Spain that date back to the pre-Roman era, and a folding knife with a bone handle was found in Austria that dates back to around 600–500 BC. Folding knives were popular but expensive and not widely distributed until around the year 1650, when they were produced by cutlery companies in Sheffield, England. By the year 1700 there was large-scale production of folding knives with names like Fuller's Penny Knife and the Wharncliffe Knife.

A: FOLDING KNIFE FROM AROUND 600-500 BC. B: VIKING AGE FOLDING KNIFE. C: EUROPEAN FOLDING KNIFE FROM AROUND 1600. D: INEXPENSIVE ENGLISH “PENNY KNIFE” FROM 1650 TO 1700,

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the low cost of making small folding knives made it a favorite of working men in Europe and the Americas. By the end of the 20th century, custom folding knives became extremely popular with hunters, sportsmen and military personell, and the designs and quality continue to improve in every way this century.

“Modern folding knives are often called one-handed folders, meaning you unfold the blade with one hand,” Bjørn says as he opens and closes his knife in an easy motion with one hand, “and they have blade locks that prevent the blade from folding into the handle during work.” Bjørn repeats the opening and closing technique several times at different angles. “The quality of folding knives has become very good in recent years, and now you get a lot of design and steel qualities to choose from.”

 The knife Bjørn has been demonstrating is the Ontario RAT-2, made by Jeff Randal from Randall's Adventure & Training. The blade length is 2.9 inches (7.4 cm), the handle is 4 inches (10.2 cm), and the overall length when opened is 7 inches (17.9 cm), with a total weight of 2.8 oz (80 gram).

“Folding knives have continually been a really popular item ever since I began in the business,” Bjørn says as he hands me the knife. “The Ontario is beautiful and light, and the versatile and solid AUS-8 steel blade holds its edge well. It’s my favorite folding knife right now.” When I held the knife, I understood why.

A regular folding knife is close to the same size as a basic single edge Viking knife, that was used as an everyday utility tool by men, women and children in Viking Age Scandinavia. It is possible to buy a small Viking knife or a Viking folding knife from a professional knife specialist or at a Viking market, but these can be difficult to obtain. If you want a small knife or folding knife, the Ontario is a pretty good option.

Bjørn Ingebrigtsen is the owner of Gammelt og Nytt (Old and New), Norway’s foremost knife specialist store. For many years Bjørn had his own weekly article called Ukens Knivskarpe (Sharp Knives of the Weeek) in the extremely popular Norwegian magazine Vi Menn (We Men).

link to Gammelt og Nytt’s website Folding Knife page: https://gn.no/liste-kniver-utstyr-foldekniver?page=3