Pocket Knives

[CRMichaelis]

I have a commemorative "Hindenburg" German pocket knife from 1917 but am curious about what the average soldier carried. I've seen references to "Cat" knives from Mercator, and these are readily available from a variety of sources, but are they correct for WWI?

premiumknives.com/ShopSite/Mercator_Knife_K55K_Solingen_Germany_Menu.html

[oskar2ndchev]

Now I may not have all the facts here but the two WWI vintage Mercator CAT knives I've seem were made completely from metal versus the modern ones which have some sort of plastic/bakelite handle. The design appears to be the same however.

[Hoffmann]

The Mercator Kat knife made today is nearly identical to the ones made at the turn of the century. What you believe to be plastic is really metal with a heavy black enamel. This was how they were made 100 years ago - the paint wear's off and most surviving examples have none at all.

I bought a couple of these:

www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=104165

These at Garrett Wade are the best since they do not have the modern logo stamped into them like the one posted earlier:

premiumknives.com/ShopSite/Mercator_Knife_K55K_Solingen_Germany_Menu.html

The jumping cat is deeply stamped into the metal with gold paint filling the groove, so it won't come off with the paint and won't easily grind off either.

The one I have been carrying to reenactments has almost no paint left and really looks like the beat up originals I have seen.

Randall

[oskar2ndchev]

I'll have to check my Mercator knife- I've always thought the black part was bakelite/plastic. Hmmm....

[CRMichaelis]

Thanks for the replies.

Randall, you confirmed what I remember reading about these on another forum. Garrett Wade it is!