A knife is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools. Originally made of wood, bone, and stone, over the centuries, in step with improvements in both metallurgy and manufacturing, knife blades have been made from copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, and titanium. Most modern knives have either fixed or folding blades; blade patterns and styles vary by maker and country of origin.
The Swiss Army knife is a pocketknife, generally multi-tooled, now manufactured by Victorinox. The term "Swiss Army knife" was coined by American soldiers after World War II after they had trouble pronouncing the German word "Offiziersmesser", meaning "officer’s knife".
Leatherman is an American brand of multitools and knives made by Leatherman Tool Group of Portland, Oregon. The company was founded in July 1983 by Timothy S. Leatherman and Steve Berliner in order to market his idea of a capable, easily portable hand tool with multiple functions. That same year, Leatherman sold the first multitool, which was called the PST.
Victorinox is a knife manufacturer and watchmaker based in the town of Ibach, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. It is well known for its Swiss Army knives. The Swiss Army knives made by Victorinox are made of a proprietary blend hardened steel from Germany and France. Since its acquisition of rival Wenger in 2005, it has become the sole supplier of multi-purpose knives to the Swiss army. It is the world's biggest manufacturer of pocket knives; additionally, the company licenses its logo for watches, apparel, and travel gear.
Wenger was a Swiss cutlery manufacturer that exists today as a brand of once-rival Victorinox, used for knives, watches and licensed products. Founded in 1893, it was best known as one of two companies to manufacture Swiss Army knives. Based in Delémont, Wenger was acquired in 2005 by Victorinox and partially absorbed. Since 2013 Wenger Swiss Army knives have been integrated in the Victorinox collection as the "Delémont collection".
The Benchmade Knife Company is an American knife manufacturer in Oregon City, Oregon.
The Camillus Cutlery Company is one of the oldest knife manufacturers in the United States. The Company was founded in 1876 and produced millions of knives until it filed for bankruptcy in 2007. Its brand name and intellectual property rights were purchased by Acme United Corporation, which re-launched the Camillus brand in May 2009 using modern materials.
The M9 Bayonet, officially known as the M9 Phrobis III, is a multi-purpose knife and bayonet officially adopted in 1986 by the United States. It has a 7-inch (18 cm) blade and is issued with a sheath designed to double as a wire cutter.
Survival knives are knives intended for survival purposes in a wilderness environment, often in an emergency when the user has lost most of their main equipment. Most military aviation units issue some kind of survival knife to their pilots in case their aircraft are shot down behind enemy lines and the crew needs tools to facilitate their survival, escape, and rescue. Survival knives can be used for trapping, skinning, wood cutting, wood carving, and other uses. Hunters, hikers, and outdoor sport enthusiasts use survival knives. Some survival knives are heavy-bladed and thick. Other survival knives are lightweight or fold in order to save weight and bulk as part of a larger survival kit. Their functions often include serving as a hunting knife. Features, such as hollow handles, that could be used as storage space for matches or similar small items, began gaining popularity in the 1980s. Custom or semi-custom makers such as Americans Jimmy Lile, Bo Randall, and Chris Reeve are often credited with inventing those features.
The OKC-3S is a bayonet developed by the United States Marine Corps to replace the M7 bayonet and M9 bayonet as its service bayonet for the M16 family of rifles and M4 series carbine. This multipurpose bayonet provides greater durability than the M7 bayonet and it also functions as a fighting knife.
A combat knife is a fighting knife designed for military use and primarily intended for hand-to-hand or close combat fighting.
Kershaw Knives designs, sources and manufactures a wide range of knives, including pocketknives, sporting knives, and kitchen cutlery. Kershaw is a brand of Kai USA Ltd., a member of the KAI Group, headquartered in Tualatin, Oregon, United States.
SOG Specialty Knives, Inc. is an American knife and tool manufacturing company famous for their reproduction SOG Knife from the Vietnam era.
Randall Made Knives, usually referred to as Randall, is an American custom handcrafted knife manufacturer founded by Walter Doane "Bo" Randall, Jr. in the U.S. The knife making shop and showroom is located in Orlando, Florida. Randall began making knives as a hobby in 1937. His son and grandson continue the family trade along with 20 craftsmen producing about 8,000 knives per year out of a shop on South Orange Blossom Trail.
Imperial Schrade Corp. was an American knife manufacturer of hunting knives, pocketknives, utility knives, and bayonets during the 20th and early 21st centuries. The consolidation of five forerunner companies, including its namesakes, the Imperial Knife Company, founded 1916, and the Schrade Cutlery Company, founded in 1904, Imperial Schrade manufactured its products in the United States and Ireland and sold through hardware stores, department stores, and on military bases. The original company's fortunes declined and in 2004 it entered into bankruptcy where all equipment and intellectual property was sold off to reimburse creditors. The name and intellectual property was bought by Taylor Brands and used for marketing purposes.
Ka-Bar is the contemporary popular name for the combat knife first adopted by the United States Marine Corps in November 1942 as the 1219C2 combat knife, and subsequently adopted by the United States Navy as the U.S. Navy utility knife, Mark 2. Ka-Bar is the name of a related knife manufacturing company, Ka-Bar Knives., Inc., of Olean, New York, a subsidiary of the Cutco Corporation.
The Glock knife is a military field knife product line designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. It can also be used as a bayonet, by engaging a socket in the pommel into a bayonet adapter that can be fitted to the Steyr AUG rifle.
William Wales Scagel was an American knifemaker whose style had a profound impact on the cutlery trade, influencing it for over 100 years.
Bo Randall was an American knifemaker who founded Randall Made Knives in Orlando, Florida.
A fighting knife has a blade designed to most effectively inflict injury in close-quarters physical confrontations. The combat knife and the trench knife are examples of military fighting knives.
