Blade Enthusiast or "Knife Nut?" Part III

This should be it for the blade showcase posts for awhile. I do have some more knives, but they're kind of all over the place, so I won't get around to gathering and taking pix for some time. I just wanted to have a relatively comprehensive look for y'all, once we got started, and I'm kind of "space filling" a bit while I start this diet, get my knee back in shape, and get back to workouts and martial arts training(!)...

Anyway, a new one, some old ones, and those larger training blades/swords I mentioned in previous posts. To wit:


Here's the actual US Army M5A1 bayonet I picked-up the other day (the earlier photo was a clip art/Commons graphic). This one is an original issue, but not from the Korean War era, if my info is correct. The M5A1 was made in US factories, but post-Korea until the mid-60's, so it's possible that the bayonet saw action early in Vietnam, but unlikely. It's probably from a training unit or someone's stateside TA-50 gear. It doesn't have a sheath/scabbard, but they still make them, so I ordered one through Paratrooper Army Navy surplus. Cool store, good guys...


Three blades-- An Imperial hunting knife, an "Air Force Tactical Folder" (I'm not sure of the make), and an old Buck I've had since high school. There's a (somewhat bad) story attached to it that I might tell here some day. This is different from the slightly smaller lookalike* from an earlier post; that one belonged to my father. [*editor's note-- I have one more hunting folder that looks like this, that I thought I showed you, but looking back over parts I & II, I actually didn't... Maybe I can sneak a photo in during a future edit. For now, you'll have to trust me.]


A couple of (real, not "Swiss Army type") Swiss Army knives. The smaller one (Wenger) is one of the first knives I ever owned (along with the aforementioned Barlow from an earlier post... I think the actual first knife my dad bought for me was a tiny pen knife with a primary blade no longer or wider than the average cleaner on a small pair of finger-nail clippers!). The larger one (Victorinox) with the broken blade point was my wife's, which saw a lot of action as she traveled in Africa with the Peace Corps., then around the world (climbing in the Himalayas, for instance).


A couple of views of a "training machete;" actually a toy wooden sword that was just the right size!


Some Asian training swords-- a Chinese sword I bought to work through some of the concepts in Dr. Jwing-Ming's Northern Shaolin Sword book; not progressing very far with all of the other items on my plate; and a bokken that Coach Rob let me have on long-term loan, to work on some Iaido katas and more recently the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu material. I've got a bit more time in on that (much more than zero, anyway)...


A few views of my fencing foil. Not much use since I've been concentrating on saber, but a good blade to have for point work and fundamentals.


My primary (read: only) fencing saber. It's from Absolute Fencing, and I like it a lot. Traditional grip, nice balance. It is a practice blade, but I can convert it to electric if I ever decide to get into a tournament. At least Rob said it could be done pretty inexpensively...


Here's a little trick I discovered, kids. If you are starting fencing, have a decent blade, but don't have a case for it (and you find that the trendy fencing cases are a bit pricey), head to the sporting goods section of your local Walmart. This DeBeer bag is actually made for a Lacrosse stick, but it fits one saber or foil perfectly. I added some foam pipe insulation inside, to keep the blade from banging around too much, and it works great. The no-case crisis averted!

I guess that's it for now. You guys decide: Blade Enthusiast or "Knife Nut?" Leave a comment down below (if you're not yella', that is, you lilly-livered...).

White Belt Out