Folding knives of the USSR

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Knives of the USSR, especially author's knives, are always attractive to people who are fond of, because among them there are collectible items made by the hands of outstanding craftsmen, blacksmiths, who can rightly be called great. Knives come in different configurations depending on the purpose.

What is a knife

The working part of the knife is a steel blade with a cutting blade. Sizes and shapes depend on the purpose. The knives of the USSR were made of alloyed chromium, carbon and stainless steel, using the method of hot stamping, forging and mandatory heat treatment. Bar metal blanks through hot working produce a tapered blade with the blade thinning gradually from the back.

This gives strength, facilitates sharpening, increasing the quality for which the knives of the USSR were famous everywhere. Finishing was done first by grinding, then polishing, often with chrome and nickel plating. The blade is fixed, rigidly connected to the handle, and movable, that is, folding. This is how the type is determined: the knives of the USSR were made folding and awkward.

Clumsy knives

Knives with a fixed blade are canteen, pantry, household, gastronomic, trade and craft. Clumsy knives from the times of the USSR were produced all-metal, they were made from a blank immediately with a handle, or composite - with handles made of plastic, wood or other metal.

The most expensive - collectible - were made with handles made of horn, bone, jet and other non-metallic expensive materials. Table knives of the USSR were made of carbon steel grades 70G, 65G, 60G, 70, 65, 60, U8A, U7A, U8, U7, after heat treatment they had a hardness of 48-56 Rc. Table knives were made very often from stainless steel grades 3X13 and 4X13 and the same heat treatment method.

Shape

They had a variety of forms: straight, shaped, wide, narrow, with and without a notch on the back (back). The blades of table knives almost always have double-sided protrusions at the junction with the handle, which protect the tablecloth from contamination.

Table knives produced in the USSR were produced in four types: large table knives (SB) - up to 250 millimeters, medium table knives, that is, dessert (SS) - up to 215 millimeters, and children's, that is, small table knives (SM) - up to 170 millimeters. On sale they were both piece and complete with forks. Cutlery and pantry sets for six and twelve people were very popular.

Buffet knives

These are serving knives - for cheese, butter, fruit, smoked meats, lemon. Their range is huge. For bread and lemona saw blade with a serrated or wavy blade is used, and for a lemon it is purely stainless steel. For cheese - with a straight blade and a chamfer, the blade is often equipped with a fork - three horns on a wide blade. For fruits - with a sharp tip of the blade. To divide the bird into portions, special knives were made. A knife for sandwiches with caviar is very whimsical in appearance.

The USSR buffet knives the photo below will demonstrate almost in full. They were made in the Soviet Union both forged and cold stamped, the handles were very diverse. Cupronickel knives were covered with a thin layer of silver. In addition to serving knives, household knives occupied a special position - they differ in size and even in the material from which they were made. Their handles were most often made of hardwood with a special moisture-resistant impregnation.

Folding knives

The folding knife of the USSR was designed for travel, hiking, just to carry in your pocket in case of need. It consists of folding knife blades and useful everyday items, also hidden in the handle, including a corkscrew, scissors and other manicure accessories, an awl, a bottle opener and much more that could be useful to a person on the road. The folding knife of the USSR is compact, convenient, therefore it is very popular. There were so many folding knives among the population! Everyone used them - from schoolchildren to sophisticated bohemia.

In addition to pocket knives for general use, there were student, ladies', collective farm, road, fitter's, garden,artistic … They could only be divided according to the type of fastening: single-barreled - when all objects were attached to the handle from one end, and end - when the knife was opened from both ends. In them, some items were even retractable - tweezers, toothpicks, and so on. The corkscrew and awl were usually attached in the middle of the handle for convenience.

Finishing varied. Folding knives were made both collectible and almost precious, and inexpensive, with a poor finish. Ladies, of course, looked more whimsical, with mother-of-pearl and inlays.

Penknives

The USSR lived without electronic devices, so the boys played other games, often associated with both risk and courage. For example, Soviet children loved to play with knives. Almost everyone had one - called "pen", but, of course, no one repaired feathers with them.

Knives flew into tree trunks, into wooden poles, and doors too, at worst, not a bad target. There was even a special game where zones were drawn in a circle, and a thrown knife had to stick in a certain place.

Boy's dream

The "Squirrel" knife was especially suitable for this purpose. The USSR cared about the happy childhood of its future defenders, because there were many modifications of penknives. Parents most often bought them for business: Belka was quite popular with tourists, fishermen, and fishermen of various kinds.

But can you refuseto his son, who looks fascinated at this rather complex design, and in his eyes a dream - at least to hold in his hands, stroke the running squirrel of molded plastic on the grips … By the way, there were not only "Squirrels", but also "Panthers" and "Foxes ", and "Barca". The generations of the sixties and seventies, yearning for childhood, often regret that now such knives are no longer made.

NV

This abbreviation is easy to decipher - a diving knife. Products of this kind were used very widely in any industrial underwater work. The diving knife of the USSR is represented among the rest of the range of such products quite a bit only because, as such, the total number of underwater works is small. However, there is plenty to choose from here. First of all, it was HB - under this brand knives were produced with a relatively narrow blade - 28 millimeters, their length - 172 millimeters. The butt is made with a pike bevel.

They have one main blade and one false blade where the bevel is. There are areas in the root where there is no sharpening. A blade without a cross, since the purpose of such a knife is to cut ropes, cables that interfere with work. The knife is not for fighting, it is not suitable for stabbing blows. The blade was not covered with special compositions, but was made of anti-corrosion steel. The scabbard for such a knife is required, fastened to the belt, usually made of brass. Specially adapted to twisting a knife out of them without the help of a second hand.

Anti-sabotage knife"Murena"

A slightly more modern diving knife. The USSR is a country in which knives of a different modification were most often used, this one is given for comparison. Designed for divers protecting our military bays from saboteurs-swimmers. With such a knife, you can cut not only ropes of any thickness, hoses and algae, but also saw through metal bars of obstacles up to fifteen millimeters. There must be different blade tempers for just this purpose: a cutting blade is tempered as usual, up to 56, and a metal saw requires a minimum of 68 Rockwell units. However, such technologies have not yet been mastered. Another solution to the problem was found - a hacksaw blade is attached to the knife.

The dimensions of the product are impressive, the thickness of the blade is even more so, but such a knife is not a melee weapon for civilians. The most difficult thing in using a diving knife is the scabbard, there are too many tasks in diving equipment for a diver. The knife should be at hand, with a secure fastening, easy to remove, and at the same time not interfere with swimming and movement along the bottom. So far, it has not been possible to come up with a really convenient diving knife. This one is too heavy and uncomfortable, like all the others.

Hunting

The oldest hunting weapon is a knife. Now, at the time of the triumph of the firearm, the hunter most often comes in handy with a knife as a carving knife - for skinning the carcass, but not so long ago, several decades ago, hunting knives were practically the only need in the taiga. The USSR was a country of vast expanses, and there were plenty of hunting grounds there, even thosewhere the human foot has seldom set foot. The knife was a weapon not only to finish off a wounded animal, but also to attack, and even more so for self-defense. There were many people in those days with scars from the teeth and claws of a bear. And many were saved only by hunting knives.

USSR was also an industrial power. Steel, including for edged weapons, was brewed according to the best technologies. However, the choice is not as simple as it seems. Some are for finishing off prey, others are necessary for skinning and butchering, there are also multifunctional ones suitable for hunters who do this unprofessionally. Those who live by hunting cannot do without one knife. The best hunting knives cannot be mass-produced, they are made by craftsmen - by hand. Manufacturing is difficult and expensive. Previously, damask steel, for example, was used exclusively for military weapons. Now it is often found on the hunting ground.

Choice

It has always been a difficult process to choose a knife. Their number is simply huge, and GOSTs ensured quality, reliability and durability, even if this important attribute was chosen for hunting. And if the knife was made by a good master, it is unlikely that the hunter valued more than anything else. Even the carbine didn't compare. What are the requirements for the quality of knives? First of all, the blade must be resilient, smooth and clean, honed and directed. The blade must be exactly visible along the entire length (except, of course, serrated), there should not be any burrs, snags, notches.

Handles should be comfortable, withoutsharp corners and edges, with a clear pattern on the edging. Fitting dies for folding and riveting knives is certainly tight, without the slightest cracks, nicks, snags. The riveting of folding knives should not be loose, but it should also not interfere with work - the knife should open and close elastically, but without much difficulty. The springs of folding knives securely secure the blades and all objects in their extreme positions.

When choosing a clumsy hunting knife, you need to focus on your own feelings: how the handle fits in the palm of your hand, whether this weapon is suitable for weight, size, what is the balance. It must also be borne in mind that, despite the declared versatility, a hunting knife will perform really well only any one function. Sometimes, none. Blades from time immemorial exist in all sorts of shapes, materials, sizes. Accordingly, their application is different.