What kind of knife for Indy?

Indy's brother

New member
A knife is an invaluable tool for the adventurer, survivalist, and soldier. Indy is all of these things, yet he had to borrow a knife from some punk kid in his last adventure....what's up with that? Dr. Jones needs a pig sticker! Sure he had that little pocket knife in ROTLA, but it's been kind of MIA since then, besides, doesn't Indy deserve a grown man's knife instead of tat little boy-scout knife, anyway? I've been trying to figure out which he would have. Now before you go all K-Bar Mark 2 on me:

300px-Ka-bar.jpg


I have to remind you how rare and difficult it is to find Indy's gear. The real thing, not replicas. It took me 2 years to find his exact backpack, for example. So his knife would have to be something ordinary for his time, but not so ordinary that everyone in the modern world would be familiar with it. So let's play. I've found this little number:

1148014307-kutmaster.jpg


Kutmasters were made on the same assembly line as the M-1 Garand bayonets. These are very rugged knives. Not to mention, they look all business, but also commands a little bit of attention wit-da-bling!

Of course, since I'm going with militaria here, and per his satchel it's apparent that he has a soft spot for british gear, I find this little number a bit Indy-ish:

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This is the British No. 7 bayonet. Little bit of wood, little bit of olive drab canvas to go with his satchel and pack.

So. Let's go hunting for his knife, eh? Remember, just like his hat, it has to be like every other one, but also be instantly recognizable. Search the 'net and post your pics here for us to comment on. (it doesn't have to be a bayonet, either)
 
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Goodeknight

New member
Indy's brother said:
just like his hat, it has to be like every other one, but also be instantly recognizable.

Agreed. I've wondered about what Indy's knife of choice would be. I do figure he'd have the little Boy Scout type with a bottle opener, couple of small whittling blades, a corkscrew, etc. (Swiss Army style), but I also always figured he'd have one that could be used as a serious weapon. He's not Rick O'Connell, with a dozen guns and knives hanging all over him, but he's got a few guns, a trusty whip, and probably a knife. Perhaps something concealed - a last resort. However, if he had a last resort knife, we certainly would have seen him use it by now. German Mechanic. Chief Temple Guard. Mola Ram. Vogel. Dovchenko. Plenty of times he needed one.

I like your final pick, the British #7. It seems it would appeal to Indy, with the olive and the dark wood handle. Right up his alley, with the leather, khakis, olive bag, custom leather strap, etc.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Indy's brother said:
Of course, since I'm going with militaria here, and per his satchel it's apparent that he has a soft spot for british gear...

Hey Indy Nut, how about this as the perfect grave robbing companion?

DSCN3915.jpg


It is essential that the blade have a sharp stabbing point and good cutting edges, because an artery torn through (as against a clean cut) tends to contract and stop the bleeding. If a main artery is cleanly severed, the wounded man will quickly lose consciousness and die. (William Ewart Fairbairn, Get Tough, 1942)


Indy's not firing his gun any more, so he might as well slip a blade into pesky skull-masked cemetery guardians.
 

Indy's brother

New member
goodeknight said:
I like your final pick, the British #7. It seems it would appeal to Indy, with the olive and the dark wood handle. Right up his alley, with the leather, khakis, olive bag, custom leather strap, etc.

I thought so too, I'm considering getting one just for it's Indy-ness. The blade is a bit long for my tastes, though. I like your idea of him having a full tang blade as a "holdout weapon". Indy doesn't strike me as being very "knifey". He seems more like the kind of guy that would have a knife with him for practical reasons. I think he needs a decent knife of the variety I've mentioned in my originl post, but at the same time, I have a hard time envisioning him using it on someone. At least not with a deathblow. Maybe a knife fight that ultimately ends in his adversary falling off a cliff or something.
 

Indy's brother

New member
Montana Smith said:
Hey Indy Nut, how about this as the perfect grave robbing companion?

I could definitely see it, though the fairbairn sykes knife's pedigree is a bit vicious for Indy's sensibilities. Of course, the average fan doesn't know a thing about it, so I don't think that would matter one bit.

Montana Smith said:
Indy's not firing his gun any more, so he might as well slip a blade into pesky skull-masked cemetery guardians.

I hate how right you are about this. :p
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Indy's brother said:
I could definitely see it, though the fairbairn sykes knife's pedigree is a bit vicious for Indy's sensibilities. Of course, the average fan doesn't know a thing about it, so I don't think that would matter one bit.

It'd be something he'd pull out of his closet for special occasions. Something he might have used during his OSS days.
 

IndyJoey

Member
ehhh...

In my opinion, i dont think indy would carry around a fixed blade that often.
i feel like he would carry a really good folder, but if he was somewhere that he would need something like a machete, he would carry one. By that i mean, if he was in the jungle he would carry a machete, but if he was in, say, the desert, probably not... so, in my opinion, he would normally have something like a folding hunter with him, but thats just my 2 cents. But i really like the British no 7 you have up there, its a really nice knife...
 

Goodeknight

New member
IndyJoey said:
In my opinion, i dont think indy would carry around a fixed blade that often.
i feel like he would carry a really good folder,

As I said, I also like the British #7, and think it suits Indy. But you're probably right about a fixed blade military weapon. Not quite Indy's style. Something about a military knife seems more violent than a pistol. I know he's killed dozens of people, but Indy's not a SOF Rambo type.

As for the fixed blade, I could easily imagine something like this:

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A nice Damascus blade and burl handle that spoke of foreign lands and had some panache.

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Perhaps something with a stag handle.

harvey_mcburnette_stag_engraved_large.jpg


Essentially, still utilitarian, but something that could be used as a weapon in a pinch. Hence the lockback blade.

If the above are a bit too fancy, an obvious choice would be the all time classic lockback folder, the Buck hunting knife.

311Q5FV21KL._SL500_AA300_1.jpg


IndyJoey said:
but if he was somewhere that he would need something like a machete, he would carry one. By that i mean, if he was in the jungle he would carry a machete, but if he was in, say, the desert, probably not...

At the same time, maybe it's just for the continuity of the character, but Indy always has the same set of stuff with him. Leather jacket whether it's Nepal (cold and snowy), Cairo (blistering sun), South America (jungle sauna), or an alien spaceship (space between spaces seemed pretty warm and breezy). Same boots, shirt, pants, whip, hat. And if you have a fedora, you know it can be rather hot in the summer. Not like a vented Tilly or something. So I don't know that Indy adapts all that much.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
goodeknight said:
As I said, I also like the British #7, and think it suits Indy. But you're probably right about a fixed blade military weapon. Not quite Indy's style. Something about a military knife seems more violent than a pistol.
This is pretty much my sentiment. It's a known fact that Indy is armed and doesn't shy away from open combat if the occasion calls for it, but he is not the kind of type to engage in it whimsically and is very rarely the offender.

Now, most of the knives presented here are specifically combat knives - yes, they can double as tools but first and foremost they've been designed to harm another human being as effectively as possible.

The one I posted earlier is a Finnish puukko knife, which is specifically designed to act as a tool of survival*. It's a sturdy, short, single-edged knife that's been a favorite of craftsmen, hunters and other outdoorsy types in these parts for quite a bit. Having experience from handling such a knife for two decades or so (got my first one before I was even 10), it's the kind of thing I could totally envision Indy carrying.



<small>*Though it's also got some decent history of violence, having been the weapon of choice in these parts for shanking any irritating neighbors for the past three centuries, if not longer.</small>
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Ha, the the picture above and the thread got me thinking...

What if Indiana Jones was deduced to a knife wielding, stab happy patron not unlike Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees? :eek: Woah! :dead:
I think stabbing someone with a knife has more of a murderous overtone. Though technically shooting someone is just the same.

That's a silhouette I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
 

Indy's brother

New member
Having been with OSS in his military past, perhaps these require a bit of attention.

First, as IndyJoey pointed out about Indy having a possible use for a machete, combined with Montana's love of the fairbairn, how about this hybrid of the two?:

OSS Type I ?Case? Smatchet
tactical-knives-oss-smatchet-1.jpg


A Smatchet is a short, heavy fighting knife/sword 16.5 inches (42 cm) in overall length (including grip). It was designed by knife fighting expert and instructor Capt. William E. Fairbairn during World War II.
Wiki

As you can see, it's rather large, and could be used to simply clear away brush if so desired:

commando.jpg

There were severl iterations of this knife, but one jumps out a little for it's "traditional adventurer" appeal:

OSS smatchet BOWIE special operations knife
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DSCN0054.JPG


This next version is not to my tastes, but here it is anyway because if Indy had it in his hand, it would become as instantly recognizable as much of his other gear due to it's slightly odd shape:

OSS smatchet CBI Theater Kukri curved blade special operations knife
SmatchetKukriCurveR_small.jpg


I would be lying if this hadn't sprung instantly to mind at the mention of Indy's OSS days:

OSS carpetbagger

OSSDropKnifeF.jpg

OSSDropKnifeClosed.jpg

OSSDropKnifeROA.jpg


Although not a true auto-knife like Mutt's switchblade, it's similar enough to make an anti-Mutt fan cringe if Indy were to flick it open on the big screen. The pic above is of one that is currently selling for $5,000.00! YEOUCH!!

Here is the more commonly known one:

OSS Paratrooper
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The above is a replica of course, but it looks pretty accurate to my untrained eye. Again, a gravity knife isn't what I would prefer Indy to carry, but I'm just one fan and Indy could have had one, after all.
 

Goodeknight

New member
Mephisto said:

Caption:
"I hate it when my sleeve gets ripped off. But my arm sure does look beefy. I should just stand still and gaze off into the distance. Sweet. Is Marion looking? Tell Marion to look over here."
 
goodeknight said:
However, if he had a last resort knife, we certainly would have seen him use it by now. German Mechanic. Chief Temple Guard. Mola Ram. Vogel.
The latter would also have had an SS dagger.
 

HenryJunior

New member
goodeknight said:
"I hate it when my sleeve gets ripped off. But my arm sure does look beefy. I should just stand still and gaze off into the distance. Sweet. Is Marion looking? Tell Marion to look over here."
Classic!:D
 
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