Chris Reeve Knives History Timeline To Date & Blade Steel Timeline

[Truckj0ne$]

Good afternoon,

New to the forum but a 30 year collector. Recently purchased a Mountaineer II, and was concerned about the BD. History shows OPK production ended 12/09; my BD card reads May 2010. Question: is mine simply the end of stock on hand?

Thanks so much for the piece of mind!

 

[Truckj0ne$]

Good afternoon,

New to the forum but a 30 year collector. Recently purchased a Mountaineer II, and was concerned about the BD. History shows OPK production ended 12/09; my BD card reads May 2010. Question: is mine simply the end of stock on hand?

Thanks so much for the piece of mind!

 

[sailfish]

I found this history timeline to be pretty resourceful, so I decided to streamline the information into a downloadable PDF to make it easy to access and read offline.

 

[sailfish]

Some additional information I think would be cool to have for a thread like this if anyone knows it, the year of introduction and first model to have available things like:

Wood inlays
Micarta inlays
Damascus blade
Blue hardware
Gold hardware
Insingo blade shape
Tanto blade shape
Thumb stud or lanyard pin detail tooling

Or any other smaller details of the knives I can't necessarily think of.

 

[nyefmaker]

Adding this as it explains the difference in the “V” markings on the CRK folders. It’s to identify the RC Hardness on the blades.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Some additional information I think would be cool to have for a thread like this if anyone knows it, the year of introduction and first model to have available things like:

Wood inlays
Micarta inlays
Damascus blade
Blue hardware
Gold hardware
Insingo blade shape
Tanto blade shape
Thumb stud or lanyard pin detail tooling

Or any other smaller details of the knives I can't necessarily think of.

Wood inlays - 1999

Insingo blade shape - late 2009/early 2010
Tanto blade shape - On a folder, 1999

 

[sailfish]

Tanto blade shape - On a folder, 1999

Was it a regular option or was it only on those special engraved N.I.C.A Regular Sebenzas?

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Was it a regular option or was it only on those special engraved N.I.C.A Regular Sebenzas?

NICA's only at the time. It wasn't a regular option until the 21's.

 

[waudby.tj]

Need to add the MK III to the original posted timeline. From 1983 till 1984 maybe?

View attachment 652200

This is the gold I've been searching for.... you legend... I've had a CR MK III as my adventure "Rambo" knife since my old man let me pick any knife from his collection back in 1996.... I cringe now as a 40 year old getting interested in knives again at what a complete thrashing this blade has had... don't get me wrong, my DAD had worked this knife harder than a youtube destruction channel in his time with it too.... but to say I loved this knife, without having a clue what I was packing is an understatement.... as an idiot 16yr old I remember how much fun I had setting the "Birthday card" on fire with magnesium ferro rod in the handle... I'm pretty confident my OLD man picked it up in 1984... but hoping there was more to the story.... he was a pretty good Metalurgest/ geologist in South Africa back in the 80's & a Latin speaking highup in a certain society with secrets... maybe not quite as good a story on a blade with a 5 on it... mine says 59... is that good?

not that it leaves the family but should I be insuring this blade? whats ballpark value?
I'd show you an image but the blog seems to not like my ftp

CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-1 hosted at ImgBB

Image CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-1 in Mouse59's images album

ibb.co

CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-2 hosted at ImgBB

Image CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-2 in Mouse59's images album

ibb.co

CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-3 hosted at ImgBB

Image CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-3 in Mouse59's images album

ibb.co

 

[Sigp210]

This is the gold I've been searching for.... you legend... I've had a CR MK III as my adventure "Rambo" knife since my old man let me pick any knife from his collection back in 1996.... I cringe now as a 40 year old getting interested in knives again at what a complete thrashing this blade has had... don't get me wrong, my DAD had worked this knife harder than a youtube destruction channel in his time with it too.... but to say I loved this knife, without having a clue what I was packing is an understatement.... as an idiot 16yr old I remember how much fun I had setting the "Birthday card" on fire with magnesium ferro rod in the handle... I'm pretty confident my OLD man picked it up in 1984... but hoping there was more to the story.... he was a pretty good Metalurgest/ geologist in South Africa back in the 80's & a Latin speaking highup in a certain society with secrets... maybe not quite as good a story on a blade with a 5 on it... mine says 59... is that good?

not that it leaves the family but should I be insuring this blade? whats ballpark value?
I'd show you an image but the blog seems to not like my ftp

CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-1 hosted at ImgBB

Image CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-1 in Mouse59's images album

ibb.co

CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-2 hosted at ImgBB

Image CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-2 in Mouse59's images album

ibb.co

CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-3 hosted at ImgBB

Image CR-tm-Survival-MKIII-3 in Mouse59's images album

ibb.co

HELL YES you should be insuring that knife. Wow...another MK III out of the woodwork. Among the rarest of the OPK's. Congrats. I didn't know the serials went that high on them.
So nice to pick up some more info on them. I dunno what value would be in that condition, but multiple thousands I think. Jealous, even though I have 2
Take care of it. It's a real piece of history.

 

[waudby.tj]

HELL YES you should be insuring that knife. Wow...another MK III out of the woodwork. Among the rarest of the OPK's. Congrats. I didn't know the serials went that high on them.
So nice to pick up some more info on them. I dunno what value would be in that condition, but multiple thousands I think. Jealous, even though I have 2
Take care of it. It's a real piece of history.

Hey Sig210...

Thank-you for a quick response... coincidentally I had a beautifully written personal response from Anne Reeve herself which is just full of great history of the MKIII blade...
Stoked its made of the D2 steel and in 38years of some gnarly 80's Suzuki SJ410 roof of Africa adventures and my Jimny gen 3 off-peste SaniPass bushwhacking, between us, we haven't managed to completely destroy its edge geometry. I know my old man would've picked it up visiting his brother in Sandton JNB and probably lorded it over him... Ironically I was living in Durban Essenwood a stones throw from the Reeve's original workshop when we lost my old man..... somehow just feels a good fit with the blades provenance... what a chapter to add.


From Anne Reeve.

Hello Tom -

Thanks so much for your email regarding the Mk III - it is wonderful to see such a venerable old friend! While I get questions about older One Piece Knives fairly frequently, rarely does a Mk III pop up.

A little history of your knife: Chris developed what became known as the One Piece Range in the early 1980's. He came up with the concept of machining an entire knife out of a single bar of steel, and worked on two iterations before deciding he liked what he designed into the Mk III (i.e. the third iteration). Our records are very incomplete but I do have a note saying he made a total of 89 Mk IIIs. I would say your knife was made in late 1983, since he introduced the Mk IV in 1984. The only difference between the III and IV is that the IV has a double cross guard. Even though it has been well used, your knife is not too far off the original blade geometry. The blades on the Mk III and Mk IV are essentially the same and you'll be able to find pictures of a Mk IV in Google Images. We continued making models of various lengths and shapes until we retired the range in 2009

This knife is made of D2 tool steel made by Bohler Steel in Germany, that was heat treated to 55-59 RC. The butt cap is made of D65S aluminum and both are coated (it is not anodizing) with KG GunKote.

It is hard to know where or when your dad bought the knife - I can only say we did not have an official dealer in Nelspruit! Back then, we used to sell our very limited production through Sharp Edge Sharp Shooter in Sandton City and a gun store (I can't remember the name) in Durban.

I hope I have answered most of your questions and if I can give you any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes
Anne Reeve

chrisreeve.com

 

[Steven65]

Hey Sig210...

Thank-you for a quick response... coincidentally I had a beautifully written personal response from Anne Reeve herself which is just full of great history of the MKIII blade...
Stoked its made of the D2 steel and in 38years of some gnarly 80's Suzuki SJ410 roof of Africa adventures and my Jimny gen 3 off-peste SaniPass bushwhacking, between us, we haven't managed to completely destroy its edge geometry. I know my old man would've picked it up visiting his brother in Sandton JNB and probably lorded it over him... Ironically I was living in Durban Essenwood a stones throw from the Reeve's original workshop when we lost my old man..... somehow just feels a good fit with the blades provenance... what a chapter to add.


From Anne Reeve.

Hello Tom -

Thanks so much for your email regarding the Mk III - it is wonderful to see such a venerable old friend! While I get questions about older One Piece Knives fairly frequently, rarely does a Mk III pop up.

A little history of your knife: Chris developed what became known as the One Piece Range in the early 1980's. He came up with the concept of machining an entire knife out of a single bar of steel, and worked on two iterations before deciding he liked what he designed into the Mk III (i.e. the third iteration). Our records are very incomplete but I do have a note saying he made a total of 89 Mk IIIs. I would say your knife was made in late 1983, since he introduced the Mk IV in 1984. The only difference between the III and IV is that the IV has a double cross guard. Even though it has been well used, your knife is not too far off the original blade geometry. The blades on the Mk III and Mk IV are essentially the same and you'll be able to find pictures of a Mk IV in Google Images. We continued making models of various lengths and shapes until we retired the range in 2009

This knife is made of D2 tool steel made by Bohler Steel in Germany, that was heat treated to 55-59 RC. The butt cap is made of D65S aluminum and both are coated (it is not anodizing) with KG GunKote.

It is hard to know where or when your dad bought the knife - I can only say we did not have an official dealer in Nelspruit! Back then, we used to sell our very limited production through Sharp Edge Sharp Shooter in Sandton City and a gun store (I can't remember the name) in Durban.

I hope I have answered most of your questions and if I can give you any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes
Anne Reeve

chrisreeve.com

The store in Durban that sold them was called "The Gun Shop" in Mark Lane just off West St.
I worked across the road at King's Sports in the gun department.
I grew up in Durban on the Berea and my father worked for the company that owned Amsterdam Court, where Chris lived and where he made your knife. I visited Chris there often.

 

[sailfish]

In doing some research, I found this price list that would indicate damascus blades became a regular option in 2000, as the December 1999 order form omits this and they were only available on wood inlay models prior.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

In doing some research, I found this price list that would indicate damascus blades became a regular option in 2000, as the December 1999 order form omits this and they were only available on wood inlay models prior.

pre-99 UG's with damascus blades exist, but they are scarce.

 

[sailfish]

bhyde could we pin this thread? Seems to be a good resource for learning more on CRK history.

 

[Silverstonev8]

bhyde could we pin this thread? Seems to be a good resource for learning more on CRK history.

It is located in the sticky “Chris Reeve Knives History Links”

 

[sailfish]

It is located in the sticky “Chris Reeve Knives History Links”

I see. Missed that when I was looking through them.

 

[Ernie1980]

That catalog is interesting to look through! One thing in particular that caught my attention was the price of the OPKs…

 

[sailfish]

pre-99 UG's with damascus blades exist, but they are scarce.

Do you know if there was a small version of the 1999 N.I.C.A. tantos or were they only in large that year?

 

[Don M]

Just a clarification on the picture posted above of the two styles of V that can be used to tell which heat treat the blade has. There is actually a little bit of overlap in that dating so it's not exactly strictly correct. For example for some models they had a significant number of blades made with the old style V just before the heat treat protocol was changed which received the new heat treatment. So the picture is generally true but not strictly true.