Marble's?

[Murgatroy]

I went to Smoky Mountain Knife works today. I often wander around up there and see what they have, I am a skinflint, so it is hard for me to come up off a lot of money on knives, though I do own a handful of good ones.

I have recently come to the conclusion that I have all the knives I need and as such, I will not buy based on wants. I am applying the same thing to my firearms at the current.

There were two holes in what I consider a need.

I picked up a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Tinker/LED Flashlight combo to drop into my computer case which doubles as my EDC catch all. It has a few nifty things on it that I find useful on a day to day basis and will replace a plethora of screwdrivers things I keep in my desk at work.

I have a nice skinner in the form of an old Schrade/Old Timer Sharp Finger I was given as a kid. I have used it for twenty years and it is very versatile and holds a great edge. I have a Buck Pathfinder that my father gave me when I was five. It was my first knife and it is a great all around utility knife. I have a little Winchester Stockman that I EDC and it works for most little knife needs. I have a Benchmade Bali-Song Type 44 with a half serrated tanto blade. I also have a Mora Cutter I picked up that has become a fast favorite, as the Pathfinder will soon be passed on to my daughter when we start camping this summer.

The Benchmade has been my rough use/utility knife for about fifteen years now. Over that time I have come to value the tanto blade and I have used it for a multitude of things. A Bali-Song, among being easy to open/close one-handed, also works as a hammer, pliers, wire stripper and a pry bar. I honestly love this knife and I couldn't imagine parting with it. However, being a gravity knife, and considered a switchblade in Tennessee, it stays at home locked up now that I am older and more in tune with laws, regardless of the sense they make.

The only thing I am missing from my collection (which is much larger, but as mentioned, I am focusing on need) is a fighting knife/rough use knife.

The years of use of my Benchmade has convinced me that a tanto blade is my preferred style and the merits of it's strength are undeniable.

That has steered me toward the Ka-Bar Tanto Fighting knife.

But as mentioned above I am a skinflint.

Today as I walked into SMKW, sitting in the first case I see is a Marble's Damascus Tanto. $24.99. Dammit, all I was there for was a Swiss Army knife and a new whetstone.

And I left with the new knife.

This thing is massive. 12" overall with a 6.5" blade. These are factory seconds, and when I looked close at the edge/point and finish of the leather stacked handle, I understood why. It was a little rough, but heavy, the blade was thick (over and eighth inch) and very solid. It has a lanyard hole on the buttcap, and best I can tell a full tang.

I brought it home, took my stone to it and cleaned up the edge and point, took some sand paper to the handle and then stained the sheath with some coffee. It shaves, it balances nearly perfectly.

I am pretty well impressed with this knife. I haven't used it for anything yet, but I have high hopes for it. I didn't intend for it to be a pretty knife, but that damascus blade sure does make it pretty.

For $25, I don't think I got taken, but I hope it was a good buy and will last a while.

Otherwise that means my Ka-Bar will cost me $100 with the lost cost of the Marble's.

Marble's® Damascus Tanto with Stacked Leather Handle

[Caster]

$24.99 ain't bad. I need to order me one.....I lost my Marbles.

[mav]

For $25, I think you got a deal. I have seen sheaths like those cost a lot more than $25.

[Murgatroy]

For $25, I think you got a deal. I have seen sheaths like those cost a lot more than $25.

The sheath is decent, it isn't anything to write home about. It does have the embossing on it shown in the photos. It is solid and doesn't feel cheap, but at the end it is just a leather sheath with a belt loop. After the coffee stain, which I will reapply in the morning, and later if I don't get the right look made it much nicer. I am spending the evening running my fingers along the rough edges to finish the sheath out and give it a more used look.

I don't feel that it was a bad buy, I have often gotten great deals at SMKW, but honestly, Marble's is a name I am unfamiliar with. I am tempted to grab one of their machetes and folding camp axes now, I have shied away from them due to the low price, which often implies cheaply made, but after picking this knife up, I am rethinking that.

[Oh Shoot]

... Marble's is a name I am unfamiliar with. ...

Was a long time American brand, began in 1899, many are worth some real coin to collectors, plenty valuable enough to engender fakes, too. They went bust in 2009, name was bought by whoever and they slapped the Marbles name on mostly Chinese imports. Maybe Taiwan and elsewhere, too?

Yours made in PRC?

- OS

[Murgatroy]

Pakistan.

Ahhh, Marble's Sights, that is something I am familiar with. I just Googled the name.

[Oh Shoot]

Pakistan.

Ahhh, Marble's Sights, that is something I am familiar with. I just Googled the name.

Marble Arms, which I think was some of the same folks somehow or other, and I guess makes those sights, is still cranking in US.

But Marbles knives really aren't anymore.

- OS

[Murgatroy]

It looks like Marble's split and sold the knife/axe portion and it became Marble's Outdoors.

I never made the connection.

[gregintenn]

Yep. The Marbles name has been bastardized, much like Winchester. If you can get your hands on an older Marbles made in Gladstone Michigan, you'll have a quality knife.

[Oh Shoot]

It looks like Marble's split and sold the knife/axe portion and it became Marble's Outdoors.

I never made the connection.

They just sold the name. They can make anything they want out of whatever they want and call in Marbles. Not dissing yer blade, and it may well be more than adequate, but from talking to folks and reading, seems all the steel is 420, 440a stainless, relatively low grade stuff like that. Yours claim to be any particular grade, maybe just says 440?

- OS

[Murgatroy]

Nope, doesn't claim any composition. Other than being a damascus blade, there is very little information about it either on the box or the website.

[Oh Shoot]

Nope, doesn't claim any composition. Other than being a damascus blade, there is very little information about it either on the box or the website.

Well, hate to sound like I'm hatin on yer blade (I'm not, as I'm quite the aficionado of certain inexpensive brands), but you don't get a real damascus blade for 25 clams, unless ya made some incredible find at a yard sale or something. It's almost certainly a type of etching to make it look damascus-esque. Likely you could fairly easily buff it down past the "damascus".

Bottom line though, to me anyway, is simply that a knife bears up to the owner's expectation for whatever uses he chose to buy it.

- OS

Edited January 15, 2012 by OhShoot

[et45]

The old Michigan made knives are high quality,anything after that you get what you pay for

[Oh Shoot]

The old Michigan made knives are high quality,anything after that you get what you pay for

Common story anymore. Schrade and Camillus for example.

- OS