Any information on Ruko?

[Chako]

My second knife that my father bought me back in grade 8...circa 1986 to date me was this Ruko Elite folder. It was my prized possession, and thus I took great care of it. I am wondering however, at the history of this knife. I have looked and haven't found much other then cheap RUKO knives.

This folder has S10 Japan on the blade along with Ruko Elite on the other side. I remember my father paying a bit for it. He was big into Ruko knives back then, and I recall him saying that I will have a knife for life if I took care of it. He thought they were high quality. Today, I am not so sure.

Roll it forward many years. Last month, when I first started to dip my toe into the pond that is SAK collecting, I stopped at a small out of the way hardware store. The kind of place that carries all sort of weird items, and you never know what you will find.

Inside a dusty old case, was a few Ruko knives in their box. I saw the multi function one and bought it for not much money. This Ruko has a nice finish, and there are no nail breakers on it. The action is silky smooth, and the blade has Ruko stamped on it. This knife smacks of quality. It was a good find.

Still makes me all the more curious to find out more about Ruko though.





Any information would be helpful.

Thank you.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Never heard of them I'm afraid mate

[Chako]

I think they are a Canadian importer...but I could be wrong. That is all I think I know.

[jzmtl]

Only time I've seen them is the display cabinet in canadian tire, claim to be made of "high carbon" 440a and 420 stainless steel. I'm guessing they are just an importer buy from cheap sources all over the world.

[Sean]

I too have seen them at Canada tire as well.  I've never owned a ruko.  I do like that little folder though you have pictured.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Ruko is indeed an importer of cheap crapola.  It's not as bad as some though, and in fact some of the stuff they bring in is not bad for the price.  I first encountered them with expandable batons when they were offered as a lower priced alternative to ASP batons, and they weren't too bad.  Still, an expandable baton may be more complex than a straight stick but it's still a pretty simple doodad.  Still, I got the ASP instead, although I did eventually buy a couple of polycarbonate straight sticks offered by Ruko.

Def

[Benner]

That SAK knock-off thingy looks like my very first sharp that I ever had, but mine had plastic scales.  Same tool layout though, but mine was shockingly bad quality unlike your one.

[Chako]

Yes, I have a few cheaper models (not from Ruko) that are shockingly cheap...but with the same design. That design appears to either be royalty free, or someone is making a killing outsourcing it to the world.

[Chako]

Well I do have an ulterior motive other then to try and find some information on my treasured Ruko Elite that was made in Japan.

Time for another giveaway. Going to make a new thread.