AL MAR KNIVES

[VICMAN]

Here are 3 Al Mar SERE 2000's.

Click on 727.22 for full size picture.

[Ray S]

Nice ones! I have three Al Mar knives and am currently after a fourth if I can come up with the money.
The Osprey I bought many years ago at a flea market for $4. It was in a box with a bunch of cheap knives.
The SERE I bought at an antique shop for $20.Someone had hammered the top of the blade for some reason(probably to try and cut through something tough).I smoothed it out and it looks good as new.
The Silver Eagle is the only one that I don't like.The blade is held closed by a small hook on the end that is serrated to allow it to be pulled open.The problem is it loosens up and falls open allowing the blade to open(usually in your pocket).Trust me when I say the point is extremely sharp!

[VICMAN]

Nice Al Mars Ray!

You got them for some great prices.

I used to have a SERE 1, but the friend I bought it from had a son that was shipping out to serve in Afghanistan a few years ago and he asked if I would sell it back to him so he could give it to his son. I could not turn him down. After all, that is what the knife was designed for in the first place.

[kwakster]

Vintage Al Mar Falcon Titanwood















Specs:

Length open: 17.4 mm
Blade length: 7,3 cm
Max blade thickness: 1.92 mm
Staalsoort: MRS-30 stainless steel
Handle material: Titanwood on brass liners
Locktype: Fuller/Burnett midlock
Weight: 67 grams

[kwakster]

Vintage Al Mar Denali mid-backlock folding knife with hollow ground blade from the 1980's and made in Japan. (probably by Moki)
The cocobolo handle is inlayed with a gold shield picturing a fighter plane and the text "United States Navy Fighter Weapons School".
The 1986 movie "Top Gun" with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis was partly filmed on the grounds of this elite school for US Navy pilots.
Bernard Levine thinks this version with the gold shield was a special edition, not standard production.
The original edge measured about 35 degrees inclusive and wasn't really sharp, so i changed the angle to 30 degrees inclusive with a treetopping sharp bling & bite finish.












Specs:

Length open: 17,3 cm
Length closed: 10,0 cm
Blade length: 7,5 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: Masahiro RS30 stainless steel
Hardness: 57-58 HRC (?)
Handle material: Cocobolo wood & satin stainless bolsters on brass liners
Handle thickness: 11,0 mm
Lock type: Mid-backlock
Weight: 100 grams

[kwakster]

Vintage Al Mar 3004A SOF Attack from the '90's.







Specs:

Overall length: 26,4 cm
Blade length: 14,5 cm
Blade thickness: 4,0 mm
Steel: AM-6 (AUS-6 stainless)
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: Micarta on fiber & stainless bolsters
Weight: 240 grams
Sheath: Black leather with sharpening stone in pouch

[kwakster]

The Warrior knife was designed in 1978 by Bob Taylor and Randy Wanner, both of whom had extensive training in Close Quarters Combat and between them had amassed over forty years of training and teaching.
The late Michael Echanis was also doing research on the failings of "Combat Knives".
Echanis's research and theories reinforced what they already knew, "Combat Knives" available at that time were only rehashed ideas of the Bowie, Tanto, and Dagger, which were centuries old with no major changes.
The problem with these designs was that they weakened the grip and/or provided limited motion.
The Warrior was designed as a pure combat knife used primarily in the reverse grip style, and it increased the strength of the user and added full range of motion.
The serrated secondary edge, the "soft handle" and the curve of the Warrior were unheard of at the time.
After building the first non-working prototype Mr. Taylor took the basic design and utilized a HP-3000 Main Frame computer and maximized the angles to even further enhance the Warriors capabilities.
A number of working prototype's were produced by a number of custom makers and the Warrior became a reality.
Unfortunately the Warrior design was deemed impossible to build with the manufacturing capabilities of that time, and none of the factory makers even wanted to attempt to make the Warrior.

In 1991 Al Mar, a innovator in the industry and radical designer himself, decided to attempt to manufacture the Warrior, as he  figured that manufacturing technology had caught up with the design.
That's when AMK started to manufacture their version of the Taylor/Wanner design in Japan.

This is my own example, a black blade / camo handled version made by Al Mar, mint in original box:









Specs:

Overall length: 13.2 inches (33,5 cm)
Blade length: 7.1 inches   (18,0 cm)
Blade thickness: 0.2 inches  (5,93 mm)
Steel: AUS-6 stainless
Handle material: artificial rubber with finger grooves and grip-enhancing texture
Guard: steel (5,0 mm thick)
Butt: Steel striking pommel
Weight: 530 grams
Sheath: Leather

[kwakster]

Vintage Al Mar Combat made by G.Sakai, most likely in the late '80's.









Specs:

Overall length: 33,7 cm
Blade length: 19,7 cm
Blade thickness: 5,95 mm
Steel: Most likely AUS6
Handle material: Leather washers, brass guard, stainless pommel
Weight: 367 grams
Sheath: Leather

[kwakster]

Vintage FBI Wild West dagger from the late '80's / early '90's.
Full tang construction, double hollow ground blade with narrow fuller & stabilized wood handle with brass hardware.
Quality like this never goes out of style.









Specs:

Overall length: 24,0 cm
Blade length: 13,0 cm
Blade thickness: 4,52 mm (ricasso)
Handle length: 10,6 cm
Steel: AUS-6
Handle material: Pakkawood with inlayed brass monogram shield & rivets & brass guard
Weight: 169 grams
Sheath: Leather

[kwakster]

Al Mar SERE/ATTACK I 3001-A folder from the early '80's, complete with sheath, box & papers.
This version is also known as the baby-SERE, and relatively rare.











Specs:

Overall length: 17,0 cm
Blade length: 7,3 cm
Blade thickness: 2,5 cm
Steel: AM-6 (AUS-6)
Hardness: 57-59 HRC
Handle material: "Camo Green Micarta" & stainless bolsters on brass liners
Locktype: Al Mar Frontlock
Sheath: Nylon

[VICMAN]

Great collection of Al Mars Kwakster!

I used to have 2 warriors that Bob Taylor offered at one time, only they were smaller with about maybe a 5" blade.

[Nix]

Al Mar was one of the most interesting knife designers. Each design seemed very purposeful. I wish he had designed longer and more.

Here is a SERE folder (86mm blade) my girlfriend (now wife!) gave me as a birthday present back in 1987....maybe '88. It instantly became my EDC and saw a fair amount of use. It proved to be more versatile than it would seem at first glance. But that was Al Mar.

[ThePeacent]

wow, this thread escalated quickly! 
while I am most enamored of their fixed blades, their top quality and beautifully engineered folders are no slouch either.   

I was once very close to buy Spyderco's rendition of the Warrior   

[VICMAN]

Al Mar was one of the most interesting knife designers. Each design seemed very purposeful. I wish he had designed longer and more.

Here is a SERE folder (86mm blade) my girlfriend (now wife!) gave me as a birthday present back in 1987....maybe '88.

That was a great birthday present. Those are built like a tank.

[Nix]

I think this one is called the "Eagle".




A lot of knife in a small (thin) package. 4" ZDP-189 blade, great lock-up, 3.125 ounces. It disappears in a pocket. Al had some fine ideas!

[VICMAN]

I think this one is called the "Eagle".
A lot of knife in a small (thin) package. 4" ZDP-189 blade, great lock-up, 3.125 ounces. It disappears in a pocket. Al had some fine ideas!

Great knife and great pic Nix!

[ThePeacent]

I think this one is called the "Eagle".
A lot of knife in a small (thin) package. 4" ZDP-189 blade, great lock-up, 3.125 ounces. It disappears in a pocket. Al had some fine ideas!

Great knife and great pic Nix!

 

and quite an upgrade from their baseline AUS8! From what I've seen ZDP-189 Spydies get all the fame on the Spydie forum, mostly old models with this (relatively) new steel, it apparently is awesome stuff if you know how to appreciate it