Amefa Corner!

[Don Pablo]

Interesting. My '74 DAK(the design with no can opener) weighs approx 73g. 

[Drreptar]

Interesting. My '74 DAK(the design with no can opener) weighs approx 73g. 

I guess the brass liner accounts for some of it, also the springs and opener tools 'seem' a fraction thicker to me

[El Corkscrew]

Most definitely thicker.

'81 weighs 71.4g  '89 weighs 72.1g, both Vic's

That makes me want one.  Still 93mm, right?

[Don Pablo]

Most definitely thicker.

'81 weighs 71.4g  '89 weighs 72.1g, both Vic's

That makes me want one.  Still 93mm, right?

Yes, 93mm I think.

[Drreptar]

Most definitely thicker.

'81 weighs 71.4g  '89 weighs 72.1g, both Vic's

That makes me want one.  Still 93mm, right?

Yes, 93mm I think.

Yup holding then together it's the same length as the pioneer/soldier from victorinox

[El Corkscrew]

Most definitely thicker.
'81 weighs 71.4g  '89 weighs 72.1g, both Vic's

That makes me want one.  Still 93mm, right?

Yes, 93mm I think.

Yup holding then together it's the same length as the pioneer/soldier from victorinox

You definitely get more thickness with older Vic's but the Amefas appear to be even thicker.

[Mechanickal]

I paid about E 5 for mine.

Hereby offering you 6

It's a profit of a whopping 20% !


Would gladly handle an Amefa myself one day, but only encountered 2 DAKs so far, both Vic, both bought by myself...

I wonder why they seem to be quite rare over here, even though it's just 1 border to cross...

Oh and a 111m DAK too while we're at it!

[Mactire404]

Yesterday I scored this pretty pretty pretty DAK.

Amefa Dutch Army Knife KL84

It's a '84 that means two things; it's a my birthyear model ánd it's an Amefa.
The fact that it's an Amefa put me off at first. I have some issues with Amefa, but well come to that later.


I found this on an auction site and picked it up for a fair price. I know that these are dirt cheap most of the time, but then they are heavily used and the blades are broken or sharpened so many times it turned into a marlin spike  .
This particular model is in very, very good shape. It's a shame the bail is missing. There was minor rust on mainly the canopener and the SAK was filled with grime.
In these photo's I've given it a light cleaning under lukewarm water and used a toothbrush to get rid of most of the dirt.


Unlike some older Amefa models the '84 has four tools. A large blade which resembles the Victorinox blade very closely. It has only the AMEFA logo stamped in the tang.


It has an awl. It has a scary sharp tip, great for poking myself on accident.
Then on the second layer are the can-opener and bottle opener.


The bottle-opener has a slotted screwdriver on the tip and a scraper inside the bottle-opener .
It also locks/stops at an 90' angle.


And here we have the can-opener. The most hideous terrifying can-opener in the world.
Someone here on the forums said it looked like a Karambit. Well, you are not wrong.

AMEFA Dutch Army Knife and Emerson Combat Karambit
It's huge and looks out of proportion. I've come to terms with this though. Now I hardly raise an eyebrow when I open it.
Unlike Victorinox it has no screwdriver on the tip. Bit it as a wire-stripper near the tang. Nice.

When I got home I gave the '84 a proper clean in the bacta tank.

It's squeaky clean now and a few drops of Vic oil make it snap like a turtle. I pity anyone who has one snapping closed on his finger.  The minor rust came of nicely and only left some dark spots.

Then my other issue with Amefa. I've seen these things in bulk and they were in poor condition. That made me assume the quality was poor. In reality, these are hard used tools. Since it's not a 'real' Swiss Army Knife it's likely that they didn't get the care they deserved.
Because the one I have here is solid. There is no play in any direction, it has strong springs and isn't hard to open. You can feel it's heavy duty though.
The fit and finish is sub par though. Especially of you use Victorinox as the standard.
The main blade isn't polished, the edges on the tools are not as soft. You can see that the springs and tools were finished by hand by a Cockeyed Dutchman from Amersfoort and the brass liners don't line up perfectly, like they do with Victorinox.
The blade was sharpened at a very shallow angle. I sharpened it to Vic standards, but might have to do some finishing touches. From the looks of the edge it wasn't sherpened before.

But all in all I really like this knife. It's special to me as it's from my birthyear. It's special because it's the last year the Dutch Army used Amefa made knifes. It's Dutch made which I have to admit is really nice to know.
I am going to carry this thing around for a while and see how it does.

[Don Pablo]

Very nice! 
Regarding the finish and sharp edges on the tools, what Victorinox are you comparing it to? I heard that Vic/Wenger Soldiers from the same era were kind of... unpolished? Maybe someone can clear this up? 

[Mechanickal]

Very nice! 
Regarding the finish and sharp edges on the tools, what Victorinox are you comparing it to? I heard that Vic/Wenger Soldiers from the same era were kind of... unpolished? Maybe someone can clear this up? 

A Vic KL87 here has unpolished can and bottle openers, but the blade and awl are polished.

Same for my Vic KL91.

[Mactire404]

Very nice! 
Regarding the finish and sharp edges on the tools, what Victorinox are you comparing it to? I heard that Vic/Wenger Soldiers from the same era were kind of... unpolished? Maybe someone can clear this up? 

Really? I was comparing it to commercial SAKs, I don't have any SIs.
There is something to say for mot polishing the tools and blade as it reduces glare  but since all tools except the blade are polished it doesn't make sense.
It also surprised me that the SIs have rough edges as well. But tbis makes me more forgiving towards Amefa

[Don Pablo]

On my Amefa KL74 with no can opener, only the Awl is polished.

[Reinier]

a Cockeyed Dutchman from Amersfoort

You rang?

(Guess you mean Apeldoorn by the way ).

[Mactire404]

a Cockeyed Dutchman from Amersfoort

You rang?

(Guess you mean Apeldoorn by the way ).

Haha, Apeldoorn indeed. Sorry for the mixup.

[stunkel]

I also have an Amefa. An old one from 1966.
A real nail killer 

[kirk13]

KL74 eBay find. This is so much better than the later Amefa M1961 clones. Fit is better,albeit nit up to Swiss standards,but has really great snap,and it cleaned up a treat. This one is going to be a regular user!

[Don Pablo]

I also have an Amefa. An old one from 1966.
A real nail killer 

Whats that stubby small blade used for?
Very nice!

KL74 eBay find. This is so much better than the later Amefa M1961 clones. Fit is better,albeit nit up to Swiss standards,but has really great snap,and it cleaned up a treat. This one is going to be a regular user!

Panics
Checks room
Phew. I thought Kirky got a hold of mine somehow. 
They are identical at first sight!

[stunkel]

Whats that stubby small blade used for?


No idea, maybe for more precision work.

[glenfiddich1983]

Amefa KL84

[Mactire404]

Amefa KL84

Show content

I didn't notice a marking after the AMEFA stamp on the tang on mine. Is that an X?
Curious. When I get home I will check up on mine.

Oh, and the 1984 ones are the best ones 

[glenfiddich1983]

Amefa KL84

Show content

I didn't notice a marking after the AMEFA stamp on the tang on mine. Is that an X?
Curious. When I get home I will check up on mine.

Oh, and the 1984 ones are the best ones 

[Mactire404]

Curious, I never noticed that before.
When the blade is deployed the left X is nearly covered by the liner, the right is more visible.
When opened partially it's far more obvious.

I made some pictures too. Sorry about the poor quality, I made them with clip on lenses on my smartphone.


Opened partially


Opened completely

[EMZ]

All my Amefa's have the "star like X", even the pre-1961's and the ones without the KL marking.

[Don Pablo]

I can't find mine. 

[EMZ]

I can't find mine. 

That's a rather serious situation. Until very recently people received severe punishments for losing a knife or a sword. You see, this knife isn't just any ordinary knife you can buy in a any shop. No, this knife was given by our Queen to the soldiers that defended Europe against the Soviets during the Cold War!! The Queen ran out of suitable swords, so the swords were replaced by these high quality Amefa knives (or maybe swords were a little bit outdated after WW2, I don't know). The KL84 was the last edition of Amefa. The next was KL85 which was a Victorinox.
Sorry Pablo, but I have to report this to our Queen, or King, who knows.

[Don Pablo]

I can't find mine. 

That's a rather serious situation. Until very recently people received severe punishments for losing a knife or a sword. You see, this knife isn't just any ordinary knife you can buy in a any shop. No, this knife was given by our Queen to the soldiers that defended Europe against the Soviets during the Cold War!! The Queen ran out of suitable swords, so the swords were replaced by these high quality Amefa knives (or maybe swords were a little bit outdated after WW2, I don't know). The KL84 was the last edition of Amefa. The next was KL85 which was a Victorinox.
Sorry Pablo, but I have to report this to our Queen, or King, who knows.

Can you give me a few days grace to find it? Please?

[EMZ]

I can't find mine. 

That's a rather serious situation. Until very recently people received severe punishments for losing a knife or a sword. You see, this knife isn't just any ordinary knife you can buy in a any shop. No, this knife was given by our Queen to the soldiers that defended Europe against the Soviets during the Cold War!! The Queen ran out of suitable swords, so the swords were replaced by these high quality Amefa knives (or maybe swords were a little bit outdated after WW2, I don't know). The KL84 was the last edition of Amefa. The next was KL85 which was a Victorinox.
Sorry Pablo, but I have to report this to our Queen, or King, who knows.

Can you give me a few days grace to find it? Please?

Of course! I have good memories on Ireland... Two weeks in Curragh Camp in 2007!

[Don Pablo]

I can't find mine. 

That's a rather serious situation. Until very recently people received severe punishments for losing a knife or a sword. You see, this knife isn't just any ordinary knife you can buy in a any shop. No, this knife was given by our Queen to the soldiers that defended Europe against the Soviets during the Cold War!! The Queen ran out of suitable swords, so the swords were replaced by these high quality Amefa knives (or maybe swords were a little bit outdated after WW2, I don't know). The KL84 was the last edition of Amefa. The next was KL85 which was a Victorinox.
Sorry Pablo, but I have to report this to our Queen, or King, who knows.

Can you give me a few days grace to find it? Please?

Of course! I have good memories on Ireland... Two weeks in Curragh Camp in 2007!

I'm in Newbridge here. 
What were you doing at the Curragh camp may I ask?

[EMZ]

I can't find mine. 

That's a rather serious situation. Until very recently people received severe punishments for losing a knife or a sword. You see, this knife isn't just any ordinary knife you can buy in a any shop. No, this knife was given by our Queen to the soldiers that defended Europe against the Soviets during the Cold War!! The Queen ran out of suitable swords, so the swords were replaced by these high quality Amefa knives (or maybe swords were a little bit outdated after WW2, I don't know). The KL84 was the last edition of Amefa. The next was KL85 which was a Victorinox.
Sorry Pablo, but I have to report this to our Queen, or King, who knows.

Can you give me a few days grace to find it? Please?

Of course! I have good memories on Ireland... Two weeks in Curragh Camp in 2007!

I'm in Newbridge here. 
What were you doing at the Curragh camp may I ask?

Curragh Camp harbors also the UN Training School. Some colleagues and I attended a training there, and we stayed in the army barracks.
I have a funny story about my stay in Curragh Camp: While being there, I noticed that all Irish soldiers were wearing boonie hats with fleece liners. I thought by myself "hey, that's kinda weird and cool, I wanna have such a warm boonie hat". So one evening I was in a local pub drinking (too) much Irish beer, and I got into a chat with a local bloke. During the conversation I told him about the cool boonie hat, that I wanted to have, and he said "Your're a lucky smurf! I am a colonel in the Irish Army, responsible for the purchase and distribution of all Irish Army clothing. I will get you one!" Within a week he delivered me this funny hat. I still have it and wear it when temperatures are below 10 C.

Unfortunately I forgot to ask if the Irish Army had SAK's. However, I don't think the Irish Army had SAK's in 2007.

[Don Pablo]

I can't find mine. 

That's a rather serious situation. Until very recently people received severe punishments for losing a knife or a sword. You see, this knife isn't just any ordinary knife you can buy in a any shop. No, this knife was given by our Queen to the soldiers that defended Europe against the Soviets during the Cold War!! The Queen ran out of suitable swords, so the swords were replaced by these high quality Amefa knives (or maybe swords were a little bit outdated after WW2, I don't know). The KL84 was the last edition of Amefa. The next was KL85 which was a Victorinox.
Sorry Pablo, but I have to report this to our Queen, or King, who knows.

Can you give me a few days grace to find it? Please?

Of course! I have good memories on Ireland... Two weeks in Curragh Camp in 2007!

I'm in Newbridge here. 
What were you doing at the Curragh camp may I ask?

Curragh Camp harbors also the UN Training School. Some colleagues and I attended a training there, and we stayed in the army barracks.
I have a funny story about my stay in Curragh Camp: While being there, I noticed that all Irish soldiers were wearing boonie hats with fleece liners. I thought by myself "hey, that's kinda weird and cool, I wanna have such a warm boonie hat". So one evening I was in a local pub drinking (too) much Irish beer, and I got into a chat with a local bloke. During the conversation I told him about the cool boonie hat, that I wanted to have, and he said "Your're a lucky smurf! I am a colonel in the Irish Army, responsible for the purchase and distribution of all Irish Army clothing. I will get you one!" Within a week he delivered me this funny hat. I still have it and wear it when temperatures are below 10 C.

Unfortunately I forgot to ask if the Irish Army had SAK's. However, I don't think the Irish Army had SAK's in 2007.

I didn't know about the school. 
That was quite cool story regarding the hat. 
Funny thing, I found my KL74 at a surplus store called Protac... At the Curragh camp. 
Small world.

Oh, and the Irish army didn't have knives, since ww2, except for a run of 2000 mostly given to soldiers going out on deployment I believe. They apparently stopped issuing them because of soldiers hurting themselves. 
https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,72399.0.html