IAK - a rare breed

[Guardian]

And that was only during the emergency, apparently.

For anyone not familiar with Irish history, The Emergency was the period 1939 - 1945, better known as the 2nd World War.

This means it would have been this knife;

[Mechanickal]

And that was only during the emergency, apparently.

For anyone not familiar with Irish history, The Emergency was the period 1939 - 1945, better known as the 2nd World War.

This means it would have been this knife;

I think half the world used that knife during "the emergeny"
The other half carried scout knives

[Guardian]

And that was only during the emergency, apparently.

For anyone not familiar with Irish history, The Emergency was the period 1939 - 1945, better known as the 2nd World War.

This means it would have been this knife;

I think half the world used that knife during "the emergeny"
The other half carried scout knives

and a lucky few got SAK's 

Ireland then had to wait until 2005 to get a decent knife.

I think Belgium is still using a knife similar to the above so you guys are STILL waiting 

[Don Pablo]

In a related question,  what restrictions are there on knives in Ireland? We've heard most of the UK laws against them, but, say, what if a visitor rambled along the Irish pilgrim paths while carrying a non-Irish Army OHT?

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What the relevant law says:
Any pointy or bladed thing, no matter the size or function, requires a "reasonable excuse" (legally defined term) to carry. This technically includes pencils. Its technically illegal to carry a pencil without a reasonable excuse here.

Yikes! How about a simple SAK? Is 'so I'll have something to cut up my food or open a beer' considered sufficient excuse for urban carry?

Basically EDC purposes?
Let's just say I don't feel comfortable testing it out. 

[Mechanickal]

And that was only during the emergency, apparently.

For anyone not familiar with Irish history, The Emergency was the period 1939 - 1945, better known as the 2nd World War.

This means it would have been this knife;

I think half the world used that knife during "the emergeny"
The other half carried scout knives

and a lucky few got SAK's 

Ireland then had to wait until 2005 to get a decent knife.

I think Belgium is still using a knife similar to the above so you guys are STILL waiting 

They took them out of commission MANY years ago and alot of them ended up on the civilian market many years later.

Got a '52 model myself

I don't think our army uses a pocket knife atm

[Nix]

I'm really diggin' this thread! 

(p.s. When I deployed I was issued a Gerber multitool and a Benchmade switchblade. Talk about fun to play with! Unfortunately, I had to bring my own SAK's.  )

[pomsbz]

In a related question,  what restrictions are there on knives in Ireland? We've heard most of the UK laws against them, but, say, what if a visitor rambled along the Irish pilgrim paths while carrying a non-Irish Army OHT?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

What the relevant law says:
Any pointy or bladed thing, no matter the size or function, requires a "reasonable excuse" (legally defined term) to carry. This technically includes pencils. Its technically illegal to carry a pencil without a reasonable excuse here.

Yikes! How about a simple SAK? Is 'so I'll have something to cut up my food or open a beer' considered sufficient excuse for urban carry?

Basically EDC purposes?
Let's just say I don't feel comfortable testing it out. 

Sorry mate.

[Don Pablo]

In a related question,  what restrictions are there on knives in Ireland? We've heard most of the UK laws against them, but, say, what if a visitor rambled along the Irish pilgrim paths while carrying a non-Irish Army OHT?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

What the relevant law says:
Any pointy or bladed thing, no matter the size or function, requires a "reasonable excuse" (legally defined term) to carry. This technically includes pencils. Its technically illegal to carry a pencil without a reasonable excuse here.

Yikes! How about a simple SAK? Is 'so I'll have something to cut up my food or open a beer' considered sufficient excuse for urban carry?

Basically EDC purposes?
Let's just say I don't feel comfortable testing it out. 

Sorry mate.

It's not all gloom and doom, bladeless SAKs are fun. 

[Guardian]

(p.s. When I deployed I was issued a Gerber multitool and a Benchmade switchblade. Talk about fun to play with! Unfortunately, I had to bring my own SAK's.  )
[/quote]

A switchblade? Was that because you were a paratrooper/SF?

[Mechanickal]

(p.s. When I deployed I was issued a Gerber multitool and a Benchmade switchblade. Talk about fun to play with! Unfortunately, I had to bring my own SAK's.  )

A switchblade? Was that because you were a paratrooper/SF?
[/quote]Oh hell no!

Your comment reminds me of my uncles knife.
He was a paracommando and carried a Fairbairn Sykes. Had to hand it in when he left but bought one for himself later on.

Now I feel the need for one of those again

[Nix]

A switchblade? Was that because you were a paratrooper/SF?

I wasn't, but I was attached to the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles". Very good soldiers. I didn't deploy with any support unit, but rather was on my own, and my deployment manager thought it was a good idea. And it had a National Stock Number (NSN) and so was available. It was a cool knife, but I gave it to the person who replaced me. Kept my SAK though!

Back to IAK's....

[Guardian]

Looking at an Irish Army kit list, for Ranger Wing Selection,  it shows a multi tool; could it be a Leatherman PST?

[Don Pablo]

[Boonies]

Looks like the tools open from the outside, Swisstool maybe?

[Myron]

In a related question,  what restrictions are there on knives in Ireland? We've heard most of the UK laws against them, but, say, what if a visitor rambled along the Irish pilgrim paths while carrying a non-Irish Army OHT?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

What the relevant law says:
Any pointy or bladed thing, no matter the size or function, requires a "reasonable excuse" (legally defined term) to carry. This technically includes pencils. Its technically illegal to carry a pencil without a reasonable excuse here.

Yikes! How about a simple SAK? Is 'so I'll have something to cut up my food or open a beer' considered sufficient excuse for urban carry?

Basically EDC purposes?
Let's just say I don't feel comfortable testing it out. 

In 2010 I bought a 111 mm Picnicker at a shop in Dublin, right near Trinity College.  The shopkeeper didn't give me any warnings or let me know of any restrictions, and I was too naive to ask.  The knife stayed behind with my wife for the remainder of her semester there, serving as a kitchen tool. She then shipped it home to me at the conclusion. 

[Nick4]

Just thought I would share some info on the Irish Defence Forces issue 111mm Trailmaster/Trekker that I gathered when visiting the Military Museum at the Curragh, Eire (Southern Ireland).

  Great find and find and very interesting story!

[Don Pablo]

In 2010 I bought a 111 mm Picnicker at a shop in Dublin, right near Trinity College.  The shopkeeper didn't give me any warnings or let me know of any restrictions, and I was too naive to ask.  The knife stayed behind with my wife for the remainder of her semester there, serving as a kitchen tool. She then shipped it home to me at the conclusion.

Well, that sounds about par for the course regarding the lack of warnings.  It's kinda odd.

Knives at home is legal, it's in public spaces where the law says you need a good reason.... and no reason will satisfy the judge if you're caught with a knife at the pub.  Knives while camping and such are totally fine in most cases if you're behaving nicely.

IMHO based on limited experience:

Act like a law abiding citizen, don't make the police want to search you, don't carry knives where its totally not a good idea (e.g, the pub, concerts, school etc), don't carry knives where you might be searched (like parts of the city, depending on your age ( ) )

Be an upstanding-looking citizen, don't carry knives where you blatantly shouldn't, be very wary regarding tactical knives, locking knives, anything bigger or scarier than a SAK.

The law here is the way it is to give the police lots of lee-way to arrest and charge trouble-makers.  And generally they seem to use that power wisely.

[Guardian]

Looks like the tools open from the outside, Swisstool maybe?

Picture 1 (the oldest of the 2 kit pictures) could be a Spirit or even a Swisstool  (straight handles) as the blades would open when the handles close over the pliers. Picture 2 still looks like a PST.....it has those finger nail indents......

[Guardian]

Not SAK related, but did anyone know about the Shamrock hidden in the Irish Defence Forces camouflage?

[Guardian]

Look closely............really closely...........

[Guardian]

And there it is!

[Guardian]

Oh, and apparently the patent on this current pattern runs out in 2 years time......

[Ron Who]

Anyone interested in camo patterns, try Camopedia http://camopedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Pictures of most existing patterns and colors, sorted by country. 

[Guardian]

Anyone interested in camo patterns, try Camopedia http://camopedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Pictures of most existing patterns and colors, sorted by country. 

 

[Guardian]

An update:
Have found out that certain technical trades in the IDF get issued multitools. And, from the OPW (Office for Public Works) 2013 catalogue, this is the Leatherman Wave in the plain stainless.

[IMR4198]

I'm glad you updated your posts.  I had never seen the thread before.  Very interesting.  Have you located any more FF Victorinox knives since then?  Best wishes.   Gary

[Guardian]

I'm glad you updated your posts.  I had never seen the thread before.  Very interesting.  Have you located any more FF Victorinox knives since then?  Best wishes.   Gary

Hi Gary, thanks  and no I haven’t been looking I must admit. They must be even rarer now.

[pfrsantos]

Nice necro, thanks!

 

[Huntsman]

^^^ Indeed .........  and I missed it first time around 

Hey Guardian - Can we use the piccies from the first post to put in the Wiki - Soldier photo gallery - We don't have any IAKs at the moment

I might also put a link to this thread in the Soldier page as well as it has some great information

Thanks for the thread

[Guardian]

^^^ Indeed .........  and I missed it first time around 

Hey Guardian - Can we use the piccies from the first post to put in the Wiki - Soldier photo gallery - We don't have any IAKs at the moment

I might also put a link to this thread in the Soldier page as well as it has some great information

Thanks for the thread

Hi Huntsman, that will be fine . Nice that others can then access this info via Wiki. I’ve also done the thread on military Swisstools ( https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,70495.0.html)  with quite a bit of detail (need to get out more).
I’ll keep this thread updated with anything else I find. As Eire is neutral it isn’t beholden to any military supplier and can pick what it wants it’s troops to have (new camo uniforms due soon). So, one day, maybe a OHO Swisstool like the Aussies