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From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin )
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Knife ads
Message-ID: <2022@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 9-Oct-85 15:36:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.2022
Posted: Wed Oct  9 15:36:51 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 15:40:19 EDT
References: <858@cvl.UUCP>
Reply-To: wmartin@brl-bmd.UUCP
Distribution: net
Organization: USAMC ALMSA, St. Louis, MO
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In article <858@cvl.UUCP> cas@cvl.UUCP (Cliff Shaffer) writes:
>Recently in the Washington Post Magazine and through direct-junk-mail,
>I have seen ads for the "MALIN M-15 Survival Knife."
>They sell for $5 plus $2 shipping/handling per knife.

Ah, a topic that I am a bona-fide expert in...

I deal in knives on a part-time basis, not to make any money at it but
to buy stuff for my collection at wholesale. These particular survival
knives (defining the term as a knife with a hollow handle you can keep
matches, fishhooks, line, etc. in) are made in Taiwan, and are not a bad
deal for the price. And, for a change, this mail-order campaign, selling
them at $7 each, is really dealing at a fair price. My normal wholesale
source for these had them at $10 each originally, and then dropped the
price to $7 "on sale", where they have been on perpetual sale ever
since. (That is a quantity-one wholesale rate.)

These very same knives have been offered for $20 or so via numerous
ads, both full-page and tiny, in many gun, survivalist, and outdoors
magazines. They were available there also in a camouflage finish, which these
"Malin" ads do not mention, so that is the main difference. Note the use
of "Malin", an obvious play on "Marlin", an old-line name in the gun and
outdoors-goods trade. 

These are not fancy, and the blade steel is not of great quality, but
they do cut, and the compass works, and the stuff in the handle is
functional. The main defect in these, as with any other hollow-handle
survival knife, is the blade-handle joint. To get a hollow handle, you
can't have much of a tang on the blade, and it is usually just epoxied
in the handle on cheap knives. To get a more solid assembly, you go up
in price to a $100 Buckmaster or a $250 handmade custom version. If you
want to be able to use a knife as a pry bar and not have it break, you
have to have a solid-tang model where the tang extends the full length
of the handle. So you give up the storage compartment for strength.

So, in general conclusion, they are probably worth the money, unless
these mass-sales models are distinctly different and inferior to the
Taiwanese models I have already seen. That seems unlikely -- I think
they just bought a vast quantity and got a good price. You should expect
to spend some time with a good stone or sharpening kit (like a Lansky or
E-Z-Sharp) putting a decent edge on this knife after you get it. The factory
cannot take the time to do much of a honing job at the prices they are
getting! For a knife to throw in your car trunk as insurance against the
time you might need it, it is worth it. I am giving one of mine to a
friend this Christmas for just that purpose.

Regards,
Will