Information About NATO Military OTF

[button_man]

robcelani -- You may find some useful information in the thread "Identifiers for a "Super Automatic" which began on Jan 14th.

[button_man]

Here are some photos of my "Secret Agent" OTF, which is pretty much identical to the 'NATO Military' and 'Super Automatic' knives.

I have never seen another one with the demon head marking on the blade.
That T-plug in the butt seems unusual, too. (Insert your own joke here)

[robcelani]

That’s a great knife button_man. Very cool looking demon on the blade!

I appreciate all the responses. I’ve been checking out other threads on the forum. There’s a 10 year old thread about these otf’s that was 4 or 5 pages long. That was a good one but some of the pictures are gone.

[Billyfish]

The demon is a Japanese Oni.

[button_man]

The demon is a Japanese Oni.

Why would a Japanese demon appear on a product made in Korea and destined for the USA?
There has always been some degree of transfer between neighboring Asian cultures....
could this symbol be present in Korean culture also? Maybe brought from one country to the other?

[Tom19176]

That demon was the trade mark of Master Cutlery for several years. I bought several dozen of their non auto folding knives back in the day.

[sammy the blade]

I had some Master Cutlery stuff a loooong time ago but I don't recall a demon on them, but I've slept sense then.

[button_man]

Interesting..... is there any connection between Bell and Master Cutlery?
I have to wonder about both companies using the exact same symbol on their products....

[Billyfish]

The demon is a Japanese Oni.

Why would a Japanese demon appear on a product made in Korea and destined for the USA?
There has always been some degree of transfer between neighboring Asian cultures....
could this symbol be present in Korean culture also? Maybe brought from one country to the other?

Yes, there is a Chinese traditional mask that is a variant of the Oni or visa versa. Some speculate that the Japanese culturally appropriated the Chinese version.
I could find nothing similar in Korean theater masks.

[last_vegas]

Here is another "demon secret agent"

[button_man]

VERY interesting to see the differences! Yours has more "button" guards vs. my "elongated" guards;
and the deployment buttons are totally different. I wonder which knife is earlier.....?

Thanks very much for the photo!

[button_man]

Well, now that I look at the some more, the deployment buttons seem the same.
Can you post a full view of the handle please?

[last_vegas]

Well, now that I look at the some more, the deployment buttons seem the same.
Can you post a full view of the handle please?

Yep, here you are

[last_vegas]

Another one

[button_man]

Well, that sure makes a difference! The guards now look the same also. Thanx for the photos!