Crocodile Dundee Knife (Mods done. Post #20)

[Jamesfett]

Okay the time has come for what I hope will be my last knife in the collection. The Crocodile Dundee Bowie knife. I am in the research phase as I am way over prop budget right now.

Long story short I can find very few pics of the actual screen used knife that have any clarity. Below is all I have found.

The offerings for the knife with any kind of accuracy is only Down Under Knives as near as I can tell. Some here raved about them. Some on Blade Forum despise them. Many of the website links they have to purchase them are dead. Some are not.

None of the sheath offerings seam to have the added on "Low ride" piece added by Chantal Cordey. I am emailing Harry Savage as someone said he makes an accurate sheath but it's not on his website. I have his First Blood and Rambo II knife sheaths and love them.

I have emailed Down Under Knives to see what they say.

So does anyone have any ideas, pics, updated info, insight, etc.

Here is everything I have so far and it's not much.

Actual knife:

Modified and accurate (As near as I can tell) "Outback" knife from Down Under knives. Looks like the correct handle wrap and sheath mods have been made???

Misc. Replicas:

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jamesfett]

Here is the page. The Dundee "Outback" knife is at the bottom and midway down before you get to it the upgraded, more accurate sheath is shown. It says they started coming standard in 2016 but the Outback is still shown with the old one. Waiting to hear back from them.

Down Under Knives

The upgrade sheath is more accurate however in the film he does not appear to have a retention strap.

 

[Jamesfett]

History of the knife:

What is a Crocodile Dundee Knife? Where to Buy the Best One?

The Crocodile Dundee knife was born in the comedy film of the year 1986 starring Paul Hogan. This is the Crocodile Dundee film that requires no introduction,

www.knifeguides.com

 

[Jamesfett]

Does anyone know whose this is? It is amazing. I also noticed it looks like the handle is wrapped on black cord but what I thought was a second layer of different cord looks like some kind of sleeve????

 

[Alan Castillo]

Although it doesn't really add very much more to your research, hope this helps with a little bit of insight James

 

[Jamesfett]

Although it doesn't really add very much more to your research, hope this helps with a little bit of insight James

Thanks Alan. I had found that one. It's where I got some of my pics. There really is not tons of info out there.

I am really surprised they never licensed a knife.

 

[Alan Castillo]

I am really surprised they never licensed a knife.

Oh so very true. Not like it wouldn't be popular, even after all these years !

 

[Oxford]

Does anyone know whose this is? It is amazing. I also noticed it looks like the handle is wrapped on black cord but what I thought was a second layer of different cord looks like some kind of sleeve????

View attachment 1548757

The handle is wrapped with kangaroo leather thong. Really fine and strong, it has been doubled and twisted into a braid. The top layer isnt a sleeve, it’s just another layer of wrap but braided and made from a slightly lighter leather. The guy that made that made some great replicas, but since then he has been reported to take the money and not supply the goods. That looks like an early version. He made some very accurate ones after that. A spot on accurate replica will be available in the future, from a top custom knife maker using an original as reference.

This picture isn’t a replica. It’s the real deal. Taken when it was up for auction.

 

[Halliwax]

Incredible, I always loved that scene.. “that’s not a knife”

I have to dig into these links and learn more about it

I’ve always been obsessed with this knife and john Locke’s from LOST

 

[Jamesfett]

Excellent info. Thank you so much.

I found this on the guy who made the one above. I was gonna ask if anyone knew him. I won't bother now.

Crocodile Dundee Sheath

Heres a sheath I made for a Crocodile Dundee knife. Its veg tanned leather and crocodile with kangaroo lace around the border. Handle braids and sharpening spike lanyard are kangaroo.

leatherworker.net

So is there a timeframe on the one you mentioned? Do you know where it will be offered?

Thanks again.

 

[Oxford]

So is there a timeframe on the one you mentioned? Do you know where it will be offered?

Thanks again.

Hopefully later this year. I’ll be reviewing one in use along with a few other film blades, so I‘ll post that here.

 

[Jamesfett]

Hopefully later this year. I’ll be reviewing one in use along with a few other film blades, so I‘ll post that here.

Sweet. This will be awesome to see.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Jamesfett]

New pic. Good sheath shot.

 

[Jamesfett]

Okay I got my knife. No one at Down Under knives got back to me. As mentioned, most of their links are dead and no clarification on if the upgraded sheath comes standard now even though is was introduced years ago.

So knifecenter.com was about the only link that was active and said it had the knife. I emailed about the sheath. A very nice person got back to me fast and confirmed they have it and it does come with the upgraded sheath. Good customer service,...surprised when it happens.

It arrived and it is awesome. No, it's not 100% but it is pretty close. On these types of replicas the sheaths always suck and are very inaccurate, but this one is pretty close. Again not perfect, but pretty good. The knife itself is amazing. Mirror finish, leather handle. Very odd. They made super hard leather discs to simulate the leather wrapped handle. It would have been better to just do the wrap, but it's very nice. I have ordered braided leather to accurize the handle.

The sheath sadly does have a retention strap. They may not have been allowed to sell one without it. The sharpener is cool and the crocodile teeth are fun. I will be replacing them with a more accurate longer cord and snake vertebrae as that seems to be what is on his as well as on the back of the hat.

The knife pommel and handguard are very close, look great, but not 100%. I don't know if this is intentional to avoid being sued or what, but still awesome.

Fortunately the blade does not say "Crocodile Dundee" on it, unlike Rambo knives. Seriously why do they do that? They are such a pain to remove and re-finish , but worth it. Like Billy (Sunny Lanham) said, "look we are being hunted. Let me write Predator on my machete!"

I just wish they would put no writing on the blade.

So here it is out of the box. As soon as I mod it I will post new pics.

Cell pick from the Blue Ray for comparison. You can see the differences in the handguard and pommel, although it won't be as noticeable once the handle wrapping is on.

Cell pic of the sheath from the original on my TV. Sorry for the low tech. The sheath in the first one is much darker in the film than it looks like in the Streets of New York pic I posted earlier, but does have weathering that make it look a bit lighter. The sheath in the second film is darker.

 

[Jamesfett]

Of course if someone offers a "Spot on Replica" I will be happy to add that to my collection. You can't have too many knives.

 

[Jamesfett]

BTW in the screen cap above where we first see the knife it looks like it's dark brown cord first, then lighter on top. Not black.

 

[Oxford]

Yes, the base layer is dark brown.

The Down Under version is really well made and very nicely heat treated. I’ve bashed one around for years and it a beast. It can easily be reworked into a 90% accurate version. A black marker and layers of black and dark brown boot polish brings the grain out of the sheath really well. You need Reticulated python vertebrae for the rod lanyard.

 

[Jamesfett]

Yes, the base layer is dark brown.

The Down Under version is really well made and very nicely heat treated. I’ve bashed one around for years and it a beast. It can easily be reworked into a 90% accurate version. A black marker and layers of black and dark brown boot polish brings the grain out of the sheath really well. You need Reticulated python vertebrae for the rod lanyard.

Awesome to hear. Yes, I have seen some people talk on knife forums about it being a very sturdy knife for real world work.

Thank you for the info.

Any idea where I can get Reticulated Python Vertebrae? I am checking but nothing so far except a really big one on Ebay. Otherwise the only ones that looked right are on Ebay and are rattlesnake ones.


One other question. How on earth do you know this?? Everything I have found said just suspected snake vertebrae. No one seemed to know which kind???

Who are you,...really??? How do you know so much?????

And while we are on the subject why in the heck are there so few pics of the actual screen used knives? I have found one or two using every search browser and term I can find.????????

 

[Marlin2000]

A super accurate replica would be fantastic. Very much looking forward to seeing your review later this year.

 

[Jamesfett]

Okay I got my mods done. I found a good quality 3mm braided leather. It ended up not being cheap as the first batch I ordered was only a few meters, and it was not enough so I had to order the larger spool.

I searched and searched but most stuff was not leather, but cotton, etc. 1mm was too small. 2mm might have been good but I could not find any. The 3mm looks great and feels good, but does make the grip a lot better.

I added some brown die to the sheath and used the same dark brown braided leather for the Rattlesnake vertebrae on the sharpener.

Before:

After:

On Indy's leg: