Another South African made Chris Reeve, 4" Aviator with type 1 sheath, made in 1986.

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Size compared to the Mark IV

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Top a Manly s90v blade

Under is a Mercator c75.

Both had some scratches from 3000 grit sandpaper.
I made up some home made buffer from candle wax and fine diamond polishing grit and hit them on the buffing wheel. Man that s90v really is hard. It cleaned up the c75 no sweat but I had to reload the wheel several times and spend at-least 5 times longer and the scratches are still minor visible.

Under is a Manly d2. The best blade I think. Surprisingly easy to resharpen and keeps its edge. Its convex. Its all in who tempers them.
I used a dremel to put the gullets in along the handle for more grip

The Kydex sheath. Last year I went over backwards in some steep NZ country. With pack on and somersaulted a dozen times. Went over a small bluff. Manged to stop a few yards before a 200 foot bluff. Only broken rubs and a few scratches. That knife never came out of sheath. A surreal fall. With so much going on its like there is not time to think. Just ompfh omfph omfph each time hitting the ground. If that Kydex was ever going to fail it would have been during this full test.

Bottom a copper Mercator. These are classics in NZ. Possum trappers here used them on literally millions of possums over the years and supported the economy while doing pest control. Not so well looked after but well liked for practicality. Some possum trappers made more money than the prime minister and bought farms. That hey-day is long gone.
 
What's the handle material on the 2-8? Great collection and thanks for sharing.
 
What's the handle material on the 2-8? Great collection and thanks for sharing.

It's a synthetic material called "ivorite". AFAIK it was developed by Yamaha as a replacement for ivory. First they used keys made from ABS but the results were not acceptable for piano players, apparently the keys were too smooth and slippery. It is thought that ivorite is made by adding mineral reinforcements to ABS.
 
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