Not familiar with Marbles knives, only their sights of which I have legion. The older US made knives seem to command a real premium, any opinions on them?
Personally after giving them a look over I don't care for them but I also try to avoid anything that has a blade labeled only "stainless steel" as that is generally code for garbage. I would look at Great Eastern Cutlery if I had to purchase a "traditional" style knife.
Not familiar with Marbles knives, only their sights of which I have legion. The older US made knives seem to command a real premium, any opinions on them?
If you're talking about the original company from the late 19th and into the first two thirds of the 20th, they are true classics. I have no experience with how their products performed, but they created and/or popularized some very cool patterns that are still associated with then name. Woodcraft, Fieldcraft, Ideal, etc. . . . I love looking at photos of them.
Any of the US made knives are good. If you read the old hunting and camping books the Ideal model was pretty much the gold standard for fixed blades for the first half of the last century. The Expert model is also very nice but harder to find. There is not a lot of information about the steel in these old knives but they take and hold an edge pretty well. Theres just something about using knife or a gun for that matter your great grandfather might have chosen in his day that makes the experience a little more special.