If you mean one of those simple flat handled small knives with a blade at each end then it triggeres a memory of 'where the heck did I lose mine years ago?'
Nothong that simple appears available new now although a search of twin blade pocket knives comes up with bulkier versions usually with 2 blades at the one end.
This Link has a few similar secondhand ones to my memory but not so cheap now: https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/english_pocket_knife

Any chance that the original had some magnetic attraction? Worth trying fishing with a small neodinium?

The current crop of new S/S pocket knives don't hold an edge well in my experience.

pgk

I have seen them, but I can't recall how recently, in pipe and tobacco shops.

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 28/04/2021 15:51:58

You Won't do better than Heinnie Heinnie Heynes although personally I always buy a locking knife despite the uk legal carry laws I have had a non locker fold on me and too dangerous for me.

UK friendly

You can get some quite stiff non lockers Boker do some for instance, prices from pennies to sky is the limit.

Alan

Edited By Norfolk Boy on 28/04/2021 16:44:59

If you Google "pocket knife manufacturers sheffield" you will find a number of practicing little mesters who may be able to help Some used to work out of Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield .

I buy the same model Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops knives every so often. I have had quite a few over the years & I buy them from a shop in Ostend. They do a model with a blade just under 4 inches & I have a couple of others with a much smaller blade. I use them for work-moorings, rigging, plus on my boat etc.. I find the steel very good. Cost ( in Ostend) is circa 35 euros. but last one purchased was in 2019

I would recommend them as a single bladed "working" item. I expect that they are available online The handle is aluminium with holes in it & they can be silver or lightly blued colour. very easy to open with the thumb, locking blade, Push button or a lever lock.

I know all about the legality, but if I am on my launch trying to lift a mooring & cut something free in choppy weather trying to open a knife, I cannot fuss around.

Depends how much working room you have and how much effort you wish to employ but some semi-rigid tube to sheathe the magnet past nails with perhaps a thin plastic rod down the tube to prod magnet past any nails…?

Also a question of how far down we're talking about – a foot or two and one of those cheap flexible graspers may be worth a go…
You can also get tiny spy cameras cheaply to try and visualise the task…

pgk

I have a folding 'Stanley-type' knife in each of my toolboxes/bags **LINK**

Not stylish or beautifully made, but very practical

UK knife law is a bit of a mine field, especially if you add in "going equipped". My "everyday carry" (EDC) is a Leatherman Charge Ti. I've carried a Leatherman for about 25 years, The Charge has two knife blades both under 4" and locking. The blades can be opened one handed. It is illegal to carry this in public in England without a good reason. As I'm no longer working as a "hands on" engineer I'd rather not have to argue the need to carry it in court. So I have cut off the locking tabs for the knife blades. The saw and file blades still lock. I tightened the pivot bolts so the blades are now effectively friction locked. I have unmodified Leathermans to carry when justified and even a TSA approved Micra that I can carry on commercial aircraft.

Rober G8RPi.

Quite a few years ago was in London and on the spur of the moment decided to visit the House of Commons public gallery, there were security checks to get into the building. We had to be vetted by an ordinary policeman who asked us to turn out our pockets, embarrassingly I had in my pocket a penknife, it was an agricultural type working knife that I bought when I was thirteen years old at the Devon County Show. I was quite attached to the knife and it had been everywhere with me always in my pocket. The policeman’s eyes alighted on my trusty knife and he questioned why I was carrying it, after deliberating for a few seconds he said stick it back in your pocket, he summed up the situation and decided that an elderly gent with an ancient penknife was not an obvious terrorist threat so he had used his judgement and we proceeded to enter the House of Commons, I am not sure his superiors would have agreed with his judgement call. Dave W

Although you can buy them for a reasonable price (and for a small fortune too if you want), have you thought of making one? A single bladed folding knife makes an interesting project.

Edited By IRT on 29/04/2021 23:03:24

Edited By IRT on 29/04/2021 23:03:41