LOST.....Locke's Lost Luggage

[Coltello74]

Hello everyone, and welcome to the thread that's all about Locke's stuff! I enjoy looking for "found objects" in movies and TV, and Lost is a great place to do that. Have you ever wondered, "What kind of ________ is that?" Well, here is where you'll find out! I've spent about a year, with help from others on the net too, to find out as much as I can about Locke's luggage on Lost.
To take things more-or-less in chronological order, the first item up is the very first knife we see Locke use:

This is the little pocket knife in "Tabula Rasa," that Locke uses to make a dog whistle. Of course, it's difficult to be absolutely certain what it is, but its size, shape, and color match that of Master Knives Item YD-8085W. Master Knives is a logical choice, as there are at least 4 to 5 other Master Knives in his collection as well.
For those who are interested, Master Knives (also known as Jaguar Knives) are super-cheap bulk-purchase knives of the type you might see on QVC, and odds are you get what you pay for. Locke's choice to include these knives in his collection lends credence to the theory of his character as a "wanna-be" adventurer, with little hands-on knowledge before the crash.
Alternatively, some folks wonder if Locke might sell these knives to make a little cash on the side. This would explain why he brought so many with him, including mutiples of the same knife.

[Coltello74]

Next up, is the big metal box that Locke keeps his knives in, as well as a lot of his other survival stuff:

This case is called a Rimowa Tropicana Trolley. It is expensive, water-tight, and extremely tough, along the same lines as the Haliburton that Sawyer tried and failed to break into. It is also quite heavy, an interesting choice for a man confined to a wheelchair.
The Rimowa Tropicana Trolley is also a model that is very VERY difficult to obtain in the United States, and might even have been discontinued by Rimowa. They can be obtained from places in Europe, but it's tricky. Hope you speak German! The fact that Locke has a case like this, may be a hint that he has been overseas before.
The case is primarily designed for carrying camera equipment, and protecting it from the elements. The case has customizable partitions you put in it, to keep your equipment from shifting around. There is an insulating foam material in the lid, which Locke apparently cut sections out of to put some of his knives in. The knives are held in place by magnets attached to the underside of the lid:

[Coltello74]

Next up is the knife we all probably most associate with John Locke: The one that is almost always at his side...

Most people think this is probably some sort of fancy custom knife. In fact, it is the Master Bowie, another one of Locke's el cheapo Master Knives! Runs between $8 and $14. Used to be carried by Atlanta Cutlery, but seems to be getting harder to find. I believe you can still get them directly from Master dealers, though.
In spite of this knife sharing a place of reverence in the lid of his case, this is also the knife Locke seems to have multiples of. He still has one on his belt, when he leaves another for Boone to cut his bonds with, in "Hearts and Minds." It is also in this scene that you get a glimpse of the cheap black nylon sheath that comes with this knife. Instead, Locke carries his Master Bowie in a rather nice custom-made leather sheath:

Interesting that this sheath probably costs at least twice what the Master Bowie did!
The Master Bowie is also not really intended as a throwing knife. The wood grips would tend to get beaten up and cracked pretty fast (as you can kind of see in the above photo), the blade is too thin, and is the wrong sort of metal to stand up to repeated hits. Throw it enough, and eventually it will break. And in fact, in "Numbers," Locke uses a broken Master Bowie to build Claire a crib:

Some folks wonder if maybe Locke uses a bunch of cheap Master Bowies on purpose, so it's no big deal if they break or not.

[Coltello74]

Next we'll take the rest of the knives in the lid of Locke's case, from left to right. First up, on the far left, is Locke's Kabar:

This appears to be a full-sized Kabar USMC Fighting Knife (not a knockoff), which for some reason has had all of its black protective finish polished off! Best guess is that the prop guys figured a shiny silver knife would look better on-screen than a knife with a black blade. Not a good idea in real life, as the Kabar's blade is NOT stainless steel. If Locke doesn't keep this one oiled up good, it's going to rust.
This is the first knife in Locke's collection that is a real quality piece. The Kabar has years of history associated with it, and is even tough enough to throw at stuff. This is the knife that Locke gives to Boone to use, and he wears it at his side until his death in "Do No Harm." The Kabar hasn't been seen since.

[Coltello74]

Next up is Locke's Tekna Wilderness Edge:

This is a truly extraordinary knife, and a credit to his collection. It is one of the most expensive knives he's got. Tekna is no longer in business, but a company called Tektite still has a supply of these available. The version of the knife that Locke has, with the cutouts in the blade, was discontinued years ago and is almost impossible to find.
This knife is a survival kit all by itself! Hidden inside its handle is a powerful waterproof flashlight. Its sheath converts into a small fishing rod. A little tray attached to the sheath contains fishing line, hooks, and lures, a signal mirror, a magnesium firestarter, a sharpening rod, a compass, and a wire snare for trapping animals. The blade is not designed for throwing, but is a high quality piece all the same.
The Tekna is the standard issue knife of the Japanese Defence Forces. Another clue to Locke's past? Maybe, but probably not.
Unfortunately, as far as we can tell, the Tekna has not left Locke's case. You'd think one of his best knives would get some use!

[Coltello74]

Next up, the Sentry:

The United Cutlery Sentry Serrated Tanto is a knife of medium quality, probably best suited as a sort of "trench-knife" for close-quarters combat. The grip is made of some sort of metal, so if nothing else, you can use it like a set of brass knuckles. The Sentry has a pretty versatile sheath; it can be worn as a shoulder holster, on your belt, or clipped inside your boot. The sheath is completely reversible for south-paws, and has a pretty handy way of holding the knife in place without any need for a retaining strap.
This is another knife which, to my knowledge, has not yet been spotted outside of Locke's case.

[Coltello74]

Next up is Locke's Master Jaguar:

As you can guess from the name, it is another knife from Master/Jaguar Knives. To their credit, it is one of their nicer knives, but it's still strickly a low-end piece.
This is the knife that Locke gives Kate to use every so often. He first gives it to her in "Walkabout." She apparently gives it back when she's done, because he gives it to her again when they set out to hunt for Ethan in "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues."
For those interested in bloopers, when Kate first gets this knife in "Walkabout," she puts it in the wrong sheath:

She's clearly got the sheath for the USMC Kabar! Kind of an odd error, since the Jaguar is way short for the long Kabar sheath. When Locke gives Kate the Jaguar in "Cowboys," it's in its proper sheath.

[Coltello74]

Next up, Locke's Delta Defender:

This is a fairly high quality piece made by United Cutlery, definitely nicer than the Sentry. It's stainless steel (which tends to be more brittle than carbon steel, and thus less suitable for throwing), but the blade is thicker than most, about 3/16 of an inch. Probably tough enough to be thrown. It's got a nice set of linen micarta grips screwed to it, and micarta is very tough stuff. The only downside is, it comes with a very poorly designed sheath. The sheath incorporates a velcro retaining strap that makes it almost impossible to get this knife out in a hurry. You practically have to hold this strap out of the way with one hand, while you draw with the other. Otherwise the velcro keeps re-attaching, preventing you from pulling out the knife. Tip: buy a different sheath for it.
This is another knife we have yet to spot outside of Locke's case.

[Coltello74]

Finally, the last of the "lid" knives:

This is another piece from Master Knives, which is actually a knockoff of a Buck Nighthawk (the two knives in the center with serrations are actual Buck Nighthawks). The Buck Nighthawk is a high-quality knife. This Master version is... less so. However, its blade probably is the highest quality of all the Master Knives in Locke's collection. It's got a robust 3/16 inch-thick blade of a harder steel than the other Master Knives, and a tanto point is about the strongest point you can have for penetrating power. The grip is some sort of hard plastic resin with rubber inlays, similar to the Nighthawk. Like the Kabar, this is another piece that ordinarily has a black blade, but the prop guys polished all the black coating off. On the plus side, this is a stainless steel blade, so no coating is not a big deal. They also subtly changed the shape of the blade with some additional grinding. This is actually a pretty tough knife, probably tough enough to throw. It comes with a sheath that is also a total knockoff of the Nighthawk sheath.
You can glimpse this knife being used by Sayid in the episode, "Hearts and Minds." Sayid has it in the scene where Locke sneaks up to him and gives him his "faulty" compass. The image on the far right is the knife sitting on top of Rousseu's maps, which Sayid was working on.

[Coltello74]

Now we move on to Locke's vest:

Locke's vest is an olive drab CampCo Safari Photo Vest, even though in his Australia flashback, you'd swear it looks khaki. As the name implies, the vest is actually intended for photographers. It has specially lined pockets for film and equipment. Coupled with his Rimowa case, this could be a hint that Locke may have once been a photographer. The vest has 21 pockets for all kinds of different stuff, and a vented back to keep you cool.
We first saw Locke wear this vest in "Walkabout." If you look in the upper right corner of the image, you can see he got the vest out of his Rimowa case. He wears it off and on after that, until episode 13, "Hearts and Minds." That is the last time we've seen the vest. That's also the episode where he gives up his compass, saying "I don't need it anymore." It could be the writers are trying to convey that Locke is becoming more and more in tune with his surroundings. It is said that the better a survivalist you are, the less you find you actually need to carry around with you.
On the other hand, maybe Terry just got tired of wearing it. The vest is fairly long, hanging down below your waist. This can make it difficult to draw or holster your knife in a speedy fashion.
Well, bedtime for me! More to come tomorrow...