Track Knives Whitefish, Montana Custom Knife Cocobolo and Brass Luger Toggle Lock Circa 1976, Serial No 52 of 100 only Engraved by Simon Lytton

The following is an extract from an article pubblished in „American Blade“ in September/October 1977.

The total production figures are:

One all brass working model; three pre-production prototypes (serially lettered A, B, and C); and 103 production knives, of which 73 have brass bolsters and cocobolo wood scales (serial numbers 1-70 and 98-100), 27 have brass bolsters and Sambar Stag scales (serial numbers 71-97), and three have titanium bolsters and Sambar Stag scales (serial numbers Titanium 1-3).

Each knife has 33 parts and requires 185 individual production operations. Additionally, its intricacy and close-tolerance parts require hand fitting. The toggle assembly itself requires 58 production operations. The D-2 steel blade rotates on an eccentric cam which can be adjusted for tightness or wear. A spring loaded ball bearing maintains a constant pressure on the blade when it is in the unlocked position, and another spring loaded bearing on the rear of the toggle maintains the proper locking pressure.

Track is emphatic when they say the knife will never again be produced - it caused them too many headaches, and they are certain that Mr. Crumley, who fitted every piece, from working model to the last knife off the line, is the only person capable of making it.

It takes a mechanically inclined person to fully appreciate the intricacy of the Track Toggle knife, but its story is as intriguing as the knife itself. It might even be called a collector’s dream that emerged from a production engineer’s nightmare.