KJ Eriksson "Jägaren" the Hunter N. 1701

The KJ Eriksson N. 1701 made its first appearance in the KJE catalog of 1975 and it was an instant success, making it the product of the decade.

The idea of the knife was a request by KJ Eriksson  Norwegian agent Rathe (who years later, also had an important role in the creation of the Mora2000)

As the knife’s name implies, it's a hunting knife. With a very innovative design, it quickly became a very popular knife amongst hunters and outdoorsmen.

The main most recognizable feature was the contoured grip that provided superior grip, especially when you have a wet hand.

A design patent was filled by KJEriksson in November 1974 and approved in May 1975

KJE Catalog 1975

The production of 1701 ended in 2006 more than 30 years after it was introduced to the market.

There was also a version for fishermen based on the same design, the N.301. Same handle, thinner

profile blade, 1,5cm longer, and serrated back. The production of the 301 ended somewhere between

1990 and 2000.

The blade

5'' blade. Initial versions were made with 13c26, later versions with 12c27 More info about the steel here

Grip

The grip is made from "novodur" a plastic polymer, with brass fittings. 

The sheath

The sheath was designed by Tage Arthursson (husband of one of the Johan Eriksson grandaughter)

Made from thick black leather there are 3 versions 

1. Black with no logo or stamp - Original 
2. Black with trident star (KJE catalog 1978) 
3. Black with lion crest inspired by a Koskenkorva ad in a flight magazine (Koskenkorva = vodka from Finland) - KJE Catalog 1990

Above: Some examples of labels of the Koskenkorva vodka. I don't know if this one were the ones used as the inspiration

Stamps

1975 - 1990

1990- 2006

2006 - For a brief period the n.1701 was sold with the MoraofSweden logo

Special versions / stamps

Sandvik company 

Made for Sandvik as a giveaway to their customers. Probably made in the 1980 or 1990s

Source

Ducks Unlimited version

Photos gently provided by Chad Spies

detail of the pommel 

Normally the logo is printed in the sheath but there are some examples where the logo was stamped in the leather.

There is a very funny history about this model described by Thomas in one of his stories https://morakniv.se/en/morakniv-stories-en/the-wild-goose-chase-for-the-ducks-unlimited. 

"Just today as then, we manufactured customer-unique knives in agreement with customers around the world. But at the end of the eighties, unlike today, we had several unexplained cases of missing knives from the warehouse just before delivery.

It all culminated when a customer-unique version of the hunting knife, Hunter No. 1701, specially made for the American brand Ducks Unlimited with a duck head on the back ferrule, was missing from the warehouse. And to the annoyance of the entire production, they had to start the whole manufacturing process again with customer-unique back ferrules and new knives.

The night before the day of delivery, the packaging department was so upset that knives seemed to disappear overnight that they took matters into their own hands and filled the boxes with wooden blocks and placed them in the warehouse. The real knives were hidden elsewhere in the factory.

The next morning, as was feared, the boxes with wooden blocks were gone and the staff was then happy to get the real knives from their hiding place and complete the delivery to the American customer."

Jonsered Sweden

Jonsered is a Swedish brand of chainsaws and other equipment, now owned by Husqvarna AB. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonsered

There are two versions of this knife, one with black box and other with red box. 

Photos gently provided by Chad Spies

Photos gently provided by Camokat Tweesen

Source https://www.tradera.com/en/item/342912/607070588/jonsereds-jaktkniv-kj-eriksson-mora 

Thanks to Gal Jones for the copydesk

Sources 

Morakniv - Sedan 1891 ISBN-10 : 9163391082

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Morakniv 

Old KJE catalogs