Expendables II Toothpick - Handmade D2 Bowie Knife with Camel Bone Scrimshaw, Brass Spine & Black G10 Handle

The Expendables II Toothpick

Some knives get famous on a hip. Others get famous on a movie screen. The Expendables II Toothpick is our handmade take on the legendary long toothpick carried by Barney Ross in Expendables 2, built as a semi-tang Arkansas toothpick bowie knife with a 12-inch D2 tool steel blade, a polished brass spine strip, a D2 guard and pommel, and a black G10 handle set with genuine camel bone, hand-engraved with the Expendables skull and crow emblem. At 18 inches overall, it is every bit the screen blade, done in real working steel.

From the frontier to the big screen

The Arkansas toothpick goes back to the 1830s American frontier, a long, needle-pointed dueling blade so feared that several states wrote laws against it by name. Blacksmith James Black, the same maker credited with refining Jim Bowie's knife, is credited with the first toothpicks, and the profile has lived alongside the bowie ever since. Our guide on what a bowie knife is digs into that shared frontier history. Nearly two centuries later, Sylvester Stallone commissioned knife designer Gil Hibben to bring the old toothpick back for The Expendables films, and that screen revival is what inspired this build.

Why ours beats the replica

Here's the honest difference. The mass-produced Expendables toothpicks are made from soft 3Cr13 or AUS-6 stainless, mirror-polished, with a printed synthetic ivory panel glued into a factory handle. Ours is ground from D2 tool steel, hand heat-treated to 59 to 61 HRC, with an emblem engraved by hand into genuine camel bone. One is a display prop. Ours is a real knife that happens to look the part. For the full steel comparison, our maker breaks down Damascus versus D2 steel so you can see exactly what D2 gives you in hardness, edge retention, and upkeep.

The blade, the heat treat

D2 is a high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel, often called semi-stainless because it resists light surface rust without needing the constant babying of carbon steel. What it does better than almost any stainless is hold an edge. The 12-inch blade is hardened and tempered by hand to 59 to 61 HRC, hard enough for a lasting edge, tempered enough that a blade this long stays tough instead of brittle. A polished brass strip runs the length of the spine, the way the old frontier toothpicks carried a brass back, matched by a D2 guard and pommel cut from the same steel family as the blade.

The handle, black G10 and the emblem in bone

The handle is 6 inches of black G10, about the toughest handle material made. It will not crack, swell, or shift in heat or wet. Set into it is an inlay of genuine camel bone, hand-engraved in the scrimshaw tradition with the Expendables skull and crow. Real bone, real engraving, no decals. Collectors who like our film-inspired frontier builds will find this one sits naturally in our bowie knives lineup next to the Rambo and Crocodile Dundee blades.

Prefer the Damascus version?

The same long toothpick frame is also available in stainless VG10 Damascus with a forged pattern running blade, guard, and pommel. Our Damascus Arkansas toothpick is the one to pick if you want the layered steel and the crow-and-skull scrimshaw. The D2 version here trades the pattern for a tougher single tool steel at a friendlier price.

Specifications

• Knife Name: Expendables II Toothpick (semi tang)
• Blade Steel: D2
• Blade Hardness: 59-61 HRC (hand heat-treated)
• Blade Style: Arkansas toothpick profile
• Blade Length: 12 inches
• Spine: Polished brass strip
• Guard & Pommel: D2 steel
• Handle: Black G10 with camel bone scrimshaw inlay, 6 inches
• Overall Length: 18 inches
• Sheath: Brown premium leather with belt loop

The sheath

Every Expendables II Toothpick ships in a hand-stitched brown premium leather sheath with a sturdy belt loop, built heavy to carry an 18-inch knife and handsome enough to display beside it.

Made by hand in Canada

We have forged at Stag Steel Knives since 2001, and every blade is ground, heat-treated, and finished by hand in our Canadian shop, one knife at a time. If you have been hunting for an Expendables toothpick knife that outclasses the factory replicas, in real tool steel with real bone, it lives here in our D2 steel bowie knives collection. Each scrimshaw panel is engraved individually, so no two of these are ever quite the same. Free shipping across Canada and the USA, with affordable rates worldwide.