Codger_64
Moderator
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
- Messages
- 61,722
When was my knife made? is a common question for Schrade collectors, as for collectors of any brand of knife. Minor production changes on the knives themselves can give clues, if it is known when those changes were made. The best clues, however, can be found on packaging changes if one is lucky enough (or persistent enough) to have the knife complete in its original packaging. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have sufficient clues from the combined knife and its associated packaging to narrowly define a production date.
As a demonstration of this dating technique, I will use a 152OTCP Sharpfinger for an example. Though it works also with boxed Schrades, with a (less desirable) clampack, you can be assured that the contents have not been tampered with, and are not someone's assemblage to approximate a mint complete knife package (As an antique car might be restored with NOS parts).
I know that it is a 152OT Sharpfinger from the text under the CPC label (bar code) on the back.
First, the name Sharpfinger was not the name first used for the knife. Sharp Finger was, and was what Schrade copyrighted in 1975, and how it first appeared in their 1973 ½ - 1978 catalogs, and early advertisements. Also, the clampack, as the clear plastic point of sale package is called, was patented by Schrade employees Mark Gardiner and James Economos, issued in 1988, filed in 1986. So this knife was made post 1985. 1986 is the first dated factory flier I have seen showing a clampacked knife.
Next, the logos and slogans can be traced to their first use or trademark registrations. These are the ones found on this particular package:
1. America works with Schrade - circa 1986
2. Schrade Tough logo - circa 1997
3. Website listing text - circa 1998
4. Schrade Tough Knives and Tools logo - circa 1999
5. The paper insert is #7180711, Copyrighted 2002 with the Schrade Tough Knives and Tools logo, white paper with black text, and has no PRF (product registration form), and lists the website. Circa 2001-2002.
6. The package card design changed from the long used tan card to the blue striped card circa 2001 per a conversation I had with Robert Clemente some time back. It stood out in his memory because he felt the change was a poor design choice and spoke to people at Schrade about it. The next card revision came about circa 2003 when it was changed to the last design used, the card with the blue band across the top, diamond-plate motif vertical left sidebar with blue SCHRADE text. The position of the knife in the package was also changed from blade up to blade down, and overlapping the enclosed sheath, possibly to improve the balance while hanging on the display, or maybe just because.
Of course the knife and sheath offer clues to the age as well, and sometimes that is as good as it gets. The sheath is of the last design, as is the tangstamp, and the blade is hollow ground. With this info alone, we can say the knife is post mid-2001. But adding all the other clues is normally the best way to narrow the production date of your Schrade. In this case, we can safely say 2001 ½ - 2002. Finding a definitive date for the last packaging change could narrow the date even more, to possibly a one year time frame.
As a demonstration of this dating technique, I will use a 152OTCP Sharpfinger for an example. Though it works also with boxed Schrades, with a (less desirable) clampack, you can be assured that the contents have not been tampered with, and are not someone's assemblage to approximate a mint complete knife package (As an antique car might be restored with NOS parts).
I know that it is a 152OT Sharpfinger from the text under the CPC label (bar code) on the back.
First, the name Sharpfinger was not the name first used for the knife. Sharp Finger was, and was what Schrade copyrighted in 1975, and how it first appeared in their 1973 ½ - 1978 catalogs, and early advertisements. Also, the clampack, as the clear plastic point of sale package is called, was patented by Schrade employees Mark Gardiner and James Economos, issued in 1988, filed in 1986. So this knife was made post 1985. 1986 is the first dated factory flier I have seen showing a clampacked knife.
Next, the logos and slogans can be traced to their first use or trademark registrations. These are the ones found on this particular package:
1. America works with Schrade - circa 1986
2. Schrade Tough logo - circa 1997
3. Website listing text - circa 1998
4. Schrade Tough Knives and Tools logo - circa 1999
5. The paper insert is #7180711, Copyrighted 2002 with the Schrade Tough Knives and Tools logo, white paper with black text, and has no PRF (product registration form), and lists the website. Circa 2001-2002.
6. The package card design changed from the long used tan card to the blue striped card circa 2001 per a conversation I had with Robert Clemente some time back. It stood out in his memory because he felt the change was a poor design choice and spoke to people at Schrade about it. The next card revision came about circa 2003 when it was changed to the last design used, the card with the blue band across the top, diamond-plate motif vertical left sidebar with blue SCHRADE text. The position of the knife in the package was also changed from blade up to blade down, and overlapping the enclosed sheath, possibly to improve the balance while hanging on the display, or maybe just because.
Of course the knife and sheath offer clues to the age as well, and sometimes that is as good as it gets. The sheath is of the last design, as is the tangstamp, and the blade is hollow ground. With this info alone, we can say the knife is post mid-2001. But adding all the other clues is normally the best way to narrow the production date of your Schrade. In this case, we can safely say 2001 ½ - 2002. Finding a definitive date for the last packaging change could narrow the date even more, to possibly a one year time frame.