Thank You for the infoYour knife was manufactured sometime between 1990 and 2004. If it has a non-stainless steel blade a little earlier in that range, if it is stainless, a little later. There is no way to determine age closer to that. The grooves in your knife were created by an owner; they never came from the factory that way. "Groove" is the correct word. "Grove" refers to a group of trees. There was an earlier run of 7OTs that had four handle pins. Yours is the later version.
Thank you for the helpI double-checked the catalogs and pricelists. The 7OT was listed from 1991 until 2004. The 1995 pricelist is the first year to indicate Schrade+ (stainless) steel.
From what I can see, you have a 3-pin, carbon steel 7OT. As tr mentioned, the 3-pins indicates it was from the second run of these knives. The carbon blade narrows it to between 1991-1994 as far as I can tell.
No 7OT listing:
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1990-CATS.pdf
7OT "high carbon":
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1991-CATS.pdf
7OT "high carbon":
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1994-CATS.pdf
7OT "Schrade+":
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1995-CATS.pdf
My circa 1978-1982 "4 pin" (if you count the rocker pin) 7OT has the 1095 blade.I double-checked the catalogs and pricelists. The 7OT was listed from 1991 until 2004. The 1995 pricelist is the first year to indicate Schrade+ (stainless) steel.
From what I can see, you have a 3-pin, carbon steel 7OT. As tr mentioned, the 3-pins indicates it was from the second run of these knives. The carbon blade narrows it to between 1991-1994 as far as I can tell.
No 7OT listing:
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1990-CATS.pdf
7OT "high carbon":
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1991-CATS.pdf
7OT "high carbon":
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1994-CATS.pdf
7OT "Schrade+":
https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1995-CATS.pdf