897UH closest cousin

B

Bartleby

Joined
Oct 28, 2005
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Alrighty, I have had my 897 for a long while and it fits my hand best. I have a spare stashed away. After seeing recent posts here on some excellent collections and wise commentary, I want to check y'all's opinion. I am considering supporting the American economy by the purchase of a knife made by an American company still in business. Please cast your vote on what model currently comes closest to being the 897UH. Thanks for chiming in.
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358093&highlight=colonial

"The Colonial Old Cutler was introduced to compete with the Old Timer
and due to it's reasonable price and very good quality the Old Cutler became an OEM knife for many knife companies, that is to say that companies such as Camillus, Buck, Russell Harrington, K-Bar, Colonel Coon Knives, Winchester and a number of other knife companies bought the Colonial Old Cutler under their own name for resale. Used mostly as collectors editions the other knife companies used the Old Cutler manufactured by Colonial so as not to tie up thier regular production lines. The knife companies would supply their own packaging, etc. And therefore we at Colonial were very pleased with the sales of the Old Cutler and never made a big push on the Old Cutler brand since we did not want to slow the sales of our customers efforts especially since many of them had a larger market share for high end knives at that particular time than did Colonial.

(on the Stockman )
Model number is S-430 with a Suggested retail of $30.00

But for the best, check out Canal Street Cutlery. IMHO, they deserve our support. The heart of that small shop is the former Schrade Cutlers.

 
I've been eyeing that Canal Street folder myself. It's a grand piece of work, but I don't think that I could bring myself to put it to a stone.

Surely Case or Buck has a similar model?
 
Queen Cutlery has a Large Stockman model that's similar, 4" closed.

Made in the USA Rigid Knives has an Old Timer knockoff of that pattern, and some higher end stockmans as well.

Case has plenty of Stockman knives to choose from, including the Ruger brand.

Happy shopping,
Bob
 
Would like to get a Canal Street stockman, but that's a lot of $$$ for 420 stainless.
 
Yes it is, but KnifeOutlet has them for about 10% below msrp. That's still about twice as much as Queen Cutlery products, and many of the Queen slipjoints are made with D2 tool steel.

-Bob
 
Bob W- I saw one of the Rigid folders (looked like an 897 with brown sawcut handles), unlike the Sharpfinger fixed blade it turned out to be made in China. Thanks though.

Codger, do you know of any retailers or distributers for colonial knives? I looked at the company website but couldn't find ordering info. (maybe I just overlooked something). Thanks. I'll take a look at Canal Street, but I'm mostly looking for a user (though you may be right, money might be well spent in using a looker).
 
Bob W- I saw one of the Rigid folders (looked like an 897 with brown sawcut handles), unlike the Sharpfinger fixed blade it turned out to be made in China. Thanks though.
Click to expand...
Here are the high-end US-made Rigid knives I was refering to:
http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_maker/l_through_r/rigid.html

Regarding the Rigid OldTimer copies, I swear there was an ad for them with the Made in USA logo. Maybe some are and some aren't?

Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
Case makes a round bolstered, med stockman that has the same dimensions as the 897UH. It is available in both carbon steel(6318CV amberbone scales and 3318CV yellow derlin scales) and a larger number of different colored bone scales in stainless steel(420HC). It is a long running, standard production Case pattern and easily found. I have the yellow CV version and a varient, 6318CVPU. Thats a amberbone model with a punch instead of a sheepsfoot. I will vouch for the quality of these knives and they feel the same in the pocket and hand as the 897UH. 100% made in the USA by my second favorite knife company.
 
OTGuy,

Thanks for the Case part numbers. I looked on Case's site but could not find a stockman with a Turkish Clip.

I too am partial to the Turkish Clip (the 61OT and the 897UH my favorite Schrade models, besides the gluttonous 858OT) as opposed to the standard clip. Those Case models look very nice and they are in the price range that I'm willing to spend.
 
OT Guy,
Are the bone handled Case stockmen more rounded in the handle than the yellow handled ones? If so, I'll give them a closer look. I have one of the yellow ones, that is just a bit too square in the handle.
 
I just visited the Case site and found the following variations of the models referenced by OTGuy. All are the same size and blade pattern, just different scales and steel. The style to search for is "6318", which correlates to the 897UH size/style.

Medium Stockman #039 (Amber bone)
6318 CV

Medium Stockman #042 (Amber bone)
6318 SS

Medium Stockman #6544 (Ruger Burnt Honey Bone)
6318 SS

Medium Stockman #5222 (Made in the USA)
6318 SS

Medium Stockman #8927 (Zebra Bone)
6318 SS

Medium Stockman #786 (Pocket Worn Old Red Bone)
6318 SS
 
I stand corrected sir, those are some good looking knives too!
Click to expand...
Yeah, but I was wrong about the others. The Rigid Old Timer copies are not what I was thinking of; they are imported.

The new Taylor-brand Schrade Walden knives are made in the USA, by Bear Cutlery or someone else. They have a couple of stockman knives. Here is one: http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/e...rade&Mode=Text&PriceStart=&Brand=&SKU=SWAJB47

Of course Bear Cutlery has their own stockman pocketknives as well, and they haven't been mentioned yet. For about the same price, I think Queen makes a better product with better materials though.

Best Wishes,
Bob
 
Bear has put out some pretty sorry knives in the past (the QC department was not what one would expect on the folders I've seen), but maybe that changed with new management and name change.
 
I just did a side by side with 897 and my 2 Case's. The length seems to be the same, as far as I can tell using the Mark1 Eyeball gauge. The Case's are just a tad thicker and the scales are just a little wider, like 1 mm or so. As far as bolster roundness(a new sub-catagory to check for me), I can't see where the 897 is any more or less rounded than the Case's.

I'll go out on a limb and recommend the amberbone 6318. Mine is a very nice example, I also just purchased a 6375CV amberbone large stockman a week ago and the fit/finish on mine is excellent. Of course, you could just buy another 897 off ebay.
 
I called around locally and found a hardware store that carries the 6318, I'll have a look on the way home. Thanks to all for the input.
 
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