Any love for Schrade Old Timer slipjoints made in China>?

I bought a Taylor Schrade 72 OTB for several reasons. First I wanted to save wear and tear on my USA 72 OT. But also because they are stainless steel and living in the rust belt I have less to worry about. I have been pleasantly surprised at the excellent F&F and the edge holding.
 
Yeap.. cant be talking about the conditions in which the knives are made tho... Its *cencored*.
 
It's not censored it's part of this Forum's guidelines, which are available for those who bother to read. You can discuss it in Political all you like.

I've had a couple of their 3 OT lock backs which are very tolerable in F&F, good lockup, no play. The Delrin one certainly is an unappealing colour but can't fault the build. Steel seems perfectly OK too. An inexpensive knife that can be put to less than delicate tasks.

Shot of the Buffalo Horn 3 OT, very good lineup between tang&spring. Nice solid little knife with some style too.

IMG_1092.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yeap.. cant be talking about the conditions in which the knives are made tho... Its *cencored*.

There are rules here.
Taken from the guidelines, http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ional-Folders-amp-Fixed-Blades-quot-Sub-Forum
Political, Economic & Religious Commentary; Offshore Manufacturers & Brands:

This is not the "Political" or "Current Events" sub-forum nor is it the appropriate area for the examination of religious topics, beliefs or proselytizing.
We have many nationalities, faiths and beliefs represented here so please be considerate of the feelings of the other members of our community and keep religious and nationalistic messages and statements out of forum posts.

This forum is not the venue for diatribes on economics, political policies, customs or the governments (and entities) of foreign countries which are the home to various knife manufacturers.
We are a large international community and we want our "virtual living room" to be a comfortable and rewarding place for all to visit and participate in without feeling singled out or harrassed.
Bladeforums has "Political", "Feedback" and "Current Events" sub-forums available for those discussions and any such threads will be closed or moved to the appropriate venue.

We understand that many knives and brands/marks that were once produced here in the USA are now produced overseas, whether that offshore manufacture resides in Europe, South America or Asia.
Be that as it may, the Traditional Forum exists to discuss the knives (pro and con) as opposed to hosting rants about overseas manufacture in general or specific countries in particular.
We feel it is safe to say that we all want to see the U.S. cutlery industry thrive. If for some reason you cannot countenance purchasing knives manufactured overseas then by all means "vote" with your dollars but do not use the forum for promoting any particular agenda.

Regardless of personal point of view, "China Bashing" is not welcome and will not be tolerated. Please discuss and critique the knives themselves...not the country of origin.
This applies to any "offshore" point of production.

This is a knife discussion forum not a political forum. Any further communication between you and I will be via email, please. This thread has been sidetracked enough.
 
Last edited:
Tough issue demanding steady moderation. Thank you Gary and Frank for keeping things on an even keel. :thumbup:

I'll take a run at this without the politics.

IMO, a traditional knife is traditional if and only if it's tied to the traditions of the culture that produced it. When a traditional pattern is removed from the culture that produced the design, it's no longer traditional - it's simply a knock-off - a trinket.

This has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with a connection to roots. When I hold a Case Sodbuster, I'm holding a legacy of German immigrants who came to the US and brought their design with them. You can trace the legacy of the knife back through the factory and moves.

Take that same design and produce it in a different country... a cultural thread is cut. It's simply less traditional. Can you imagine a Finnish Opinel? A Spanish SAK? Not unless there was a compelling immigration story connecting them.

The Taylor-Schrades are, imo, in the same bin as the imported Buck "traditionals", the Rough Riders and Marbles. They feel like wraiths. The knife equivalent of the undead. They have no soul.

I carried a French Opinel today and cut tonight's potatoes with a USA Schrade H-15. I consider those Traditional knives.
 
I feel the same. Something about it just seems wrong to me. Same goes for Camillus. I'd rather buy a Rough Rider or the like than a re-purposed formerly American made knife. Even if the quality is the same, at least the Rough Rider isn't pretending to be something it's not.

Exactly !

Use of the Schrade name is just wrong !
 
I have recently realized the value of a beater knife, so for that purpose I use an 8OT that was gifted to me a few years ago. I really like the pattern. Overall a pretty good knife that holds a very decent edge despite some hard use. Qualifies as pretty good in my book. Would replace it with same if lost or broken but I don't plan on having a collection of post-2004 Schrades as that just wouldn't feel authentic.
 
I got 5 of them so far. My Ironwood OT8 Stockman and my Lumberjack in Bone are the best the 120 peanut is good but the Imperial Cigar Pattern the blades were too tight. Love my Imperial 340 . So it is a mixed bag.

The USA are the most consistant.
 
Tough issue demanding steady moderation. Thank you Gary and Frank for keeping things on an even keel. :thumbup:

I'll take a run at this without the politics.

IMO,
Take that same design and produce it in a different country... a cultural thread is cut. It's simply less traditional. Can you imagine a Finnish Opinel? A Spanish SAK?

Spanish Army Knife, issued to our Spanish troops since the 1960's

CAM03683_zpssoywctp4.jpg


that's a SAK, maybe not a Swiss SAK, but a piece of our history nonetheless, starting more than half a century ago

CAM03613_zps7fp2qk1c.jpg


CAM03615_zpssmjxdzol.jpg
 
Tough issue demanding steady moderation. Thank you Gary and Frank for keeping things on an even keel. :thumbup:

I'll take a run at this without the politics.

IMO, a traditional knife is traditional if and only if it's tied to the traditions of the culture that produced it. When a traditional pattern is removed from the culture that produced the design, it's no longer traditional - it's simply a knock-off - a trinket.

This has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with a connection to roots. When I hold a Case Sodbuster, I'm holding a legacy of German immigrants who came to the US and brought their design with them. You can trace the legacy of the knife back through the factory and moves.

Take that same design and produce it in a different country... a cultural thread is cut. It's simply less traditional. Can you imagine a Finnish Opinel? A Spanish SAK? Not unless there was a compelling immigration story connecting them.

The Taylor-Schrades are, imo, in the same bin as the imported Buck "traditionals", the Rough Riders and Marbles. They feel like wraiths. The knife equivalent of the undead. They have no soul.

I carried a French Opinel today and cut tonight's potatoes with a USA Schrade H-15. I consider those Traditional knives.

Nicely said:thumbup:
 
I too have a Wrangler that is pretty decent and compares pretty well to latter production Schrades.

Like a lot of you/us, I wanted nothing to do with Schrades that weren't Schrades, but enough time has elapsed that I didn't ultimately mind, and getting a pattern that was hard to find even before Schrade went under was kind of a bonus.

Schrade was the trademark of a number of companies sharing a common lineage that ultimately ran themselves out of business. Can't blame anyone but Schrade for that.

The law recognizes that a trademark loses its association with its owner after 3 years of non-use (it becomes abandoned). I found that even though the Schrade mark remained in use by "interlopers" and on knives not made in the USA, the association with the former knives/company for me kind of died out over the years and I took a flier on one and was pleasantly surprised.
 
Last edited:
Exactly !

Use of the Schrade name is just wrong !
I feel the same and would rather have a rough rider as they are solely a Chinese company , and they are too inexpensive not to like to a degree.
Though as an inexpensive knife the Chinese schrades are still decent, decent as a knife but not so much as a " Shcrade " knife.
 
Not interested - especially because old stock (or lightly used) originals are still available.

I don't mind Chinese made knives in general, but if I were in the market for a Schrade today, I'd buy an original. They're readily available now, which may not be the case in another 10 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Taylor got rid of the defective design used by Schrade, known as 'The Swendon Key'. It did make the knives look a little prettier, but they were not as durable as through pin construction. IMHO the Swendon Key was a major factor in Schrade US closing. Before making them in-house, Buck switched from Schrade building the 300 series to Camillus, because of too many Schrade built 300 series coming in with a broken key or keyway. Why didn't Schrade, who also guaranteed their knives "forever" abandon the key construction, when it became obvious from the number of knives returned for repair that it was a bad design?
 
Back
Top