frontier knives, whos got 'em?

seelow123

seelow123

Joined
Oct 4, 2008
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4,647
anyone ever heard of frontier knives?

im new to traditionals so i dont know much about them.

i have one of the trappers and was wondering if these were any good

any info is appreciated.
 
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They're OK knives. Moderately low-ish quality, but not junk. They were inexpensive then, and can be had for a modest amount now. If it's in new, unused condition, it might be worth around $20. Maybe $30 if it's absolutely spotless, but as they were made with carbon steel blades, ~25-35 years of sitting around usually means that examples show rust spots or worse. Made by Schrade, I believe.
 
I've got a few. The quality is about the same as many of the Schrade Old Timers from the 80's and '90's. I enjoy hunting for them as they aren't as common as the Old Timers and usually sell for very reasonable prices, as Planterz said.

Are they any good? Sure. They make great users.
 
Planterz said:
They're OK knives. Moderately low-ish quality, but not junk. They were inexpensive then, and can be had for a modest amount now. If it's in new, unused condition, it might be worth around $20. Maybe $30 if it's absolutely spotless, but as they were made with carbon steel blades, ~25-35 years of sitting around usually means that examples show rust spots or worse. Made by Schrade, I believe.
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okay, thanks. mine is pretty beat up, just some pocket wear, the blade had some surface rust/patina on them but it came off very easily.

i imagine the carbon steel they use is 1095 right?

does anyone have any pics of theirs, i would like to see what their other designs were
 
Rupestris said:
I've got a few. The quality is about the same as many of the Schrade Old Timers from the 80's and '90's. I enjoy hunting for them as they aren't as common as the Old Timers and usually sell for very reasonable prices, as Planterz said.

Are they any good? Sure. They make great users.
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maybe i will edc mine, from what you guys said, they seem to be pretty decent knives.
 
seelow123 said:
does anyone have any pics of theirs, i would like to see what their other designs were
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Not the best pics but here are a couple.

Imperial46224.jpg


Imperial.jpg
 
I've only got one. I like it a lot. I like Old Timers a lot, too, though.

DSCF5415.jpg
 
I think they were Colonial made knives.Not quite the quality of similar pattern Schrade.Thinner liners and a bit lighter overall.But with the carbon blades,they were/are decent knives.Long out of production,but still available at our favorite love to hate online auction site.
 
aggiebuilder2003 said:
They were Schrade made. Not the highest quality, but highly serviceable. Lots of info in the links below for those interested, courtesy of Larry Vickery (lrv) and others.

Chuck


http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/index.html
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Imperial/Old Imperial Catalogs.htm
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/frontiers/index.htm
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Seals said:
I think they were Colonial made knives.Not quite the quality of similar pattern Schrade.Thinner liners and a bit lighter overall.But with the carbon blades,they were/are decent knives.Long out of production,but still available at our favorite love to hate online auction site.
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mine says imperial on the clip blade, were there multiple makers of this brand?
 
On the box of my 4131 it says

Made and guarnateed by Frontier Division of
Imperial Knife Company, Inc. Providence, Rhode Island 02903
Division of Imperial Knife Associated Companies, Inc.

(bold is that way on the box)

The copyright on the box is 1975.

You can find the history of Imperial Schrade (who started what and who bought whom, etc) here.
 
A knife dealer gave me a Frontier Stockman in that kind of ivory coloured Delrin. I think it's about 40 years old and was unused, it's seen action now though.

The fit&finish is a bit rough&ready but mind you, the steel takes a very decent edge indeed.
 
I own a frontier trapper with yellow handles I purchased it from an older guy at a gunshow for 5 bucks also my grandpa has a couple I know he has a copperhead for sure.
 
whetrock said:
I own a frontier trapper with yellow handles I purchased it from an older guy at a gunshow for 5 bucks also my grandpa has a couple I know he has a copperhead for sure.
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5 bucks? cant beat that! unless maybe it was 4 bucks.
 
Bring it back to life. I've also have a Frontier "Georgia" knife from the 13 Original Colonies Collection. Still have to get some pictures of it.

 
Lots of miss information in this thread. First off Frontier knives were all made by Camillus for Imperial Schrade. There were stainless blades for the wood scaled knives and high carbon for the Delrin scaled knives. I have done a lot of research into Frontier knives as I own around 130 of them. Information can be found on Larry's site and if you look at the information they were a top of the line knife not a knife in the Colonial class (I also own many Colonial knives). The knife was discontinued around the time Schrade started the Old Timer series.
 
edbeau said:
Lots of miss information in this thread. First off Frontier knives were all made by Camillus for Imperial Schrade. There were stainless blades for the wood scaled knives and high carbon for the Delrin scaled knives. I have done a lot of research into Frontier knives as I own around 130 of them. Information can be found on Larry's site and if you look at the information they were a top of the line knife not a knife in the Colonial class (I also own many Colonial knives). The knife was discontinued around the time Schrade started the Old Timer series.
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I have at least two Frontier knives from the late period just before the Imperial-Schrade Corporation went out of business. They were both made in Ireland alongside the low-quality Imperial brand products.

Years ago I made a mock-up of a Schrade website page that, surprisingly, is still visible here. There's a photo of the Irish Frontier knives.
 
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