I'm 75 years old and found my Dad's or Grandfather's Schrade in a special box. It's an Uncle Henry 285UH 2-Blade Pro Trapper Pocket Knife serial number 94878. It's in nearly new condition. Just wondering how to find it's approx. build date. At the base of the main blade it's marked "Shrade Stainless 285UH" and "Stainless" on the other, not the SCHRADE+ like most I've seen. Wish I could post a picture......
Photos I have my grandfather's Schrade
- Thread starter Pepperdog
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afishhunter
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A serial number dates it to the "Loss Replacement" guarantee years.
I only ///air quotes/// "know" they dropped that guarantee prior to closing the doors for good, in 2004.
I don't recall the exact year they dropped the effectively a "Buy One Get One (or more) Free" "guarantee".
I have less than zero doubt a significant number of ///air quotes/// "lost" knives replaced under that garantee were never lost; "people" (or "humans") being what they are ...
The "Schrade Stainless" stamp can narrow the date range, but unless they only used that stamp for one year or less, getting the actual year of production is less than zero.
Back "In the day" pretty much none of the manufacturers thought a yearly date code was necessary. Most consumers didn't either.
I only ///air quotes/// "know" they dropped that guarantee prior to closing the doors for good, in 2004.
I don't recall the exact year they dropped the effectively a "Buy One Get One (or more) Free" "guarantee".
I have less than zero doubt a significant number of ///air quotes/// "lost" knives replaced under that garantee were never lost; "people" (or "humans") being what they are ...
The "Schrade Stainless" stamp can narrow the date range, but unless they only used that stamp for one year or less, getting the actual year of production is less than zero.
Back "In the day" pretty much none of the manufacturers thought a yearly date code was necessary. Most consumers didn't either.
yablanowitz
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If you e-mail pictures to me, I will post them for you. I have a gmail account under the same name as my username here. Clear pictures of the tang stamps would be most helpful, but for that model getting within a couple of decades is probably the best that you'll get.
black mamba
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From the info you provide I would say mid to late 1970s. No "WALDEN" in the tang stamp, so post 1973. No "SCHRADE +" so pre 1979.
I would like to see the box.
I would like to see the box.
tongueriver
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That pattern was first in the catalogs in the last half of 1973. Your serial number is fairly low, especially if there is not a letter in front of those numbers. If the back of the knife has what we call milled liners (tiny transverse cuts in the linings almost like file marks) it would be one of the fairly early ones, closer to 1973 than 1979.