I miss Schrade

C

camo kid

Joined
Sep 3, 2002
Messages
329
I love my Case knives, and I love my Bucks, and Bokers, but I miss being able to go in to the local hardware store and be able to buy a USA made Schrade. They were nothing fancy, but looking through my collection of them I realized that about 95% of them had no side to side play in the blades, and that there carbon blades seemed to come sharper than some of the current company's, and all that for well under 30$. I am going to miss camillus too. Joe
 
Does Schrade USA on the tang assure me its a carbon steel blade?
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Not at all. Many USA-Schrades were stainless. And the knives with the "SCHRADE +" tang stamps are always (Ugh, I hate to say that) stainless.
 
its also easy to spot the difference, my beloved old Schrade (my first knife given to me by my dad with his initials on the shield) has a nice patina.
 
Bob W said:
Not at all. Many USA-Schrades were stainless. And the knives with the "SCHRADE +" tang stamps are always (Ugh, I hate to say that) stainless.
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Bob, you make a valid point about using the terms "never" and "always" in conjunction with Schrade knives.

Generally, SCHRADE+ is almost always stainless steel. Uncle Henry knives are usually stainless and Old Timers are usually carbon steel. There are notable exceptions to all of these. Early in production, the Uncle Henry 153UH Golden Spike was carbon steel. Later it was changed to stainless. The LB-7 Bear Paw Lockback was stainless from the beginning. I have one simply stamped SCHRADE (no "+") although it is also stainless. The 152OT Sharpfinger (and most of the OT line as well) was carbon steel from the introduction in the early/mid 1970's until about the late 1990's when they were made from stainless (not marked with the "+").

As Kieth noted, spotting and the beginnings of patina are the surest indicators that Schrades are 1095HC carbon steel and not 440A or 420hc stainless. On the fixed blades, the exposed tang (or the choil where handling marks are seldom cleaned off) is usually the first place spotting is seen.

Note also that "in the latter days", Schrade used some more exotic modern steel on a few knives.

Codger
 
Bob W said:
Not at all. Many USA-Schrades were stainless. And the knives with the "SCHRADE +" tang stamps are always (Ugh, I hate to say that) stainless.
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Argh. . .I was afraid of that. Well I am wanting to pickup a small old timer stockman. The ones that look closest to what I want are the 34OT's. Several ones I see on Ebay with the USA Schrade stamp that I'm interested in don't have any pitting or patina. So I was hopin I'd know
some other way. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150176869409&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123
 
That particular one appears to be an older one in carbon steel. If you doubt, ask the seller to be sure. He is honest and likely knows his steel.

Codger
 
I don't know a lot about them, but if it doesn't say Schrade Walden NY USA on the tang, I wouldn't trust it to be either "vintage" or made in USA. That one looks stainless to me. The shield stamp also is considerably different than the one on my 8OT from the early 80s. Just my two cents.
 
They would only say SCHRADE WALDEN if made before 1973. After 1972, the name changed to Schrade Cutlery and the stamp became SCHRADE. Both stampings will say USA.
 
AND, now, a Schrade Walden tang stamp may well mean a 2007 knife, made 3 years after Schrade closed. check out SMKW website "Schrade" before you buy on ebay, it is very easy to be fooled. that said in the last 8 months i have bought at least 50 great original Schrade, Schrade Walden and Schrade Cut CO. knives on ebay, and not one has any blade play ! i have also become a regular on the Schrade Collector site and received an incredible amount of help in learning how to sort out the literally 1000s of subtle differences among these knives. roland
 
Codger_64 said:
That particular one appears to be an older one in carbon steel. If you doubt, ask the seller to be sure. He is honest and likely knows his steel.

Codger
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Right. I asked him and he said he didn't know what they were. He did say they looked like stainless to himself. Thanks.
 
With the 34OT, the easiest way to pick a carbon model would be to find one still in the original package. If the package is blue striped, wood-grained, or black-and-tan colored, then it's carbon. If it's the new blue-tan boxes, it's likely stainless.

You can also sort-of tell by the tang stamps.
"SCHRADE / USA 34OT" could be either stainless or carbon. If it says SCHRADE-WALDEN or SCHRADE / NY USA, it's carbon.
 
Bob W Above mentioned: With the 34OT, the easiest way to pick a carbon model would be to find one still in the original package. If the package is blue striped, wood-grained, or black-and-tan colored, then it's carbon. If it's the new blue-tan boxes, it's likely stainless.

I think the comment above could be mostly true, although reading posts from others who no more than I about Schrade history, Schrade never let on exactly when they changed over from Carbon to Stainless?

Rusty1
 
Schrade never let on exactly when they changed over from Carbon to Stainless?
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They didn't advertise when most of the OldTimers were switched, but some Old Timer models had always been stainless - for instance the 126OT was a stainless version of the 125OT and was always stainless.
 
I see SMKW lists Schrades that are made in the USA. Anyone know who is making them?
 
I see SMKW lists Schrades that are made in the USA. Anyone know who is making them?
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You should check down in the Manufacturers' Forum / Collectors / Schrade Collectors forum. I know it's been discussed there, but I haven't kept up with any recent developements. Camillus and Bear were making some under contract for Taylor, but Camillus is now bancrupt, so perhaps they're all made at Bear?
 
My only Bear knives are the older Bear MGC. The fit-and-finish is pretty good, but the steel is very low end.

My B-I-L bought one of their plastic-handled lockbacks with a serrated edge. Cleaning a deer, the serrations actually folded over, as if the knife had not been heat treated at all.

Hopefully you can search the forums and find some reviews that are more recent and relevent.
 
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