Quality Boy Scout Knife?

I think Boker still makes a very fine Scout knife. Lost mine when I was mowing a neighbor's lawn when I was a kid; my sister found it in a window box years later when she and her husband bought that house -- rusted solid. We used to ghet ours from J.C. Penny's which had all the Scout paraphernalia. Probably Camilus or Imperial.
 
I was a Scout although not an Eagle. I wanted a good scout knife recently as a memento of my younger days. I went on the ‘bay two weeks ago and found a new old stock Ulster with the BSA emblem on it. Reminds me of my childhood. My son is a scout and most of what they carry in the store at camp are junk.
 
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Interesting thread. Couple of random OPINIONS

1) Pirsig said (paraphrasing) that quality is that which produces a state of peace of mind. Different people will achieve peace of mind differently and thus differ on what they see as a quality knife.

2) Cheap and inexpensive are different. Inexpensive knives can produce a sense of peace of mind if they perform as expected or better. If a cheap knife can't meet the demands of the task, it is simply cheap. The scandal that upsets the religion of consumerism is that not all inexpensive knives are cheap crap. Some are quite good, actually.

3) There is only one real "Boy Scout Knife" in a USA context and that is a 4 blade camper pattern, typically with blue plastic scales and made by Camillus, Ulster, Imperial, New York Cutlery, among others. All the rest are recent interlopers, including the SAKs and plastic Bucks. The fact that US made slip joint campers fell out of popularity and production and the fact that BSA later decided to put their logo on other knives doesn't change this. Neither a Bucklite nor an SAK is a "Boy Scout Knife" and putting a logo on them doesn't change this.

4) I agree completely with the poster who noted that the point of uniforms and an official inexpensive knife was to help foster a level playing field. The son of the banker had nothing to lord over the son of the butcher. Towards the end of my scouting days, I carried an expensive Buck 110 and was quite proud of earning it with my paper route. I was no better than the pretentious little rich kids with their Swiss-made red trinkets with tweezers, magnifying glasses, and other non-sense. Kids don't need bragging rights. Parents shouldn't either.

5) Looking back on it, the "Boy Scout Knife" was an exercise in misplaced nostalgia even when it was in use. "Camping" no longer involved leather strapping, the purpose of the awl. Canned food was on its way out as a backpacking staple. People weren't taking bottles of pop into the woods and the large flat head which was useful for taking apart a bolt gun want really needed.

6) If I had to pick a replacement for the "Boy Scout Knife" for today's kids, I would pick the Leatherman Juice. It's really the closest to the "Be Prepared" ethos.
 
P pinnah , some good points. However there’s still plenty of use for that can opener on the recent outings in my troop. The awl still gets used from time to time in the backcountry too; the trick is showing a Scout what it’s there for.

E Eric J , I’ve summed over a decade of adult engagement in some form or another; ASM, SM, Committee, etc. it can definitely be a challenge! I had more difficulty dealing with parents and other leaders than I ever did with the Scouts.

On a sort of related topic, I get each of my sons a nice knife when they make Eagle. The last was a Schempp Bowie. The next (and final) will be a blue sprint ZT 0900 I’ve been saving.
 
A friend of mine recently bought a Buck Spitfire scout knife for his son. I recommended that he get a second one to keep. Years from now, after the first knife is lost and his son is grown, he can give him a knife just like the one he had as a kid.

Just something for you dads to think about.
 
My son is a Eagle he carried a Buck Vantage. I have given a few Buck knives to other scouts also.
Buck makes a very good scout knife, well made ,holds a edge,easy to sharpen, not over priced.
 
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P pinnah , some good points. However there’s still plenty of use for that can opener on the recent outings in my troop. The awl still gets used from time to time in the backcountry too; the trick is showing a Scout what it’s there for.

E Eric J , I’ve summed over a decade of adult engagement in some form or another; ASM, SM, Committee, etc. it can definitely be a challenge! I had more difficulty dealing with parents and other leaders than I ever did with the Scouts.

On a sort of related topic, I get each of my sons a nice knife when they make Eagle. The last was a Schempp Bowie. The next (and final) will be a blue sprint ZT 0900 I’ve been saving.
Yeah. The awl is not limited to leather work. It is useful, for example, to bore holes in wood, or to strike a ferro rod.

The use of the openers/screw drivers depend entirely on what kit/food you take. I’ve always had a SAK with me, whether car camping or wild camping and everything in between.

Scout activities are meant to imbue skills and a mindset that carry on through adult life. A grown up can find plenty of use for a SAK, in both rural and urban environments.
 
Wow. Misplaced nostalgia?

We must live in alternate universe's because I find the boy scout pattern knife a very handy item for everyday life. The can opener? Used for small to medium Phillips screws, and the hook is useful for lifting a pot off the campfire or even stove. I find the can opener hook uniquely usefull for getting the cotter pin that is the trailer hitch retaining pin our of the hitch on my truck. For whatever reason, it's a little crowded under there where the hitch frame is right next to the frame of the truck and using the can opener as a hook avoids banging my knuckles on the truck frame.

Flat screw driver. I find it a very handy light pry tool for those things that need to be opened, like a can of plastic wood or putty for a repair on wood, as a small putting knife for patching the little holes in the wall when my better half decides that a picture needs to be moved to another wall and the hole gets a little bit of spackle on it. When. job is done, an nice cold bottle of Guinness needs an opener. I've found the screw driver to be a nice general tool for things you know is absolute positively going to scew up a knife blade. Like finishing up an excessive walk and seeing some beautiful wild flowers growing up in the dry rocky Texas dirt, and using the screw driver to dig up the little bouquet of flowers to bring home to my better half. It's only a screw driver, who cares if it gets a little scratched up. The flattop can be dressed with a file.

I've used both the screw driver and can opener like a pipe bending tool when I need to bend something a particular shape. The Bird feeder fell down when the rope holding broke, and the heavy bail was bent. The Victorinox screw driver got hooked under the bend and then in the middle of the bend and used to put pressure on a particular spot to bend it back. I couldn't do it with bare fingers, but the Victorinox flat screw driver/bottle opener worked great as a bending tool.

The awl. I could go on and on about how useful the awl is in modern life. Zip ties hold a lot of stuff together, and the Victorinox awl is absolute a great zip tie removal tool. The thin skinny tip slides under the zip tie, and with a twist of the wrist you bring the sharpened edge of it up against the plastic zip tie and cut right through it. I've cut off a lot of zip ties, and the Vic Awl is a great tool. It also strips wire very well for an electrical repair. It makes starter holes for wood screws when putting up a shelf out in the garage or shop.

The tools on the "Boy Scout" knife are limited only by your limited imagination. Misplaced nostalgia? Yeah, I guess it's as misplaced as the nostalgia for the revolver as a self defense tool, or a box of matches for starting a fire. They still work as well as 'back then'.
 
I find my victorinox spartan more handy than any of the tactical knives,carry it on keychain and use it as my edc for any tasks.In kitchen i have kitchen knives.other knives i almost never use besides large opinels for bbq and some yard work as they outcut most others and are easy to sharpen.
 
I wonder if the modern culture and anti-knife bias/laws that are in many of our towns and cities are having an affect on scouting.

For example, if the curriculum is being changed to focus on other skills instead of knife skills. This would result in less demand, and ultimately less manufacturers selling BSA knives.
 
I wonder if the modern culture and anti-knife bias/laws that are in many of our towns and cities are having an affect on scouting.

For example, if the curriculum is being changed to focus on other skills instead of knife skills. This would result in less demand, and ultimately less manufacturers selling BSA knives.

Yes, yes it is. I had a bit of a difficult time introducing my son to the idea of having a knife on him. After the idea took he still found day to day travel difficult because of the reactions from other kids he encountered. They would inevitably overreact and run to their parents claiming my son had a "weapon", thus leading to me having to explain to the other mothers I was aware of him having a "tool" and having to listen to them telling me how inappropriate it was in a civilized society. I even encounter the same when the other mothers see me removing plastic wrap from food items at picnics, opening letters and packages, cutting tags and threads from clothes etc with my knife. I cant help but think what you speak of above is in fact happening.
 
Yes, yes it is. I had a bit of a difficult time introducing my son to the idea of having a knife on him. After the idea took he still found day to day travel difficult because of the reactions from other kids he encountered. They would inevitably overreact and run to their parents claiming my son had a "weapon", thus leading to me having to explain to the other mothers I was aware of him having a "tool" and having to listen to them telling me how inappropriate it was in a civilized society. I even encounter the same when the other mothers see me removing plastic wrap from food items at picnics, opening letters and packages, cutting tags and threads from clothes etc with my knife. I cant help but think what you speak of above is in fact happening.
Wow that is pretty crazy.
I'm going to try to give back to scouting soon. As an eagle scout I learned that a knife is very very useful a long time ago.
Gonna try to get into leadership.
 
I wonder if the modern culture and anti-knife bias/laws that are in many of our towns and cities are having an affect on scouting.

For example, if the curriculum is being changed to focus on other skills instead of knife skills. This would result in less demand, and ultimately less manufacturers selling BSA knives.
What is happening is that scouting is now on the checkoff list to be able to get into college. It is being treated by many as a requirement rather than as a true learning experience. Many parents have no idea what scouting is or is supposed to be. Many of our scouts missed meetings because they were "overbooked" for soccer, music, or some other part of the list. The parents themselves had no idea we were supposed to do overnight camping and that the boys had to shop, prepare and eat food that they made themselves while in camp. Here in Los Angeles many people have no idea what the BSA is or what it is about.
 
Jackknife is correct as usual.
Wow. Misplaced nostalgia?

We must live in alternate universe's because I find the boy scout pattern knife a very handy item for everyday life. The can opener? Used for small to medium Phillips screws, and the hook is useful for lifting a pot off the campfire or even stove. I find the can opener hook uniquely usefull for getting the cotter pin that is the trailer hitch retaining pin our of the hitch on my truck. For whatever reason, it's a little crowded under there where the hitch frame is right next to the frame of the truck and using the can opener as a hook avoids banging my knuckles on the truck frame.

Flat screw driver. I find it a very handy light pry tool for those things that need to be opened, like a can of plastic wood or putty for a repair on wood, as a small putting knife for patching the little holes in the wall when my better half decides that a picture needs to be moved to another wall and the hole gets a little bit of spackle on it. When. job is done, an nice cold bottle of Guinness needs an opener. I've found the screw driver to be a nice general tool for things you know is absolute positively going to scew up a knife blade. Like finishing up an excessive walk and seeing some beautiful wild flowers growing up in the dry rocky Texas dirt, and using the screw driver to dig up the little bouquet of flowers to bring home to my better half. It's only a screw driver, who cares if it gets a little scratched up. The flattop can be dressed with a file.

I've used both the screw driver and can opener like a pipe bending tool when I need to bend something a particular shape. The Bird feeder fell down when the rope holding broke, and the heavy bail was bent. The Victorinox screw driver got hooked under the bend and then in the middle of the bend and used to put pressure on a particular spot to bend it back. I couldn't do it with bare fingers, but the Victorinox flat screw driver/bottle opener worked great as a bending tool.

The awl. I could go on and on about how useful the awl is in modern life. Zip ties hold a lot of stuff together, and the Victorinox awl is absolute a great zip tie removal tool. The thin skinny tip slides under the zip tie, and with a twist of the wrist you bring the sharpened edge of it up against the plastic zip tie and cut right through it. I've cut off a lot of zip ties, and the Vic Awl is a great tool. It also strips wire very well for an electrical repair. It makes starter holes for wood screws when putting up a shelf out in the garage or shop.

The tools on the "Boy Scout" knife are limited only by your limited imagination. Misplaced nostalgia? Yeah, I guess it's as misplaced as the nostalgia for the revolver as a self defense tool, or a box of matches for starting a fire. They still work as well as 'back then'.
 
It really doesn't matter if a SAK is an official Boy Scout knife or not. The basic Victorinox alox Pioneer pattern is virtually identical to the old Scout pattern (or is it the other way around?), and it is almost certainly more streamlined and better made. And the basic Pioneer (or Spartan or Tinker) are just as useful today as they were decades ago. I actually find more uses every day for my SAK (Pioneer or Spartan, paired with an Executive) than I do whatever single-blade locking knife I'm carrying. Like jackknife says, you are only limited by your imagination for each tool. And a basic 2-layer SAK is easier to carry around in the pocket than most Leatherman tools.

Jim
 
A Quality Scout Knife?
I dunno ... My old Ulster Official BSA Scout knife from the c. 1965 to c. 1973 period is still going strong. It is still tight; no blade wobble, all the blades have good walk n talk, and a pull on all four blades (around a "5") that a Boy Scout could handle without fighting the knife to open it.
I find the tools just as handy today as they were back when I was a Scout.
The can opener still opens cans better than any kitchen can opener.
The punch/awl still does everything a punch/awl should, and makes short work of those new fangled "zip ties" that weren't invented yet when I was young.
The screwdriver still tightens any screws that vibrated loose.
The blade still makes feather sticks, tent stakes, ((((shudder)))) hotdog/marshmallow sticks (sorry, I can't stomach hotdogs if I can still taste them. They taste like bologna; I loathe the taste of bologna)

Off hand, I'd say the Ulster is a high quality Scout Knife.
 
A Quality Scout Knife?
I dunno ... My old Ulster Official BSA Scout knife from the c. 1965 to c. 1973 period is still going strong. It is still tight; no blade wobble, all the blades have good walk n talk, and a pull on all four blades (around a "5") that a Boy Scout could handle without fighting the knife to open it.
I find the tools just as handy today as they were back when I was a Scout.
The can opener still opens cans better than any kitchen can opener.
The punch/awl still does everything a punch/awl should, and makes short work of those new fangled "zip ties" that weren't invented yet when I was young.
The screwdriver still tightens any screws that vibrated loose.
The blade still makes feather sticks, tent stakes, ((((shudder)))) hotdog/marshmallow sticks (sorry, I can't stomach hotdogs if I can still taste them. They taste like bologna; I loathe the taste of bologna)

Off hand, I'd say the Ulster is a high quality Scout Knife.

Those old Ulsters were very fine scout knives. If you go far enough back to the ones that had real jigged bone handle scales, they were a very very fine pocket knife!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

But on the subject of hot dogs; okay you may not like hot dogs, but how about knockwurst, Bratwurst, Italian sausage, Louisiana boudins?

Look at me afishhunter, this is serious. Going camping without roasting some kind of tube meat on a stick is sort of un-American. I haven't looked it up, but I think it's a written law someplace that one shall roast some kind of tubular meat on a stick. I'll have to look through my old boy scout manual to be sure.
:D
 
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