Minis and pocket knives

[Dinadan]

Here are some photos of my Minis with some of my knives. These photos are kind of a celebration of fine American knife making along with fine American gun making. Each knife was made in the USA by Queen, Case, Great Eastern Cutlery, or Schrade. Schrade has long since ceased production in the USA, while Queen shut down its factory just a few months ago. Each of the knives has a classic wharncliffe body shape and natural antler, bone, or wood handles. Each knife also has an etch on the main blade.

First is a NAA Short with a small Schatt and Morgan Whittler. Schatt and Morgan is a Queen brand: very long story there dating back about a hundred years.

Second is a NAA Long Rifle with a Queen Farmer's Jack. The etch on that knife is my all time favorite! The Farmer's Jack is a specialized knife designed for pruning and grafting work: I do not often find one for sale and the old ones sell for more than I am willing to pay.

Third is a NAA three inch Earl with a Northfield Farmer's Jack. Northfield is a Great Eastern Cutlery brand. The Lick Creek etch indicates that the knife is part of a special factory order by an older gentleman who grew up on Lick Creek and especially loves the Farmer's Jack pattern.

[Dinadan]

Fourth up is a NAA Magnum Mini with a Case Seahorse Whittler. I really appreciate Case, because they are just about the last major knife maker in the USA. There are others still in business, but it seems that no one else makes anywhere close to the numbers that Case produces. The Seahorse is one of my favorites.

Fifth is a NAA Pug with a Case Classic Whittler. In the strange world of knife companies, at some point the Case Classic brand became seperated from the rest of the Case company. This Case Classic knife was actually made by Queen. It is a beauty no matter where it was made!

[smokeless joe]

Nice collection of minis and blades. I usually carry a leatherman but now you've motivated me to dig out my small knife collection to do a photo shoot. Not tonight tho. This old man is ready for bed. Maybe tomorrow. Thanks for sharing Dinadan.

[billmeek]

NAA Pug and my daily carry knife: a Buck 0305RWS Lancer penknife with rosewood handles.  Yeah, the Buck logo fell out a few years ago.  It doesn't effect the function.

I bought the Buck since it's the only penknife I could find made in the USA at the time.  It replaced an Old Timer 104OT that is now made in China and is no longer the quality it used to be. 

[Uncle_Lee]

Pictures..
Thanks.

[cbl51]

I very rarely carry a real "knife" knife. My little Swiss Army knife is always on my keyring and my Leatherman is in my pocket. The Leatherman has a knife blade on it a bit larger than the little Victorinox, but also has too many other things that have come in handy in day to day life. If I carry a small knife, my Remington two blade jack comes along. But I love the small Leatherman. Can't recall the last time my pocket knife got carried.

[Canoeal]

As the direct opposite on this one, and because I am always using mine in the shop and around home my knife tends to the full size pocket size...

[The Dawg House]

My pug and CRKT.

[Dinadan]

Thanks for the comments and photos, fellows!

I very rarely carry a real "knife" knife. My little Swiss Army knife is always on my keyring and my Leatherman is in my pocket. The Leatherman has a knife blade on it a bit larger than the little Victorinox, but also has too many other things that have come in handy in day to day life. If I carry a small knife, my Remington two blade jack comes along. But I love the small Leatherman. Can't recall the last time my pocket knife got carried.

I have gone through phases in my knife carry. When I was in the Navy I fell in love with Buck lockbacks and carried one for years after I got out. Then it was Swiss Army knives for a while, and then a Leatherman for a while, then small lockbacks for a while. Now I am back to carrying traditional pocket knives.

Here are a couple more Minis and folders.
First is a NAA Black Widow with a Schrade Heritage Whittler. This knife is very similar to the Schrade 804, which is my all time favorite pocket knife. There is a saying that: You don't know what you have got until it is gone. That is the way it was with me and Schrade. In my opinion the best pocket knives ever made by a mass market manufacturer - the men who worked for Schrade knew their trade. Now the name lives on, stamped on Chinese made knives whose quality, in my opinion, is an insult to the legacy of Schrade.

Second is my Sidewinder with a Schrade commemorative.

[Texduk3]

great pix!!
good things are in small packages!!   

[ikoiko]

At work, I carry a letherman squirt (I think, pliers, knife, tiny).  Out and about, maybe a pro tech mini guard, or some small kershaw, or small spyderco or benchmade. If I don't need a "real" knife, the tiny leatherman fills the void.

[cbl51]

At work, I carry a letherman squirt (I think, pliers, knife, tiny).  Out and about, maybe a pro tech mini guard, or some small kershaw, or small spyderco or benchmade. If I don't need a "real" knife, the tiny leatherman fills the void.

Yeah, the squirt is the one with he pliers. The main scissors one is the micra, also a good suburban tool.


I always dissed the whole Leatherman thing until somebody gave me one. I couldn't believe how handy that thing was in a day to day real world life. Living in the American suburban environment, I find that not much knife blade is needed. Cutting most things like string/rope, plastic packaging, cardboard, large bags of dog food or bird seed, whatever, just doesn't need much more blade than you get on a Stanley utility knife. And go to any construction site and see what those one inch blade utility knives do.

But living in the modern suburbia, I fond myself reaching for a tool almost as much as a knife blade. A small flat or Phillips driver for a loose screw or making a small repair, pliers for anything from pulling a small nail out of the wall when the wife decides she wants that picture over on the other wall, reaching in and grabbing the broken off ignition key that snapped off in the ignition after being turned a zillion times since September of 2001, picking up and puting that very small end of the cord into the little loop of the knot that your senior citizen arthritic fumble fingers can't do,  trimming off a hangnail or the end of the blood knot on your fishing line with small scissors, and popping off the cap of that cold imported beer after all the honey-do business is done.

Carrying the small pocket size Leatherman has knocked a "real knife" out of my pocket.

Both give about the same blade that's on a utility knife. The micra can be used opened to give a longer grip.

The micra has the advantage that if you want to fold up the handle on the micra with blade out, then becomes in effect a lock blade since the blade can't go anywhere being blocked by the handle.


The experience with mini's showed me that very good things come in small packages.

[Dinadan]

Cb51 - you make some good points about the usefulness of a small multi tool as opposed to a traditional pocket knife. I have a few of those, including a Micra. It probably is more useful than what I carry, but I still like what I like!

Here is my Sidewinder with the three knives that I carry most often. First is a Great Eastern Cutlery whittler with Ebony handles and carbon steel blades.  I love the shape and size of GEC clip blades -- they put as much blade in in a knife as it will hold.

Second is the Sidewinder with a Schrade 804 whittler with carbon steel blades and a saber grind. Beside it is a Craftsman whittler which is essentially the same knife, made by Schrade, with a flat grind. Both knives have Delrin handles, a synthetic that has proven to hold up well for several decades of use.

[cbl51]

Dinadan, yeah there's no denying the charm of the old school pocket knife. I carried my little Remington/Camillus for a longtime, many times in another pocket while I carried a Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman. Loved the feel and looks.


But little by little pocket space got more valuable and it got left out for longer and longer periods. I still have it, and take it out now and then for a day or so. At least it fits in the coin pocket with he squirt. But it lives mostly now in the wooden valet tray on top of the dresser. Had to make room in my pockets for the meds and RONCO pocket defibrillator. Getting old sucks!


As in all things, it all comes down to personal taste in the long run. I've found my taste getting more austere in my older years. I used to collect GEC's and loved the quality of the fit and finish. I had a number 15 boys knife in roseood, and cocobolo stockman. Impecable knives. My nephew has the 15 and my old friend and co-woker has the stockman. Now the only pocket knife/tool I carry except for my Leatherman, is my old Wenger SI. That things been with me tool long and too many miles to part with. It's in my little emergency kit that goes with us on hikes, fishing trips and general rambling around.

[Canoeal]

"Now the name lives on, stamped on Chinese made knives whose quality, in my opinion, is an insult to the legacy of Schrade."

The last schrade I purchased was the last ones still made in the USA, the Schrade Sharpfinger... I won't buy one made in China. It is the middle one in the picture.

[cbl51]

The ugly truth of what happened to Schrade and Camillus is the same as Ulster, Kinfolks, and a host of other U.S.made pocket knives. They didn't keep up with the times. Demographics changed, attitudes changed, and the customer base changed a lot. The old slip joint pocket knife was made obsolete by companies like Spyderco, Benchmade, and Cold Steel. Unfortunate but there it is.

Between the one hand wonder knife craze, and the multitool craze, the old jackknife and pen knife was doomed. Add in the fact that neither Scharde or Camillus was investing in any new machinery. The last few years they were in business the end product was terrible. Loose joints, uneven grinds and very poor end QA on the product. Lots of bad stuff getting through to the end consumer.

The old guys on the courthouse bench were gone and replaced by the younger crowd who wanted newer technology and better materials. Easy open blades with thumb holes, better steel that held an edge longer, or multitools that are more useful in this techie age we live in. They don't want to be slowed down by having to dig in the pocket and pull open a blade by the thumbnail. Oh the horror!

If you want to be viable, you have to keep the market in mind.

[Adk.IBO]

I carry my Pug and my Benchmade Mini Grip everyday, sometimes adding my 649-3 in a Kangaroo Carry holster or my Bond Arms Mini (model name) loaded with 1)45LC and 1)2-1/2" .410 (shown with .38/.357 barrel) in an owb holster.

[Dinadan]

The ugly truth of what happened to Schrade and Camillus is the same as Ulster, Kinfolks, and a host of other U.S.made pocket knives. They didn't keep up with the times. Demographics changed, attitudes changed, and the customer base changed a lot. The old slip joint pocket knife was made obsolete by companies like Spyderco, Benchmade, and Cold Steel. Unfortunate but there it is.

You have a point, but I think what to knife companies was part of a much larger shift. In my county there used to be a Lee Jeans factory. They closed about the same time Schrade  closed. They just could not compete, price wise, with what was being made over seas. Lots of USA companies faced the same situation. Some went out of business and some started importing from China or elsewhere where labor was a lot cheaper.

One of the things I hate is that when the companies went out of business, the company name went on the auction block along with everything else. So we have hallowed names like Schrade and Valley Forge and Imperial and Hammer Brand made in China and being sold here perfectly legitimately even though there is no connection to the original maker.

Do not get me wrong - I have numerous China made knives and some of them are good knives. I just mourn the loss of the USA makers and dislike seeing those old names on China knives.

[Canoeal]

Part of the problem is the American mindset. The current version of America want to buy more but better, stay up-to-date on every thing. To do that they want to stretch their dollars farther and farther. and when they won't stretch far enough to make them happy they demand higher wages.

Well higher wages, and cheaper products are diametrically opposed.

So, the companies look around and see if they do want to sell product, the only way to do so is to lower costs, materials either have to get cheaper, meaning of lesser quality, or labor has to become cheaper. To lower the cost of labor, you can get/make machines to do the work, putting some employees out of work, or in the end, you buy/make the machines, train new employees in a country that offers cheaper labor and you continue to sell product. If you don't, the guy who does sells his cheaper, and you are done.

I am not sure what the ultimate outcome will be, but I think as you get older (like us), you start to realize that some things are just out of reach, and we curb our expectations.

[Warthog]

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[cbl51]

Part of the problem is the American mindset. The current version of America want to buy more but better, stay up-to-date on every thing. To do that they want to stretch their dollars farther and farther. and when they won't stretch far enough to make them happy they demand higher wages.

Well higher wages, and cheaper products are diametrically opposed.

So, the companies look around and see if they do want to sell product, the only way to do so is to lower costs, materials either have to get cheaper, meaning of lesser quality, or labor has to become cheaper. To lower the cost of labor, you can get/make machines to do the work, putting some employees out of work, or in the end, you buy/make the machines, train new employees in a country that offers cheaper labor and you continue to sell product. If you don't the guy who does sells his cheaper and you are done.

I am not sure what the ultimate outcome will be, but I think as you get older (like us), you start to realize that some things are just out of reach, and we curb our expectations.

You just hither nail on the head!!!

When Schrade close the doors and they sold off the machinery there was photos in one fate knife magazines. I hadn't seen machines that old in over 20 years. Old handout of date tooling, producing sloppy tolerances is no way to make a product. Same thing with camillus. The members of the board were more concerned about their quarterly profits than staying in business. Typical short sighted American Business model that almost put the American car makers out of business.

On the other hand, when Leatherman hit the market and took off, it made a huge dent in the Victorinox pocket tool market. Huge. But Victorinox did the right thing. They took an unprecedented amount of money, and the top executives took a big pay cut for obeyer, and they bought the latest machining centers with spinal speeds up over 10k per minute. They made more robotic steps in the manufacture of their Swiss Army knives and retraining their people to do the  job. They streamlined the company products and did market research to see what models were the least popular and cut them. Today they make over 35 million Swiss Army knives per year. They are the largest cutlery company in the world. They outsell Leatherman, Buck, Spyderco, Benchmade, and probably more.

Theres two ways to handle a tight market, One, do sting and try to keep on doing what you've always done. You'll be gone in a while. Two, find out who the base line customer is, and what he wants, and make it. If you have to re-tool, then do it. Look at the Japanese motorcycle and car industry. The Japanese motorcycles drove Triumph, BSA, Norton, Matchless and almost Harley Davidson out of business by giving the customer a reliable product made with the latest technology, that you didn't have to be a motorcycle mechanic to keep it running. Honda became the worlds largest motorcycle company. Their cars have taken over as well.

It's all about QA. Something Schrade wasn't giving the last few years they were in business. But GEC is going strong by giving a good product. Yeah, you'll pay more, but you'll be getting a nice knife if that's what you want. It's a nitch market now, like NAA.

[Dinadan]

Nice knives, Canoeal! I always liked the Sharpfinger. Had a couple and now they are rusted away somewhere in the woods. The sheath for the Sharpfinger was not that great at retaining the knife.

Cool guns and knife, Adk.IBO. I have never tried a Benchmade - looks good!

Warty - I do not see very many double edge folding knives Good looking guns, knives, and leather.

[Canoeal]

The point was,as long as the American public wants more, more, more, for less, less, less; manufacturing jobs will go elsewhere, and quality will disappear...You want quality? Expect to pay a reasonable price to those who make it.

[Warthog]

Well, I must agree with what is being said, the American public wants what they want and they think it should be really cheap.  They don't feel like a quality anything should cost more than a crappy one.  Boggles the mind.

I have always been a big fan of Daggers.  I have a lot of them too.  Some are the best money can buy, some are made by people I have known and who have done really good work, and some are desperately inexpensive.  Double Edged blades are another favorite, not just those with the shape of daggers.

[JRobyn]

Just because Warty brought up daggers and Uncle Lee likes pics, here's my all-time favorite dagger....

[Warthog]

Nice one JRobyn, I have one of those somewhere too.  When I first went to the hospital last time though my Dad thought the weaponry on display throughout my house was in bad taste.  He is old and can't remember where he put anything and I wasn't around so I don't know either.  I just know he didn't throw any of it away, just put it away.

[Uncle_Lee]

Thanks Jrobyn.

[JRobyn]

Nice one JRobyn, I have one of those somewhere too.  When I first went to the hospital last time though my Dad thought the weaponry on display throughout my house was in bad taste.  He is old and can't remember where he put anything and I wasn't around so I don't know either.  I just know he didn't throw any of it away, just put it away.

I'm pretty sure I've told it somewhere on here before, but my Dad brought his back from WWII and it always lived on the mantle.  Was fascinating and beautiful to me in a macabre way.  I always assumed he would will it to me.  After he died, we found that several years prior he had sold it for about $100 to a local "Antiques Buyer".  His was one made earlier on in the war in Solingen and was very likely actually carried by a "Brown Shirt".  It was in 100% perfect condition except for a bent scabbard knob. 

I found the replacement from a local guy for a very good price.  It LOOKS identical, but this one was made in a German factory in India.  The demand for them as souvenirs from returning GIs kept them churning them out.

[RogueTS1]

realize that some things are just out of reach

Canoeal and Warty have hit the nail squarely on the head. Too many Americans these days cannot except that certain things may just be out of their reach and unfortunately there are so many of these people these days that they are slowly becoming the market trend setters the manufacturers set their sights on.

Most of today's markets are not driven towards those willing to pay a bit more for the quality they expect; there just are not enough of these types. It is driven towards those that will settle for crappy QC because it is all they can afford but since they breathe ------> they deserve. There are a lot of these folks in the market place these days and hence the entire society tends to suffer for it.

[Warthog]

Here is one of mine (2nd from bottom) JRobynalong with my other LINDER Daggers.  Still looking for these too but I at least had a picture of them

[bill_deshivs]

You guys are loads of fun!

[Warthog]

Switchblades?  Been collecting those for a long time.  I will get them out and take a picture of them with one of my Minis.

[Dinadan]

You guys are loads of fun!

Nice collection, Bill! Those knives look mint.

[ikoiko]

You guys are loads of fun!

Nice collection, Bill! Those knives look mint.

May be a reason for that, Dinadan.

https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Leverletto-Bill-DeShivs--2434

[pietro]

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Warty, could you please put a brand name to a few of your daggers, and (maybe) if/where they are available ?

I'd be interested in knowing about the 3 daggers in your FirstThree  pic.


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