Official fake by new Camillus

[Vit_213]

9" OVB LE Hunter Knife #19048

Visual differences from the original OVB Fisk knife #CF0401:
1. Camillus etching on the front side.
2. Etching tang (non stamp).
3. No etching "National Living Treasure Series" on the back side.
4. Leather sheath (no on the photo) have a drain hole.

Not visible differences:
#CF0401 - 0170-6C, made in USA
#19048 - AUS8, made in Taiwan

The zipper pouch and the box are very similar, and since I do not have the original, I find it difficult to point out the differences.

[orvet]

It's not an original US made Camillus, but even before the bankruptcy Camillus was having some knives made in Taiwan and even some made in China.
I guess it is fake in the sense that it's not the original company, however in the US the new company has every legal right to use the name Camillus and all of their trade names, like OVB and Camco, which they purchased in the bankruptcy auction.

The Heat, Sizzle & Blaze Assisted Opening knives or all made in Taiwan and were quality knives.
I have bought a number of knives from Columbia River Knife & Tool that were made in Taiwan they are good quality knives. In my opinion they are 2 or 3 steps above most of the stuff coming out of China.

I am actually glad to see the new company producing some of the traditional Camillus patterns because I think they are good patterns. The AUS8 steel is usually very good quality. I have never had a knife made with AUS8 from Taiwan that was not a decent knife.

My hope is eventually they move production back to the USA and make Camillus knives here in America again!

The one bright thing I see about Acme, the company that bought the rights to the Camillus name is that they are making what appears to be good knives and they're not all made in China. I see the new Camillus knives for sale at Walmart and other stores and they seem to be decent knives from people I've talked to that own them. Maybe they won't have the stigma of having been an inexpensive Chinese brand.

[Meridian_Mike]

It's not an original US made Camillus, but even before the bankruptcy Camillus was having some knives made in Taiwan and even some made in China.

Oh no...... say it isn't so....

[carrmillus]

............................ ..............................

[orvet]

Sorry Mike but it is true.
The Heat, the Sizzle and The Blaze are a series of three assisted opening knives that Camillus had made in Taiwan.

There was a series of knives call the Camco Workhorse series. They appeared on the market shortly after Camillus went bankrupt. As I recall some of them started appearing on eBay even before the Camillus bankruptcy sale.
I asked Tom Williams about them and he said that was a series of knives that Camillus had ordered prior to the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy closed Camillus while that shipment of Camco Workhorse knives was still sitting in customs.
When Camillus actually closed their doors in 2007 they only had a handful of people still working. I think Tom said there were seven people still working at the Cutlery when it closed. The owners had basically bled the company dry from what I have been able to find out. Importing knives was an effort to keep the company going a little bit longer. It was kind of a sad story.

This is a Camco Workhorse currently for sale on eBay.

I have not seen any of the Camco Workhorse series in person but they seem to be a fairly well-made knife according to what some people have said.


The knife in the OP is not a US-made knife but hopefully someday if economic conditions encourage it, maybe Acme will bring production of Camillus knives back to the US. One can but hope.

[Mumbleypeg]

I have a couple of CRKT knives that were made in Taiwan. High quality knives. In fact all the Taiwan-made knives I have seen were very good. And unlike Communist China, aka mainland China, Taiwan is a free country having a democratically elected representative government and free markets. Any profits made by companies operating in Taiwan go into the pockets of the company owners and shareholders, not the government. The current day residents of Taiwan are mostly descended from those who fled the mainland when the Chicoms took over. Taiwan is despised by the Chicoms, who refuse to recognize their government as legitimate.

Ken

[Meridian_Mike]

Hmmmmmmmmm..............
So, these Camco Workhorse knives are coming out of the woodwork from organizations (or people) that got them from a customs auction or something.
Interesting story Dale.....

[Mumbleypeg]

Hmmmmmmmmm..............
So, these Camco Workhorse knives are coming out of the woodwork from organizations (or people) that got them from a customs auction or something.
Interesting story Dale.....

Not likely, but I don’t know for sure. Most likely the shipment was delivered to Camillus and subsequently became part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Upon a company filing for bankruptcy protection, there are several months (sometimes years), of transactions, legal maneuvers, and court proceedings before the final outcome is decided. Depending on the type of bankruptcy the company’s assets may ultimately be sold, either to another company and/or at auction.

Part of most bankruptcy proceedings is to raise money to pay off the company’s liabilities and negotiate with creditors. Who ever made those knives for Camillus may have been paid in full, but most likely got something like, say 25%, of what they were owed. The knives themselves may have been sold at the bankruptcy auction, or could have been part of the assets sold to the new owners (however in this case I think there was a post here somewhere saying Acme only bought the rights to the trade names).

Ken

[Vit_213]

Camco Workhorse knives appeared on eBay in 2010. I know this for sure, because I monitored the ebay at that time almost daily.
These knives were of good quality, but there was no mention of them on the official websites.
I have one of them, and its quality is really good.

[Vit_213]

Oh no...... say it isn't so...

Unfortunately yes. All Camco since 2005 were made in China.

[orvet]

Hmmmmmmmmm..............
So, these Camco Workhorse knives are coming out of the woodwork from organizations (or people) that got them from a customs auction or something.
Interesting story Dale.....

I don't know what happened behind the scenes Mike, but I know they were out on eBay in small numbers in 2008.
Here is a topic in BladeForums posted on March 23, 2008.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/inf ... rs.543169/

Here is another thread about Chinese made Camco knives In BladeForums, dated December 30, 2008 with two replies on January 1, 2009.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/que ... st-6335605

I know there were some of them released early on, I believe I saw some prior to the announcement that Acme had purchased the Camillus intellectual property. I remember asking Tom Williams about it, and at first he was confused but then he apparently checked with someone he knew from the cutlery and told me they were Chinese made Camco's that were in transit, or customs, when the cutlery closed.

Here is a Camco workhorse that is currently on eBay. It has bone handles, but the first ones that came out all had yellow handles, as I recall.

This picture came from Wikipedia (I think) although it is not branded Camco. It has the same type handles that I recall seeing on the very first Camco workhorses that I saw on email just months after Camillus closed.

This is about all I can remember, I wasn't interested in Chinese made Camcos so I didn't pursue the matter or research the issue any further.

[Vit_213]

Dale, thanks for the links and the interesting story about Camco Workhorse knives. Until that day, they were a mystery to me.
I can only add that they were made in 11 classic patterns, each in two versions (black micarta with 2 copper layers handles and red jigged bone handles). Thus, a total of 22 models existed.
A knife with a yellow handle and a wooden box that you showed is the development of Acme, which they named the Yello-Jacket.
https://www.camillusknives.com/products ... lding.html