Are these the newest Coons?

Colonel Coon Knives were made by Adrain A. Harris, Mr. Harris started making fixed blade knives as a hobby in the 60's, in 1976 he became the only authorized field repairman in the U.S. for Schrade, a few months later he became the only authorized repairman for Kissing Crane and J.A. Henckels in the United States, in 1978 he founded Tennessee Knife Works Inc. in his home town of Columbia, Tenn. and began making Colonel Coon Knives the old style a true bench made or handmade pocket knife. In 1988 he sold his manufacturing processes to W.R Case & Sons and retired.
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Tsar Bomba
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Re: Are these the newest Coons?

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Quick Steel wrote:Tsar & Mike, I just got off the phone with one of the Bear & Son Owners. They began making two series of Col. Coon knives: the wooden handled, and a yellow handled. This began about 4 months ago. He did not know if other companies are making other series.

So, very good reading of the knives Tsar. ::tu::
Thanks, QS. ::handshake:: The telltale signs of the Bear Barlows were burned into my memory when I received a set of Remington-branded one-armed man Barlows sans boxes and quickly debunked the seller's assertion that they were Camillus-built like the 80s-90s Remingtons. Of the two dozen or so Bear knives I have, many of them exhibit the same traits as the knives in the first few photos above.
Quick Steel wrote:One unresolved issue. Why is SMKW showing wooden handled CCs as provided by Queen. Perhaps a failure to update their computer listing?
When I first stumbled across a listing for the CC walnut Barlow I was a little puzzled myself because I was familiar with years of Queen builds under the CC marque (including a #71 short run I own which is my only CC) and I recognized right off the bat some indicators that these knives were built by Bear. I didn't bother trying to flag anybody down for confirmation -- and it seems like maybe SMKW's customer service staff didn't either. :mrgreen:

I am heartened to see that Bear is getting more business these days and still sticking around an excellent price point for an American-made knife. I don't much mind running a new Bear knife over a stone upon arrival as long as it's built right (Bear seems to ship their products butter knife dull, but a few good swipes on a diamond stone fix that right up).
Meridian_Mike wrote:Good deal.
I am happy with my new Coon. It seems like a really nice knife. The F&F on it is very good.
So, made by Bear and Son.... 10-4 to that! I have a few Bears and I like them so all is good.
Glad to hear it. F&F on the Remington and KK Barlows is also excellent, they seem to bump up the QC when they're building knives under other names. I'm right there with you as far as Bear goes.
Meridian_Mike wrote:Yep, I noticed that. But there are some differences between those and the ones up for sale now.
I should have called SMKW to see if I could get one of those they listed.
If you can swing a new Queen Barlow at that price you'd be doing better than most. ::nod:: ::tu::
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Quick Steel
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Re: Are these the newest Coons?

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Tsar Bomba wrote:they seem to bump up the QC when they're building knives under other names. I'm right there with you as far as Bear goes.
I had the same thought. It was my distinct impression that the F&F of the Queen made Col. Coons was a step better than the standard Queens. If correct, it is no doubt due to a manufacturer taking extra care to preserve the contract with the licensee.
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