KON-KAV question

[alan]

Hello, My name is Alan. I am new to AAPK.
I have a knife that I know nothing about. Maybe someone could help me.
It has a KON-KAV badge on the outside. The blade has Schrade N.Y. U.S.A. on one side and 805 on the other side.
It is 2 3/4 in. long, has three blades, dark brown "peanut" handle with silver caps at the end.
Just wondering if this is a true schrade and what year? I tried to get a picture of it but could not get a good one.

Thanks for any help
Alan

[jonet143]

kon-kav was a mark used by schrade-walden in early fifties.

[orvet]

What you have a 805. It was one of the open stock knives.
It is indeed a "true Schrade." Since yours says Schrade on the tang, instead of Schrade Walden, it was made after they changed the company name in 1973.
So, this allows us to date your knife to a three year time period. It was made in 1975, 76 or 77. It is unusual to be able to date a Schrade that closely.


There were 3 knives in the Concave Series introduced (I believe) in 1953. (I don't have a 1952 or 1951 catalog, but these knives are not shown on the 1950 price list).

Pattern number 805 -- Made from 1953 to 1975 -- 2-3/4" closed -- $7.75 suggested retail in 1975
Serpentine pattern; Listed as STRATA-WOOD handles in 1953 & called Wonda-Wood in 1957 & later catalogs; 3 KON-KAV ground blades (clip, sheepfoot & pen); N/S bolsters & shield; milled back

Pattern number 863 -- Made from 1953 to 1961 -- 3-5/8" closed -- $5.35 suggested retail in 1961
Balloon pattern; bone stag handle; 3 blades- large clip (KON-KAV ground) coping & small clip; brass liners; N/S Bolsters & shield.


Pattern number 880 -- Made from 1953 to 1975 -- 4" closed
Premium Stock knife, Texas pattern; 3 blades- Clip (KON-KAV ground) sheepfoot & spey; bone stag handle; brass liners; N/S bolsters & shield

Features like the milled back may have been dropped in later years.

The pic below is a composite of the three knives as they appeared in the 1957 Schrade Walden catalog.

Dale

[knifeaholic]

Great info, Dale.

I just picked up a near mint Schrade Walden bone handled 863 still etched. Its a hard one to find in bone.

[philco]

Dale,
Can you explain what "open stock" means? I have seen the term used before, but I've never had a clear understanding of what it means.

Also...............
Is Kon-Kav ground the same thing as hollow ground?

Thanks,
Phil

[orvet]

I first see the term Open Stock used in the 1974 Schrade short line catalog. The term is applied to the knives that were there bread-and-butter knives of the company. Many of these patterns had been carried over from the Schrade Cut Co. days and had indeed been "stock items" for many years, some for decades.

I think they are specifying that these knives are "open stock" as opposed to knives in the Old Timer or Uncle Henry series. In addition to Old Timer & Uncle Henry there are two other series of knives listed in that 1974 catalog: the 49ers series, which were fixed blade knives and the "Razor Blade Stainless" series of knives. The Razor Blade Stainless grew later to also include the sampler knives, (fruit sampler and sausage sampler knives). In later years many other series of knives were added, for examples; Ducks Unlimited, the scrimshaw series, the Heritage series, the Safe-T-Grip series, the Tough Tool series, the Cliphanger series, the Lightweight Lockback series, the Tradesman series, the Cigar Box Classics series, the X-Timer series, and many others.

I am sure they had not envisioned all of the series that they produced subsequent to 1974, however I think it is safe to say that they needed a name for the knives that had been their stock in trade prior to the introduction of the Old Timer and Uncle Henry knives. "Open Stock" may not have been the most creative name they could have chosen, however it is the name they used at least until 1988, when the term appears in the retail price list.


Kon-Kav was the term that Schrade used on this series of hollow ground knives. However, they did not elect to apply the same term to their hollow ground fixed blade knives, or even to other hollow ground folders. I think it is safe to say that yes, Kon-Kav is synonymous with hollow ground, in this application, but the term was not used on all of Schrade's hollow ground knives.

I hope this helps,
Dale

[philco]

That helps a lot Dale!!

Thanks for taking the time to explain it so well. I appreciate the information and I'm sure there are otheres who do as well.

I have a vague memory of a Schrade display with "Kon-Kav" knives on it. I think only part of the knives in the display were "Kon-Kav" and the rest were "Old Timers". I'd sure like to see one again.

Phil

[orvet]

I am glad that helps Phil.

Dale