All About Pocket Knives

Congratulations. That's a good deal. Now you have two more to get. One with the ducks on the water blade deep etch and one that's just plain vanilla Camillus 72. All three have black bone handles.

kootenay joe wrote:With those listing pictures handles could be bubblegum. The full flat grind is why i thought Delrin. But good to know it is a bone in hiding.
kj

Edit to add: Thank you GURU 72 ! For $20.50 i am the proud owner of 'Ole Smokey', a 'newer' #72 with bone handles !
Jerry, i owe you a favor,
kj

Very nice Kj. I believe I paid substantially more for mine.

Thank you Gents. The enthusiasm for this little knife is infectious esp. with so many helpers & Jerry's indepth knowledge which he willingly shares.
"Club 72" & Jerry is "Leader of the Pack"
kj

Handle question:
did Camillus only ever handle the 72's with bone & Delrin ?
I am asking about all 72's including those that have other brandings like Sears, D.U., etc.
I think this pattern would look great with some very black ebony or African Blackwood and perhaps with ivory too.
Has anyone here had custom handles installed on a #72 ?
kj

kootenay joe wrote:Handle question:
did Camillus only ever handle the 72's with bone & Delrin ?
I am asking about all 72's including those that have other brandings like Sears, D.U., etc.
I think this pattern would look great with some very black ebony or African Blackwood and perhaps with ivory too.
Has anyone here had custom handles installed on a #72 ?
kj

........I've got a 4 line, sword brand #72 and a 4 line split-spring whittler that have smooth caramel-colored bone, big oval shields w/ 4 points, and worked liners!!!.......never seen another like them!!.................... ..................

They were handled in:

• Bone (1946 - ~early 1950s) and Black synthetic, at least two different formulas (1946 - ~1956 or maybe mid '60s)
• Brown synthetic called "Brownstag" (1956 - mid - late '60s)
• Brown Delrin (mid '60s - Close)
• Yellow Delrin (Early '70s - Close)
• Black Bone - 3 SFOs (sometime in the 1990s)
• Wood as a #5 pattern ('99-'03)

The tilde (~) means approximately.

All those dates are approximate. Don't bet your pension on them and please don't ask for further clarification because I'm plum out of clarification.

Thanks yet again Jerry. Great 'chart' to help orient us to handles & age.
Now i would like to find one of the wood ones which might be under cover as a #5 pattern.
kj

In addition to wood handles, the #5s have brass bolsters and don't pop up often. Good luck.

There's a Yello-Jaket with the Yellow Jacket plastic shield on eBay right now. Rather scarce knife but even at that, IMO he has it listed for waaaaay too much $$$$$$. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camillus-72-Ye ... SwdGFYzTr0

jerryd6818 wrote:There's a Yello-Jaket with the Yellow Jacket plastic shield on eBay right now. Rather scarce knife but even at that, IMO he has it listed for waaaaay too much $$$$$$. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camillus-72-Ye ... SwdGFYzTr0

Rarity of the shielded knife aside, when you're asking more for a contemporary knife than the Ditwit in Texas without a "Make Offer" option you're either in it for the long haul or not really willing to sell the knife.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camillus-72Y-C ... 2079637960

Ya gotta wonder what Dit is smokin' in that Pipe down on the Creek there in Texas.

I got this one in yesterday from bestgear. Pretty snazzy!

Nice score Greg! Thanks for the chart dating the handle material Jerry!

Randy, it's just my loosey goosey best guess but I think it's within a decade or two.

Greg, does the Orvis have wood handles ?
kj

kootenay joe wrote:Greg, does the Orvis have wood handles ?
kj

Yes it does Kj. I believe all of the knives in that Orvis River Series had wooden handles.

That's a beauty Greg love the wood scales

Thanks Zed! That wood does set one off.

It is a pretty slick rendition, Greg. Congratulations. Until this one popped up, mine was the only one I'd ever seen.

jerryd6818 wrote:It is a pretty slick rendition, Greg. Congratulations. Until this one popped up, mine was the only one I'd ever seen.

Randy the mad scientist is cooking one up with ebony scales. That should prove interesting!

Between your pile and mine, we're just about getting to the point where we have most all the handle materials covered.

You're right Jerryd! Probably not many stag, pearl or green bone 72's around .

As a matter of fact I am cooking up a couple of ebony handled short line second gen 72's. Wow try typing that before the coffee kicks in... I think they will be outstanding when finished. I'm going to glue and pin the ebony today. I'm doing shields too. So I need to make a template for that. I think I'm going to love them!
The first gen is waiting to go back together. Dale is looking to see if he has a better coping blade for this one. If he doesnt have one I'll go with the original.

Finished the first gen today! Turned out nice! And the Postman brought me this McGrew Hillbilly Classic today! Now it can keep my other McGrew company!

Very nice Randy! That McGrew is in great shape. I only have the yellow one. gonna have to keep my eyes peeled for that other one.

Greg there is another Hillbilly Classic on Ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/HILLBILLY-CLAS ... SwxKBaAMud