All About Pocket Knives

EyeBJoe, thanks giving the definitive origen of the Schlieper Survival knife.
Do you know which are the knives that Schlieper had made in Japan ? I think it was in 1990's but could have been early 2000's. I have seen only 2, both on ebay, both new high quality knives, and both marked "Schlieper" in big font, easy to see, and "Japan" much smaller not as easily seen.
It would be helpful to have a list of what knife patterns were made this way.
It should be noted that made in Japan does not at all mean lesser quality. Fallkniven, a high end knife company in Sweden has their top line knives (up to $500) made in Japan. Numerous other knife companies and merchant brands do the same for their best knives.
kj

KJ,
Here are some photos of the Japan tang stamp which is a triangle with the Eye Logo (over) XL. The JAPAN stamp is easily seen on a different tang.
I believe these date back to at least the 1970s but I will check my catalogs to see if I can substantiate that.

Ray

PS: I have added photos of pages from a 1963 Forest Cruse publication and it has numerous examples of the Eye XL cutlery.

kootenay joe wrote:Interesting Ray. I thought "El Gallo" was much older than 1950's but i just looked in Anthony Carter's book on German Knifemakers and he says: "Brand names used on post 1945 exports to USA: El Gallo, Fan, Jim Bowie".
So my idea that El Gallo was for export to South America could be wrong.
kj

Per the Joe Dobbs article in Knife World, Forest Cruse registered the El Gallo trade mark in August of 1954. Cruse had taken sole distributorship of the Schlieper knives in 1950 and I am assuming that the El Gallo line 1st appeared on or about 1954. El Gallo disappeared from the Schlieper line in 1970, again per the Joe Dobbs article in KW, 1983.

Ray

Ray, the knives i am referring to are not the odd EYE-X-L knives .The fixed blades i speak of were clearly marked "Schlieper", but no logo and then much smaller "Japan". They are good looking knives, not cheap in any way.
Was Forest Cruse the owner of the "EYE-X-L" Japan brand ?
kj

i love that eye brand moose a moose is one of my all time fav knives and i have never saw an eye brand one before that tells u how new i am but im learning alot on here

A few eyes

bkazz5 wrote:A few eyes

And nice ones they are!

Ray

That is some good looking dark bone bkazz5. It is unique to German Eye seems like.

bkazz5,

Those are real beauties, are they all Stainless?
Someone told me once (maybe Ray?) that all brown bone Schliepers are stainless, and all black bone Schliepers are carbon steel.

Thanks!

Here is one I stumbled upon and didn't think much about until I started looking for info on it. 2 1/2" / 4 blade congress / bone handles. Is this a rare find or just they're all tucked away? I see lots of the bigger congress patterns but no smaller ones like this?

Just Bob, the line of Eye Brand congress pattern knives available when this knife was manufactured started with the 2 1/2 inch models basically in bone, cracked ice celluloid and yellow celluloid handle materials. The 2 1/2 inch model is a bit more rare in that being so small it was not as popular as the larger models. The faint etching on the master blade along with the Eye stamp on the tang qualifies it as being a "Three Eye" Eye Brand knife dating approximately from 1970 through 1981. I think this knife would be a good addition to any Eye Brand collection. There are other Eye Brand enthusiasts here who might have additional info. or examples to add.

Joe D.

I have only one...a mini trapper, of course.

Lovely handles Q.

hey,

would you consider selling or trading that mini-trapper sir? i am hung up on eye brand trappers at the moment, im searching for a replacement 5 1/2 closed stag trapper with gold colored engraving on master blade instead of the usual eye brand etching! i have a small collection of Cattaraugus and Robesons i want to sell or trade? anyway i was looking at a vintage Eye Brand item a friend sent me not to long ago ( old lock and skeleton key ) and noticed the word Garantie above where key hole is! I have a knife on my watchlist on Ebay that has that same word as its tang stamp! The knife is made in Solingen Germany and i was wondering if there were any connection to C Schlieper and Garantie branded knives?

Hello. Just joining AAPK I posted a pic of my Schlieper and was advised to seek more knowledge in this section of the forum. So, here's the knife my dad gave me that was gifted to him over 35 years ago. After reading what I could on the German Eye Brand, I have developed my newest obsession and am seeking to learn more about these as well as other pocket knives. Thanks in advance for everyone's input.

Very attractive knife. It is intended for dressing out hunted game. The blade with the thicker tip is used to open up the abdominal cavity and the hook is for pulling out the innards of birds. Perhaps you and your dad already know this ?
Is the closed length 4" ?
kj

WELCOME TO AAPK !!!! Your first Schlieper knife is a very nice piece for sure. To my knowledge and review of catalog information, this knife and two or three similar knives with varying blade configurations were introduced in the mid to late 1980's. Your knife has exceptional stag handles and could be a great foundation piece for an Eye Brand and Carl Schlieper collection. Good Luck with your searching.


Joe D.

joefm wrote: ↑Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:12 am hey,

would you consider selling or trading that mini-trapper sir?

Lest anyone mistakenly think I had just ignored Joe's question: Official adoption formalities are currently underway. It seems joefm is soon to become the proud new owner. What could be a better way to finish off the old year and ring in the new than getting yourself a new knife?

Congratulations, sir; you picked a winner. I really like the gnarly stag handles on this knife and I know you will too.

Aloha & Happy New Year!

Q, joefm win win for sure.

man i love the stag on that one

but not as much as i do that mini-trapper!! thank you sir, i appreciate it. im goin to post a pic of a eye brand i have that has some good looking stag in a few mins. tell me what ya think of it here shortly?

That is amazing Stag. Very rare to see a modern knife with exterior stag surface bolster to bolster and then on both sides as well !
Is it ~ 5 1/2" closed ?
kj

kootenay joe wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 5:33 pm That is amazing Stag. Very rare to see a modern knife with exterior stag surface bolster to bolster and then on both sides as well !
Is it ~ 5 1/2" closed ?
kj

I'm betting on 3¾ inches myself. It's a copperhead and altho there was one larger copperhead pattern, it is seldom seen.

Ray

Excellent example of this nice Schlieper knife. I acquired a similar one in June of 1978. It is 5 3/8 in. long and was actually a serial numbered limited edition. The above example has a set of the best stag handles I have seen on a Schlieper knife.

Joe D.