All About Pocket Knives

Do any of you guys collect Bear and Son/MGC knives?

Here are a few that I recently picked up. I have several others that are limited edition stags. I personally like the knives and find them to be of good quality. Not sure of there collectable status now or projected into the future? They are made in Jacksonville AL. My horrible photog skills do not do them proper justice!

Those are very nice stag, beautiful knives.
I have three. two are pearl Doctors knives one Damascus, and one light weight lock back. Like the Schrade sp2.
They hold their value well. Mine are well built, good snap, very sharp, beautiful pearl full of color. I like them.

Great looking knives, I have a few B&S and like them a bunch.

They look very nice indeed. The only one I have is a stockman in Zebra Wood with lovely hollow ground blades. The all-round quality is very good, but for me the scales lack the vibrancy of stag.

David

I have a Bear MGC like this one except mine isn't Damascus. It is pearl though. (not my picture)
And then I have this Stag B&S Muskrat Jack Rabbit w/Kentucky shield.

I probably own a dozen Bear MGC / Bear & Son knives. Love the fit and finish, well built, good craftsmanship. Most of mine are in wood grains and metal scales. The stag just doesn't do it for me, it all seems to look the same, no real variance. Maybe because it's jigged bone made to look like stag ?

Great customer service too

I agree on the MGC stag. However, the & Son with the sheild in stag are much nicer with more variance. They call them genuine stag/genuine India stag? The little trapper GS54 1/2 are my personal favorites. They have nice thick slabs.

I posted this one a while back in a seperate thread, but I think it fits in here as well. Nice fit & finish, strong snap, double tang stamp, great lookin' knife. The handles are what I think they call bonestag, bone made to resemble stag....I also have a small Bear & Sons lockback in a greenish reddish rosewood. That little knife is really well made too, solid lock up and really smooth finish. I only have the two, but like them both very much.

Here's one more. Red Stag Horn five blade trapper. Limited edition. Total of 25 made. This is #20. It's time for me to get a shadow box?

Cutty, when I read your post I thought I had a handful of Bear knives but after a little search I have only found 2. The others were Parker-Edwards with Jacksonville, Alabama on the tang. I have a stag handled lockback that has an unusually thick set of scales (makes the knife 3/4" wide in the middle) but opened up it is quite comfortable to handle. The other Bear is a gut hook skinner that is well made and complete with a quality leather scabbard. Both knives have BEAR MGC on the tang, so they are probably early models.
Treefarmer

treefarmer wrote:Cutty, when I read your post I thought I had a handful of Bear knives but after a little search I have only found 2. The others were Parker-Edwards with Jacksonville, Alabama on the tang. I have a stag handled lockback that has an unusually thick set of scales (makes the knife 3/4" wide in the middle) but opened up it is quite comfortable to handle. The other Bear is a gut hook skinner that is well made and complete with a quality leather scabbard. Both knives have BEAR MGC on the tang, so they are probably early models.
Treefarmer

The company started in 1991 as MGC when three guys (McIntosh, Griffey and Cook) bought the old Parker Edwards facility in J'ville. It was a sister company to W.R Case and Sons? In 1999 the co. was bought by Swiss Army Brands, but still run by Griffey, later (in 2004) to be bought back by Griffey and his son, sans the new & Son stamp.

To my best understanding: They used only "Bear MGC USA" until 1999 when they added "Bear & Son USA" along with the MGC stamp. In 2004 they started using "Bear & Son J'ville, Al. USA", and they also still use "Bear MGC USA". The difference (per someone at Bear) is the J'ville stamp and the sheild is used on their higher end collectors models. They used a dot system on all of their knives until 2010 when they changed to stars. Not an expert on the MGC date stamps though. However. The date code I have goes back to 1999 which is refered to as the previous decade and the 1999 knives started with 10 dots= 1999-2009. Pre 1999 I am not sure of the difference in the stamp or font??

Just a little history for anyone who cares?

By the way I really like the slabs on that lock back

Any body ever seen or have this set of Bear & Son, I’m just trying to get some info on its date of manufacture and maybe original price

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... 5#p1202105

Ken

Any Bear collectors, I have a Mac Tools 3-knife display with never-touched Bear , lock-back drop points all serial numbered 0259. with driver's names. I don't collect such items and would sell the trio and display for $90 + shipping. Sorry for the upside down pic ???!! PM me. Thanks. J.O'.

I have 3 BEAR knives; only 2 of which l can locate at the moment. One is an all metal back lock advertising a group called KIDS 'N' CLAYS which l assume is a shooting club for youngsters. Marked BEAR & SON model 112 it is a nice knife.
The other is a fixed blade with a gut hook marked BEAR MGC USA surrounded by 8 dots. Quite frankly, l have seen better made cheap Chinese knives.the wood handles fit poorly and are terribly finished; the grinds are marginal at best, and the only good thing is th3d sheath is pretty decent. Dont know how this one got out the door. Doesnt appear to have been owner modified. The 3rd one is a very nice lockback and l will post pics when l locate it.

Found it!

Here’s a knife that Badger Knife club ordered thru Bear . Would say quality is okay. The Damascus blades are not something would normally go after but the club knife that year called for it . Never used ,don’t collect them .
Interesting old post . Are they still being made here in country ?

All great knives, guys! Personally, I like Bear & Son knives. I do have a few. Here are a couple.

I've seen some that didn't have the fit and finish they could have, and I've had some great looking ones. As long as they'll stand behind them I'll support an American company. J.O'.

Ripster wrote: ↑Thu Jul 31, 2025 12:37 pm Here’s a knife that Badger Knife club ordered thru Bear . Would say quality is okay. The Damascus blades are not something would normally go after but the club knife that year called for it . Never used ,don’t collect them .
Interesting old post . Are they still being made here in country ?

Yes, still being made in USA. The quality can be hit or miss. When they get it right, they do a great job. But sometimes there are knives that shouldn't have been allowed to leave the building. They have a few patterns they have made forever that tend to have consistent higher quality. Their barlow is one that seems to always be pretty good, and the small single blade lockback.

Back in December 2019, I bought this Boy Scouts, "whittler" pattern or style of pocket knife. It now becomes my first pocket knife to be posted under this topic or thread. This pocket knife was and still is, a most welcome addition to my collection. It is a BEAR MGC, three blades, one tang stamp, one main blade etch, one handle "stamped" shield, 3 5/8" closed, a long main blade match strike/blade pull, Boy Scout, "whittler", pattern or style of pocket knife. The main blade front tang stamp says, "BEAR MGC (over) USA (between a pair of wings?)" The main blade front etch says, "OFFICIAL KNIFE - A Tenderfoot Emblem - BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA" The "stamped" handle shield is the Boy Scouts Tenderfoot emblem. The main blade does have a WEAK half stop. The main blade does have a GOOD opening snap. The main blade does have a VERY GOOD closing snap. The secondary blade does have an OK half stop. The secondary blade does have a GOOD opening snap. The secondary blade does have a VERY GOOD closing snap. The third blade does have a WEAK half stop. The third blade does have an OK opening snap. The third blade does have an OK closing snap. This pocket knife is in EXCELLENT condition. This pocket knife did NOT need any cleaning. I just wiped it off. I took some pictures and here it is.
Caption(s), if any, are on the BOTTOM of the corresponding picture(s).
Click on a picture to ENLARGE.

My only bear and sons knife but it's really nice. Really well made. I'll probably buy another one.

Thats a nice blade! I just wish that Bear would pick a descent tang stamp!! some of their stamps will just ruin the knife for me, kinda like Parker and all the crap he stamped on the blades. RED

This is my first Bear and Son but I do have a Bear MGC on the way

Fingers wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2026 1:01 am This is my first Bear and Son but I do have a Bear MGC on the way

Good looking little knife. Looks sleek and slim.

Some of the recent posts have me wanting to try a Bear and Son knife.

Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference between Bear and Son and Bear MGC?

Thanks in advance.