All About Pocket Knives

anybody else have some??
i have 2....both gifted to me....one from my son and one from my wife,long ago......


fancy inlay from-sky
ram horn from-tiff

From what I've seen of the ones I've bought quality is decent to very good. Even got a Pal in 440C!

The desert iron wood series are gorgeous! I never carry it btw.

I have yet to try a China Schrade.

Do they all take a good edge? The reason I ask is because I had a China Remington that had one blade that WOULD NOT SLICE paper. And I have a China Buck trapper that has one excellent blade and one so-so.

I've only had one Rough Rider out of a dozen or more that had a less than wicked blade.

The steel seems to soft in the Taylor Old Timer that I tried.

I'm no knife expert but I have a USA made schrade that the fit and finish is like perfect, easy to sharp and holds a edge for quite some time. I haven't tried a China made schrade but from what I hear they are not all that good . There is a few others I want to try before the imperial schrade

I have used one every day for three years no complaints.As far as cutting pape I would not know for cutting poly pipe and other things on the farm no worries.For the price they are a reasonable knife and if it lost cheap to replace.
The reason you buy knives made in China is the price .

I've bought two China Schrade's and give them both away one was a large Sod Buster and the guy I give it to works 28 days on and two weeks off in the oil patch and used it every day and wore it out in three years--he was just home for Thanksgiving & I give him my Kershaw flip knife to replace it

I bought around 10 knives to give away this Christmas, to family and friends at work. This schrade is for my brother in law, who loves to sail. It's a monster and I'm sure it will cut as much rope as is thrown at it, and undue just a many knots. The blade opens and closes with authority, and the spike locks, then snaps like an alligator.

Those sailor knives look too nice but I would prefer to add an american made on to my collection. This means more more "Euro-Dollars" of course......

A friend of mine gave me a China Made Schrade Uncle Henry Pro Hunter Fixed Blade that couldn't cut Warm Butter!

I have the Chinese Imperial Small Trapper and Congress, and they're all right. the finish and construction seems better than the late Imperial Ireland shell-handled knives.

Some of the blade final bevels are kind of sloppy changing angle and depth down the length of the blade, I've been experimenting with various new bevel angles on them, resetting on a diamond stone, then finishing up on Arkansas and lapping film. Also the Trapper had both blades hitting the spring at the center pin. I took them back a little, maybe 1/64" when I was putting on a new bevel, and that seems to have fixed it. Kicker seems long enough.

The steel seems okay. It is stainless, and I've gotten them up to easily shaving-sharp. The trapper has seen use as an impromptu steak knife, and was still hair shaving afterwards, even with some strikes and pressure on the plate the butcher-knife thin edge I put on it didn't roll.

If anything they're good for me to experiment and practice on. The "celluloid" is _real pretty_ on 'em too, and seems to be pretty hard wearing.

I have a few real spotty made in the USA Schrades from 90s that make me wonder what their QC was doing to let them out of the factory - and some real good ones. Total toss up.

Since I last posted I grabbed this at an Academy store. It gets sharp enough.

Nice looking edge work on those blades, Dave.

As of yet I don't do any angles. I just use ceramic and leather. Of course I haven't had anything truly dull in quite some time.

[image]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/ ... 6846_n.jpg[/image]

I own a lot of Schrade knives both old and new. My favorites are the older carbon steel knives. To tell you the truth I like the China ones at least as well as I did and do the American made stainless steel Schrades. The thing about this American made versus the China made is simple. If I have a hundred bucks and want a good knife I'll probably go American. If I have 25 dollars and want a good usable pocket knife I'll probably go Chinese. They are not as well made as SOME of the American made knives and the steel is SOMETIMES inferior to the better American made steels but bang for buck they are pretty good buys. I have little trouble getting a shaving sharp edge on the China made old timers. I like to sharpen my knives though so that isn't a big hardship for me.

TexDanm wrote:I own a lot of Schrade knives both old and new. My favorites are the older carbon steel knives. To tell you the truth I like the China ones at least as well as I did and do the American made stainless steel Schrades. The thing about this American made versus the China made is simple. If I have a hundred bucks and want a good knife I'll probably go American. If I have 25 dollars and want a good usable pocket knife I'll probably go Chinese. They are not as well made as SOME of the American made knives and the steel is SOMETIMES inferior to the better American made steels but bang for buck they are pretty good buys. I have little trouble getting a shaving sharp edge on the China made old timers. I like to sharpen my knives though so that isn't a big hardship for me.

Amen

Here is my 2 cents:
When Schrade USA closed in 2004, imitation Schrades from China showed up very quickly. These were exact copies of a number of Schrade USA patterns but not all of them. The quality, especially fit & finish, was poor, or even "bad". Some years later (3-5 ?) the new Schrade knives from China were both copies of original patterns and patterns that were never made by Schrade. The quality of these was better, enough difference to suggest that a different manufacturer was involved.
I bought a few China Schrades last about 2012 and my assessment of quality was "pretty good" but not quite up to Rough Rider level which i think are The Best of all China made traditional style folding knives.
kj

The 2015 ones are really Solid. The one I got been great.

I wouldn't compare my 12OTT to a Rough Rider. The 12OT was one of the first Taylor Schrades, bought by my grandfather at Southern States for Christmas '06. What's strange is, it hasn't rusted at all, as I thought all Old Timers were high carbon 1095 steel. And it's just laid in a drawer since '07, as it's crap compared to his old USA made 34OT. I was looking over Tractor Supply's site checking availability at the TSC near me, preparing to get the China made Saddleman as a farm beater--they're not even 1095 even, they're a completely different Chinese steel! Apparently, after looking it up, 7Cr17 steel is a stainless steel, which answers my questions why my 12OT hasn't ever had a spot of rust. It's a shame a brand who had an advertising slogan of "If it doesn't rust, it doesn't cut" went stainless Might as well buy the Kershaw Shuffle there, it's cheaper, and of better build. Heck, for $6 more I can get a USA made Case Sodbuster!

If I want a good Chinese made knife that I can buy locally, I'll go Kershaw or Rough Rider. My Rough Rider Barlow can stand toe to toe with any of my vintage USA made knives, and it was only eight bucks.

Hopefully, with news of Smith and Wesson buying out Taylor, more Schrades will be manufactured here.

If you want a good USA made carbon steel Schrade, get on ebay and buy a good used one. It won't cost you any more than the Chinese made ones and it will serve your needs for years.

philco wrote:If you want a good USA made carbon steel Schrade, get on ebay and buy a good used one. It won't cost you any more than the Chinese made ones and it will serve your needs for years.

I agree I got another one tonite off the bay.

philco wrote:If you want a good USA made carbon steel Schrade, get on ebay and buy a good used one. It won't cost you any more than the Chinese made ones and it will serve your needs for years.

You'll be glad to hear, this is what I do normally. I even bought my grandfather an Old Timer USA 33OT Middleman Jackused off Ebay for Father's Day this year because they're not made in America anymore. I did all the cleaning myself, leaving the patina. I just removed the rust and sharpened it. I was curious just to see how bad modern Old Timers are, but for the money, I can get a good used USA made 8OT for less. There's one here on the AAPK store for $10 that even has a locking large blade.

I love my USA and China made ones.

My Taylor 8OT in Iron Wood is doing fine.