All About Pocket Knives

I'm getting ready to head down to smkw next week. Was considering coming home with a stag German mini trapper.How do Hen & Rooster, or Eyebrand measure up to a Case or Queen? I notice that smkw has tons of Hen &Rooster online. Are they decent?

Ericky, thats a good question. I'd like to know also. I saw a eye brand sod buster with stag handles that I liked. I wondered if its carbon steel or stainless steel. . Does anyone know if the yellow composite handles on the eye brand knives is the kind that gasses? Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question but I'm new at this.

Hi Duffy and Ericky - German Eye and Hen and Rooster both make nice knives and are available with carbon steel.

IMO, Hen and Rooster is a little nicer than German Eye, which I consider to be more of a nice 'working knife'.

I have a stag German Eye sodbuster and the walk and talk is great. The fit and finish is good too - stag is gnarly. Way nicer than the Case Sods - but more expensive too.

The yellow Eye's won't gas, but Hen and Rooster still uses celluloid a lot and those will.

Thanks. Most of my experiance has been with USA knives. So venturing into German knives is new territory for me.

Thanks TM. I'm sorry Ericky, I didn't mean to shang-hi your post.

No apology needed. I'm here to learn all I can.

hey guys - I might be wrong about the yellow Eye's not gassing. I read that the handle material is celluloid after all, so I guess that could happen. I always thought that it was a composite material similiar to delrin.

Hey Guys,

Gassing with celluloid's is inevitable; it's a matter of when and how bad.

Hen and Rooster is a good choice for German made knives, Bulldog is another good one. Pick a manufacturer you like and go with it, they for the most part do a great job. Of course the USA made knives will be more popular from a collectors standpoint, but the workmanship is near the same.
I collect Bulldogs myself, as well as several others here. There are Hen and Rooster collectors here also! Ask Tony about H&R.................................

Gary

The German made brands I have owned have all been first class. Eye Brand, Bulldog, Fight'N Rooster, Hen & Rooster, Weidmansheil (Older versions) are all made in Germany and knives that I have owned or used at one time.

The vintage Bertram Hen & Roosters have incredible quality and are very expensive. I personally don't see the same quality in today's H & R knives but that is only my opinion.

I have always been been impressed with Bulldog, Fight'N Rooster and German Eye Brand the best, but again the older versions 10 years old and back. Eye Brand has made knives for a long time and has a big following from a collectors standpoint, especially on the older stag versions. One of the things that always attracted me to the these knives is the fact that they used Carbon Steel...

Take care,

Sunburst

Thanks. Yes the carbom steel is what has me interested. I seen a stag Eye brand and a stag Hen& Rooster online a Smkw. There was about a $20 differance between the 2. The Hen being higher. I wish an American company would make a stag carbon knife. I know GEC does but , I've heard so many differant opions on GEC that I'm a little shy about them.

Boker makes many different patterns and handles with carbon steel blades. Good value for money knives IMO. Look for the Bokers made in Solingen. I believe the Magnum and Bonsai lines are made in China and Arbolito assembled in South America. s-k

EricKy wrote:Thanks. Yes the carbom steel is what has me interested. I seen a stag Eye brand and a stag Hen& Rooster online a Smkw. There was about a $20 differance between the 2. The Hen being higher. I wish an American company would make a stag carbon knife. I know GEC does but , I've heard so many differant opions on GEC that I'm a little shy about them.

Hey EricKy,

How about Northwoods Knives?? They are made in America and use D2 Tool steel which is real close to carbon steel with similar characteristics. They also have some of the best stag available on the market if not the best offered in 30 years.

http://www.northwoodsknives.com/

Sunburst

I just took a look there. I hadn't considered them. I thpught they were just fixed blades until now.

No they offer a little bit of everthing and the quality is outstanding...Here are one or two examples..

how about the Cuttin Horse brand? Are they okay?

please forgive my ignorance. cutting horse is a pattern

wildcat wrote:please forgive my ignorance. cutting horse is a pattern

That's OK we are ALL learning something at sometime, I know I sure am! The Cuttin' Horse is a Bulldog Brand pattern. It is a 3 blade 3 7/8 inch sowbelly which Bulldog also calls a serpentine stockman.

There may be some Fightn' Rooster knives with the same pattern name, I don't know for sure. I am just making that assumption because both brands are made in the Friedrich Olbertz Company of Solingen Germany.

Here is a pearl Prototype, loaded with fire and color.

Sunburst will like this, for once I have a knife with pictures of both sides.

That's lik ethe one i am drolling over on collectorsknives.com. i don't like blade etches though. why do they have to do that, leave it blank and pass the savings on to me.

Sunburst will like this, for once I have a knife with pictures of both sides.

Hey Hukk,

Have I told you how much I like that beautiful knife.. I sure do appreciate seeing both sides of that beauty...

Sunburst

wildcat wrote:That's like the one i am drolling over on collectorsknives.com. i don't like blade etches though. why do they have to do that, leave it blank and pass the savings on to me.

I like the frosted etch much better that the black etch. My apologies to the Parker's but that black etch reminds me of Rough Riders way to much. I would like to see a frosted etch or a plain blade. The frosted etch adds about $7-$8.00 I think it was last I talked to Ed. They have taken offense to some opinions that I have written. That's to bad, all but one was really just constructive criticism offered as an opinion, the other just pointing out a matter of public record.

You would have to look hard for a Cuttin' Horse without an etch. I whole heartedly recommend the website you just mentioned. A good knowledgeable guy and member of AAPK.

sunburst wrote:
Hey Hukk,
Have I told you how much I like that beautiful knife.. I sure do appreciate seeing both sides of that beauty...
Sunburst

Thanks Ralph, I rarely have pictures of both sides available because I have so many knives. I'm glad you like it, it is one of my favorites, some day, I need to count how many Bulldog Brand knives that I am holding for my son.

I got 2 really good knives last night, a BKC 266 and a BKC 403 for $87.49 last night. But the one I really liked was bought by another member, a Trapper Jack with a super looking etch, best one I can recall seeing. I had forgotten to put it in my bidding software, so I watched the deal of the night go by. He got a bargain, but I did not want to bid against him. If it is not in my software, I don't bid against someone I know. I only put items in my software the first day they are listed. I am happy to see he got it, always nice when you see someone you know gets a great deal.

collectors knives has a bulldog cuttin horse no etch right now. it's tempting. if my weekend yard sales and flea market search turns me up empty handed, i may get it on monday.