All About Pocket Knives

I happened across this little beauty and the previous owner only wanted 12.00 and some shipping. Ended up being a solid little knife with great snap and a long pull to boot..

Nice find. I like it!

What a nice old knife.
It's great that it has a new home and it will be cared for again.
How long is it?

Definitely carried, I think that adds to its charm. Good pick up.

Nice find, good ole knife!!

Very close to the size of this old canoe,just a little bit smaller. Fits the pocket very well

I see this knife up for auction and was wondering if anyone has see a challenge like this with stag covers?? To me the thin secondary blades, the use of stag and the warncliff main look very similarl to a Sheffield exhibition style knife. If you look very close it appeRs to have milled liners. Very cool if it is ligit.

JAMESC41001 wrote:I see this knife up for auction and was wondering if anyone has see a challenge like this with stag covers?? To me the thin secondary blades, the use of stag and the warncliff main look very similarl to a Sheffield exhibition style knife. If you look very close it appeRs to have milled liners. Very cool if it is ligit. 38C14D58-275B-41BB-8195-556807D4615B.jpeg86E8C671-37F5-43AD-8248-66A6F5198B78.jpeg

I have never see one like that. I bought the only Challenge knife I have ever handled, the ebony 3 1/4" jack shown.

Nice carry Jon, for a very good price.

It has a shield that is common on Challenges Jay. Here are thre Challenge made farmers jacks: two Challenges and a Krackaur,Zork,Moyes, and Sucs El Paso

Nice old ebony jack there Jon. Lyle does the top knife you have pictured there have steel pins?

No

That’s an impressive group Lyle. So what do you think of the warncliff? Factory stag? I only own one challenge and have not seen enough of them to know.

It looks like Empire stag. I don't know what Challenge Stag would look like. Looks like an old patterned knife.

You bidding on it?

I’m going to pass. But I like it

The OP knife was a nice pickup! I have no idea about the stag whittler?? However, I have one almost identical which was made by IXL George Wostenholm. (not saying I think that is who made yours, just saying mine is very similar) I cannot make out all the words on the tang stamps on your knife. Goins does state that Challenge traces its origins back to Sheffield? Goins also has a listing for Challenge Cutlery Co. Sheffield c. 1876 - 1914, with no other information given.

I saw this on eBay as well... First off the stamp is Challenge Cutlery Corp (note not Co) but in case anyone was wondering I've no doubt seen more than a few of their knives with Corp (in fact have a nice equal end jack with that stamp but no photos at the moment) - I think although I am not 100% positive it was an early 1900s stamp used up until they ended in the later 1920s...

As Lyle showed the shield is right and was used on other Challenge knives so that is correct....

The question on the stag - unusual on many American knives but no doubt used (and I have only a couple examples of stag from an American company but not from Challenge - one was a Russell Rope knife for example)... While I don't have a Challenge stag handled knife here is a catalog cut of Challenge knives - Notably on the bottom is a pen knife with "true" stag (keeping in mind jigged bone was called stag in many old manufacturers catalogs and you see it listed as stag for many knives even from Challenge - Even though this catalog cut was B&W like many of that day you can see it is stag and not jigged bone...
The pins look right compared to Lyle's examples - often the Challenge pins were spun but not sure one would call these spun and not peened...

I think the knife is real... Note: Dark colored old stag certainly is hard to get these days but imagine it may be possible (for me the only question would be "are the handle covers original?" - my guess and gut feeling is yes .....

Good info Lee. Thanks

I think that whittler is correct, I have seen other early Challenge knives in stag and that one matches up to what I have seen.

I seem to remember reading that Challenge originally started in Sheffield and there was a New York importer that imported and distributed their knives. He eventually set up Challenge Cutlery in the US and brought over many of their cutlers so you will see a Sheffield influence on a lot of their knives like the whittler.

I think this pruner was one that was made in Sheffield for the New York importer, made before Challenge set up in the US.

Very cool old mark ,great condition John and Donna.

Nice Hawk! Here is my only challenge

Beautifully etched old Challenge Jay.

Mine of course is guess what:

That is a gorgeous one Lyle.

I don’t know where you find em Lyle but that is another very fine farmers jack.

Another beautiful knife, Lyle.

Really nice knives John, Jay and Lyle ... all are in the condition that we all hope to find for our pile of knives ...

Lyle - I’ve seen that same etch on master blade and I think on another Challenge - if I’m not mistaken but can’t remember where or what thread ... for some reason I think it was JohnR’s Knife??....

As an aside - there is another long Challenge Knife thread already under Knife Lore called “A Challenge for You...” - I’ll grab the link and paste it here for reference..

Here's the link to the other older thread showing many Challenge knives: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17272&hilit=challenge