All About Pocket Knives

The moose pattern is an old one that maybe isn't as popular today as it once was, but I am a big fan. I only have 5 (so far) shown below. Lets see yours. There has to be a lot of old Remington Moose around.
Wilbert Moose 4 1/4" Jaeger moose 4 1/4" Case XX 6275 Moose 4 1/4" GEC Moose 4" My latest Moose, 4 1/4", which I built from scratch

That Wilbert is a classic, but I think I'm more partial to that one you built.
I like the way you hafted that Winterbottom bone to those handles. That looks better, IMHO, then in the end there Winterbottom I have seen.
Nice job!

OC, moose usually don't herd. I have seen the males bunch up after rut passes. What a great group and the last one is maybe the first one. Congrats.

"Moose usually don't herd..." Well, that is why I have 'heard" that they don't call the plurals "Meese." Meanwhile, I have found three of the pesky things, and they could be available to some addict, I suppose. Two older and much more desirable and very large Carl Schlieppers, Three Eyes, and a GEC in red bone. I received the Eyes from a good friend and member here and, like him, I am just renting and wanting some to pass through for more-stuff-soon-enough.

I no longer own this Robeson. I traded it to George Leray, a dealer, not a collector, so I think I can still show the knife without stealing someone's thunder.

These two Terriers, I own. They came out of a closed hardware store in Nebraska, I think. Somewhere out that way.
They are in just about mint condition and the larger of the two has salesman sample numbers on the back side of the master.
The other is the smallest Moose or Double-Ended Jack I've ever seen.
These two knives date 1910 to 1916.

Given that the larger has a pattern number, 243622, there should be a Robeson out there somewhere with the number 622243.

The Terrier photos should expand with a couple of left mouse clicks.

Charlie Noyes

Ok fellas, a little education, please.
What makes ‘em Moose’s?
Here’s what I see - equal end, usually cigar shaped. Two blades, almost equal in length.
There are variations, though.
I’ll go look and see if I have any.

Here is mine. Great user.

zoogirl wrote:Ok fellas, a little education, please.
What makes ‘em Moose’s?
Here’s what I see - equal end, usually cigar shaped. Two blades, almost equal in length.
There are variations, though.
I’ll go look and see if I have any.

I think this is correct; the moose has two blades, one clip and one spear, that run the full length from opposite ends, each on its own spring. Handle pattern can vary, sometimes equal end or cigar, sometimes like the Case 75 series and GEC I have shown, serpentine. They are usually 4 to 4 1/4" and are large full size knives that give you a handful to grip. Note: the Jaeger I showed above has one shorter blade because when I got it both blades were broken. The spear was broke off at the tang, so I made a new one, and the clip was about 1/3 gone, but enough was left to reprofile to keep the Jaeger name on it. (Sometimes these full size ones are called "Bull Moose", and there are also mini moose knives out there).

Ah, thank you! I learn something every day on here.

Ann, think of the moose, the largest member of the deer family and the one with the largest antlers. Open both blades on one of these and voila, a moose.

Case made the Lockhorn a few years back with a similar profile.

The proper name for these is "Double-Ended Jack". Open a blade fully and you are holding a jack and you can do that with either blade.

Charlie

Ah ha! Thank you!
Actually, if I’m facing a moose, I’m probably standing very still and trying to pass myself off as a tree!

OLDE CUTLER wrote:
"one clip and one spear" .

"two blades, one clip and one spear, that run the full length from opposite ends"
I'm with Ann, on needing education... One of yours has a spey? (the 6275)...Two of Charlie's don't have that blade configuration. So maybe "roughly equal length blades?
...and why is a muskrat pattern not a moose pattern...thinner blades? I'm so confused

Nice knives everyone! OLDE CUTLER: I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but below is a link to an earlier thread about Moose pattern knives that has some more pictures and info.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26965

Levine in LG-IV discusses Double-Ended knives in great detail on pages 189 through 192.

It can be a bit confusing.

He does say that a Muskrat knife is a Double-Ended Trapper.

Based on his discussion, I do not think the smaller of my two Terriers belongs in this thread. It's too small and does not possess a qualifying blade configuration.

Charlie

Thank you gentlemen...it's becoming a little clearer.

Doc B wrote:

OLDE CUTLER wrote:
"one clip and one spear" .

"two blades, one clip and one spear, that run the full length from opposite ends"
I'm with Ann, on needing education... One of yours has a spey? (the 6275)...Two of Charlie's don't have that blade configuration. So maybe "roughly equal length blades?
...and why is a muskrat pattern not a moose pattern...thinner blades? I'm so confused

I was using the 4 1/4" Wilbert Moose as sort of an arch-typical example as it was made around 100 years ago. I think many manufacturers have drifted from that in introducing serpentine frames and alternate blade shapes and still calling them a moose as manufacturers are known to do. I had never seen a moose that had a wharnecliffe blade as one of the previous posters had shown. And a muskrat is usually much smaller in overall length than a moose and has two identical blades, UNLESS IT DOESN'T as the Buck muskrat. So what would be the difference between a Buck 313 muskrat and a mini moose? Just the manufacturer naming it.
Buck 313 Improved Muskrat

In my mind the R4702, R4703 is the only true moose that Remington made. I've heard people say the R4353 is a moose, but it isn't in my mind.

Case moose with a ruger gp100 on a deer hunt.

muskratt wrote:WP_20141202_007.jpg
Case moose with a ruger gp100 on a deer hunt.

Hey, I have that same combo!

Can I play?
An old feller gave me a Case 75 frame, no blades, it had nickel silver liners and I finally figured out it would have been a 6275. That began my search which has not been as successful as I would have liked. The oldest one is probably the PAL at the bottom of the picture. The Queen #52 Stag is probably the nicest one. The two Cases with the reworked clips I found in junk/pawn shops. The red one was tipped and cost $15. The 3rd from the bottom was "bomb" from one of our great AAPK members! The Moose is just unique enough to get my attention and for a while I carried either of the two with the modified clip blades. Actually the one with the sheep foot or almost Warncliff shape is very practical and is a great EDC. That one also has NS liners. If I wasn't so hung up on my old Queen #49 I'd be carrying one of these. I've wondered why this pattern was made seeing the same blades are offered in a Trapper, clip and spay, of course the frames are different but overall length is the same in the two Case patterns, 4 1/4".
Treefarmer

treefarmer:

Nice knives, and nicely arrayed.

To answer your question, posed in the last sentence of your paragraph. There is an especial convenience in my mind with the Moose, as opposed to the Trapper – and I have daily carried both, in each case for several years. It is that no matter how the Moose is oriented in my pocket, I can grasp it with one hand and there is a large blade that can be opened with the other hand without turning the knife around. (Charlie alludes to this in his second post on this Tread.) This difference may seem petty, but is nevertheless a slight advantage to me.

As per Bernard Levine’s description, the master blade of a Moose is a wide clip; and a long spear or spey is the secondary blade.

I do miss the 3 and 7/8th-inch Camillus, waterfall celluloid, slanted and grooved-bolstered Moose I lost. I am chary about carrying any of my other Moose patterns, as I want to preserve their high condition.

In my modest grouping of Mooses, the speys outnumber the long spear as the secondary blade, which I believe is typical.

stumpstalker,
When I put my little herd of mooses back in the pen, I realized one of the things I liked about them. The narrowness of the frame, depending of course on the handle material. I took a little more time with the red handled Moose, it had been used and not cleaned properly. Anyway, it just feels good in the hand, the shortened clip with the full narrow handle feels very comfortable plus it has CV blades. I may ditch the old Queen for a while and ride the modified Moose.
Treefarmer

I took a look and apparently, there isn’t a single moose in my herd.
These guys are as close as I can get.

OLDE CUTLER wrote:

muskratt wrote:WP_20141202_007.jpg
Case moose with a ruger gp100 on a deer hunt.

Hey, I have that same combo!