All About Pocket Knives

I have owned a few "Barteaux" knives with metal handles (aluminum poured into a mold ?) but this one has a plastic handle, 2 pieces with a seam. OAL 13 1/2", blade stock is thin.
Did Barteaux or Barteaux & Sons make this knife ?
Or is someone else using his name (legally or not) ?
I assume value is about 2 hamburgers & maybe fries ?
thanks, KJ

Most of the early Frank Barteaux knives were the Murphy type with metal handles as you say. I would think this to be a much later knife so Barteaux and Sons would be likely.This knife looks quite modern and other than the coloful handle it fits the Barteaux mold. There is a following for the Barteaux name so you might get the supersize meal for it. Is there a sheath?

Thanks Wayne. No sheath.
With luck, maybe a $25 knife ?
kj

I don't think $25 would be too much. Utility value alone could be that much. Looks like a good user at least.

Hello, yes that plastic orange handled knife is a Barteaux knife. It looks different because they did not start making that style until the 1990’s. All the smaller aluminum handles knives were made pre abt 1985, which was when my father, along with his high school friend Mervin Barteaux (Franks son), bought the company from Frank.

Mervin was a silent partner for several years, until my dad bought his share of the company and owned it outright. At that time is when my dad purchased a much larger building (they had started out in a backyard garage..), and manufactured the machetes there until the company closed down.

I don’t remember exactly what year the aluminum handled knives stopped being made, but I do know once Mervin and my dad bought the company (abt 1984/85 I was a senior in high school when they took it over), they did not make any aluminum handled knives and only made the black plastic handled, and then orange handled machetes. 16-26 inch lengths. At some point he was getting requests for a smaller knife, and that was when he started making the ones like you’ve pictured here. This was after the move to the bigger building, so was sometime in the 1990’s.

I saw some photos that another poster had put on another older thread of some of the machines in the shop towards the later years in business, and wow that brought back memories!

I have an aluminum handled Barteaux machete and was curious as to the age of the chopper. I still use mine and keep it in a Vietnam era green plastic sheath.

I wouldn’t be able to date any of the aluminum handled ones, but they were all made prior to my dad purchasing the company in the mid 80’s. He had some of them in the shop since everything was included when he bought the company, but I didn’t really pay much attention to them because I was in high school at the time. And while I worked for my dad for 12 years at the company, I was focused on our current products.

I do remember them being nicer knives, worth keeping even if just for the historical value.

My brother might know more about the aluminum knives though so I’ll ask him next time I see him. He might even have some. Or I can ask Mervin’s daughter if she remembers anything about them because we are still in contact even though both our parents have passed away. My dad and Mervin were lifetime friends, my dad kept to himself a lot so Mervin is the only one he ever kept in contact with until he passed.

Interesting information. Thanks