All About Pocket Knives

hey everyone, now i am mostly partial to case knives, but i just recently picked up a nice hen and rooster stag canoe to add to my collection. anyone else like the hen and rooster, bertram cutlery brand or have any in that brand that they would like to show off or any opinions on them? i was browsing a couple of sites and noticed that the price on the stag handled knives have gone up some since last year in this brand but i found a pretty good deal on this one from ebay that was alot less than they sell for from the stores, so i eagerly grabbed it and have added it to my collection. although my collection is mainly case knives, it adds a nice variation.

steve

Hen and Rooster are great knives, but there is a catch. The original Hen and Rooster, Bertram Cutlery, was disbanded some time ago. AG Russell had the firm until its failure. The early knives are prizes and like other things, impossible to tell which is which. The name was sold and if I am not mistaken to Frost or maybe it was Robert Klauss. I am sure someone will straighten me out on this. The point is they are a good knife now but the old ones are so hard to connect to and so fine, the name is forever.

I assume(!) that hen and rooster is a diff. knife than a fight'n rooster. I have some of the latter and think that they are find of neat. Does anyone know about these Frank Buster knives? Thanx, Otto

Howdy Boys,

----- Steve, the majority of all Hen & Rooster knives you find in the market place nowaday's are or have been made since the year 2000, market values on these knives will probablay not go up for another twenty years if they do at all, some of the Stag handled knives like yours are made very well with the hightest quality in materials & to be frank with you they are just a very nice knife to own & use! If you want a very collectable piece made by Hen & Rooster look for "Voss" on the Tang Stamp, these knives are the Hen & Roosters from old & have very good market value!

----- Otto, Fight'n Rooster is altogether a very different knife company brain child of Frank Buster, up to a year ago I had over 160 pieces in my personal collection but as things change so did my collecting & sold most of the collection except for a few Gold plated & Pearl handled knives which I kept because I still think they are the "coolest ever made" by Frank!!!


"Texas collector", Roger - 50/2050

I just recently got a Hen & Rooster Jumbo Stockman with carbon steel blades that is really nice. Perfect fit and quality is great.

The jigged green bone scales are a little "loud", but sorta grow on me.

Oman wrote:I assume(!) that hen and rooster is a diff. knife than a fight'n rooster. I have some of the latter and think that they are find of neat. Does anyone know about these Frank Buster knives? Thanx, Otto

You know, I really don't understand how anyone can get the names of knife brands mixed up. It's not like it's confusing or anything. I mean you have Hen and Rooster, Fightin Rooster, Fightin Bull, Bulldog -- where's the potential for confusion?

If I win the lottery just for fun I'm going to start two lines of knives and name them "Fightin Dog" and "Rooster and Bull".

On a serious note, you are safe with Fightin Rooster. They are made by the Olbertz factory in Solingen and are among the nicest and possibly the nicest brand coming out of that excellent factory. I only have one, but I feel confident saying they are excellent as users, and are very collectable as well.

Bear Claw Chris Lappe wrote:I just recently got a Hen & Rooster Jumbo Stockman with carbon steel blades that is really nice. Perfect fit and quality is great.

The jigged green bone scales are a little "loud", but sorta grow on me.

When I hear "Frost" and loud colored handles, I immediately think Chinese manufacture. Can anyone confirm if this is the case?

longbeachbum wrote: When I hear "Frost" and loud colored handles, I immediately think Chinese manufacture. Can anyone confirm if this is the case?

I can't say for all of them, but mine is German made.



All three blades have the "Solingen, Germany" stamp, and the back of the main blade is stamped "Bertram Cutlery, 383C-KLB".

It is difficult to age Hen and Roosters. There were many importers like Gutmann and such. The original family, Bertram, was known for many years as a fine knife. AG Russell bought the company in its first really tough time. When he gave up, Frost I believe was the owner. Bertram is long gone now. Original Hen and Roosters are sought after and always will be. Voss was one of the names but there are more which just serve to identify it as that time period.

Frank Buster of Lebanon, Tennessee started Fightin' Rooster. He changed the name stamp in the eighties and that is the only age key I know of.

OK, just for fun, I present "The Barnyard".....

Top knife...
1984 NKCA knife, a brown/red bone scaled Hen & Rooster, made with the Bertram stamp at the direction of new owner Jim Frost. The current Hen and Rooster's are made for Frost by Robert Klaas, in Solingen... but may be assembled elsewhere (rumor).

Middle knife...
A dark green bone scaled Fight'n Rooster, made in the Olbertz factory for Frank and Sterling Buster.

Bottom knife...
A smooth black baleen scaled Fightin' Bull, made from German components (looks like Olbertz?), and assembled/hafted by Wendell Carson. Baleen is a food filtering material that some species of whales have instead of teeth.

Hope the details in the picture are at least discernable.

Fun topic...

Bill

Unless things have changed in the two years since I was there, Klaas does the manufacturing of Hen&Rooster in Soligen. One of the conditions Jim Frost placed on the purchase of H&R was that it remain in Germany. The quality is as up to par with any I've ever dealt.

Good to know, thank you.

Baleen ... That's about as exotic as it gets isn't it? I'd like to see that one in person. I wish I was closer to Arizona. I'd love to stop by and check out some of your knives and bug you for a while Bill

Most importantly, I wish I was closer so I could get my rear out of this northern environment (kidding). It's cold


Bryan

Bryan,

You are welcome anytime, my friend.

This is a great forum.....and the many interesting folks, make it enjoyable to share and participate.

Bill

Just reviving an old thread here.

I have been looking for a knife.

A Hen & Rooster 4 1/4" stockman in stag and carbon steel!

I was beginning to think was a figment of my fervid imagination, until I saw it mentioned here as a Jumbo. I keep seeing ads for similar, and then discovering it is out of stock, or it's actually only 4" or its got stainless blades. You know the pattern of these things.

Has anyone seen one recently, or if it is even vaguely likely to be available any more. It is becoming an itch I need to scratch

This is a 3-3/4" Gutmann-marked Bertram Hen & Rooster congress. I bought it new in 1979 and sold it earlier this year. It had sort of yellowish bolsters with a whiter pin. It was polished inside and out with square tangs and outstanding action, walked and talked in a real smoooooth way.

I like that one mtds!
Very nice!

That is a nice Congress All of the new Hen & Roosters that I have handled have a very smooth walk and talk too. They have a really nice snap but the spring is not so stiff that you break your thumbnail trying to open them. They seem like very nice pocket knives.

James

Couple months back I traded off a really nice Hen & Rooster Gentleman's knife, which has since traded hands, again. It was one of the knives that really got me into collecting, it was just sort of elegant, in my mind. Beautiful simplicity, and I missed it. So, I bought another. This is actually the 3rd one I've had, the second one had really bad scales (2 of the same side, one mounted upside down, it appeared, it went back to the seller). Don't think the handles on this one is quite as nice as what I had before, but, I like it. My latest, show 'em if ya got 'em

This is an old thread except for post above. Some of the info on the previous page could be improved upon.
"C.Bertram" or "Bertram", or merchant names like "Voss" or "Gutmann", & others are the markings on the original Hen & Rooster knives. This company in Solingen went from mid/late 1700's up to 1980. It was more of a 'workshop' than a factory as the knives were largely hand built by journeyman cutlers. The company was about to close in 1975 so A.G.Russell bought it because he so admired they quality of Hen & Rooster that he wanted it to keep going. A.G. did not change how the knives were being made. In 1980 the bank foreclosed on A.G. and the original Hen & Rooster knives would never again be made.
The new owner of the logo and "Hen & Rooster" name started a new company called: "Bertram Cutlery". These Hen & Rooster knives are factory production knives; good knives but not the same workmanship as the original "Bertram" Hen & Rooster.
Quick spotting tip: Bertram Hen & Rooster folding knives never have a shield. "Never" is a statement by AGR who knows the company history & the knives going way back, not just when he owned it.
Some of the first "Bertram Cutlery" knives resemble the original "Bertram" knives because they were made using the parts that went with the sale.
The above Coffin Jack is likely one of these early Bertram Cutlery knives.
kj

Sorry about adding to an old thread, but, thanks for that information, kj. It's way more than I knew about H & R's before. I don't really consider myself a "collector", more of an accumulator of knives that attract my attention. Perhaps I have a bit of A.D.D., sometimes and.....Look, a squirrel!

It is good to revive an old thread by posting a suitable knife. All of us here, whether accumulator or serious collector, like to learn whatever we can about knives. And every post whether in a new or old thread gives the opportunity for discussion and therefore some learning as well.
kj

H&R

Thanks Joe I had never heard or read that about the original knives. That's good to know.

Ivoryman takes better pics than I do. His looked like this when I owned it.