All About Pocket Knives

Another subject on something I’ve wondered about. Were the shields on knives unique to a maker in their shape? Were different shapes considered intellectual property of a brand and not copied, or was it a free for all? If you look at many shields, a good eye can spot subtle differences. Does a shield picture list exist to hopefully identify unmarked knives by their shields? Be nice to pin down some of these jobber hardware brands. Many thanks for info

The Boker Great American Story knives each had a distinctive shield, you can spot those things from across the room. The various bullet shield knives, of course. There were some Statue of Liberty commemoratives. And, of course, the dog head KaBars.

I can't think of any manufacturer who kept the same shield through its entire history that was distinctive enough to identify the knife's manufacturer. In the 89s and 90s Boker and Henckels knives had a similar 9mm round shield. Buck used oval shields with various markings that were easy to spot and give a rough date estimate. Case's oval shields varied some over the years.

Interesting question.

There's a thread on here dedicated to shields lots of pictures but I don't know if it would answer your question.

Thanks guys. I seem to have answered my own question searching out a comparison to a mystery shield on one of my small jacks. This says they were used as trademarks. I will have to search out that picture thread. My mystery one pictured

Serpent67 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:29 pm Another.....

Shields.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=12268

Serpent67, could you please post where you found the picture of the various types of shields. I am currently in the process of dividing my collection for my two sons and am creating a binder for them illustrating knife terminology, blade descriptions, knife frame illustrations, etc. I would like to place a copy of the shield picture into the binder also. Your assistance appreciated.

EyeBJoe
Joe D. Dobbs

Joe, most knife collector references have some information related to shields. Here’s a couple I have handy. Hope they’re helpful. The first picture is from the Official Price Guide to Collector Knives 11th Edition by C. Houston Price. The second is from The Standard Knife Collector’s Guide, third edition by Ritchie and Stewart.

Ken