All About Pocket Knives

Anyone know what happened to Hard Hat Knives? The website is offline, and multiple business sites say the business is permanently closed. But, it doesn't seem like they've been closed that long. Google Maps seems to suggest that they were still operating last year, when the imagery (and Street View) was done for Owensboro (however, for a company that apparently had 30 employees, seeing just one car in the parking lot is strange). The website still worked well until about a month ago.

The founder died in 2004, and their trademarks went dead in 2006. But, the KY SOS office says that they are still extant as a corporation, and the last financial report was filed recently too--March, 2023. Plus, I know they had print catalogs way past 2006 as well.

I have one Hardhat knife. It is a hefty little lockback. I wonder if they were manufactured in Owensboro, or if they were an SFO. They resemble some Bear and Son knives, but then again a lot of lockback knives have a strong resemblance.

There are some Hard Hat knives for sale on knife websites and apparently some are new old stock. I presume the company has been bought by another knife manufacturer but I’m not sure.

I found a web site that was selling Hard Hat Brand knives. All were made in China, so one can speculate that they are done in the USA

I have several Hard Hat Stag Mini Trappers, love them. This stag is awesome, I did verify the Bear MGC, now Bear & Son Manufactured the knives to a very high standard According to Mr. Kenny.

Nice knife and display.

Bought this one awhile back at the local flea market. Etched with the UAW logo and the cover laser etched with the chairman's name.