All About Pocket Knives

Back in 2020, this "stockman" pattern or style of pocket knife arrived in a group or lot of pocket knives that I purchased. It now becomes my first example to be posted under this topic or thread. I did NOT purchase the group or lot of pocket knives to obtain this particular pocket knife. However, it definitely turned out to be a keeper. It did get added to my general, "foreign born", pocket knife accumulation and added to my EDC rotation. It is an Imperial, three blades, one tang stamp, 4" closed, two springs, "stockman" pattern or style of pocket knife. The main blade front tang stamp says, "Imperial (with crown) (over) IRELAND" The main blade has a SOFT half stop, a GOOD opening snap and a GOOD closing snap. The secondary blade has a SOFT half stop, a GOOD opening snap and a GOOD closing snap. The third blade also has a SOFT half stop, a GOOD opening snap and a GOOD closing snap. ALL three blades are EXTRA SHARP!! Overall, this pocket knife is in EXCELLENT condition. It did NOT require any cleaning at all. I just wiped it off. I took some pictures and here it is.
Caption(s), if any, are on the BOTTOM of the corresponding picture(s).
Click on a picture to ENLARGE.

Imperial Ireland DE555

Vit_213 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2024 6:45 pm Imperial.....

VERY nice, Vit_213.

Here are some Imperial Apex knives from the mid 90's
A direct quote from the 1994 Imperial Schrade Corp catalog........

"Designed for the future with traditions in the past.
Apex knives offer the best in style, material and performance at a competitive price.
The high tech style handles are fashioned from Zytel,
a space age lightweight material that is virtually indestructable."

Vit_213 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2024 6:45 pm Imperial Ireland DE555

That's a nice looking tool, in excellent condition, Vit.

I have a few Imperial Ireland pocket knives, but recently acquired this one in a trade and have found myself carrying it more often than I thought I would.
It is the only one that I have seen with smooth brown scales, and it feels much better in-hand than those with the black "striated" handles.

Reverand wrote: ↑Thu Nov 06, 2025 12:48 am I.....

NICE Irish Imperial, Scott.

New_Windsor_NY wrote: ↑Tue Nov 11, 2025 3:30 pm

Reverand wrote: ↑Thu Nov 06, 2025 12:48 am I.....

NICE Irish Imperial, Scott.

Thank you, Skip!

Very recently, this pocket knife arrived in a group or lot of pocket knives that I bought. It now becomes my latest example to be posted under this topic or thread. I did NOT buy the group or lot of pocket knives to obtain this particular pocket knife. But, it definitely turned out to be a keeper. It did get added to my general, "foreign born", pocket knife accumulation. It is an Imperial, one blade, one tang stamp, 4 1/8” closed, lockback, pattern or style of pocket knife. The main blade front tang stamp says, "Imperial (no crown) (over) IRELAND (over) STAINLESS" The main handle side says, “IMPERIAL” and also has an image of a man with a hammer and an anvil. The other handle side is blank. The main blade does NOT have a half stop. The main blade does have a GOOD opening snap. The main blade does have a GOOD closing snap. This pocket knife is in EXCELLENT condition. This pocket knife did NOT need any cleaning at all. I just wiped it off. I took some pictures and here it is.
Caption(s), if any, are on the BOTTOM of the corresponding picture(s).
Click on a picture to ENLARGE.

***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE *****
Going by the previous post, under this topic or thread, from back on Monday, November 3, 2025,
this is an “IMPERIAL APEX.” It appears to match up with the pictured, pattern or style number, “AP5.”

Awesome examples! I hope my cat doesn't see this.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2026 5:55 pm Awesome…..

Thank you, John.

Odd coincidence...I picked this one up this morning at an antique show. Also Imperial Ireland. I think they marketed these (with the yellow square) as the APEX line.

knifeaholic wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2026 7:28 pm Odd coincidence...I picked this one up this morning at an antique show. Also Imperial Ireland. I think they marketed these (with the yellow square) as the APEX line.

The knives with the yellow insert in the handle are actually Tradesman, yours is the TM5.
The knives with the all black handles are Imperial Apex, New Windsor's knife, model # AP5.

Both knives were made in the same factory, and are very similar.

The following photos are from the 1992 Imperial Schrade Corp. catalog.

Thanks, yes I recalled that when I took another look at it - Tradesman not Apex.

New_Windsor_NY wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2026 5:00 pm Very recently, this pocket knife arrived in a group or lot of pocket knives that I bought. It now becomes my latest example to be posted under this topic or thread. I did NOT buy the group or lot of pocket knives to obtain this particular pocket knife. But, it definitely turned out to be a keeper. It did get added to my general, "foreign born", pocket knife accumulation. It is an Imperial, one blade, one tang stamp, 4 1/8” closed, lockback, pattern or style of pocket knife. The main blade front tang stamp says, "Imperial (no crown) (over) IRELAND (over) STAINLESS" The main handle side says, “IMPERIAL” and also has an image of a man with a hammer and an anvil. The other handle side is blank. The main blade does NOT have a half stop. The main blade does have an GOOD opening snap. The main blade does have a GOOD closing snap. This pocket knife is in EXCELLENT condition. This pocket knife did NOT need cleaning at all. I just wiped it off. I took some pictures and here it is.
Caption(s), if any, are on the BOTTOM of the corresponding picture(s).
Click on a picture to ENLARGE.

***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE *****
Going by the previous post, under this topic or thread, from back on Monday, November 3, 2025,
this is an “IMPERIAL APEX.” It appears to match up with the pictured, pattern or style number, “AP5.”

Check out the paperwork that came with this Imperial Apex AP5 knife.
First of all, it has both the Tradesman logo and the Imperial Apex logo.
Also half of it was printed in Spanish.
They were definitely trying to cut costs by only printing one version of the paperwork. Here's a later version of the packaging.
Product made in Ireland, Package printed in China.... Trying to cut costs even further. I think I should start a whole new topic about the paperwork being printed in Spanish.

227UH wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 3:53 pm Here…..

227UH wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2026 11:57 pm The…..

227UH wrote: ↑Sun May 24, 2026 1:42 am Check…..

227UH, a little late, but…..
Thank you for posting ALL this information.