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The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel

Pictures of Fishers, Scouts, Campers, Sailors and Hobos

Show them off here.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Smiling-Knife on September 11, 2013 at 8:43

As Navy knives were mentioned... here are British WWI and WWII models. The first is the Admiralty Pattern 301 which was introduced in 1910 and was issued into the 1930s. The second was the standard Royal Navy pattern in WWII. The knife posted by Brad T was primarily issued to soldiers. It became more 'camp-like' in 1945 when a bottle opener was added. They were made with and without the marline spike.

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on September 11, 2013 at 8:56

Those are sure knives from "The Good Ole Days" - wish they could talk and tell us their stories.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on September 11, 2013 at 9:49

Love these vintage knives. Those that served the military seem even more special.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 11, 2013 at 11:40

Hi Smiling Knife. It looks like Pradel is company in France that makes kitchen-ware as well as folding knives. See: http://pradel-france.com/product.php?id_product=232

Permalink Reply by Clay Strong on September 11, 2013 at 12:47

I doubt if the cutlers who pieced these knives together would have believed that they would be considered works of art. But, they are in my eyes. Thanks for posting these. What a great archive is being built here.

Permalink Reply by Ricky L McConnell on September 12, 2013 at 20:35

Nice Knives ! I like the stuff from WWII . Who made them ? I may have missed that part somehwere.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 13, 2013 at 8:58

The Girl Scouts of America trace their heritage back to 1912. They also have a four implement camp knife which is known as a "Trefoil Knife" The trefoil is the symbol of the Girl Scout Promise:

On my honor, I will try:
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

Colonial Cutlery currently holds the contract for the GSA Trefoil knife. Unfortunately, production is done off shore in China. In 2012, Colonial released a 100th Anniversary Trefoil knife. The knife features satin finished implements (Most likely 420 SS), satin bolsters, Brass pins and liners and handsome pakkwood handles. A brass "100" trfoil shield is glued to the handle.

The overall finish is pretty nice. However, as can be seen in the photos there is a gap between one of my back springs. The handles are well pinned with bolsters and pins being flush with the wood handles. The trefoil is also flush.

The blade sanp could be better. The can opener and cap lifter do not open smoothly. They will need tro be broken in. Main blade is much better. The punch seems to rub against the blade when opening but I don't see a tell-tale sign of any rub. Blade is pad stamped with the 1912-2012 markings which mean they are destined to rub off with use.

I bought this one on ebay for $14.00. For all i know it could be a factory second, although there is no mark desingnating it as such. It came packaged in a simple plastic bag with no box. The tang stamp is marked Colonial, Providence R.I. The only mark showing that the knife was Made in China was a sticker on the back of the main blade which was easily removed. This will probably lead to claims of the knife being American Made in the future (sigh)

At the end of the day, it is a solid knife and it looks pretty good. as a collector of Scout knives, it was one I needed to get. At $14, I think it was worth it. A belated Happy 100th Birthday to all the Girl Scouts out there!

Permalink Reply by Smiling-Knife on September 13, 2013 at 9:15

This is an early 1900s Sheffield-made Sportsman's knife. It has many of the same camper features but in a slightly different arrangement.

Permalink Reply by Clay Strong on September 13, 2013 at 11:15

Tobias, regardless of the shortcomings of the quality in your example, I doubt if anyone else has a finer one. Wouldn't it be nice if someone were grading the shipments for us? Maybe you are aware of a grading system in the knife world? I purchased a new knife on eBay the other day that had a speck of a flaw/pit in the blade. If I quickly noticed it, it was probably noticed by an inspector at the factory. i suspect that there is sometimes a culling of knives which determines who gets them for distribution and for how much. Maybe the cheapest price is not the best choice? I don't order from a source that has taken too long to deliver the first time. Many sellers work out of their wholesaler's inventory and never see the product that you bought. The package comes with the seller's address on it, to make you think it came from them. I'm currently waiting for eBay to explain to me why a book that I recently bought came from Amazon, without my authorization. I don't do business with Amazon since they started lobbying congress to force everyone on the internet to pay taxes on their internet sales. I want eBay to require disclosure if the seller is drop-shipping and from whom.

Tobias Gibson said:

The Girl Scouts of America trace their heritage back to 1912. They also have a four implement camp knife which is known as a "Trefoil Knife" The trefoil is the symbol of the Girl Scout Promise:

On my honor, I will try:
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

Colonial Cutlery currently holds the contract for the GSA Trefoil knife. Unfortunately, production is done off shore in China. In 2012, Colonial released a 100th Anniversary Trefoil knife. The knife features satin finished implements (Most likely 420 SS), satin bolsters, Brass pins and liners and handsome pakkwood handles. A brass "100" trfoil shield is glued to the handle.

The overall finish is pretty nice. However, as can be seen in the photos there is a gap between one of my back springs. The handles are well pinned with bolsters and pins being flush with the wood handles. The trefoil is also flush.

The blade sanp could be better. The can opener and cap lifter do not open smoothly. They will need tro be broken in. Main blade is much better. The punch seems to rub against the blade when opening but I don't see a tell-tale sign of any rub. Blade is pad stamped with the 1912-2012 markings which mean they are destined to rub off with use.

I bought this one on ebay for $14.00. For all i know it could be a factory second, although there is no mark desingnating it as such. It came packaged in a simple plastic bag with no box. The tang stamp is marked Colonial, Providence R.I. The only mark showing that the knife was Made in China was a sticker on the back of the main blade which was easily removed. This will probably lead to claims of the knife being American Made in the future (sigh)

At the end of the day, it is a solid knife and it looks pretty good. as a collector of Scout knives, it was one I needed to get. At $14, I think it was worth it. A belated Happy 100th Birthday to all the Girl Scouts out there!

Permalink Reply by Clay Strong on September 13, 2013 at 11:26

Smiling Knife, that is one sweet Sheffield. The next time I'm camping out with a dignitary, I wanta pull that knife out. It's interesting that it has that slender awl. Maybe for leather work?

Smiling-Knife said:

This is an early 1900s Sheffield-made Sportsman's knife. It has many of the same camper features but in a slightly different arrangement.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on September 13, 2013 at 12:15

I just gave my oldest grand daughter one of the green Girl Scout knives for her birthday and I have another one in my collection. She loves her little knife. I think it dates from the 1950-1960's time frame but I'm not sure. A seller on Ebay said that. Thanks Tobias, for your tireless work here on this site.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 13, 2013 at 14:29

Clay, you make some good points but despite the flaws on the knife it is still pretty nice looking and quite sharp. I think the average Girl Scout would be very happy to have one of these knives. It was worth the $14.

Robert, thanks for the compliment but you know what they say, "If you enjoy what you're doing, then it ain't work!"