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Scouts, Campers and Hobos

I know I'm not the only one. I love the Scout knives. I don't care if you call it the Camillus C-4 pattern, Boy Scout knife, camp knife or what have you; I think it is one of the greatest and long lived patterns out there.

Just about every knife maker in the world has made one so no matter what brand you collect you should have at least one Scout/camp/hobo. and if you don't have one and you go hiking, camping, fishing or some other type of outdoor activity what knife are you carrying in you pocket and what have you done with it?

Here is one of mine. It is the Case Scout Jr. (one of the few that probably won't be carried.)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on October 30, 2012 at 19:08

The Rough Rider's come with an old style tin cutter can opener. The Frost "double warrior" and frost made sharpkidz use the new style can opener introduced in the late 1940s early 1950s. The sharpkidz knife is essentially the blue jigged double warrior with a blade etch and different shield.

As I've been thinking for a while about getting the double warrior, I'll probably cave and get the Sharpkidz instead. I assume the quality will be the same as a steel warrior. At $13 it is fairly priced but I'm still irked they didn't use an SMKW house brand.

Permalink Reply by Smiling-Knife on October 31, 2012 at 16:04

This is French camper style knife circa 1950s

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on October 31, 2012 at 16:12

That's a neat cast handle kinfe!

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on October 31, 2012 at 17:24

That is in excellent shape and I like that it is cast design on both sides too

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on October 31, 2012 at 18:33

Pretty cool. Too bad the dog's head got chopped fro the corkscrew but it is still a really cool knife.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on December 20, 2012 at 6:51

I'm sure plenty of people already know this but maybe a few don't. In any case, it gives me the chance to put up some more pictures of my knives up. Ever wonder what's the difference between a camp knife and utility knife. While the term seems interchangeable - scout/camp/utility - when it comes to official Boy Scout knives there really is a difference. The Boy Scouts put out dozens of of Official Boy Scout knives. The most common patterns are the camp and utility knives. These are the 4 blade knives with spear master, can opener, caplifter/screwdriver, and awl. and a bail normally opposite the spear master blade. Depending on how the knife is handled, it will either be a Boy Scout Camp Knife or a Boy Scout Utility Knife.

See pictures below: Shown are a Camillus Boy Scout Camp knife (left) and an Imperial Boy Scout Utility Knife (right)

Camp knives will always have bolsters whereas the utility knife does not. Typically the camp knife will have jigged bone, delrin or stag. The utility knife will have normally have smooth delrin or some other smooth composition material. The same nomenclature is used for the three blade Cub Scout Camp and Utility knives.

By the way, the naming convention was used with many of the Camillus knives not contracted with through the Boy Scouts, So any of the Camillus bolstered 4 blade scout pattern knives were known as "Camp knives" and those without bolsters were called "Utility knives" Thus the Military issued knives with Stainless steel slab sides were Utility knives.

Two US stamped Camillus Utility knives made for the US Military

For those who didn't know == you can now go out and amaze your friends and relatives with your superior knife knowledge. And for those who already knew, you got to see more knives; so it wasn't a total wash. LOL

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on December 20, 2012 at 16:22

Good info Toby!

I like that Camillus Scout.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on March 11, 2013 at 8:08

From the Spirit of Steel show

Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on March 11, 2013 at 22:00

Those are really cool looking Hobo's.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on March 11, 2013 at 23:41

Nice! Makes me want to go ride the rails! LOL!

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on March 12, 2013 at 5:59

I had read somewhere that the US Red Cross bought several thousand hobo pattern knives (spoon/knife, I think) for the dough-boys during WWI.

The word hobo actually refers to migrant workers who would move from place to place looking from work. It dates from around 1890.

Apparently you had/have three classes of vagabonds: Bums, Tramps, and Hobos. Tramps and hobos are commonly lumped together, but see themselves as sharply differentiated. A hobo or bo is simply a migratory laborer; he may take some longish holidays, but sooner or later he returns to work. A tramp never works if it can be avoided; he simply travels. Apart from either is the bum, who neither works nor travels, save when propelled to motion by the police.

So I suppose a Hobo, might carry a sign that says "will work for knife!"

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 13, 2013 at 17:47

I recently picked up a couple new Scout knives. This one is by Cattleman's Cutlery:

Cattlemans Cutlery 0093ZW Sagebrush Trail Scout Pocket Knife with Zebra Wood Handles

There description reads:

Cattlemans Cutlery - Sagebrush Trail Scout Pocket Knife with Zebra Wood Handles. Model: CC0093ZW. 3 3/4" closed. 3Cr13 stainless components including bottle opener with medium flathead screwdriver tip, can opener, spear blade and leather punch. Zebra wood handles with grooved stainless bolsters and Cattlemans Cutlery inlay shield. Bail.