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3 types of folding hunters

I received a conversation copy. I thought about making changes but decided that the conversation is the best way to introduce the pictures and the differences

Yesterday evening Tony and I were talking about Yukons and the "Yukon shield" and he said, "I have one...you want to shoot it?". I said, "heck yeah", and then I mentioned that Reese and I were talking about something he was refering to as "rat tail bolsters"(which had nothing to do with "rat tail flutes"). Tony explained that there used to be a folding hunter that people called "rat tail hunters". He said, "I have one of those too, want to shoot it?" I said(you guessed it), "HECK YEAH!". He went on to say, "You should shoot this old Case folding hunter too and all three together and point out the differences".

So, here we have(left to right in the first image) a rare Catt. Yukon LINER LOCK! (UH...who is it that they say "invented" the liner lock ?) This knife may go back to sometime before 1910...notice hammered pins. The bone is purrrrrfectly yummy. The butt of the handle goes down to about (top to bottom) 3/8" width and the front has a straight bolster. Also notice that the original brass bail is intact. These knives could be ordered with or without the bail. The Yukon is a single blade knife and could be purchased with or without a locking liner.

Next is the Kinfolks Folding "rat tail" hunter and is sometime incorrectly refered to as a Yukon. This knife has early Rogers bone and may go back into the 1920s...notice TWO PINS on the front edge of the bone. Later knives had a single pin up front. The differences are obvious: "copperhead style bolsters, two blades, and a little bigger butt. ( I know Campbell..you like big butts )

The last one is the typical Case folding hunter. This particular one is out of the 50's (if I remember right) and has late Rogers bone. Notice the differences between it and the rat tail hunter.

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Comment by Sue OldsWidow on January 25, 2014 at 21:26: TRiplets...3 family knives all with their own unique quality's

Thanks for sharing

In Memoriam Comment by Terry Ray on January 25, 2014 at 10:38: Thanks for sharing these 3 folders, NICE!!!

Comment by Ken Spielvogel on January 25, 2014 at 6:58: Very interesting, thanks Jan

Comment by Randall Vaughn on January 25, 2014 at 4:57: Thanks for sharing Jan nice to see all three together

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on January 25, 2014 at 2:19: Wow, Jan thanks for sharing these beauties!! Tony, I'll be happy to field test all three for you- You can have them back when you pry them from my cold,dead hands ( um, I meant to say really soon !! LOL) I love all 3 but the jigging on the Kinfolks is off the charts !!

Comment by Jan Carter on February 17, 2013 at 17:55: Bringing the old patterns to life is a particular talent and breathes life into the older collectors like myself

In Memoriam Comment by Tony Bose on February 13, 2013 at 20:18: The Yukon is so unique is the reason I lobbied Case to make it. I often tell people that I don't design knives, I bring them back from the grave,

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on February 13, 2013 at 19:19: They are so nice, Tony. I have never seen that "Cattarugus" before but I'm limited to what I get a chance to see. Thanks again, for sharing photos of these fine collectable knives.

In Memoriam Comment by Tony Bose on February 12, 2013 at 13:37: That Yukon is a very rare knife. It was the original "King of the Woods" and so etched on the blade. The etching is gone on this knife but the blade is mostly full. I have see a couple etched ones but this is the only one I've seen with a factory bail. Antone Murphy told me one time they quit making it in 1923.