As you probably already know, South Bend is not a knife company but a tackle company.  The knife they offer is out-sourced and made in China.

For those who are unfamiliar, South Bend is a Tackle Company known for offering affordable tackle.  Among some of the brands they offer are Ready2Fish, Blaze Lures, Microlite, Black Beauty, Cahill, ZooKids. The company is known for its efforts to encourage youth fishing.

This American  company can be traced back to 1896 and  F.G. Worden the inventor of the Bucktail lure. Those who collect artifical bait are probably familiar with the  Oreno lures that were first patented by James Olds. (Bass-Oreno, Pike-Oreno, Surf-Oreno)   The Company was also known for their quality line of Bamboo Rods which were introuduced when the South Bend acquired the Cross Rod Company.   As you can expect the company has a long and storied past. They also had a long relationship with the Shakespeare company, with Shakespeare producing South Bend’s reels and South Bend producing Shakespeare’s rods for a while.   South Bend also provided tackle and fishing gear under the store brands of Montgomery Ward as Well as Sears.  For a fuller look at South Bends History, see : http://historymuseumsb.org/south-bend-bait-company/

No doubt, this is not a knife any knife collector has decided to collect!

Above:  The knife itself is unbranded. Only the packaging let's you know it is from South Bend. Thus, even if you are collector of all things South Bend, this knife is probably not worth collecting unless you plan on leaving it in the package for about 100 years! Even then, I doubt its value will keep up with inflation.

The South Bend Bait Knife

First impressions: 

I paid $5 for this knife.  I’ve seen them for sell for as little as $2.      It is pretty much a lack-luster no-frills knife and it is tad on the small size.  The knife is basically a fat paring knife with a scaler added to the spine.  Several companies offer a knife that looks exactly the same; only with a different handle color.

South Bend does not put their logo on the knife. In fact many companies that offer this knife do not put their brand on the knife.    I’ve seen the same style of bait knife sold by Berkley, Mustad, Danielson,  Eagle Claw,  and Lee Fisher.  Other Tackle makers also probably offer it or have offered it in the past.   Typically the only difference is the color of the handle.  (South Bend has sold them with both black and gray handles)  In many cases only the packaging of the knife offers the only  brand information.  The knife is just stamped Stainless/ China. 

Above: The partial hidden tang extends a little over an inch into the handle.  The scaler on the spine is well pronounced and has no cutting edge whatsoever.

The Blade: 

The blade is somewhat short at 3.5 inches.  It also is somewhat thin, and has a small amount of flex.  However, the flex and blade geometry are not suitable for a decent fillet knife.  The blade was sharp enough to cut paper but was far from razor sharp.  The scaler on the back is like the old school scaler and is not at all sharp.   I doubt you will not be able to use this scaler to cut through bone or cartilage.   Blade steel is 420.

The Handle:

The hard rubber handle is a little too short for my taste.   The shape of the guard and pommel force you to grip it with just three fingers and your thumb.    It does not feel as good in my hand as I had hoped.  It does feature a lanyard hole but that is something you will need to supply.

The Scabbard:

The knife does not come with a scabbard.  Your tackle box is its scabbard. You may want to wrap the blade or make a scabbard out of duct tape.  Considering the quality of the knife, using anything more than a couple feet of duct tape for a scabbard would mean spending more money on the scabbard than what the knife is worth!

End of the day:

The lack of branding makes this just another unbranded bait knife that could have been sold by any company.  As it is cheaply made its value as a collector’s item is zero.   But then again it was made to be used, not collected and because of its low price, you’re not going to worry about breaking or losing it.

The knife came with a decent edge and its small size means it can be tossed into almost any tackle box.  Depsite its size and soft blade it can clean and gut fish and perform other like chores. However, the 420 steel is going to dull quickly but re-sharpen just as quickly. Depending on how much fish you cut up in a season is really what is going to determine if this is a knife you want to use.      For many week-end catch and release anglers this might be all you will ever need.  I only wish the handle was about an inch longer.

I suspect, regardless of the brand, this is the same knife made to the same specifications.  The only difference is the packaging and the handle color.   So if you want one, buy it from your favorite tackle company for the sake of brand loyalty or get it in your favorite color.  Quite frankly a paring knife from your kitchen will probably be a better choice for the tackle box. But, then a good kitchen paring knife will put you back more than this knife will.   If you’re looking for a small, inexpensive knife for a tackle box, then this will do.  It would probably be a great first knife for a young angler’s first tackle box!  Yes, there are better knives out there but not at this price.  You’re not going to worry about abusing, losing, or damaging this knife.

Above: The overall length is around 7.5 inches.  The grip s somewhat small and squat.  It might be just the thing for a young angler.

Specifications:

Name:  Bait Knife
Brand:  South Bend (other companies offer the same knife)
Country of Manufacture:  China
Pattern:  SBBK -1743
Blade Steel:  [420] Stainless Steel
Length, overall:  7 in.  [cm]
Length, blade:  3.25 in. [cm]
Blade Style:    fine edge,  fish scaler on spine
Tang:  Partial
Handle:   Gray over-molded hard rubber
Lanyard hole:  Yes
Sheath:  Not included