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Yard Sale Finds!

Thought I would put this on my blog page, I'm still struggling a little with the format of this forum, so I thought I would post today's collection of booty here. The little "city" next door, (Morro Bay, Ca; pop 10,000), is having their annual "Community Yard Sale" weekend, and here is what I scored today. The highlight was a Camillus USA nautical knife, jigged brown bone handle, no dents, scratches, very sharp main blade, and a beautiful patina. I'll be posting a photo of that on Tobias' Nautical knife thread, but thought I would share it here first. I found out that the spike blade locks, and is released via the clip ring, so now I know that clip is for more than clipping onto a lanyard. This is my first Camillus, and my first nautical knife. I was looking for knives in general, and this one was being held back by the guy at one sale because he was afraid it would get shoplifted, and decided to keep it inside until someone asked, "do you have any pocket knives?", which is what I did. The guy went inside and came back out with this knife. He said "make an offer", while I tried to contain my excitement, so I lowballed him with $15, he came back with $25 and wouldn't budge, (I did try, but he held firm). I saw a nice brass belt buckle on the table that said "World's #1 Dad" on it, and since I like to think of myself as that I told the guy I'd pay the $25 if he threw in the belt buckle, so I got them both for $25.

The two fixed blades are supposed to be from Nepal, and since I knew the guy selling them I trust what he said about them, (they look Pakistani to me). I got a camera tripod, a desk lamp, and those two fixed blades for $25. The larger of the two is stag handled, (according to him it is; I'm pretty sure that's true), the smaller one is wood. Not exactly sure exactly what type of knife they are called, so perhaps Tobias can enlighten me on that. Since I didn't have any knives like them in my collection, I caved and decided to grab them. Down the street at another sale I found the little black folder. It just says "Stainless Japan" on it, but it was cheap...got that one for a quarter. The handle is pretty pocked from use, but the blade is tight and sharp & locks well, so I'll clean it up, sand down the handles to smooth them out, and keep it as a "give away" knife.

I probably paid too much for the fixed blades, but considering the other booty that came in the deal I'm satisfied, especially with the nice tripod, (hope it improves my photography skills...NOT!!!). I'm totally thrilled with the Camillus however, and though I suspect I paid about what it is actually worth, I'm tickled to own it as an heirloom to pass down in the family.

Due to the community yard sale going on in town, the local hardware store, (an Ace franchise), had their annual "no sales tax" day to take advantage of the people who come from miles around for the yard sale. Sales tax in our county is nearly 9%, so that's nothing to sneeze at. I had a $5 off coupon for the store too, so I dropped in between yard sale stops and grabbed a Steel Warrior Red Jigged Bone Trapper, so with my coupon deducted I snagged the knife at an even $14.99. Like many Frost knives it is well-made, and came with the familiar red arrow indicating a Rockwell tested blade. Though this was "Community Yard Sale" day, it was "splurge on knives" day for me. That put me at around $65 for five knives, (one brand new), a tripod, (a good one), a good desk lamp, and a few odds 'n ends tools. Not a bad day.

The community yard sale continues all day tomorrow, there are literally hundreds of them still going on all over town that I haven't been to yet, so my plan is to get up early, do a quick swap meet run to the San Luis Obispo drive-in theater, then shoot back up Hwy 1 to Morro Bay to look for more yard sale treasures. I'm sure what's left will be pretty picked-through, but maybe I'll run into another cool hidden treasure or two. All I know is I won't find any if I don't go out and look, so wish me luck!

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In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on April 16, 2015 at 18:55: Syd- If you can get some good pics of the hallmarks or any other markings you haven't already shown, I will try and tell you more about this gem !!

Comment by tim payne on April 16, 2015 at 18:54: great find on the hermes syd!

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on April 16, 2015 at 17:54: Syd--Glad I could help !! BTW, your knife was made in the 60's or 70's while Jean Sclumberger was at Tiffanys. If you were ever to sell it- I would put it in a high-end auction where folks know what those 2 names represent !! Here is a pic of the knife with the original box I found in that type auction-

Comment by Syd Carr on April 16, 2015 at 17:45: Wow John, now that's different!! Thanks for the info, I wondered why the only other example I could find of the knife was a listing on feebay with a Buy It Now price of over $800. I'm experienced with, and naturally suspicious of listings on feebay, and though I have hundreds of transaction as both seller and buyer, certain listings raise my hackles. I thought this one was just a seller with a store who could list it for free just to see if some unsuspecting fool would bite. I guess that seller knew something about the knife that I didn't!......WOW again!!! For a buck fiddy no less!!! I'll make sure to list that one on the NM Collector software program I'm using to document my small collection, I was thinking it wasn't collectible enough to bother. Of course, I could get greedy and sell it to finance more knives. I've never been in this position before, can't believe I actually scored a real rarity.

I almost didn't buy it either, I was more interested in the leather sheath at $1.50, but since they were only asking the same for the knife I decided to just get because I didn't have any other knife like it. Glad I did, and glad I dropped in the place on a whim. This was a privately-owned thrift store, and I normally avoid those and shop at places that benefit some charitable organization, but that day it was convenient, so I figured I'd check it out. NOW WHAT??

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on April 16, 2015 at 17:08: Syd-- I am very happy to inform you that you are indeed, that lucky !! Your Hermes/Schlumberger knife is a very valuable and rare knife because of those 2 names !! Hermes is a 175 year old fashion empire dealing in luxury jewelry, leather goods, silks, perfumes, etc. ( Think Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, CA). The Schlumberger stands for Jean Schlumberger of Tiffany & Co. fame. He was a French jewelry designer hired by Tiffany in 1956 and who remained there until his retirement as a vice-president of Tiffanys in the late 70's- He remains to this day 1 of only 4 jewelry designers allowed to sign his own work,

The knife was given out as a premium of some sort with a particular Hermes purchase- The knife was designed by Jean Schlumberger--The names are the value in this knife-- I saw one that sold for $88 foolishly. The others I have seen are $500 and up. I have seen the same knife offered for thousands--Most were in auctions in the $600-700 range with several interested bidders. Not bad for a flea market find !!

Comment by Lars Ray on April 15, 2015 at 20:17: Great finds Syd! I think it's Tobias that has a soft spot in his heart (and wallet) for the Marlin Spikes...he should be all over this one!

And the pair of Khukuri's...well, those are always great to have!

Comment by Syd Carr on April 15, 2015 at 19:40: Not done yet! Stopped at a thrift store on the way to the market today, and came out with these two items. A Hermes France pocket knife with corkscrew, and a Gerber folding knife sheath, (for 4"-4.25" folders). The knife has "Schlumberger" on the handle, and various stamps & hallmarks on the blade(s). Don't know much of anything about the brand, (Hermes or Schlumberger?), but the only example I could find for sale on feebay were priced in the stratospheric-range. I'm not that lucky, but if anyone out there knows anything about this brand/knife please contribute and let me know. You can see the end of the main blade is nicked, but otherwise it is in decent condition. The sheath is in good condition also, and they were both had for $1.50 each.

You can't find what you're looking for unless you go looking!

Comment by Syd Carr on April 13, 2015 at 13:31: Thanks Tristan. I needed the Kukri knives like a hole in the head, but at least now I have them represented in my collection, so if I look at it that way I guess I really DID need them!. The real score of the day was the Camillus though, I'm thrilled with that one.