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My latest Bear & Son Five inch Toothpick (MEH)

When last at SMKW back in July I dropped by the Bear & Son counter looking for toothpicks of the five inch variety. Alas they only had one left. against my better judgement. i bought the "store copy". you know the one. its the one they hand all the cusomers and has a sticker on it.

Well the blade needs working as it has a bit of a grind. B&S says it has rosewood handles but it looks like Frost Pakkawood to me. The blade has a So called satin finish. Its pretty mucha bland knife. Most annoying is the blade lacks the saber grind that I have on modt of my other Bear & Son toothpicks.

Oh well! i knew what I was buying but when i got it home it really looked substandard next my other USA toothpicks.

Only one thing to do! This BS toothpick has just replaced my Rough Rider Sawcut bone I've been using for almost 2 years. Time to seeif a USA made Bear & Son can live up to the Rough Rider Challenge!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on September 13, 2017 at 17:42

I picked this one up 2 ½ years ago when Red Hill Cutlery was running a sale. Tang stamped .. Bear & Son <over> Jaille, AL <over> .USA. Bolster stamped 011 OF 100. Custom Heritage 5” blue smooth bone toothpick w/ titanium blade .. BSMB6193T.

However, I grabbed it strictly for the collection. As such .. it has seen zero use. I’m a pretty dedicated Bear & Son fan .. from the early days of Bear MGC. As such .. I’ve not the most unbiased view. I’m interested in what your less biased view reveals.

Bear & Son has admittedly had sporadic QC issues. I’ve not experienced them ..but.. many others have. This one is a limited edition ..011 of 100.. and likely underwent superior finishing & inspection before leaving the factory. Its fit-n-finish is quite good. There no noticeable transition from the bone scales to the bolsters. No gaps between the liners & bolsters or scales. No gaps between the liners & backspring. The blade is centered when closed. Certainly .. no side~side wobble or looseness in the blade when open. While the titanium coating on the blade is cool .. it is also a fingerprint magnet. Just sayen’.

I did just notice one issue .. I’ve it out playing with it as I write this. It appears the cutting edge can make contact with the backspring if it's allowed to snap shut. It's not hard to open ..but.. it does have strong walk & talk. Anyway .. I was just checking the factory edge & noticed it had hit the backspring .. about coincident with the center backspring pin. Typically .. the backspring has a small hump in it @ that point & if there’s going to be this issue .. that’s where it shows up. When I hold the edge up to the light .. it reflects light off the edge in the area coincident with the center pin of the backspring. It’s still sharp ..but.. I can see where the edge has made contact with the backspring. It’s not horrible ..but.. it’s not a good thing either.

I’m quite interested in what you find, Tobias .. relative to a comparison of the Rough Rider it is replacing.

Thanks,

D ale

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 13, 2017 at 20:45

Hi D ale. That knife is a beauty. To be fair, the Toothpick I have is a solid built knife. The fit is quite good. There is no gap between the the bolsters and handle. I'm concerned the handles aren't pinned. It all lacks a shield. As you can see it's a little thicker than the Rough Rider ( See picture).

The profile is almost the same as my Camillus s Caliber. This is different than my other Bear & Son Toothpick (I have 5 others, 4 with Saber Grinds). I believe the grinding is because Bear built this one using old Camillus tooling. They did the same with their Scout knife and it had the same grinding. I'm not sure how Camillus avoided this issue.

I do think the handles are Rosewood however I think it is laminates (pakkawood). This can have advantages. As the satin finish blade can be a plus. ( will not show scratches as easily but may have a toothy edge.

What I know so far is the factory edge needed touching up to slice tomatoes. My Rough Rider did not! But it is nice and tight with no play.

If it were crap I wouldn't have taken a chance on it. But now it's time to find out if it lives up to its price tag. My bet is it will prove to be a good user.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on September 13, 2017 at 20:47

I am also very interested. I have a couple older Bear and Sons, like D ale just for the collection. I have however seen the QC issues first hand. If you go to the counter for B&S and hold quite a few you will see it. I very much like this company and I love their story. They are a hard won USA company that came out with a brand and a name, I also believe they could be so much more. Use it Tobias, enjoy it or not...let us know please and thanks !!