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Van Sickle knife

I am a new member here, I inherited a new (never used or sharpened) Van Sickle knife with sheathb036b1ed-84a8-4446-b52f-b249069c945b.jpg 4d2ee369-ec83-483e-a5d2-b67cf2fe5aa3.jpg f203fc57-6c8c-4ea4-b34e-db3d29d6815b.jpg. If anyone has information on it, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

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Permalink Reply by Lars on December 29, 2025 at 20:07

Hi Jeff - welcome to iKC! I don't think I know any more about your Van Sickle knife than you do - sorry.

I know of them, and about Frank. It's hard to live in Texas and not know about him if you hunt, fish, or collect knives. Your knife was one of several popular field designs that Van Sickle Cutlery produced (and my favorite). If you are not aware - Frank passed away back in 2022 from an accident at his home in San Angelo, TX - unrelated to his knife making. Here is the link to his online obituary if you want - https://www.harper-funeralhome.com/obituaries/frank-l-van-sickle-iii

I know that his wife Linda who used to manage the business was planning to shut down the VS Cutlery - I do not know if she actually did, or sold the business.

In terms of worth - your guess is as good as mine. I would imagine it's value today is a pretty penny - as it is a discontinued model of excellent quality - your's looks to be in mint condition as well.

As I stated, not much in terms of what you're looking for, but I hope it helps a little.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin D on December 30, 2025 at 8:09

Unfortunately, I cannot add much of anything to the information about your knife, but it does look clean and I like the looks of it.

I was a little surprised to see what looks like a rubberized handle material though. Do you know what the additional loop around the sheath is for? The sheath looks nice and thick and well made without a lot of frills. So I expect that there is a function for that loop (i just don't know what it is yet).

Thank you for sharing! I had not heard of Frank Van Sickle before (I am not from Texas :P), but I seem to like his stuff.

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Permalink Reply by Lars on December 30, 2025 at 10:10

Kevin - that extra loop on the sheath is for a scout-carry option. It's a simple and less costly way to provide that carry option over the two snap straps (like those seen on CFK and others). Sickle made all thier own sheaths as well.

Van Sickle cutlery offered ten different models ranging from a 2" blade length to a 7" blade length. I have only seen a few of these models, along with some of his ealy "kit" knives. He discontinued the kits in the early 70's. I'm not sure if they ever produced folders or not - I have never seen one.

Their steel of choice was mostly ATS-34, which is a stainless steel, but they also offered D-2 if the customer prefered a carbon steel. The "A" stamp on the back side of Jeff's blade identifies it as ATS.

For handles, their standard offerrings were dymondwood, micarta, and neoprene (rubber-like material), but they would take custom handle orders too, like exotic wood, bone, and stag. Knowing these details, one could assume that Jeff's knife here is a VS production knife featuring their standard materials.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Hibar 3 hours ago

Dang Lars .... haven't been able to drop by the site as much as I would like. Just saw this post. Hope you got the info you were looking for Jeff. If not .... there is PLENTY of info on Van Sickle Cutlery on the web. On a few side notes ... I knew Frank. Lived in San Angelo from 1986 - 1991 and again from 1993 - 1995. We did not have a close relationship ... but knew each other well enough to exchange "howdies" when we would bump into each other. And ... you would be surprised that for as large as San Angelo is (was) ... it was very small when it came to "bumping into" people you knew!!! First met him at a gun show at the San Angelo Coliseum in 1987 or 88. I was shocked to see Lars mention that he passed away in '22. That is how out of touch with things I am. Further shocked to see that the San Angelo Coliseum is no longer the San Angelo Coliseum. Seems that San Angelo sold the naming rights of the Coliseum to Foster Communications in 2011. Went to many a gun show, rodeo and rattlesnake round-up there. It is now called the CRC Roofers Coliseum. I guess I will just crawl back under my rock!!!