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Steel Warrior and other Frost branded knives

Here is a place to post those Steel Warriors and Frost branded knives. I know that a lot of you out there have them. I have heard mention of them from time to time.. I started really getting into collecting on a lot of these because you could get whole sets for very little money. S0 here is a place that you can show them.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by peter force on July 24, 2012 at 10:43

i give lots of china away to...but sometimes i wonder...am i harming the person.i have seen springs break on RR's...spear blade actually break one time..... but i still own em..and give em...so...i dunno... plius if you have ever been to NKCA museum you will see one of the best filed med knives from the early 1800s ever...made in china!

Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on July 24, 2012 at 21:51

I think a lot has to do with how you use them. I had a Kershaw that was really smooth and I broke the tip trying to pry a staple out of wood. I should have known better. Now I am going to have to modify the end of that blade. The blade that was on the knife was thin. I also have a Benchmade that was one of their red boxes and I didn't have to worry about breaking it. It was a good knife and it was made in China.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on July 25, 2012 at 13:14

Jan said: "We bought some US classics but resold them immediately (just quality issues)."

I actually own 5 US Classic knives and find them to be on par with Steel Warriors, Rough Riders and Schrades. I think the main criticism of the US. Class brand was it wasn’t up front about being made in China which is somewhat interesting as, when you get right down to it, neither is Schrade, Frost brands, Rough Rider, Marbles, Colt, Winchester, Buck, etc. Companies are more than willing to slap the US flag on the box and pronounce in 18 point font that a knife is Made in USA but often 4 pt font when it is time to stamp “China” or “Pakistan” on the blade or box in hard to find spots when they make a Global.

While it is true the folks at US Classic announced in very large type their knives were designed in Salt Creek Kentucky (or wherever they said) they never claimed they were made in Kentucky. US Classic isn’t the only knife maker to make their product globally but give you the impression of being an American product.

From what I can tell US Classic is now defunct Occasionally you will see one of the knives up for sale on eBay. Often the price is higher than it should be but the problem is, in some cases, the only people who made a knife like that in that handle material or blade configuration is US Classic. (Which explains why I paid list price for the White Smooth Bone Bartender knife – a sucker born every minute.)

The only thing the brand has going for it is only 1,200 of any style was made. They were made in the same factory as Rough Riders.

US Classic Bartender knife in White Smooth Bone and Whiskey bottle Shield. The quality is the same as the Rough Rider Bartenders.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 25, 2012 at 14:15

Toby,

I think we bought ours in 2008, we bought 3 of the half whittlers. Donnie did not like the steel quality but a good friend of our did, so he sold them to him. It is one of the few knives we have ever sold. I did find a site that still has them

http://www.usclassicknives.com/store/

Peter,

Never had a problem with a Rough Rider. When Donnie is doing electrical work he sometimes uses a coal miner and finds it to be a pretty good knife that fits the purpose well

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on July 25, 2012 at 15:39

Jan,

I wonder if we had the same pattern of 1/2 whittler. I bought the sleeveboard 1/2 whittler which resembles a Case Seahorse but is actually patterned after an older Queen or Fightin' Rooster. I like it but wish it came with a secondary coping blade instead of the clip style blade (the blade is hardly clipped at all!). The best thing about the knife, at least as far as I'm concerned, is it made me realize the seahorse whittler is a not a knife for me. Saved me quite a bit of money.

As for the web site, I've emailed them several times and never received a response so I'm not about to put in credit card information. I've also called the 1-800 phone number which was not in service. Maybe the other phone line works but at that point I gave up. That was over a year ago.

Pattern: Sleeveboard ½ Whittler

Manufacturer: U.S. Classic

Country: China

Closed Length: 3 7/8 in

Blades: 2

1) 2 ¼ in. Wharncliffe

2) 1 ¾ in. clip

Blade Steel: 440 Stainless Steel

Handle: White Smooth Bone

Shield: Nickel-silver

Pins: Brass

Lining: Brass

Bolsters: Nickel-silver

Notes: U. S. Classic logo acid etched on main blade. Main blade also stamped Salt Creek Kentucky.

Jan Carter said:

Toby,

I think we bought ours in 2008, we bought 3 of the half whittlers. Donnie did not like the steel quality but a good friend of our did, so he sold them to him. It is one of the few knives we have ever sold. I did find a site that still has them

http://www.usclassicknives.com/store/

Peter,

Never had a problem with a Rough Rider. When Donnie is doing electrical work he sometimes uses a coal miner and finds it to be a pretty good knife that fits the purpose well

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 25, 2012 at 15:48

Same one but when we bought it the only handle option was a jigged bone in a brownish color. There was a Case Classic in that pattern (the 55 series) but they were too expensive to carry on a job site back then so we bought this one to try. I like your idea of trying a pattern in a less expensive knife, it has a couple of advantages that I can see

1) You may discover, as you did, that the pattern is not a good fit for your needs

2) It gives you the opportunity to try other brands, who knows you like it!

I really want everyone to see your response on the website so I am going to repeat it here. Dealers should always reply to emails..it is just plain and good business sense

As for the web site,(http://www.usclassicknives.com/store/) I've emailed them several times and never received a response so I'm not about to put in credit card information. I've also called the 1-800 phone number which was not in service. Maybe the other phone line works but at that point I gave up. That was over a year ago.

Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on July 30, 2012 at 22:23