Questions To Ponder

[Hukk]

Here is a picture of 2 Bulldog Brand 2 blade canoes. Both have 1986 English Steel Blades. Both have the Tobacco etched master blade and both have the Tobacco Shield. Are either of them First Generation? Is one of them a First Generation? Are None of them a First Generation? Why or Why Not?
Please take part in the poll, Thanks.

[jonet143]

i think both are second generation built from old stock.

johnnie

[ButchTN]

I am still new and dont have enough knowledge yet to make anything more than an uneducated guess, so I wont. I did notice however that the main blade on the bottom knife isnt seated as low in the frame as the top knife. I dont know if that makes a difference or not but that is what I noticed.

Butch

[olderdogs1]

My vote goes for the 1 on the bottom as 1st generation and the one on the top with the jigged bone as 2nd generation due to the difference in the bone.

[Roger - 50/2050]

Howdy Hukk

Well now Darrell, I really don't know but I will guess that the bottom knife was made earlier than the top knife due to the jigging on the bottom handles, the handles on the top knife appear to be 2nd cut bone to me? ....The information I have on these Tobacco two blade Conoe patterns only tell me there were two Green bone patterns made & the only diff between them is the "BKC" number & the run amount, nothing mentioned about which generation they are but of course, Bulldogs are not my cup!


"Texas collector", Roger - 50/2050

[Hukk]

There really is not very much information on Second Generation knives. A lot of Second and even Third Generation knives are sold as First Generation knives on eBay, often when a Second or Third Generation knife would bring more money. I see wrong descriptions on eBay daily and that's why I put this little poll out. With the help of a fellow Bulldog collector, who is very knowledgeable, I would like to run a weekly poll. I think I have enough questions for another 8 polls at this point. I would like to put one out on Monday or Tuesday, give a hint on Friday, and the answer on Monday. Many times I think the values of Bulldog Brand Knives are negatively impacted due to the lack of information.

HINT: The answer lies in the jigging, but which one? That can be answered in the poll. Food for thought, Why?
Good Luck!

[El Lobo]

I know what I don't know.....

So I won't GUESS. I will say I'm sure that a real Bulldog collector could tell by these things I think I see.....

- Color of the bone
- Jigging pattern
- Style of shield (raised?)
- Backspring pin size

Probably way off, but good exercise Hukk Fin. (Not that Huck Finn...but, Hukk Fin the diver ).

Billobo

[Hukk]

Hukk Finn or Hukk the Finn (Finnish Heritage) I've often been given that monicker.
Well Bill, I put this one out there because I did not know it really well until a few weeks ago. But once the answer is known, it will answer questions for a lot of Bulldog knives, not just these canoes. I would expect a good many Bulldog collectors will miss this question.
Well, I guess that's another hint.

[sunburst]

Ha, I just cast my vote based on the jigging and that was before I reread the entire topic and see that you gave that as a hint Hukk...

But I am not going to tell why I went with that. I can say that the thought process was to "Read the Knife"...

A great fun exercise Hukk, thanks...


Sunburst

[Hukk]

The bottom knife is a first generation. For one the jigged bone looks much more green on the top knife and the First Generation (bottom) looks brownish. They are both greenbone. Also, look at the jigging on the top knife, it’s different than the First Generation, if you look, it looks like Third Generation jigging that they also used on second generation knives. But the Third Generation Canoes have a Pit-Bull Trademark etch, not Tobacco and they don't have English Steel blades. It is not Third Generation because it does not have a 1993 or 1995 date stamp or Surgical Instrument Steel stamp on one of the tangs. By reading the knife this way, we know that it is a Second Generation knife. Congratulations to those who voted for the bottom knife.

Of course there are always exceptions (RARE) and here are 2 third generation prototypes that never went to production that have first generation style greenbone. The bottom is a 1 of 5 prototype. The top one is a 1 of a kind prototype as far as I know, you might want to call a single blade trapper, but if you look closely, it is built on the same 4 inch round bolster frame as the 3 blade stockman. Both of these knives have 1995 dates stamped into the tang, the last year of the third generation and the last year they used the 2 fighting dog tang stamp until the 25th anniversary knives came out.
As noted these exceptions are rare, but do exist. I consider myself lucky to have them as they are RARE!