Smokin' Smokey LB5 - IKAC National Sales Meeting 1983

[bladecollectorr]

When the Schrade Heritage series knives came out in 1983 they all came equipped with a very nice shield. On the other hand, the venerable LB5 "Smokey" worked it's understated magic with attractive brown WondaWood handles. When the Heritage shield met the Smokey, black magic wonda ensued.

LB5s with any kind of shield are pretty hard to find. I've been hunting this particular variation for a decade. They pop up occasionally but I never landed one until now.

These knives were (obviously) made up for the IKAC National Sales Meeting in 1983. I don't know how many were produced and if anyone has any info around that I'd love to hear it. I don't think it was very many. It's a "special" enough knife that even non-knife people would likely think of it as a collectible so I doubt the reason you don't see them is because they all got used to death. I'm guessing 50-500, key word being "guess". How many did attend those meetings? Regional managers only or every salesman in the country? I have no idea.

In around the same time period Schrade also produced a serialized, black, WondaWood, 3-knife lockback set. It had the LB1 Cub, LB5 Smokey and LB7 Bear Paw all in nickel silver. My guess is that these sets came out in 1981 with the release of the Cub and Smokey. The LB3 Brown Bear is conspicuous in its absence leading me to believe these sets were done up before it's intro in 1982. I have not been able to confirm this. Paperwork for these sets show they were previous to the 1985 name change to Imperial Schrade Corp. I've always liked these black WondaWood versions with their matching black sheaths.

Some pics of those sets:

Perhaps the Sales Meeting LB5s were made up from over-run stock from these sets I described or maybe they were just a similar predecessor. Good enough way to use up an over-run I figure.

My example came in a SAS-14 "Deluxe" knife sheath. The SAS-14 and larger SAS-15 were one of the fanciest models Schrade ever produced with all the leather tooling. I love these sheaths and getting one with this knife was an big added bonus.

I may be able to find out more about who "R.M.B." was; I'm working on it. If those initials ring a bell with anyone please let me know. "Baer" and "Buley" immediately come to mind but it could also be a million other last names. Perhaps the initials have nothing to do with Schrade. Font looks pretty "factory" to me.

These first pics show the knife and sheath as found. I'm going to neatsfoot oil the sheath and polish the knife. I will post the "after" pics when I have them.

Smokey meet Heritage.

[tongueriver]

Very interesting 'article' on a subject that I never knew existed. Thanks for posting!

[orvet]

Why neetsfoot oil? It can soften the leather and make it loose on the knife. Not as big a deal as it is on a fixed blade sheath but not the best treatment for the leather.
Personally I would use Leather Therapy or Lexol at least.

I have ruined a sheath with neetsfoot oil is why I spoke up. Those are too nice and too rare to be ruined.
Just my opinion.

[bladecollectorr]

Thanks for the kind replies!

Dale, I'm not 100% set on using neatsfoot oil on the sheath. I had a conversation with someone recently who was totally convinced it was the best leather treatment so I thought I'd try it. Softening the leather is pretty much what I want to do. It's like a piece of cardboard right now and in danger of cracking at stress points. Over-softening it to the point that it stretches and becomes loose does not sound so great. I'm looking for supple not stretchy.

I think I will heed your experience-based advice and reconsider.

[Meridian_Mike]

Why neetsfoot oil? It can soften the leather and make it loose on the knife. Not as big a deal as it is on a fixed blade sheath but not the best treatment for the leather.
Personally I would use Leather Therapy or Lexol at least.

I have ruined a sheath with neetsfoot oil is why I spoke up. Those are too nice and too rare to be ruined.
Just my opinion.

I have heard the same concerning neetsfoot oil. I switched to mink oil for leather treatment.

Mike

[jerryd6818]

Speaking of guesses. Since it was made up for a National Sales Meeting, do you suppose the knives were gifts for the attendees and personalized for the attendees they were presented to, RMB being one of them???

[bladecollectorr]

Speaking of guesses. Since it was made up for a National Sales Meeting, do you suppose the knives were gifts for the attendees and personalized for the attendees they were presented to, RMB being one of them???

Thanks for your thoughts. That's where I was going with trying to find out who RMB was. The placement and the font used look very much like they could have been Schrade factory applied. It looks like the same size letters found on serialized LB7s etc . On the other hand, the other examples of this knife I have seen have no initials on them so this one is the exception.

It's possible the original attendee had it initialed after-the-fact as well either by Schrade or someone else because that's how he liked his knives. Last possibility is it was initialed by a collector at some point but the seller indicated it was from a long-existing collection that hadn't been touched until now.

[bladecollectorr]

I just landed the 1984 "National Sales Meeting" SC507 in its fancy beaded USA sheath.

Note that the company name-change is reflected on the etches. "Imperial Knife Assoc. Cos." in 1983 to "Imperial Schrade Corp." in 1984. When I thought about it I was a bit surprised because all of the available literature states that the name-change happened in 1985. I guess they were trying to get the sales crew "fired-up" regarding the name-change? It surely would have been relevant in 1984.

From Imperial Schrade's "A Brief History" document: https://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/art ... istory.pdf

"In 1985, the Channel Master facility on Route 209 in Ellenville was purchased, and a consolidation of all domestic operations started taking place. The name of the Company was changed from Imperial Knife Associated Companies to Imperial Schrade Corp."

I think these are the only two years that Schrade produced "National Sales Meeting" knives. Please let me know if you can think of another I should watch out for.