All About Pocket Knives

Here are 2 not often seen: Schrade-Walden 170, note that the hawkbill tip is purposely rounded; and a Schrade+ USA WR1.
kj

The 153UH debuted at the juncture of Schrade Walden/Schrade in 1972-1973. The first ones were tang-stamped Schrade Walden but there were probably 2000 or less with that stamp. So here are some notes, a little random at times, regarding those first Schrade Walden 153UH knives.
NOTES MADE BY A SCHRADE EMPLOYEE REGARDING THE UPCOMING PATTERN 153 UH AND THE CRAFTSMAN VERSION:
11-29-72 sears craftsman same as we will make the 153uh the blade will be stamped craftsman USA etched on pile side 2-lines custom skinner aca edge use 165 sheath made of elephant grain leather. Yearly estimate 3000 pieces.
12-8-72 new items-153(code#79) this is the new uh pattern hunting knife. All displays and hunting knife line should be ready for shipment between March 15 and April 1
We do have the end of year production reports. They indicate the totals shipped by the end of the year and in some cases the number of completed knives still in inventory. The early years of this pattern read thus:
1972 -1
1973 - 3485
1974 – 7048


The change was made to stainless in late 1995. It required new guards, handle tube moldings and blades as the stainless was thinner stock. The components did not interchange. New "+" tang stamp given to production control by 5/5/95. Butt piece and washer changes made inhouse. Tool room modified existing handle cores.
* Blade from .165 carbon to .135 stainless
* Grind switches from flat to hollow
* Guard closes up (old guards do not interchange).
* Same for new handle moldings.

Per memo dated December 2, 1994. Last of the carbon blades were being blanked at that time. The memo mentioned a production forecast of almost 1,000 knives per week for 1995. The forecast was off by quite a bit. For 1995, 22339 pieces shipped for the combined old style carbon knives and the new tooled stainless. For 1996 it was 21012 of the new design and for 1997 17,241 pieces.

Going back again: It would appear all the 'Bear Skinner' box's were simply made for the 172UH Bear Skinner...not all were utilized for their intended purpose when the 172UH was replaced by the 153UH in that ' Schrade Name' transistion period....so Schrade used their existing supplies for the earliest 153UH's manufactured/sold... and in the interim until they had their new 'Golden Spike' box's finished/ready they must have put the gold sticker <on a few?> over the original Bear Skinner wording which cannot be seen because the gold foil sticker is quite thick

Going forward again: The #02616 Schrade is 1973 production and the #403419 is 1992 production. That gives us our most current high and low for Schrade 153UH serializations. 2000? Hmm. If other production runs of patterns are any indicator, they liked to make production overruns of 10% or so for warranty replacements and to cover rejects. So perhaps 2,200 or so Walden 153UH? Also it appears that serialization may have ended either with the change to stainless or shortly before. Records indicate the change to stainless was done in mid to late 1995.

We know from Larry Vickery <lrv> who quotes from the end of year Schrade Walden report that only 1 153UH escaped in 1972 and 3485 were shipped in 1973 so it follows from our known serial Numbers, it's likely the 3485 shipped comprised of the Walden tang stampings AND the new Schrade stampings.....and in all likelihood those 3485 were shipped in both 'Bear Skinner' brown box's, Golden Spike 'Sticker' brown box's and maybe some of the new fangled Golden Spike gold embossed new box's if they were ready sometime in 1973

SW serial numbers found so far:
23
34
143
220
297
378
438
538
613
690
773
786
1051
1522
1533
1535
1666
1857

In the mail presently to me as we speak is one of these early SW 153s with the factory marks, and another one with the Craftsman marks and the correct ELEPHANT HIDE (look at the last image) sheath.
I must say here that most of the pertinent knowledge regarding these knives was originally initiated by Larry303 on the "other" knife forum and there is a fascinating thread there:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the ... ly.652305/

I like those 49ers, too. I've got decent examples of the 497L (my favorite blade shape) and the 498S.
This Ducks Unlimited 15UH isn't found too often, with a strong etch and the cutout duckhead.

I just added a very nice 144UH with sheath, box and papers. Not mint, but VERY slight use. The serial number is 23794, and it came with the brown 2-piece box. Any idea what year it was made? The info I found is that they were only made from 1979 to '82, but is there any record of the serial numbers by year? Thanks!

Nice one, Jeff; same as the 14OT. I don't think you can get any closer on the numbers. ?

I have chased this pattern for some time and finally found this example at the Oregon show.
It's not pristine but none of these old ones I have seen are pristine.

Aside from a little dirt the sheath, the sheath appears to be in excellent condition.

Dale, that one has some blade to it. A great pick up.

Found this one yesterday at the flea market. It doesn't appear to be used much.
It has a sheath but it isn't a Schrade sheath.

Wow, Dale; that 148 with the tungsten edge is a rare one! I am glad that it is a 148, because if it was a 147, I would REALLY be jealous!

I recently picked up a very nice Schrade Walden 148 from the mid 1950s, complete with original sheath.
Wonda Wood or Strata Wood?

A cousin dropped by yesterday. He needed a little work on a leather dobro strap. He also brought me some kindling for my cast iron stove & wanted me to have this Schrade-Walden H-15. I don't remember this knife but he does. What's so neat is he is the second owner & he got it in the 1960s. I was the original owner.

black mamba wrote: ↑Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:55 am I recently picked up a very nice Schrade Walden 148 from the mid 1950s, complete with original sheath.
Wonda Wood or Strata Wood?

SW148Stratawood2.jpg

The 140 and 146 had Stratawood handles, as listed in the Schrade-Walden catalogs. The 148 was list in the catalogs from 1953 until 1963 with Wonda- wood handles.

Thanks, Dale, great info!

Another somewhat rare oldie, a Wonda Edge 147L, complete with correct 1958-'63 sheath with the buck deer tooled in.
I also completed my four Staglon 49ers with the hard to find 491 over the holidays.

good show, Jeff!

Thanks, Cal, much appreciated!

Those are fine knives! An excellent design and execution!

I have a few schrade fixed blades.

152 old timer
Ph1 schrade
143 old timer
I do have a few more but they are at my farm in Pennsylvania. Sorry about the pictures. I am not a photographer.

I took a gamble on a big grab bag of knives recently. One sentence that only mentioned one of the dozen or so knives and one blurry picture. I've never owned a Schrade in my forty plus years of collecting and carrying knives, but I'm very impressed with the three that came in the lot. This old Walden 165 was looking pretty grim, but after a lot of elbow grease and a replacement sheath on the way, I really like it. Wicked sharp too.

The 165 variations are one of my very favorite collectible knife. Thanks for posting that beauty!

tongueriver wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:05 am The 165 variations are one of my very favorite collectible knife. Thanks for posting that beauty!

Thanks for the kind words. She started out pretty rough.

Here is a 152 from the same horde. It looks pretty run of the mill, but surprisingly in unused and unsharpened condition. I never understood the fascination around this model, but over the years it kind of grew on me. Had no intention of buying one, but now that I have one, I've been researching the hell out of it.

That right there is a couple of nice ones Replicant...
Great finds for sure!!