All About Pocket Knives

Got a question for you all about a camp knife. I had posted this knife in another thread and got some information but thought I would ask hear.
It has "CAMILLUS, with no line under it, NEW YORK without the USA, bone handle and the older can opener.
I did pic of a nice little cub scout a few months ago. It is the last of the Camillus cub scout knives.

ScoutKnives wrote:One more for today , the not often seen Remington rs3333 scout with covered back springs .

That is one awesome knife you have there.

Found this one in a box of $8 knives at a local antique shop.There were some really great parts knives in there;I may go back and make him an offer on al of them.
Anyway this old Imperial 3 blade unofficial Scout(even though the shield says Scout)cleaned up pretty nicely. I also got a metal handled Eagle Pencil Co gravity knife out of the same box.

Darois59 wrote:I found one of these knifes in the ground 20 years ago as a kid in Boston and it was definitely there for a long time. what year was it made and how many were made cuz this is the only other ones I have ever seen and I've been looking for years

Welcome to AAPK! I received your PM, hope you don't mind if I respond here. The knife you found is a rare one, probably made around 1912 to 1920. At least two different companies marketed knives with scales made from what appears to be the same mold press. According to 600 Scout Knives by Joseph R. Kerr, Case made a 4-bladed version with nickel scales some time between 1912 and 1914. In his book Official Scout Blades, Ed Holbrook shows a knife with the identical scenes as the Case knife, on both sides, made by Challenge Cutlery, 1920's. Holbrook doesn't specify what material Challenge used for their scales but from the black-and-white photo in the book my guess is it's brass. If so your knife is probably the version from Challenge.

Wish I knew the story of how/why these appeared from two different companies using what appears to be the same tooling. Despite the obvious Boy Scout scenes depicted on their handles neither of these were official BSA sanctioned knives. I have seen speculation that one or both may have originated as attempts to get BSA endorsement. There are some folks on the forum that know a lot more than I do about scout knives, so hopefully they can add to (or correct) my information.

Ken

Darois59 wrote:I found one of these knifes in the ground 20 years ago as a kid in Boston and it was definitely there for a long time. what year was it made and how many were made cuz this is the only other ones I have ever seen and I've been looking for years

As Ken stated, these were made back in the early 1900's (c1915-1920) by Case Bradford and Challenge Cutlery. Yours appears to be the Challenge Cutlery version, based on the "upside down" scout scene on the back handle. They were unofficial scout knives but very cool indeed. I don't think there is much info on the correlation between the 2 versions by the 2 separate companies but they are rare and pricey if in excellent condition. In my research, I have noted that George Schrade was affiliated with both companies at that time, so wild speculation could potentially pin it on him. I just acquired a Challenge version that still has the original etching "Challenge Scout" on the main blade. There are other pictures a few pages back in this thread that show the nickel-silver versions and the copper version. I am not aware if there was a brass version, as it seems that the softer metals were used to make the scales.

knifetime wrote:Got a question for you all about a camp knife. I had posted this knife in another thread and got some information but thought I would ask hear.
It has "CAMILLUS, with no line under it, NEW YORK without the USA, bone handle and the older can opener.
I did pic of a nice little cub scout a few months ago. It is the last of the Camillus cub scout knives.

Was your question about the age and so forth with the bone handled Camillus? It is essentially a scout pattern utility type knife and unofficial relating to BSA knives. I have a nice specimen and have dated it to the late 1940's I believe, probably post WW2 because of the use of brass in the construction.

Yes, the age is what I was hoping to find out. The knife was a gift and I like it a lot. TY
It to has brass liners but steel bolsters.
Nice, Nice ,Nice That is very good condition.

Nice find on a very rare knife .

Darois59 wrote:I found one of these knifes in the ground 20 years ago as a kid in Boston and it was definitely there for a long time. what year was it made and how many were made cuz this is the only other ones I have ever seen and I've been looking for years

Got any pictures of your new find Ron ?

ronfish wrote:

Darois59 wrote:I found one of these knifes in the ground 20 years ago as a kid in Boston and it was definitely there for a long time. what year was it made and how many were made cuz this is the only other ones I have ever seen and I've been looking for years

As Ken stated, these were made back in the early 1900's (c1915-1920) by Case Bradford and Challenge Cutlery. Yours appears to be the Challenge Cutlery version, based on the "upside down" scout scene on the back handle. They were unofficial scout knives but very cool indeed. I don't think there is much info on the correlation between the 2 versions by the 2 separate companies but they are rare and pricey if in excellent condition. In my research, I have noted that George Schrade was affiliated with both companies at that time, so wild speculation could potentially pin it on him. I just acquired a Challenge version that still has the original etching "Challenge Scout" on the main blade. There are other pictures a few pages back in this thread that show the nickel-silver versions and the copper version. I am not aware if there was a brass version, as it seems that the softer metals were used to make the scales.

Indeed I do!

That's an amazing find Ronfish.

X2

What an awesome knife Ron . I sold one in similar condition about 10 years ago with the original box , kicking my self ever since LOL .

I haven't been able to post pictures in about a month , gotta figure out what the issue is . tries to load but never does ?

ronfish wrote:Indeed I do!

photo 3.JPG

ScoutKnives -- You have a PM.

Ron, what Phil said.

ScoutKnives wrote:What an awesome knife Ron . I sold one in similar condition about 10 years ago with the original box , kicking my self ever since LOL .

I haven't been able to post pictures in about a month , gotta figure out what the issue is . tries to load but never does ?

ronfish wrote:Indeed I do!

photo 3.JPG

....and the original box? Yeah, kick yourself a couple times for me too. LOL

Ron, that's a real beauty for sure! never have seen that etch before. Thanks for posting the picture. Been trying to acquire one of these for a long while - obviously not looking in the right places. From that picture it looks like the scales are nickel? If so then Challenge made these with both copper and nickel scales.

Ken

Ken - This one is Nickel Silver. I believe that the Challenge version is the one made with Nickel Silver and alternately with copper, but I have never owned one of the copper versions. Keepng my eyes open though!

"Yep" the original yellow box that read challenge scout knife on top
The buyer PAID for it but it defiantly hurt to let it go

ronfish wrote:

ScoutKnives wrote:What an awesome knife Ron . I sold one in similar condition about 10 years ago with the original box , kicking my self ever since LOL .

I haven't been able to post pictures in about a month , gotta figure out what the issue is . tries to load but never does ?

ronfish wrote:Indeed I do!

photo 3.JPG

....and the original box? Yeah, kick yourself a couple times for me too. LOL

Anyone pick up some scout knives?

Gentlemen, your knowledge just amazes me sometimes.

Yes I have plenty more to post up but for the life of me cant figure out how to post pictures any more lol . Going to have the wife help me .

Miller Bro`s wrote:Anyone pick up some scout knives?

Here you go Scout. http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =2&t=12128

Test picture ........)))

Thanks Tank . working again

Dimitri I've picked up a few, first is a Crown Cutlery New York six blade, neat punch and corkscrew.

Next is my first Miller Bros. with a bent bail and I'm wondering if the punch mite be a bit short.

Last is a Moore, Pomona, Cal. stamp (hardware brand) that my have been made by Imperial or Ulster.
The can opener and punch blades have quite the dogleg in them, never seen that before.

Bob