All About Pocket Knives

Here are some of my favorite keen kutters. 1st is a E.C.Simmons stag handled congress whistler. 2nd is a keen litter quill knife. 3rd is a E.C.Simmoms stag handled doodleg jack. 4th is a Simmons Hornet lockback dirk. It has an unusual locking mechanism. You have to swivel the guard on the back side to unlock the blade.

I can see why they are favorites. Very nice group of KK knives.

knife-nut wrote: ↑Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:50 am Here are some of my favorite keen kutters. 1st is a E.C.Simmons stag handled congress whistler. 2nd is a keen mutter quill knife. 3rd is a E.C.Simmoms stag handled doodles jack. 4th is a Simmons Hornet lockback dirk. It has an unusual locking mechanism. You have to swivel the guard on the back side to unlock the blade.

Very nice!!

knife-nut wrote: ↑Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:50 am Here are some of my favorite keen kutters. 1st is a E.C.Simmons stag handled congress whistler. 2nd is a keen litter quill knife. 3rd is a E.C.Simmoms stag handled doodleg jack. 4th is a Simmons Hornet lockback dirk. It has an unusual locking mechanism. You have to swivel the guard on the back side to unlock the blade.

Those are some great KKs.

The stag on those is amazing!

Nice group Mark!

Four lovely old knives, knife-nut! Beautiful stag on the congress and the dogleg, but I am especially partial to the old pick bone on the quill knife.

I picked up this Keen Kutter over the weekend at our local flea market. It is going to need some work to get it back in shape, but I bet it was a nice one when new and spendy too. I don't know that I have seen the butt end bolsters stamped Keen Kutter before. It is a coffin handle jack, pattern # 2203. The work needed includes a new spring on the small pen blade and there are a couple of pieces of bone missing on the pile side. Blades have been sharpened a lot, but are still usable. The tang stamp includes the E. C. Simmons name.
In reading further back in this thread, it appears that the Camillus made ones were marked K2203, and the Keen Kutter tang stamp had "ears". This doesn't have either of those characteristics, so was it most likely made by Winchester?

No knife rule is absolute in my experience, however, in my opinion this is a Walden (Winchester) made knife. Sellens has a date of manufacture for this knife of 1921-1939. If it's not a Walden pattern it's exactly like the Walden pattern. Oddly, in Sellens book this pattern is shown with two different patterns, one at 3 1/2" and one at 3 7/8". The 3 7/8" knife is completely different from the 2201, and 2204 and presumably from the unshown (in Sellens) 2203 (yours).

JMO

Nice knives Mark.

Harold

Really nice group Mark.

Great pattern Dan.

msteele6 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 6:35 pm No knife rule is absolute in my experience, however, in my opinion this is a Walden (Winchester) made knife. Sellens has a date of manufacture for this knife of 1921-1939. If it's not a Walden pattern it's exactly like the Walden pattern. Oddly, in Sellens book this pattern is shown with two different patterns, one at 3 1/2" and one at 3 7/8". The 3 7/8" knife is completely different from the 2201, and 2204 and presumably from the unshown (in Sellens) 2203 (yours).

JMO

Thanks for your info on the Keen Kutter 2203 I posted.
Sorry, I forgot to put the overall length in my post. It is 3 9/16"
If you go back to page 36 in this thread near the bottom of the page, there are catalog images of the K2203. One looks just like mine and one is different, depending on the manufacturer no doubt. However, mine is not stamped with the K ahead of the 2203.

I love that stag dog leg jack that thing is awesome

Keen Kutter 831 butter and molasses celluloid.

Keen Kutter office knife. French ivory celluloid.

The Cigar Jack and Office Knife are great finds.

I too would want to get that Coffin Jack pictured above fixed, that's a nice pattern and not easy to find. It screams "Winchester" to me.

I find Sellens' book odd in that the 2201 and 2204 are Coffin Jacks but 2203 looks like the 2226 on the next page with different blade engraving. I guess different knife makers at different periods in time would explain that.

Sweet ole knives being shown fellers, thank you for sharing .
Willy

Here is an interesting shadow pattern 2 3/4'' stockman made by schrade for keen kutter. Likely schrade walden era.

KnifeSlinger#81 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:51 pm Here is an interesting shadow pattern 2 3/4'' stockman made by schrade for keen kutter. Likely schrade walden era.


IMG_6315_Original.JPG
IMG_6317_Original.JPG

That is a cool knife!! Congratts!!

I bought this little ("2.875 closed) knife at a flea market cheap. I haven't been able to find out much about it. I read where Frost Cutlery bought the Keen Kutter name. I also where Bear & Son manufactured some of these Keen Kutter knives. The box and the tang are stamped USA. The stag looks real to me but I'm no expert on stag. Was this manufactured by Bear & Son? If not, then who? Was it really made in the USA? Is this really stag? It's a cool little knife and I like it but I'd like to know more about it.

Looks like one of these, the "manufactured by Bear and Son Cutlery" is marked on the end of the tin this knife came in.

majorpain1251 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:54 am I bought this little ("2.875 closed) knife at a flea market cheap. I haven't been able to find out much about it. I read where Frost Cutlery bought the Keen Kutter name. I also where Bear & Son manufactured some of these Keen Kutter knives. The box and the tang are stamped USA. The stag looks real to me but I'm no expert on stag. Was this manufactured by Bear & Son? If not, then who? Was it really made in the USA? Is this really stag? It's a cool little knife and I like it but I'd like to know more about it.

I've never heard that Frost bought KK.
Yours is made by Bear & Son in the U.S.

I really like that old pattern, Dan!
A couple of nice additions to the thread, David!
Very nice shadow stockman, Paul! Schrade made, I believe.
majorpain, your knife was made by Bear & Son, owned by Ken Griffey, in 1992 in their plant in Jacksonville, Alabama. Definitely looks like real stag to me.

Thank you for the input. It does appear to be Bear & Son. My curiosity is now satisfied.

edge213 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 5:47 am

majorpain1251 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:54 am I bought this little ("2.875 closed) knife at a flea market cheap. I haven't been able to find out much about it. I read where Frost Cutlery bought the Keen Kutter name. I also where Bear & Son manufactured some of these Keen Kutter knives. The box and the tang are stamped USA. The stag looks real to me but I'm no expert on stag. Was this manufactured by Bear & Son? If not, then who? Was it really made in the USA? Is this really stag? It's a cool little knife and I like it but I'd like to know more about it.

I've never heard that Frost bought KK.
Yours is made by Bear & Son in the U.S.

Walden Knife Co.made E.C.Simmons Keen Kutter folding hunter etched Tickler.I have a couple Walden folding hunters with the same etch.