All About Pocket Knives

I keep this commemorative hat pin in the box with my '77, 50th Anniversary four inch stockman knife. Nice little addition to the commemorative knife.

Yep, 1967.

Here is a knife i would like some help with. It is a Schrade (likely Schrade-Walden) 15OT branded "Craftsman" "Old Timer Premium".
Note that Sears used "Old Timer" in marketing a few of the knives they sold. They were not necessarily referring to Schrade Old Timer line of knives.
Years ago i read a long report by Michael Little (Codger64) on the history of the 15OT pattern. He stated that it was first released as a Craftsman knife for Sears. Then some months later it was released with the Schrade-Walden Pat. Pending markings.
I could be getting it mixed up but i am fairly sure that this was about the 15OT and not the 165OT.
Does anyone here remember reading this thread in BF ?
I am wondering if this knife is one of the original Sears 15OT's.
Maybe 'Schrade Australia' knows ? as he has many First Issue knives.
or tongueriver, because he knows lots of Schrade stuff.
thanks, kj

To confuse things slightly Sears did a series of 6 knives called "American Eagle Collection" in mid-late 1960's. One of these knives was the 15OT that Sears called "Old Timer Premium". Sears gave their own marketing driven name for each of the 6 Schrade patterns which confused those who already knew the knife by it's Schrade name.
The American Eagle Collection knives all came in a heavy duty sheath made by a saddle maker in California i believe it was.
The American Eagle Collection 15OT has "Old Timer Premium" etch on the backside of the blade.
It is possible that the "American Eagle Collection" was the early release of the 15OT. Or, were the first Sears 15OT sold a few years before the American Eagle Collection ?
kj

kj,

I think I found Codger's essay on the 15OT you referred to above...

15OT Deerslayer/15UH ramble...

Well, the missive I posted on the 165 seemed to draw quite a few views and a bit of interest, so maybe there is the same sort of interest in the 15OT Deerslayer, Schrade's most massive Old Timer hunting knife. While one might use it in a tactical assault, or use it to fight off and enraged buck deer, please refrain from calling it a "Tactical", Assault", or "Fighting" knife as so many people do. I don't even call it a skinner, though you could try to use it for that (I have), the much smaller, more agile Sharpfinger is a better skinner.

Once again I will ask that anyone with further information or corrections please let me know. I hope Rich can tell me a bit about the UH version, where information is sorely lacking.

The Schrade Old Timer 15OT Deerslayer is one of my favorite classic Schrade patterns. The 15OT was first introduced in 1964 and produced continuously for thirtyfour years, a third of a century. It was produced for ten years as Schrade Walden (1964-73), then for twentyfour as Schrade (1974-97). Deerslayer has serpentine shaped brown sawcut delrin handles held to the full tang by three nickle silver flat head rivets, and a 1 1/8" nickle silver Old Timer shield. A promenant choil on the tang in front of the handle acts as a lower guard and protects the fingers from the sharpened blade. A grooved, raised thumb rest on the top of the tang aids in blade control for finer work. The 6" full tang blade is flat ground 1095 carbon steel. A really stiff blade, the bladestock is nearly 3/16" thick. The tip is upswept.

As with other early Old Timers, there are some small distinctions between the Walden knives and the later ones from Ellenville. These are relatively minor engineering changes, but help to distinguish the chronology of production.

Earliest production was marked with a "PAT. PEND." blade etch briefly, then added to the lefthand tangstamp. Perhaps this led to some complications with production and stocking the 15OT's. The early Walden 15OT's were serialialized on the left tang perpendicular to the blade beginning sometime before the patent issued in April of '64. The first tang stamps were applied to both sides of the tang perpendicular to the blade, with SCHRADE-WALDEN over NY USA on the right, and 15OT PAT. over PEND. on the left. Sometime before 1974, the entire tang stamp was moved to blade right. Later Ellenville blades have the tang stamp on blade right, but parallel to the thumb rest and angled to the blade reading SCHRADE over USA 15OT. Occasionally a blade will be seen with the stamp in front of the thumb rest parallel with the blade, but this is far less common.

Limited editions, private issues, and the "UH variant" usually have a tang stamp of SCHRADE+ over USA LTD., and often used a 440C stainless blade. These editions sometimes sported the upgrade Staglon handles and brass flat rivets, special etches, and on the later issues, laser cutouts in the blade just in front of the tang. One edition has been seen with a fancy filed blade spine. The thumb rest grooves were deleted on this edition as well. One very early private issue bearing the Patent Pending stamp had a Ted Williams signature etch showing that it was produced early in '64 for Sears Roebuck & Co. It had no other special features beside the leather laced basket weave tooled sheath and insert. Several subsequent Sears issues have been found with CRAFTSMAN USA tang stamps both left and right.

Another special issue is the 15OTO knife with hunter orange handle and LIMITED EDITION shield. It may have been comissioned by Smokey Mountain Knife Works in 1991 for inclusion in their "father and son" hunting sets with the 165OTO DEERHUNTER, 152OTO LIMITED EDITION, and 158OTO with an Old Timer shield.

Several sheath designs have been found so far and, as usual, not really enough of a sampling to establish an accurate chronology. One used in 1964-65 was a basketweave tooled tubular sheath with long belt hanger, and laced with leather laces. This was the fanciest sheath, but it had a problem. The long sweeping knife blade tended to cut the leather laces. Factory engineers solved this temporarily by adding an aluminum rimmed fiber sheath insert. This was too expensive to continue and the sheath was redesigned with the tooling deleted and six eyelets added to protect the laces. The most common, naturally is the later sewn tubular with five rivets protecting the stitches. This style continued pretty much through the remainder of production.

Early success of the 15OT inspired Schrade to issue an Uncle Henry version of the knife. I do not know when the UH version was made in Ellenville, but I do not believe it was a cataloged edition, and it bore the SCHRADE+ over USA LTD tangstamp.

My interest in these knives, though discontinued eight years now and made by a company no longer existing, began more than thirty years ago when I purchased a 165OT for my hunting and camping adventures. The serpentine handle and heft of the 15OT are reminiscent of the familiar 165OT. The long choil is mimicked on the 152OT. The massive 15OT knife is a favorite of many "old timer" hunters of large game, yours truly included.

Codger

Dave, thank you for finding this 15OT info and posting it here.
He does mention the early 1964 release to Sears. Perhaps it was elsewhere in that thread or just elsewhere that the Sears 15OT preceding the Schrade-Walden 15OT was mentioned. It is a bit of a moot point.
kj

Old Crafty 9547

Here's a recent arrival... a crown shield 9488.

Craftsman 9488 is the 'same' knife as a Schrade-Walden 804, i think; i.e. this Craftsman is from before 1972. right ?
kj

Got my Craftsman 9553 'Old Wrangler' in the mail today.

robinetn wrote:Here's one that hasn't been shown yet .
Bob

I love this guy. If it's a Camillus it's an 885, one of my favorite little pocket knives. If you ever want to sell or trade please keep me in mind.

td, "If it's a Camillus it's an 885"
what knife are you referring to ?
kj

Craftsman 9560
Craftsman 855RB Schrade Walden

jxr1197 wrote:crafty2.jpg

It just looks like a plain ole swollen end jack with Warshington bolsters.
kj

kootenay joe wrote:It just looks like a plain ole swollen end jack with Warshington bolsters.
kj

Exactly what I was thinking. Perfect for prying open paint cans

An original bone 8OT Schrade-Walden, the first year production (1959 ?) is a special knife many of us would like to find.
Here is a Schrade-Walden jigged bone 881 which is the same knife as an 8OT. This knife also is a Craftsman 9514. Not sure of date but likely late 1950's or 1960's. Like all of the Schrade & Camillus made Craftsman knives, this one seems to be a 'notch up' over the same pattern with only the manufacturers markings. The Craftsman contract was so big the knife manufacturers had to keep them happy with the best knives they could make.
kj

I've had this Craftsman for over 40 years.

AR Norby wrote:I've had this Craftsman for over 40 years.

That sounds right; I think I have seen that elongated rectangle shield on the anniversary 1977 Craftsman knives.