LL Bean Knives

eckurz · Post by **eckurz** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 7:27 pm

Just wondering if anyone knows who made knives for LL bean in the 60's and early 70's?
I have a trapper with yellow delrin handles, nickel silver bolsters, blank oval shield I bought around '68
a trapper with wood handles and a 3-blade with wood handles from early 70's
also a single blade "dress" knife with wood handles. all 3 have brass bolsters.
I also have an "LLBean Utility camp knife" single blade that locks, rosewood handles,
looks like a locking sodbuster only bigger.
They are very good quality...I always thought they were made by Case or Ka-bar but I can't find a reference to either maker. None of them say anything but LL Bean Made in USA on the blades.
I have used the delrin trapper a lot but it's still in good shape, the camp knife and dress knife were used some, the other two are brand new never even sharpened them.
anybody know anything about this?

chetr1200c · Post by **chetr1200c** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 7:46 pm

i don't think case or ka-bar made em unles they were stamped as so.. but a lot of companies have been contracted to make l.l.bean,,,gerber, schrade,boker,wenger, even companies like bowen. i would also assume camillus was in there somewhere.
and no doubt others. to find the company that made yours, with only, made in the usa, on em, might be a little tough to pinpoint.
but someone might know

robinetn · Post by **robinetn** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 7:50 pm

I don't know who made yours , but I'll bet that you can figure out who made mine !

Bob

eckurz · Post by **eckurz** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:03 pm

LOL..is is a Schrade possibly?
I have two of those, one is the 100th anniversary in the tin can...
The delrin trapper might be, but the handle shield is oval and bare. LL Bean is stamped on the blades.
The other trapper and stockman have rosewood handles and more rounded bolsters.
The fit and finish looks better than Scrade. I know Schrade made good knives, I just never
liked the looks of them...except for the 2-blade button switchblade my dad gave me, he carried it thru WWII. That's a nice lil Scrade knife.
I'll have to post some pics of them.
Thanks
Ed

knifeaholic · Post by **knifeaholic** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:54 pm

Kabar made most of the earlier LL Bean knives, 1940's through 1960's. Western made some. Then in later years Schrade and I think Queen made a few.

Elvis · Post by **Elvis** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 9:01 pm

A lot of the L.L. Bean Knives were made by Kabar. Some had Kabar markings on the back of the tang and some did not.

SHAMAN · Post by **SHAMAN** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 11:15 pm

Pretty sure many were KA BAR.....I have seen swing guards tang marked LL Bean and Ka Bar and except for the stamps they were identical

coffeecup · Post by **coffeecup** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:40 am

Bowen made repros of some of the Remington bullet knives for LL Bean.

1967redrider · Post by **1967redrider** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:48 am

I just picked up these 3 LL Bean knives from the mid-90s, 2 Bokers and a Robeson. Not sure why the Robeson is in a Queen Steel box though.

knifeaholic · Post by **knifeaholic** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:41 pm

1967redrider wrote:I just picked up these 3 LL Bean knives from the mid-90s, 2 Bokers and a Robeson. Not sure why the Robeson is in a Queen Steel box though.

The Robeson was made by Queen.

chautauqua · Post by **chautauqua** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:55 pm

robeson made some patterns for them also i had a swing guard that was identical in every way except bone color

wazu013 · Post by **wazu013** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:16 pm

I have their 1999 collectors edition knife it is a stag swing guard with a Boker Solingen Germany tang stamp. If this thread is still active this weekend I post some pics.
wazu013

1967redrider · Post by **1967redrider** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:23 pm

knifeaholic wrote:
1967redrider wrote:I just picked up these 3 LL Bean knives from the mid-90s, 2 Bokers and a Robeson. Not sure why the Robeson is in a Queen Steel box though.
The Robeson was made by Queen.

Cool, thanks for the info Steve!

wazu013, I'd love to see it. There was a 1998 stag Anglo-Saxon that I didn't get but it was sweet too.

wazu013 · Post by **wazu013** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:48 pm

Here's a pic for one that sold a while back. I'll get mine up Sat.
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/b ... 9-75844805

wazu013, I'd love to see it. There was a 1998 stag Anglo-Saxon that I didn't get but it was sweet too.[/quote]

wazu013 · Post by **wazu013** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:23 pm

Here are some pics of the 1999 LL Bean collectors edition knife. It's a stag cheetah made by Boker. It has the Boker Tree Solingen Germany stamped on the tang.

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:04 pm

I have one LL Bean. I will have to find it.
I am not sure if it is Schrade or KaBar.

wazu013 · Post by **wazu013** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:53 pm

orvet wrote:I have one LL Bean. I will have to find it.
I am not sure if it is Schrade or KaBar.

Dig deep Dale

wazu013

texastoothpick · Post by **texastoothpick** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:24 pm

My knife has already been shown, but yep, it is a Robeson, made by Queen.
Some nice knives shown here. I've found any knife with the bonus of the LL Bean mark gets a little premium added when sold.

WelderBob · Post by **WelderBob** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:20 pm

Top knife is LL Bean...steel bolsters and liners with bone handles.

Second is KA BAR...nickel silver bolsters and liners with composition handles.

On the time frame I'm not real sure...I would guess 1950's.....

1967redrider · Post by **1967redrider** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:28 pm

My LL Bean knives showed up yesterday, took some pictures this morning. All of them are pretty sweet but the 1997 Queen made Robeson is super sweet! Has a reel and fishing lures ecthed on the blades which I tried to capture in the pictures. The stag on the 1996 Boker trapper is really nice too, not sure what the wood is on the smaller 1995 Boker barlow, maybe maple?

eckurz · Post by **eckurz** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:28 pm

mine look like these:
sorry if they're not in order
LL Bean trapper- bought this from Bean 1965-66 4 1/4" long 3 1/4" clip and spey blades, yellow delrin handles
LL Bean trapper II- 4 1/4" long, 3 1/4" clip and spey blades, wood handles never used xmas gift from uncle early 70's
LL Bean utility camp knife- 5 5/8" long, 4 1/2" locking blade also bought this from bean late 60's
LL Bean "Pocket" 3 1/8" long, 2 3/8" blade got this same xmas as trapper II

there are no markings on these except for LL Bean. From the looks of them, I believe the yellow trapper and the big camp knife might be ka-bar, the trapper II and pocket may be case.

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:49 pm

All the yellow trappers I have seen with the blank oval shields like you describe we made by western. The large lockback looks like a pattern KA-BAR offered. The brass bolstered knives you show appear to be either kabar (jack) or camillus (trapper) manufacture