All About Pocket Knives

Hello knife collectors! Can anybody out there verify for me with 100% certainty that Schrade manufactured a traditional coke bottle hunter? I'm familiar with the pillbuster butt knives and although I admire their design, I'm looking for a traditional full-size coke. I think I saw a slim celluloid model last year on ebay and also possibly a black ebony beauty a few years ago on the same site. However, I can no longer be absolutely certain. By the way, authors Ritchie & Stewart show a handsome bone-handled coke in "The Standard Knife Collector's Guide" that is allegedly A Schrade specimen, but the tang stamp isn't visible, which leaves me with a trace of doubt. Needless to say, I'd really like to find one for my private collection!

This is my 5 3/8 inch folding hunter. Jack Knife Ben contracted knives from the best in the country back in the 1900,s and I have no idea who made this one. Wood slabs, iron bolsters. Iron liners. Handles have light chipping along the liners. This might be Schrade?

To the best of my knowledge Schrade never made a traditional coke bottle folding hunter.

Probably made by Winchester or Napanoch or Ulster.

Here's a Continental and Robeson for comparison, JKB. I'm pretty sure the Jack Knife Ben Cattleman's knife I have started life as a Robeson. They were top notch and he used top notch knives.

btrwtr wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:24 pm To the best of my knowledge Schrade never made a traditional coke bottle folding hunter.

I gotta agree with Wayne. I have never seen a Schrade coke bottle folding hunter.

Same here, never seen a Schrade cokebottle nor have I seen any mention of one in the old catalogs or factory memos and fixtures.

Eric

I have a JKB cattle knife with a Robeson punch blade.

Hello again! I want to thank all of the members who sent rapid replies and submitted supporting photographs. I never expected to see such quick results. No doubt I look forward to hearing whatever else is added to the conversation in the future. So far, the consensus seems to be that Schrade never manufactured a tradional coke bottle hunter. Just recently, I spoke with a published knife author who also said that he had no recollection of ever bumping into such a thing. Nevertheless, I'm still clinging to hope and this is the reason why. If you look on page 518 of "The Standard Knife Collector's Guide 4th Edition" by Ritchie & Stewart, you'll see a photograph of an alleged Schrade coke bottle knife with intriguing bone handles. It has what I refer to as an extra-long banner shield on the front handle, the same as what Camillus was using at the time. In addition, I have a pretty good memory of a Schrade coke with black ebony handles that was being auctioned on ebay a few years ago and it too had the extra-long banner shield. Even though I cannot have complete faith in my memory of a long-ago auction, it seems encouraging that I have encountered two beautiful coke bottle knives, both of which were supposedly made by Schrade and both knives featured the same distinctive handle shield. When armed with such tidbits of knowledge, I must do what I can to keep the quest alive! I hope that somebody out there enjoys this post because I had to type the whole thing twice. The first copy was timed out and erased by the website when I was redirected to log in again. How frustrating is that! This time, I'm very likely to hit "Save draft" before I try to submit. Wish me luck, guys. Tommy B.

Tommy I don't have that Stewart and Ritchie book, just have the Big Book of Pocketknives 2nd edition from them. Can you post a picture up of that page?

Eric

ea42 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:18 pm Tommy I don't have that Stewart and Ritchie book, just have the Big Book of Pocketknives 2nd edition from them. Can you post a picture up of that page?

Eric

Eric , happened to be looking thru Ritchie and Stewart’s 5 th edition and saw this post . Here’s a pic from Page 505 in the bone handled section .

Thanks for the pics JP! I really don't believe that's a Schrade knife, in fact I'm almost certain that it's a Camillus. Everything matches; large shield, long bolsters, lanyard hole and matchstrike pull all look identical to the old Camillus model. I think they made an error for sure in that photo as that's not any kind of classic Schrade bone either.

Eric

I agree; it is not a Schrade.

Hello again! My thanks to the Ripster for providing the book photo from Ritchie & Stewart. I'm not used to uploading pictures and it might've ended in disaster. Yes, I agree that the knife in question is suspicious. I've always had my doubts about the jigging pattern. It seems like it would more likely be a Camillus or even a Utica. But then again, how many different jigging patterns did Schrade use besides their widely-known peach seed? There must be others that are more generic in appearance. So, maybe pursuing a Schrade coke bottle hunter is like going after the holy grail, but I still have hope that my efforts will end in success. Thanks for your help, guys! Tommy B.

I have a coke bottle that looks a lot like that top knife in the Ritchie and Stewart book.

It has no tang stamp so I can't say for sure who made it.
The only distinguishing marks is a "30" stamped on the pile side of the main blade.

Here he is.....

Meridian_Mike wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:41 am I have a coke bottle that looks a lot like that top knife in the Ritchie and Stewart book.

It has no tang stamp so I can't say for sure who made it.
The only distinguishing marks is a "30" stamped on the pile side of the main blade.

Here he is.....


mark side cover.jpg

That could be a Camillus pattern number stamp.

Cool.....

Thanks for that tip....
I guess I need to look at some Camillus catalogs and see if I can find this ole joker.

Hi Guys!
My thanks go out to Mr. Mike for posting that nice photo of his bone-handled coke bottle. Yes, indeed, it does bear a strong resemblance to the knife that's pictured in the book. There are some minor details that are different, such as the matchstriker pull and the lanyard hole, but I'm happy to see the extra-long banner shield on the handle. The model number "30" is a tantalizing clue. Perhaps somebody else out there will recognize the knife itself or the pattern number. As pointed out, Camillus was famous for those simple, short pattern numbers. Someday, I'd like to work on a complete set from number "1" to "100". I already have most of the 70's series stockmans and many more miscellaneous. It would make a nice historic collection. See Ya, Tommy B.

CORRECTION:
Not that it matters a philly or a fig, but I misspoke in my last post. I have the 60's series stockmans from Camillus, not the 70's. I have almost every model now from 60 to 72. Someday, I may choose to expand upon that if I feel like taking on a Herculean challenge. Tommy B.

Tommy, do you have the 69 they made for Craftsman?

Hello, T.R. No, I do not. Never seen that particular version before. Considering the age of your knife, I think it's nothing short of amazing to see how crisp your blade etch has remained. I have two bone 69's that are similar to yours. One is in good enough condition for display and the other needs to have one of the handle scales replaced. Since it would require not only a skilled repairman, but also a perfectly matched scale, I doubt that I will ever get to see the knife fully dressed. Years ago, I was immediately attracted to the older 69's because they have nice curvature and milled liners, something not often seen on production knives. Thanks for posting your photo. Tommy B.