13OT Trailblazer and 14OT Timberline
The Schrade 13OT and 14OT are a fairly rare pair of classic Schrade pattern Old Timer fixed blades. The 13OT and 14OT were the sixth and seventh fixed blade Old Timer when they were first introduced in 1978 (15OT-'64, 165OT-'67, 41OT-'71, 152OT-'73, 154OT-'76 ) and was produced for only three years before being discontinued after 1980 (13OT) and four years 1981 (14OT). They were first manufactured well after the Schrade-Walden name had been changed to Schrade Cutlery (in mid 1973), so will only be found with the "SCHRADE U.S.A. 13OT/14OT" tang stamp on regular production knives. In the 1978 Schrade Cutlery catalog they listed for $35.00 each, and remained at that price until retired from production.
The 8 1/2"13OT Trailblazer has a heavy 3 3/4" drop point full exposed tang blade, slightly curved spine brown sawcut Delrin handle pinned to the tang with two nickle silver flush compression rivets, and a brass bolster/guard. A nickle silver Old Timer shield is set flush on the right handle (rectangular with radiused ends, "OLD TIMER"). Over the short span of production, only the brown sawcut Delrin handles were used. The handle has no lanyard hole as was featured on many later small fixed OT patterns. Weight was listed at 7.6 ounces. The catalog listed the blade steel as "High Carbon Steel Rust Resistant", which I understand is another expression of "Schrade+ Steel" I have not noted any private or limited edition issues of this pattern, and there was no known UH version. Neither is there a direct predecessor or descendent identifiable. The PH1 and PH2 had similar blade shapes.
The 8 1/2"14OT Timberline has a heavy 3 3/4" clip point full exposed tang blade, slightly curved spine brown sawcut Delrin handle pinned to the tang with two nickle silver flush compression rivets, and a brass bolster/guard. A nickle silver Old Timer shield is set flush on the right handle (rectangular with radiused ends, "OLD TIMER"). Over the short span of production, only the brown sawcut Delrin handles were used. The handle has no lanyard hole as was featured on many later small fixed OT patterns. Weight was listed at 7.6 ounces. The catalog listed the blade steel as "High Carbon Steel Rust Resistant", which I understand is another expression of "Schrade+ Steel" I have not noted any private or limited edition issues of this pattern, but there was a UH version, the 144UH (1979-'82). Neither is there a direct predecessor or descendent other than the 144UH identifiable.
I have found one basic sheath design which is a folded tubular sewn sheath with no handle keeper strap. It was stitched with brown thread, with five small rivets protecting the stitching. The leather on the sheath back was extended and folded over backward above the sheath throat to form a belt hanger. It was secured to the sheath back with stitching. Because of the small size of the sheath, none were made with the stone pocket found on other larger Schrade fixed blade patterns. Sheath finish color did not vary much during the short production from light russet to brown. No undyed replacement sheaths have shown up on the market.
Unlike Old Timers with longer production runs, no engineering changes have been detected on the 13OT or 14OT over the brief span of production, though some slight variations may come to light in the future.
No distinctly different tang stamps have been noted so. I have seen no relics of the 13OT or 14OT pattern appearing from the Schrade inventory and sample room, as I have with many patterns.
The entire standard production was marked with the right-hand tang stamp "SCHRADE" over "U.S.A. 13/14OT" perpendicular to the blade and read from the handle. This tang stamp remained unchanged during the few years of production.
So far, no American company has, since July of 2004, tooled up and begun producing their own versions of either knife that I am aware of.
Taylor Brands LLC. (formerly Taylor Cutlery) is an importer and wholesaler of knives, and now a licenser of the Schrade trademarks to some American cutlery manufacturers, and not a manufacturer themselves. While they are currently importing several fixed blade patterns, so far the 41OT pattern has not appeared on the market. The Taylor Schrade knives are contracted to a cutlery factories in China and the knives so far are all stainless (no "+" mark). The Taylor tang stamps are "SCHRADE" on the right aligned with the front of the handle, and pattern number"***OT" on the obverse with the same alignment. Neither the importer's name, nor the country of origin is stamped on the knives themselves, but the first ones imported bear a left hand etch of the Taylor/Schrade Logo with the words "SCHRADE" over "CHINA '05", along with etched text "First Production Run". The Taylor versions has, so far, the "SCHRADE" over "SUPER SHARP" etch on the right blade, the originals, as far as I have seen, do not.
The "sawcut" of the scales of the imported knives have a different appearance, more so under magnification. On the U.S. Schrade, the grooves are wider than the lands. On the imported knife, the grooves are narrower than the lands. The handle edge radius seems to be sharper than the Imperial Schrades. The rivet heads appear to be machine spun, not polished as on the U.S.A. produced knives. The Taylor "Old Timer" shield is of the rope border style that I have not seen used on the original OT's from Schrade.
The Taylor knives at first came in a box resembling an original Imperial Schrade blue box with a gray stripe on the left end and an American flag on the right top panel. The side panel is marked with the "Schrade Tough" logo and "Taylor Brands LLC." They have now been changed to be more distinctive from original Schrade boxes.
The 13/14OT knife patterns were evidently not very popular, so fewer were produced from the introduction to the cessation of production than many Schrade fixed blade patterns. Given the low number of units produced over such a short time period, and, having been discontinued for so long, the absence of manufacturer and dealer NOS knives, they are rightly considered modern rarities.
As with the predecessor fixed Old Timers, the textured Delrin handle provides a very sure grip even when wet, impervious to environmental heat or cold. It is impact resistant, not prone to being easily damaged by nicks and chips, and a not bad approximation of burnt bone in color and appearance. The nickle silver compression rivets, used from beginning to end, hardly ever loosen or corrode. Since the pattern is constructed of so few pieces, service problems are practically non-existent. The AISI 1095 high carbon steel is an excellent cutlery steel. Rockwell hardness is "c" of 56-57, according to Schrade records. This is hard enough to be somewhat wear resistant, yet soft enough to be flexible to resist chipping and breakage. They were good knives and comfortable to use, but did not seem to catch the eye of the buying public like the larger knives.
. You can't beat the Schrades IMO some of the best knives ever made and moreso the history lessons that can be looked at and learned here.