Any Bear & Son fans out there?

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brokebladeenthusiast28

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Nov 7, 2023
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I was cleaning up part of my collection today, and I realized just how much I've come to appreciate Bear & Son knives. I know occasionally I've heard comments about the fit and finish on some of their pieces, but I've personally never had any complaints about my using knives from them. And from a collecting standpoint, I've just found some of their stuff to be really interesting. IMG_20231227_150106.jpgIMG_20231227_150115.jpgIMG_20231227_150344.jpgIMG_20231227_150155.jpg
 
I like to browse their stuff! Haven't found one yet that I had to have but I'm sure sometime there will be. There are a few Congress knives I've been eyeing pretty hard!
 
I just got this one for Christmas, and it seems to be a pretty decent knife
There's that bit of aweful recurve to the edge that most of their knives seem to have towards the kick, but otherwise the edge is sharp very even and consistent.
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I like this particular knife, but I'm still not ready to start buying B&S knives yet.
The biggest turn off for me is aesthetics, I don't know how to properly explain or describe what that means but many of them just don't look quite right.
The same issue is true with last of the Utica kutmaster traditional knives.
The blade shapes / profiles, frame shapes, nail nick shapes / placements are all a bit off.
Then there's the bone jigging and
dying / colors that are a little ugly looking in many cases.

I guess the best way to put it would be that most of them just kind of look like cheap imitations from say Frost cutlery.
If they put out a solid well put together functional knife that's great, but as a traditional knife enthusiast most of their knives are aesthetically offensive to me.
 
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I have a Cheetah Kodiak series that is a brother to your toothpick. It is a well made knife, Lets not forget that Bear made the Remington Bullet knivew for many years that were fine made knives. like Hickory n Steel said their patterns are a little off putting to me. They have"nt changed alot since Jim Parker owned the factory,
 
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Hickory n steel said:
That was my assumption as well, every one of the knives in that series are dead ringers for B&S knives.
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That's actually a pretty good looker you got there.

The Sharpfinger has a special place in my heart. We had a family friend when I was a young man out west, and he was a biker (Bandido) but a very close friend of the family and he died in a wreck around 1980. My uncle was one of his best friends and the parents gave him this knife. That guy wore it in front and the sheath is notched so you can pull it out without unsnapping it. When my uncle died, it came to me. It's been left as it was over 40 years ago.

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I have a few newer American Sharpfingers as well, but now that Schrade is gone (in my mind) I may buy a Bear & Son just to help the cause. They are a classic design with a deep history for me. Thanks for posting it.
 
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