Bought an old Herters belt knife today

dipbait

dipbait

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Feb 9, 2008
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I stopped at a Trading post and there was this Canadian Belt Knife made by Herters. I probably overpaid for it, fifteen bucks, but I thought it was cool. Dont know much about Herters and would appreciate any information.

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Herters was famous in the 50's and 60's for their catalog. Everything in it was "the best that can be had". Some of their claims were outrageous, but in general they had good stuff. The original Herter's went out of business long ago.

Good find.
 
I think you did fine.Looks like the Canadian belt knife currently produced by Murphy,but yours has a nicer sheath.
 
Pre-GCA '68, Herter's was huge in sporting goods. George Herter was extremely agressive in pricing and marketing. I don't think they made much, if anything, but they sure had a lot of stuff made under contract to their specs. A lot of their reloading gear is still in use. They were after the user market. I don't think any of their stuff was really top quality, but it was almost all good enough and a few bucks cheaper.

They got hurt bad by GCA '68 and never recovered although they hung on for another decade or so. Much of their business was firearms related, including some proprietory cartridges. When all that had to go through an FFL dealer, that market died.
 
ditto to leftoverdj. you made an excellent buy. as mentioned herters surely beat their own drum. much was of decent quality & i've known many ole timers that swore by herters.
 
Thanks for the info. I sharpened it and took it fishing yesterday evening.
 
Herters was the Cabelas of their day. I've thought of picking up an old catalog on ebay just for the memories.
 
Not only was Herters the Cabelas of its day, several senior people went to Cabelas when it closed. Check out the current Cabela's catalog and you will find they are actually using the "Herters" label on a few lines.
 
I have a little tiny pair of Herters opposed prism binoculars out of my dad's estate, about as small as binoculars can be and still work. Made for them in Japan, good quality optics for 11.00 original price. I think they also sold fishing gear.

Parker
 
That is a very nice knife, probably 60s or 70s vintage. I still use a kitchen knife set I got from Herter's in 1973. Still like new. And that sheath is gorgeous. They sold a full line of fishing and hunting and camping gear, guns, snowmobiles...you name it. Cabelas took over some of their stock when they folded, it is said.
 
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