@bertl: Thanks for the great info.
TAH
I think the origin stories of knife companies matters a lot. Camillus was one of a huge number of (primarily) slip joint manufacturers from the 1800s that were based in New York and to a lesser extent in MA, RI and PA. Peers include New York Knife, Imperial, Schrade and Case to name a very few. Case still survives and Camillus outlasted Schrade. GEC keeps the flame alive.
Buck started in Kansas and then moved to CA and started its life with fixed blades. I think of Western and Marbles as peers - midwestern in origin and primarily about fixed blades. For this reason, think Bucks 100 series fixed blades as the core of Buck's identity even in ways that our beloved 110 is not.
Expansion of product lines and outsourcing of production have been common themes US manufacturing across the board and Buck is alive while neither Western nor Marbles are. (The Marbles name is just a marketing name like current Camillus and Schrade are - nothing to do really with the original production). So, I'm not going to fault Buck for expanding their offerings by outsourcing knives to first Schrade and then to Camillus. As others have noted, it was pretty common for manufacturers to make things that would be rebranded. Many guns and knives were sold under the Craftsman label that weren't made by Sears.
I have a nice condition Camillus made 301 in my roll and when I regard it, I consider it to be a Camillus first and foremost. There's an old sort of rough Camillus r us collectors web site where you can find old Camillus and Schrade catalogs. I think they're great reads and reading about the boom and bust of the east coast slip joint makers is worthwhile I think.
TAH
I think the origin stories of knife companies matters a lot. Camillus was one of a huge number of (primarily) slip joint manufacturers from the 1800s that were based in New York and to a lesser extent in MA, RI and PA. Peers include New York Knife, Imperial, Schrade and Case to name a very few. Case still survives and Camillus outlasted Schrade. GEC keeps the flame alive.Buck started in Kansas and then moved to CA and started its life with fixed blades. I think of Western and Marbles as peers - midwestern in origin and primarily about fixed blades. For this reason, think Bucks 100 series fixed blades as the core of Buck's identity even in ways that our beloved 110 is not.
Expansion of product lines and outsourcing of production have been common themes US manufacturing across the board and Buck is alive while neither Western nor Marbles are. (The Marbles name is just a marketing name like current Camillus and Schrade are - nothing to do really with the original production). So, I'm not going to fault Buck for expanding their offerings by outsourcing knives to first Schrade and then to Camillus. As others have noted, it was pretty common for manufacturers to make things that would be rebranded. Many guns and knives were sold under the Craftsman label that weren't made by Sears.
I have a nice condition Camillus made 301 in my roll and when I regard it, I consider it to be a Camillus first and foremost. There's an old sort of rough Camillus r us collectors web site where you can find old Camillus and Schrade catalogs. I think they're great reads and reading about the boom and bust of the east coast slip joint makers is worthwhile I think.
) I don't know if the 303 has thin bolsters or not.
