Camillus Yello-Jaket w/serrations

[Amos Iron Wolf]

I've been wanting to get one of the Yello-Jackets in either a stockman or congress pattern with the serrated sheepsfoot blade. I finally won one, a congress (yep, another happy Monday at the PO Box) at a price I was okay with, NIB with papers. I'm happy with it. Good springs, good blades, though I'll need to oil the pivots to get the gunk out of them before it is completely smooth. The YJ will fit in nicely with my Yellow Handle Cases.

Ever since I've seen the 3 or 4 bladed knives with the serrated blade I thought they were an excellent idea for a working knife, particularly if you are dealing with rope or webbing. A quick shot on some 1/2 sisal made it clear the blade works well. Now if one of the pen knifes was a punch it would be even better.

Nothing fancy, but here's a pic. Btw, it pockets very well.

 

[waynorth]

Nice useful looking knife, Amos! Carbon or stainless?
See next post- sorry guys!

 

[waynorth]

Nice useful looking knife, Amos! Carbon or stainless?
There are some woodcarvers around here who own several YJs; they reshape the blades to their favorite configurations, often making them unrecognizable. Great knife for the money-they will be missed by many!

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Everything I've seen listed for current ones shows them as "High Carbon Stainless Steel." In other words, 420HC. Just plain carbon would have been nice. Did they make these in carbon steel? According to the paperwork in the box the two types of steel were High Carbon or Swordsteel. So this must be an older one and since it doesn't say Swordsteel or indicate stainless anywhere on the blade it may just be carbon. The blade is magenetic, but then so is 420HC. I may have to try a vineger test.

I just noticed in small print on the inside of the box lid there is a date (maybe a printing date) 9-97. So maybe someone more Camillus knowledgable out there will know what they were making them out of in 97.

It think I may have made a mistake. In looking over other patterns in the YJ series, to include a nice looking Canoe, Trapper, Muskrat..., I've realized - I WANT EM! The 712Y could just be that first chip that you can't have just one of.

Lol, I had a flashback. When my wife, who I've mentioned I came back in '96 to marry after 21 yrs apart, was just a good little girl fresh into high school we were going steady. One night I french kissed her and she started crying because her momma told her that kind of stuff led to other things. I petted her head and told her that everything was okay. She still remembers me comforting her, and that she discovered mebbe it wasn't so bad after all.

Maybe her momma was right though, this kind of stuff could lead to other things.

 

[JD Mandrell]

That's a nice Congress!

 

[berzerker]

I'd be interested in what steel went into that line back in the late 80's. I've got a twin-lock trapper, and it was just plain brutal to sharpen. I finally reprofiled on a Sharpmaker starting with the diamond rods, and working up.

 

[JD Mandrell]

I'd be interested in what steel went into that line back in the late 80's. I've got a twin-lock trapper, and it was just plain brutal to sharpen. I finally reprofiled on a Sharpmaker starting with the diamond rods, and working up.

I've got a Yellow-Jacket lockblade that is the same way, one of the hardest to sharpen knives I own!

 

[berzerker]

Thanks for that validation "Last Confederate." When I ran into my difficulties I thought I was losing my touch.

Best regards.

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

LOL, I had the same problem last night! It was driving me crazy before I finally got it angling and sharpening decently. I think mine may be 420HC. I can't seem to get the "feel" for a better word when sharpening it. I finally managed to get it sharp on the main blade. The two small pen blades were already pretty sharp and touched up without too much trouble.

I carried the knife to work today and it carries well, almost as unnoticable as the Case Peanut. I would say about 98% as well. This could become my new EDC favorite real quick. How it holds an edge may be the deciding factor, but I do like the separate serrated blade option.

 

[JD Mandrell]

Here is mine, it actually says "Remington" on it, but it's a Camillus Yellow-Jacket.

The steel is just flat out HARD, it took diamond hones to finally reprofile it and get a decent edge on it.

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Just an update. The YJ is now the steady EDC in my pocket at work and at home. This is the first 4 blader, or 3 for that matter, that I have found that carries like it isn't even there. It carries as well as the peanut and I really appreciate that. The peanut may be a little upset and it was getting such a nice patina. Sigh. I guess my ears will now be up for more Yello-Jakets on the bay. I'd really like to try a canoe in the line.

Nice locker TLC. I like that a lot. I think it's time to start a Yellow Handled photo thread.