Dem bones, dem bones, dem blue bones!

[Codger_64]

I have been seeing blue jigged bone Schrades for a while now. I am told they never made it to retail, but came from the bins after the Schrade closing. One scenario I heard was that they were destined to be an issue for Lowe's Home Centers.

I recently saw another intriguing suggestion that they were going to be etched cigar box anniversary issues. One seller listed a knife with this explanation and the number "ACB296" for a blue bone trapper. I have seen a lockback, the trapper, a stockman, and a fixed blade all with the blue jigged bone. Anyone seen others, or know the straight and skinny on their story?

Codger

 

[textoothpk]

I thought the blue bones were beautiful, and thought immediately of the Case Lowes exclusive knives. I got the PH2. When I asked the seller, good old 'Andy', he said he had heard that they had been destined for Lowes. And who the hell wouldn't want to buy a Schrade, rather than a Case? But you do bring up a good point, and you have a model number to back it up. Pehaps it was to be a cigar box knife, maybe a Lowes exclusive. Good question.

Same subject, the Stag handled PH knives with the Ruger shield. That one was an immediate additon to my collection. Again, it appears to be that Schrade was making a move to be the official knife of that firearm firm. But as things happened, of course, Case ended up with that deal.

Damn, these kinda deals seemed like good ones for Schrade. Lowes, a big box retailer looking for a quality American knife, and Ruger, while being not as large a market, at least being one with some cache of prestige. Too little, too late, maybe. Shades of what might have been.

Phil

 

[Codger_64]

I am seeing several new knife designs now. Mostly refered to as "dug out of", or "found in" (office, scrap bin, knife bin, etc.). Most are variants of known patterns. A couple are quite unique. Like the 8-1/2" fixed blade drop point hunter with flat laminated wood scales cut 1/16" smaller than the tang all around. And the laser cut DU issue 15LTD with full filed back, jigged bone handled fillet knives, and a stockman with brown jigged bone handles and a coined rope border "OLD TIMER" shield. Then there are the fubar knives. One edition etch on the blade and a shield from some other edition from years past. What the heck, it fit the hole. Stainless UH and LTD blades with OT delrin scales, and OT blades with staglon.

Hard to tell what Schrade's last intentions were for 2004. It strangely reminds me of having to settle my father's estate. Amazement at the discovery of a carefully preserved photo of him with a Schwinn in a 1930's boys courrier uniform, a postwar picture of him in his James Dean jacket, crewcut, foot on the bumper of his deuce hiboy found in a sock drawer or bible, nostalgia from reading his daily journals of farm life in the 1960's ("Dear God, please let it rain".... "all tractor drivers are sick and I have to haul seed, load the planter, and plant by myself or forget the cutoff date".... "spent the day in Memphis looking for the repair part for the old Farmall tractor".... "finally rain! I'm celebrating by taking the family out to eat and a movie"), sadness and respect when pouring over his small collection of memorabilia from his WWII days...the "ruptured duck" pin, the Oddysey of his ship CA-71 U.S.S. Quincey, a commendation for a long battery shot that knocked out a halftrack chasing a U.S. General in France during Overlord, and his Tokyo VJ signing participation card, all in the life of a sixteen year old kid growing up fast and hard. And finally the filing cabinet with two drawers of meticulously filed paid bills, and a bottom drawer where dozens of creditor "or else" letters were haphazardly flung in the end.

Codger

 

[textoothpk]

Here's the drop point Codger speaks of:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6538462865&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

Damm, I hate those lazer cut out blades. Ever had to clean blood and gore out of them (animal gutting of course). I wonder about it, and others I see. Was it a cruddy idea that went back to the drawing board?

The future collectibility of these things: I dunna know for sure, but I wouldn't buy one with that intent. Maybe 50 years from now, when it's being sold as something special. For now, I'm joyfully picking up old Schrade-Waldens still in the plastic tubes, and a Schrade cut here and there. And they are cheap. The Schrade-closing craze didn't seem to affect those prices much and why should it, as they had already been out of production for a long, long time.

What are Schrade Collectors gonna make of these things in fifty years?

And great tale of your late dad's stuff, Mike. It's posts like that that make our forum so special.

Phil

 

[El Lobo]

Good thread.
Thanks for sharing the story Codger.

I too, have one of the jigged bone stockman patterns with a rope Old Timer shield. This one has a 100th Anniversary etch, Schrade+ blades, and is serialized (#010) on the front bolster. I think I mentioned this one before, but I'm too shiftless and lazy to search for the thread...
It came from the Schrade online store.....which was in full operation for maybe as long as you gotta stay on the bull to score points... .....maybe some of these were from the custom shop, or to be sold through the online store.... ....just guessing, of course.

I wish they would have made it to Lowe's..

Bill