Fond scout knife memories?

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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I know we all love those stockmen, barlows, muskrats, and the rest. But I was wondering if I was the only one who has alot of fond memories of scout knives? We got many ex-scouts here?

I remember when all the major American knife companies had a scout knife in the line up, and it was a big thing each year to get the Official approval from the scouting high ups as the "Official" scout knife that year. Schrade, Imperial, Keen Kutter, PAL, Camillus, Ka-bar, and even Utica used to try to get the official contract. I know it did not mean much, but as a 12 year old I recall it made a big difference to have the "Official" knife.

I think it was the scout knife of my youth that made me a fan of the sak's. I got used to having a can opener around. Now I know a can opener these days of pull tabs does not seem like a big thing, but it used to be. What was a camping trip without the ever present can of beans. Not any old can of beans, it had to be the Cambells Pork and beans. I don't know why it mattered, but to a 12 year old it did seem to matter.

The other night I was tending my cigar box of old pocket knives and I had to patch up a crack in the bone handle of the old Imperial scout knife my Uncle Pat had given me when I became a scout. Aside from the blade worn down some, and the crack in the jiged bone handle it was in pretty fair shape. I got some epoxy down in the crack using a piece of .005 thousands shim stock to stabilize and seal it. The blades patina is a deep charcoal grey. Lots of memories.

Memories like campfire beans. This is a dish unlike anything that comes off your stove top or microwave. The usual practice was to open the top of the can with your trusty scout knife, but leave the top sticking up. This was to better grab it to get the can off the fire when properly cooked. The thin metal of the top also got very hot so scortched fingers were part of the experiance. Also with the sharp top sticking up, it was better to cut you with as you fumbled for the can while blinded with smoke in your eyes. Our fires were always a bit smoky. As we camped on "our" island in the marsh, things were always a bit damp. This made for smokey campfires. Not a bad thing in moskito season, but sometimes our fires got smokey enough that the Naval Air staion on the other side of the bay would send over a helicopter to see if one of thier planes went down. They just would circle once then leave, seeing it was just a couple of 12 year olds making campfire beans. Guess they did'nt want to stay for dinner.

I think it was the consistancy of the dish that was unique. Putting the whole can on the fire ment the beans on top got luke warm, while the beans on the bottom burned and stuck to the bottom. Add a little wood ash drifting into it, and the odd insect that ended up sinking into the stuff like a dinasour in the tar pits, stir well with a stick that leaves a little bark behind and you have a very different culinary treat.

Even today, I pick up a scout knife and open the can opener blade to see how well used it was.

I guess my love of scout knives is from they were the first real knife I used in the outdoors.
 
The can opener is still important as far as I'm concerned. I've used mine on the SAK a time or two at work. Like any old soldier from C-Rats or other canned periods, the P-38 opener was something we hoarded, keeping one on the dog tag chain (lightly taped so as not to slice off a part of your chest.) The Scout knives, Military Utility/demo knives, and Wenger have the right configuration. I prefer Victorinox over Wenger generally, but have always wished Vic had the later's can opener config, even if it ment giving up that particular screw driver tip.

Even though we were in Scouts together, most of the woods time was with a friend of mine from down the road. As I said earlier, our BS leaders were a bit lame. Cub Scouts was pretty active though. My Mom was the primary Den Mother of our Pack. He lived by a covered bridge that was in daily use at the time. We would camp in a little area just before the woods on our farm within sight of the pond. I remember campfires there and how we felt like we were fine woodsmen treking the deepest wilderness.

A myriad of memories float back. Fishing in the pond, running the woods, my poorly managed attempts at running a trap line with no guidance on how too. I can still smell, and miss, the wood fires, the sound of snow hissing through the trees as I stood silently listening. Evenings and dark nights sitting in the barn listening to the rain on the tin roof as I watched it outside. I still love to sit in a quiet place listening and watching the rain at night with maybe a distant light touching some of the drops.

I may have missed a lot with the Boy Scouts, but the farm, the stories I read, and my Scout Manuals and Boy's Life kept the desire fed. I didn't finally loose track of my Boy Scout manual until sometime well into my adult years.

Now that I have good accounterments for going woodsy, I don't have the places to go, or the engergy sometimes. Back then, I didn't really know much, but I sure had a good time with the little I knew and some big dreams. I couldn't tell you one knife pattern from another, I just had one sometimes and used it. Ahh, youth is wasted on the young.

I used that Official Yucca Pack and my Official Mess Kit and the Canteen on New Year's eve when I was 16. We'd moved to Texas and I hicked out to a hill on the ranch called Buck Hill. There I cooked some link sausages I'd brought in my mess kit over a small fire. I went to bed before midnight, got woken by a deer passing by my camp, and saw a beautiful sunrise. I even had carried our old H&R 922 revolver with me. It wasn't nothing, even expected to see kids afield alone with guns. You were kind of expected to know what you were doing by then.

I'm looking forward to hearing these tales while I sit back and let my own mind drift back. If I ever find a place to put a nostaligia piece about the old pond that I can link to for sharing I'll do so.

Fond memories you fine collection of codgers and reprobates.
 
As I posted in a different thread, the first knife of my own that I remember was a Camillus 3 blade cub scout that I received for Christmas. When I "graduated" to Boy Scouts I got rid of that kid's knife as soon as I could. I went thorugh a whole host of pocketknives, but the one I remember is a Wenger Securite style with the BSA logo on the side and the standard engraved main blade. I think that one is still rattling around my parent's house somewhere. My son is ready for his first knife and I really wish I had one of the above to pass down. I think I will probably buy a new Camillus Cub Scout for him. Unfotunately it looks like a better pick it up soon.:(

P.S. I can remember being at a camporee at a "historic vilage". I can remember several of us finding a pedal operated sharpening wheel and all of us taking a turn with our trusty blades on that big spinning piece of stone. Well at least the knives mostly survived.
 
One of my favorite knives is the Camillus replica of the Remington R4243 Camp Bullet. Big and heavy, but exactly what I wanted in a camp style knife. Large clip point blade, shorter thinner sheepfoot blade, screwdriver/bottle opener combo, and a long punch/awl. Nice bone scales. Thich brass liners and spacers. :thumbup:
 
I had a couple of camillus boy scout knives over the years and loved them all. the fit and finish on the knives seemed to be very good considering the price. the last one i had my son borrowed when he was about 10 and dropped in a lake. really a good knife for the money. later, ahgar
 
My very first knife was an Ulster scout knife, given to me in the late 60s.

I am still involved with scouting as a leader.
 
My first knife was a standard 4-blade Camillus Scout. A quiet night in April, it was handed to me at the Cub Scout crossover, all shiny and new. A lot of knives have come since, but this old workhorse never left my side. It was sometimes paired with its big brother -a Camillus Scout lockback- but for a lot of years, it rode along. 5 summer camps, a National Jamboree, thousands of opened cans, tightened screws and whittled sticks.

It's still with me, that old friend. Parked in my backpack downstairs as a matter of fact, it's still sharp and ready, and still goes hiking with me. :)
 
I'm jealous, guys, as i never had the scouting experience as a kid. I had a choice, but I guess I chose not to join. Funny, cause my older brother and both parents were heavily involved in scouting.

I was able to make up for that a bit, with my own son. He was a cub scout, now in boy scouts. I was a den leader and asst. cubmaster with our pack. I felt it quite an honor to teach the boys in my den about knives and help them earn their whittling chip card. After they had earned their card, I presented them with used cub scout knives that I had rescued off ebay. I doubt they understood the gesture, and probably thought, "cheap SOB, these aren't even new". Who knows.

I went with our pack to resident camp for a few years in a row, and got to see the boys using their pocketknives. Sadly, the camp rules somewhat prohibited the carrying of knives??? We just told the boys to leave them at campsite, and they could take them out around camp. The boys stood in awe as I produced my Schrade 225H to sharpen some roasting sticks. Some boys did not have any knife, and desperately wanted one. Sadly, they could not buy one unless their parents were present, and hounded them to buy one when they came to pick them up.

Resident camp is one of the few places where it is "okay" for a boy to use a pocket knife. They are all but banned from most other scouting events. And pretty much can't be shown in public anymore. Sad world we live in.

I collect alot of examples of the scout/utility pattern, and have quite a few SAK as well. I guess I"m trying to make up for lost youth.

Thanks for the great images, guys.

Glenn
 
My first knife was a standard BSA Scout Knife by Western - the one with the brown faux jigged bone scales. I still have it.

Years later, a neighbor gave me his pre-WWII Ulster Knife Co. Scout Knife. Boy what a difference in quality! It is a far superior knife. Still have that one too, and think good thoughts about that neighbor, now long passed.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Years later, a neighbor gave me his pre-WWII Ulster Knife Co. Scout Knife. Boy what a difference in quality! It is a far superior knife. Still have that one too, and think good thoughts about that neighbor, now long passed.
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Those are rare to be unbroken. Treasure. :)
 
Still have his note too, with his kind words on something we shared. It would be a treasure if it was wreck, but it's 95% full with super snap My son gets it some day in the, hopefully, distant future.
 
I am a huge fan of the scout pattern. I became an eagle scout in 1998. The troop I was in was a perfect fit for me as it left out the singing, cheers and skits that make most people drop out whem they hit high school. We were pretty much a group if guys that liked to go camping once a month. I have about ten different official scout knives, but I gave my first one to my brother when he started scouts. I will put up some pics later but photobucket is down right now, and I have a torn ACL so it could take me a while.
 
Rivit said:
I am a huge fan of the scout pattern. I became an eagle scout in 1998. The troop I was in was a perfect fit for me as it left out the singing, cheers and skits that make most people drop out whem they hit high school. We were pretty much a group if guys that liked to go camping once a month. I have about ten different official scout knives, but I gave my first one to my brother when he started scouts. I will put up some pics later but photobucket is down right now, and I have a torn ACL so it could take me a while.
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Just ahead of you- Class of 1997. :D My troop was similar, with none of the childish BS that so many seem enamored with. Best part was how we actually learned the stuff, in spite of no cutesy junk.

When I was a Star, we had a camporee in mid-winter, and got stuck splitting a campsite with one of the ultra-formal, chanting and cheering troops. Pure Eagle factory, and it showed that night. Our guys had their tents up and a good fire going in about 15 minutes, while old Troop 777 was stuck shivering. :D
 
I made Eagle. I still have my Ulster boy scout knife. It is 39 or 40 years old.
Learned my love of camping from the scouts. Also owe them a debt for the training in first aid, lifesaving, etc.

Singing, cheers, and skits???
 
Sword and Shield said:
Just ahead of you- Class of 1997. :D My troop was similar, with none of the childish BS that so many seem enamored with. Best part was how we actually learned the stuff, in spite of no cutesy junk.

When I was a Star, we had a camporee in mid-winter, and got stuck splitting a campsite with one of the ultra-formal, chanting and cheering troops. Pure Eagle factory, and it showed that night. Our guys had their tents up and a good fire going in about 15 minutes, while old Troop 777 was stuck shivering. :D
Click to expand...
Had a similar experience when I had made Star.

We were at an event(can't remember for the life of me what it was, nor WHERE it was here in Texas...) and our troop knew full well that we were expecting some weather because, aside from the forecast, our scoutmasters had taught us how to read the clouds pretty well, and we all saw a storm brewin'...

Well, our camp was set up ready for a gale before we turned in, although that was admittedly the norm... feel like even Mr. Van would have approved of how buttoned down our camps were, as one of our scoutmasters was a retired Marine Gunnery Seargent, himself!

Anywho... about two in the morning, my buddy Nick and I wake up to a commotion coming from a neighboring camp. Wind had picked up substantially through the night, and the rain was whipping, but we were warm and dry in our tent!

Next thing we know, we hear one of our scoutmasters(a retired Army Seargent Major) rouse our camp to help the troops near us.

It was pure pandemonium in the other troops campsites!

Entire tents had been blown away, rain flies ripped from the mesh tents they had brought, cooking sites in utter disarray... hell, even one of their scoutmasters had to track his tent down! It was nearly a half mile away from where he had originally posted up, completely in tatters, blown away while he was trying to calm his troop down and get them sheltered! A lot of the scouts in the campsites around us wound up staying under our dining fly(it was set up low and hunkered down in preparation for the storm), only venturing out as their troop numbers were called, when their campsite was up on our list.

After we wound up getting the other troops set back up, and imparting some of the wisdom we had learned from our scoutmasters, we went back to our campsite.

The gale was still blowing, the wind was still whipping the rain enough that it stung our faces and made us squint the whole way back... but once we stripped our rain gear off, we were dry and warm in our tents!

We got recognized by the event leadership, and a lot of thanks from the troops that were our camp neighbors... but honestly... the fact that we were one of the few scout troops that didn't wind up needing assistance, but rather GIVING assistance to other troops during the storm, was one of our crown jewels during that event.

We also pretty well swept the competitive events like fire building, general camp craft, and orienteering courses... but looking back, I think the fact that we got a better night's sleep than most of the troops MAY have had something to do with that.
 
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