Frost Cutlery?

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afishhunter

afishhunter

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Junk "knife shaped objects"? or are any worth buying? Specifically interested in the Barlow, Canoe, and Sunfish patterns.
 
Most is junk, I'm sure there are a few usable ones.
Save your money and buy the best you can possibly afford. that way you will only cry once! Not every time you use the piece of junk.
 
I'm fortunate enough to live close enough to the factory and showroom in Ooltewah, TN to visit every once in a while. The only thing I've bought from them are Case knives, and they have the best prices, hands down, of any other authorized Case knife dealer I've seen anywhere. Plus, it's just fun to spend an hour or so walking through the huge showroom.
 
Frost from the 70s from Japan, well made great F&F back then reasonably priced. Today I wouldn't buy any of their cutting offerings but if anything from the 70s Japan era I'd jump on.
 
Frost from the 70s-80s from Japan, well made great F&F back then reasonably priced. Today I wouldn't buy any of their cutting offerings but if anything from the 70s-80s Japan era I'd jump on.

Here's one I bought in the 80s and I've carried regularly, if put it up against the Case/Bose Swayback Jack any day as far as quality and materials.

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I'll be the odd one out here and say that for the money, they're not too terrible. I bought a yellow bone "Steel Warrior" trapper from the local hardware store on a whim one day for $15 and was pleasantly surprised! It took hair off my arm with both blades and there is no hint of a gap on any part of the knife; my only gripe is the pull on both blades is fairly light, maybe a 4 out of 10. All in all, if you like the way one looks, it's not a total waste to go ahead and buy it. I've used mine a good bit at work for cardboard and it has held up beautifully.
 
The Inlay Shield on the Steel Warriors is actually pressed cardboard. A friend of mine left a Steel Warrior in his jeans pocket and the pants ended up in the washing machine. As he was removing his clothes from the washer, he noticed little bits of cardboard all through his laundry. Then he found the knife at the bottom of the load, minus the shield.
 
early frost cutlery made some excellent knives.knives 042.jpgknives 013.jpg

The early Frost were often used by Scrimshaw artist Linda Layden. If you find those, you will be most satisfied, she did unreal work. The vintage Tomahawk is highly collectable.
 
I bought a small canoe pattern frost about a year ago. It had a nice teal dyed bone. I didn't inspect it close I. The store, but when I got home and started to really look at it the f&f was nice no gaps or anything. The only drawback was the spring on the main blade stands proud when open. I wasn't too impressed. It put me off from buying another frost. Buty thoughts are if it is just going to be a case queen and not used it may be worth a buy for a collection
 
They use 440A steel and the springs on the slipjoints (snap & pull) are generally pretty weak. They are made in China. Generally the quality control (fit & finish) is pretty good considering the price. Have not cut much with them, but my impression is that you are likely to be doing a fair amount of sharpening after moderate use. But, if you are looking for something inexpensive for occasional use, one of their knives would fill the void. They are what they are....

I bought a large sunfish and large trapper (Ocoee River Series) a couple years ago to look them over fairly close. I probably handled 5 or 6 of each pattern to pick the ones I did. My observation is that overall there is very little difference between individual knives and looking for the "good one" is mostly a waste of time. I did this at the factory store where you can rummage through a lot of them comparing individual knives as they are not kept under glass.

If I were looking to buy these kinds of less expensive knives, I would look at Rough Rider and Colt brandings. They are a pretty good value for the money overall. Both of these get surprisingly good reviews by owners and are priced about the same as the Frost Cutlery stuff. Edge holding is still an issue, but they have good snaps for the price.

My thought has always been why there is a difference between them as I suspect they are made in the same factories. The ownership of each were somewhat linked if you step back 20 years. Jim Parker and the Frosts were business partners at one time. Parker's brother started the big knife store in Sevierville TN. Jim Parker is now deceased.
 
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