H&r ?

Hickory n steel

Hickory n steel

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
20,104
What are your guy's thoughts on the current production hen and rooster knives ? I see the prices on them being about the same or a little more than case knives, but how do they compare in the quality department ?
 
I think (?) Hen and Rooster brand is owned now by A.G. Russell. I've a couple old H&Rs from the original German maker, Bertram.
I've got a couple of AGs knives (not H&R) and they are well made.

Correction: H&R was owned by AG until 1980. Don't know who is making them now. Those on AG's site are those remaining in stock from when he owned the brand and are excellent knives.

Rich
 
Last edited:
I have a medium H&R deer stag stockman it is a cracking little EDC knife and more likely to find its way into my pocket than either of the three Case stockman i have, although to be honest i mostly carry a #25 LJ.
 
If A.G Russell actually took over H&R, we might see some really nice knives under this label. He did in the past, I don't know what's on currently. I just trust A.G Russell to put out the bestest stuff.
 
AGR's website says the courts dissolved the little company and took away the trademark. I think I've read somewhere that H&Rs are made in Italy now.
 
H&R name owned by Frost and made mostly in china but many labeled german. Some labeled spain, I have no reason to question those. It is easy to spot the real German made models, but I expect those are a thing of the past.

I was never terribly impressed by the AG era HR's, but have seen some nice ones. Others think this was the golden age. Some of the nicest seems to be late '90s early '00s.
 
Wolf -

That is an outstanding H&R collection. Makes me drool all over the keyboard.
Rich
 
So is there any solid evidence that the current Jim frost owned H&R knives are in fact made in China and not Germany ( I believe him frost has owned H&R for a while now ), I know that the Bowie's ( also sold under bulldog brand ) are made in Spain, and I'm assuming that the rubber grip skinning knives are made in China. But it's the pocketknives that I'm curious about, because I don't imagine them costing case prices if they were made in China.
 
Wolfe That STAG Serp Whittler and the Equal End look superb, I'd be after one if I could!

Current H&R knives I've had seem to have very good F&F whatever their origins. Blades tend to be a bit small on the recent Whittlers for my taste but a reasonable knife for the money.
 
Wolfe, that is a nice set and the one that sticks in my mind when thinking of great HR knives.

I haven't handled a knife made in the last 3-4 years, but the f/f seemed very good even when the knives seemed to be made at different locales.
 
From what I have been able to come up with, in another thread, and knife magazines, knives that have made in Germany--German on shields and tang stamps are German steel sent to China, Taiwan Etc. to be assembled and sent back to Germany. The knives that have Solingen on tangs or shield are made and assembled in Germany,(meaning true German knives). This is true for Boker, Eye Brand, Hen & Rooster, and most other German knives. This is just my observations, and not meant to be actual facts, so do your home work, as I am unable to supply links.
Harold
 
Rather costly manufacturing method though surely? Sending blades back and forth....Generally I do trust the Solingen stamp, could easily be faked of course. At the end of the day do as Levine says "Read the knife" Is it any good? Is it well put together? Does it look and feel right? The origins are of lesser concern....unless you are deliberately being ripped off costwise etc.
 
Will Power said:
Rather costly manufacturing method though surely? Sending blades back and forth....Generally I do trust the Solingen stamp, could easily be faked of course. At the end of the day do as Levine says "Read the knife" Is it any good? Is it well put together? Does it look and feel right? The origins are of lesser concern....unless you are deliberately being ripped off costwise etc.
Click to expand...

Yes it does seem strange even to my mind:rolleyes:
Buuuut obviously more intelligent people than us formulate these international trade agreements.
You scratch our back and we'll scratch yours.
What perplexes me is the lack of transparency and the obvious ploy of hiding the facts behind buzzwords and jargon.
I agree Will -the origin is not a concern but quality is.
I think price is a good indicator-why is one Solingen knife 400 bux and another 13.99?
though they look the same.The discrepancy is huge which is in line with the labour costs I would imagine.
Business is business.
Boker have been more open with their international lines and branding than the others.
 
meako said:
Yes it does seem strange even to my mind:rolleyes:
Buuuut obviously more intelligent people than us formulate these international trade agreements.
You scratch our back and we'll scratch yours.
What perplexes me is the lack of transparency and the obvious ploy of hiding the facts behind buzzwords and jargon.
I agree Will -the origin is not a concern but quality is.
I think price is a good indicator-why is one Solingen knife 400 bux and another 13.99?
though they look the same.The discrepancy is huge which is in line with the labour costs I would imagine.
Business is business.
Boker have been more open with their international lines and branding than the others.
Click to expand...

It really sucks that they do that. For me it does matter where the knife is made, when the prices compare to case knives they better not be made in China ( if I want a Chinese pocketknife is buy a high value rough rider knife )
 
Last edited:
bucksforus said:
From what I have been able to come up with, in another thread, and knife magazines, knives that have made in Germany--German on shields and tang stamps are German steel sent to China, Taiwan Etc. to be assembled and sent back to Germany. The knives that have Solingen on tangs or shield are made and assembled in Germany,(meaning true German knives). This is true for Boker, Eye Brand, Hen & Rooster, and most other German knives. This is just my observations, and not meant to be actual facts, so do your home work, as I am unable to supply links.
Harold
Click to expand...

Boker makes knives all over the world, in my experience they are up front about origin and its marked on the knife and/or box. Pumas are another matter... :)
 
If you want top of the line quality in Hen & Roosters look for the old ones. They have many different marks such as Gutmann , Voss , C.Bertram. Some of the super rare ones are Fife , Acorn , Mutt etc.. They even made a few for Colt gun company stamped colt on the back of the tang. They are a good investment and seem to keep going up in value.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top