Has anyone got one of the Remington RS3333 Boy Scout Knives

Smaug

Smaug

Joined
Jun 30, 2003
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I was reading some of jackknife's prose from the sticky thread at the top.

It reminded me that when I was a lad in the 80s I had one of these. Mine was Camillus though, and I remember it rusted almost immediately. Having only had Swiss Army Knives prior to that, I was not aware that pocket knives were ever made from carbon steel. I didn't even know what carbon steel was. I think I threw it out!

I was reading a thread over in the multi-tool sub-forum, and saw jackknife said he liked a Wenger SAK and a Pioneer for the alox models. But he wished they still had the hollow rivet or a bail on the Pioneer models. Then, I thought: "If you're going to have a Pioneer with a bail, why not just get a Boy Scout knife?" So I looked on Amazon and found that Remington still makes it from the original plan, and that Camillus doesn't make it any more. (I looked on Camillus' website too)

I don't think I'm allowed to link to it, but you should be able to find it with the information I've given above.

I don't recall my scout knife having this tool set. I recall mine having a large blade, can opener, bottle opener, and an awl, along with a bail. The bottle opener wasn't as long, and the can opener was a completely different pattern, more similar to Wenger's can opener.

Mine was similar to Case's "Jr. Scout" model, but with brown delrin scales:
http://www.wrcase.com/knives/family/boy-scouts-of-america/

Ah, I found it. Here's what mine looked like:
CAMC4Fopen.jpg


(from this page on Boy Scout Knives)
http://www.scoutknives.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=58
 
I have one of the remakes and it isn't bad but it isn't great either. AFAIK, it's made by Bear & Son. I was originally just going to display it but I decided to use it instead, went to a Scout Klondike Derby with me last weekend.
 
Be sure to tell us how you like it once you get it. Looking forward to hearing about it.
 
knarfeng said:
Be sure to tell us how you like it once you get it. Looking forward to hearing about it.
Click to expand...

I should take a pic with the rest of my Scout knives, it certainly looks nice. The main blade was sharp out of the box with about a 6 out of 10 pull. The rest of the tools work, though the tab on the can opener is pretty sharp. If I were to pocket carry I'd have to take a file to the can opener tab but since I keep it in a belt sheath there's no need. Overall F&F is lesser than my Case Scouts but again not bad and better than my Rough Rider. I don't have any old BSA knives to compare it with though.

If you can get it for less than regular retail like I did it's a cool knife and nice addition to my Scouts. I like it enough to consider going after the other repros for the right price.
 
zippofan: your Case scout knife, are you talking about the one they have in the current catalog that they call 'Jr. Scout Knife?' Or is it a past version you're talking about?
 
Smaug said:
zippofan: your Case scout knife, are you talking about the one they have in the current catalog that they call 'Jr. Scout Knife?' Or is it a past version you're talking about?
Click to expand...
I have both the newer Jr. Scout and an older Case "Camper" with Delrin scales and a pliers. The Remington is bigger than the Jr. Scout, roughly the same size as the Camper, my Rough Rider and others in my collection.

I wish I had more time, I'll line 'em all up for a pic (Camillus "demo", Case, RR, Remington, Colonel Coon, Boker, incoming Weidmannsheil, SAK). The Scout is my favorite pattern.
 
I received the knife today, and it is kind of a disappointment.

zippofan was right, the tab for the can opener was sharp, and would easily abrade right through a typical pants pocket liner. I'd be willing to fix this myself. 5 minutes with a Dremel and small stone would do it. or even jeweler's files.

The Boy Scout shield is not centered on the handle. Somehow, I doubt they were manufactured like this in 1924, Remington. Doing some soul-searching, I decided I could cope with this as well.

Looking at the grind of the sharpening job on the blade, I see that one side is at a steeper angle than the other. Damn. I didn't think I was a picky person, but now, I'm starting to question myself. I have a certain scale of expectation for a knife that slides around, depending on the price. This is a $56 knife, so I'm right at about the breaking point here.

The last straw was when I noticed that the can opener hits the tip of the knife blade when I try to close the can opener. If you look closely at the photos, you can see the bent-over tip of the blade. To me, blades rubbing or hitting each other is completely unacceptable, no matter what the knife price was. For a company that can manufacture precision gun barrels, one would think that producing a good quality pocket knife would be a piece of cake. Apparently not.

On the flip side, the packaging was outstanding. There is a fold-out sheet of historical ads for boy scout knives, a special corrosion protection sheet, a registration card, an outer sleeve for the box, the whole 9 yards. I wish they would have saved this expense, and actually finished the knife properly.

I think I'm going to either get a used Camillus Boy Scout knife like I had when I was a lad or a Kamp-King like my grandpa had when I was a lad instead. The Camillus, I only had for a short time. I traded it for something else when I quit the scouts. The Kamp-King reminds me of my grandpa, and they're cheap on ebay right now, so I think I'm leaning that way.

Here are the pix of the Remington:

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Was this knife made by Bear & Son for Remington? They have the original tooling I believe. I have an identical knife dated 2009 manufactured by Bear & Son.
 
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JHG57 said:
Was this knife made by Bear & Son for Remington? They have the original tooling I believe. I have an identical knife dated 2009 manufactured by Bear & Son.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I don't doubt it. I wonder if worn-out tooling explains the sloppy build quality?

It would also explain how Remington could put out a precision rifle, but a terrible pocketknife. :)
 
I'd be disappointed too. While mine isn't perfect it looks decent and is usable. The blade grind is ok, could have been sharper but I feel that way about a lot of my new knives. That's a bummer that the can opener hits like that, I just checked mine and it clears the blade.

I've read two opinions of Bear, ok and not ok. I have a Sideliner lock that's ok too but nothing to write home about.

I just received a new Weidmannsheil Scout, it's a really nice knife. The only thing missing is the bail.
 
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