Help ID this knife

Morrow

Morrow

Don't make this weird
Joined
Apr 11, 2007
Messages
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I found this knife in a box and have no idea where it came from. It is stamped L.L. Bean INC. Freeport ME. I'm pretty sure it is a CASE but thought I would ask the experts.

fish1.jpg


fish2.jpg
 
I can't tell you if Case made that, but I'll bet Mr. Levine can. At any rate, it's a fishing knife. Besides the main blade, there's a hook disgorger for help in removing your hook from a fish's mouth. On the side of the handle is a tiny stone meant for putting a sharp point on your hooks. I presume you've heard of L. L. Bean. It's a rather famous old company that's still in business.
 
Dr. Mudd said:
I can't tell you if Case made that, but I'll bet Mr. Levine can. At any rate, it's a fishing knife. Besides the main blade, there's a hook disgorger for help in removing your hook from a fish's mouth. On the side of the handle is a tiny stone meant for putting a sharp point on your hooks. I presume you've heard of L. L. Bean. It's a rather famous old company that's still in business.
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L.L. Bean? I thought that was the manufacturer....hehehe...kidding. I have another fishing knife similar to this so I'm familiar with its usefulness. I was just curious as to who produced the knife. I've seen several similar knives from different companies. I'm assuming it's a CASE because of the hook stone on the side.

Should I have posted this to the Mr Levine area instead? If so....could I get a moving crew please? :D
 
Nope, not at all. For years, Ka-Bar was Bean's U.S. source for pocket knives, They did contract out to other companies later on(Boker, EKA, Schrade, Wengen, etc....) later, but Ka-Bar was their main contractor till the 70's.

The hook stone doesn't mean much, because most of the old line companies offered them on their knives. The stone is eliminated by most companies in the 70's, as the folding fish knife as a pattern was dying off.
 
Bob,

Just as a point of information (and not rebuttal), I worked at Abercrombie & Fitch in the mid 70's in NYC. I have one of their A & F logo fish knives (made by Case in this instance) that still had the sharpener.

I know later on Case changed the size because when mine dropped off Case advised that the newer sharpeners wouldn't fit the knife from that period.

There's a picture of the knife (a bad one) in my photo albums (link is below my signature).
 
bob bowie said:
Nope, not at all. For years, Ka-Bar was Bean's U.S. source for pocket knives, They did contract out to other companies later on(Boker, EKA, Schrade, Wengen, etc....) later, but Ka-Bar was their main contractor till the 70's.

The hook stone doesn't mean much, because most of the old line companies offered them on their knives. The stone is eliminated by most companies in the 70's, as the folding fish knife as a pattern was dying off.
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wow...i never would have guessed that. i had pictures of a CASE fishing knife that looked almost exactly the same as the one I have. The pins were in the same place and the handle color and material looked the same. The only difference I could find was the vertical groove in the bolsters. I can't find any pictures of a Ka-Bar fishing knife. Do you know if these were made for anyone other than L.L. Bean?
 
Honestly, I don't know, all of the large Eastern brands have done so much private contracting over the years(heck most of them are related to each other through family connections or business conections) that it can be hard sorting them out.

For what it's worth this looks to be an earlier knife based on style and celluloid handle color(the older deep yellow cell.).
 
bob bowie said:
Hum, here's a Western in the same style: http://www.bobticeknives.com/12-26-western.jpg. And I've seen a few Ka-Bars in the round stone style before the switched to this newer style: http://cgi.ebay.com/1969-KABAR-2-bl...goryZ793QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. I wonder which company handled all the contracts?

:).
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my knife looks exactly like the first picture you posted. it has the same small hole through the one side of the bolster. the vertical lines in the bolster are also the same. the second picture has neither of these two characteristics. The hook stone is also round as it is in the first picture.
 
Yes, but Ka-Bar also used the round stone on earlier models. This is one of the problems with identifying older knives. Case, Western, and Ka-Bar have all used each other and other companies over over the years to help make their knives, so It could of been made by any one of those:(.
 
bob bowie said:
Yes, but Ka-Bar also used the round stone on earlier models. This is one of the problems with identifying older knives. Case, Western, and Ka-Bar have all used each other and other companies over over the years to help make their knives, so It could of been made by any one of those:(.
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I see....but isn't that what you experts are for? :D

How old would you say this knife is? 1950s 1960s?
 
From 1940-65 is a good bet, The pattern started to die off about the time Rapala fillet knives became popular, and I think most major firms dropped them by the late 70's. Also yours has the darker celluloid. Most of the American firms were switching over to the lighter, brighter and more stable yellow plastics by the 60's.
 
bob bowie said:
From 1940-65 is a good bet, The pattern started to die off about the time Rapala fillet knives became popular, and I think most major firms dropped them by the late 70's. Also yours has the darker celluloid. Most of the American firms were switching over to the lighter, brighter and more stable yellow plastics by the 60's.
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If these older knives are so hard to identify....how is value determined?
 
Most collectors care about the name on the blade, for the most part. Pattern second. You could have a great old knife made by some obsure brand and no one will touch it. You could have a crappy knife by one of the big guys, and everyone will come running.

A common pattern(fish knife, pruner, etc...) will bring less than one of the romantic patterns(folding hunters, Bowies, Scouts).
 
bob bowie said:
Most collectors care about the name on the blade, for the most part. Pattern second. You could have a great old knife made by some obsure brand and no one will touch it. You could have a crappy knife by one of the big guys, and everyone will come running.

A common pattern(fish knife, pruner, etc...) will bring less than one of the romantic patterns(folding hunters, Bowies, Scouts).
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gotcha.....thanks the info. i think i know where this knife came from. my father's neighbor passed away a few years back and my father bought the house and everything in it from the estate. i believe this knife was his. I like the knife so I'll clean it up and put it back in to action. my only concern is the celluloid. It appears to be shrinking as there are gaps between the bolsters and celluloid. i'm assuming this is normal for this material?

if the knife really isn't worth much.....i'd love to take the celluloid off and put on some nice walnut scales.
 
The knife would be $35-45 on Ebay or similar. Yes, the shrinking is normal for celluloid. It looks great for a long time but will shrink and sometimes breaks down(the clear, and light colors break down the fastest). Make sure to keep the knife in the open air, as it will fume as it ages, the fumes will rust carbon steels.
 
To me, the knife posted looks like it was made by Western. Western did make knives for Bean along with KABAR. don't think I have ever seen that knife in KABAR with the flat and grroved bolsters.

Just for info, Case never made the small size fish knife until recently (post 2000). They made the full size model the 32095SS from the Tested ere until about 1980 or 1981.
 
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