Hen & Rooster

lava_lamp

lava_lamp

Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
3,124
I found a nice looking stag Hen & Rooster in a second hand shop and though the seller wanted a little much. I was poking around online and it seems like maybe H&R is part of Frost Cutlery now. Is that true? If so, how is the quality? Thanks all.
 
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Everything I've heard about H & R suggests it depends on the vintage. I've no idea if there are any 'poor' ones out there, but it seems most of the 'best' ones are from the '80s or earlier (as with many of the German brands). I've only got one (a stag stockman, early '90s vintage). It's a pretty nice knife, so far as I'm concerned.

Pics would be a big plus, for identifying vintage.
 
What little knowledge I have matches David's. I have one from the seventies and a trapper from early 80. Nice work was done with them.
 
Look for the subtle changes in the tang stamps from one era to the next. Little things like , but not limited to, the goblet or amount of lines in the wings and tail feathers. The stamps on the newer ones are sloppy as is the rest of the knife. If it has a shield with the chickens on it is a Frost or even lesser knife.
Greg
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thanks to mckgreg for comprehensive logo identification. hen & roosters made prior to 1980 certainly command more money on the collector market. recent production is more akin to fightin rooster & kissing crane in collector value.---dennis
 
I know it says they are still made in Germany, but do we know for sure that that is still the case? The knives I see on Frost's TV show do not look it (to me).
 
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Here's a recent production stockman. I am very pleased and surprised with the quality of this knife, top notch in every way. That being said I just can't shake the nagging suspicion that they are not quite what they say they are on the blade. (solingen made)
 
Mine is older, I guess. The shield is the one shown in the center, c. 1945-1980. Each blade is tang stamped with the same image. The clip blade says "Solingen Germany" under the logo. On the other side of the tang it says "Bertram Cutlery 273DS". It is a very nice knife. As nice as any Boker I've ever carried. The stag isn't perfectly matched but the overall fit and finish is excellent. Squared off springs, firm but not nail breakers. Even grind lines. Carbon steel blades, maybe a hair harder than Boker's (1095, C75?) . It has bumped two Bokers and a hand picked Case from rotation. Life is too short to just leave it on a shelf. The guys who put it together made it to be used. From apples and bananas to packing tape and zip ties. I'm never without it.

Is it possible that the blades of the new ones are made in Germany as the tang stamp says but assembled elsewhere? Or assembled in Germany from imported parts? I have no first hand knowledge of the new ones, just musing.

Frank
 
I've handled quite a few of the newer Hen & Roosters and I feel that the quality is still there in there newer knives. I've got a friend that works on a cattle ranch and swears by his newly manufactured H&R stockman in blue pick bone and has castrated hundreds of calves with it.
 
I have a stag H&R trapper with damascus blades and it's a really nice knife. Strong solid snap with proper fit and finish. It's a limited run of 100. I don't have any experience with other new H&R knives, but I couldn't be happier with this one.
 
This decade has seen a lot of flux in the pocketknife business and H&R has not been immune to it. Other knife companies were bought and closed and production moved offshore. Others closed forever or until. Into the void some new knife companies have ventured. The bottom line of my post is that you have to examine the knives yourself and make your own decisions regarding quality and workmanship. I can't add anything really to the H&R debate as I have never owned any H&R product. I have seen some newer production that I would like to examine myself. I'll most likely buy one or two.

Additional pressure is brought to bear on the traditional knife makers by the rise in popularity of the one hand opener or assisted opening "tactical" knives. Things are likely to continue changing and it is unlikely that things will be the same as they once were; we as knife knuts have to cope with the reality of what is happening in the market and in the legal world.

I for one, hope Case and GEC and Canal Street and Bark River and Kabar and Boker and Hen and Rooster, et. al., can cope effectively with the ever changing business landscape.

Ed J
 
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