Let's see your Scout/Camp knives

waynorth said:
I have never heard the term "semaphore scout" before!!??
Can you help me understand that name/nickname!!??
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Sure thing. It's my nickname for these scout pattern knives because the shield on the top scale depicts two semaphore flags crossed. A related knife with plastic handles actually had the Morse code printed on one side, and the dot/dash translation in semaphore printed on the other. My specimen is a Clover Brand, but I've seen others. Where typical semaphore scout knife shields say "Camp," "Scout," "Standard Scout" etc, this one says "Signal Knife."

I've always thought these semaphore scout knives were cool. I think a lot of scout knife collectors ignore them because they were never official BSA issue, but I find the variety of tang stamps, shields, brands, scale materials, etc to be quite interesting to collect and study. Probably the most common is the knife sold as a Craftsman 9548 under their Sta-Sharp brand, but as we see above, there are rarer birds in the family, such as the Keen Kutter Scout and the Stainless Scout.

Here's my Signal Knife. I think I've seen other shields that say Signal Scout, too, but I don't have one and could be wrong.

JGP7kne.jpg


wZvR5Wy.jpg


zdrx63Y.jpg


Myron
 
Rover Haven said:
Sure thing. It's my nickname for these scout pattern knives because the shield on the top scale depicts two semaphore flags crossed. A related knife with plastic handles actually had the Morse code printed on one side, and the dot/dash translation in semaphore printed on the other. My specimen is a Clover Brand, but I've seen others. Where typical semaphore scout knife shields say "Camp," "Scout," "Standard Scout" etc, this one says "Signal Knife."

I've always thought these semaphore scout knives were cool. I think a lot of scout knife collectors ignore them because they were never official BSA issue, but I find the variety of tang stamps, shields, brands, scale materials, etc to be quite interesting to collect and study. Probably the most common is the knife sold as a Craftsman 9548 under their Sta-Sharp brand, but as we see above, there are rarer birds in the family, such as the Keen Kutter Scout and the Stainless Scout.

Here's my Signal Knife. I think I've seen other shields that say Signal Scout, too, but I don't have one and could be wrong.

JGP7kne.jpg


wZvR5Wy.jpg


zdrx63Y.jpg


Myron
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Thanks Myron!! They are cool knives!!
BTW, are you a friend of Neal P, and have we met??
 
I'm not sure if we've met or not, but I will look forward to it if not! :)

Neal and I have exchanged a couple emails regarding Böker scout pattern knives before. He's been very helpful to me on the couple of articles I've written on my own blog on the Böker 182 and the 9361. I live in Michigan and love corresponding with like-minded folk all over the world.

My blog can be found at https://www.roverhaven.com/the-rover-haven-blog (moderators, if that's not ok to post, please delete), where I write about pocket knives, watches, travel, and friendship.

Myron
 
waynorth said:
Different Myron, but nice to meet you!! I knew I had one!!View attachment 2360449View attachment 2360450
Etched: Craftsman (underlined - over)
Sta-Sharp 9548 (over)
Chrome Plated

The tang is stamped: High Carbon
Steel
U S A
The punch tells me Camillus made it, and Campbellclanman Campbellclanman can probably tell us the age!! 😁
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,
Charlie waynorth waynorth your right of course Sir with that beautiful punch as well as of course STA-SHARP is Camillus.

That gorgeous 9548 has slightly earlier siblings shown in Sears late 30's and also in1940 with STA-SHARP as the main etch - unlike your one that has the CRAFTSMAN main etch.
Once Ulster started moving in and Sears backing Mr. A Baers with huge favoritism in the later part of 1941, 1942 started off as CRAFTSMAN as the Leading Brand, and your lovely example is seen in Fall / Winter of 1941, the same sub etch of STA-SHARP - Chrome Plated ( specific to Camillus ).
 
Campbellclanman said:
,
Charlie waynorth waynorth your right of course Sir with that beautiful punch as well as of course STA-SHARP is Camillus.

That gorgeous 9548 has slightly earlier siblings shown in Sears late 30's and also in1940 with STA-SHARP as the main etch - unlike your one that has the CRAFTSMAN main etch.
Once Ulster started moving in and Sears backing Mr. A Baers with huge favoritism in the later part of 1941, 1942 started off as CRAFTSMAN as the Leading Brand, and your lovely example is seen in Fall / Winter of 1941, the same sub etch of STA-SHARP - Chrome Plated ( specific to Camillus ).
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Thanks for the specifics, Duncan!! I knew you could!!👍
 
Very nice collection of scouts you have there J jnevill !

Is there a separate thread for humpback sportmessers? I wasn't able to find one, so thought I'd post a few of mine here.

Myron

These are Böker 182's, all pre-war. From left to right:

- the oldest in my collection, probably 1920's.
- the red knife is a rare fiber-scaled variant, 1930's-'40's.
- the shadow pattern is also difficult to find
- the black composite handled knife with inlay Böker tree logo

V5qP9Z7.jpg



Here is the fiber-scaled knife next to a stag-scaled knife, also pre-war.

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Are there any other humpback collectors out there?
 
Here is a pair of the somewhat mysterious Böker 940 scout knife. This pair is identical except for the bails, which are of slightly different shapes and of course on opposite ends. I think these were made in the early 2000's, but don't know much about them. If any Böker collectors out there know more, I'd love it if they'd share!

Myron

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Nice Bokers Myron!

Pointy Things - I haven't seen that one before- Camillus made I think, Love the detail to it and that Bone Handles - Beautiful mix of colour to them!!
 
Campbellclanman said:
Nice Bokers Myron!

Pointy Things - I haven't seen that one before- Camillus made I think, Love the detail to it and that Bone Handles - Beautiful mix of colour to them!!
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Thanks. The handles are actually stag. I love the brilliant polished white portions for contrast. And Camillus made it. I heard that only 20 or so were made.
 
Wow- Thank you for that, man am I going to keep my eyes open for one of those! Not that one will be turning up so soon lol.. I would have thought that was Elk because of the White - but my friend- that is one very neat Knife - well done!
 
screened porch said:
I just got this.

Pretty clean, despite some failed plating.
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Very lovely 6445R screened porch screened porch ! I don't think you're looking at a failure of chrome plating though -- this is just 80-100-yr old carbon steel that has a few spots. Did you really pay $25 for it? This knife is worth 8-10x that amount, in my opinion anyway.

Congratulations!

Myron
 
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