"Moose" v "Trapper"?

That’s interesting about how the meaning of Texas Jack has shifted through time.

GEC should have named your knife a Bullnose, because it’s on an equal-end frame. Manufacturers sometimes do that. A Moose is a serpentine-frame pattern.
 
RobbW said:
A Moose is a serpentine-frame pattern.
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And an equal end Cigar.
I think the Cigar fame Moose came first. Mr. Nessmuk carried one, according to the sketch in his book.
The Rough Ryder "Riders of the Silver Screen" series moose are the same as the original 1950's/1960's Camillus made, with a couple intentional differences to prevent the RR from being passed off as the now rare and expensie Camilus'. (Including but not limited to Big Ugly "R" on the bolster, the tip of the RR's spear point secondary is more "Spey Bladeish" in profile than the Camillus Spear
point, fewer models (only 5 in the Rough Ryder. At least 8 or 9 in the Camillus) both blades have the Rough Ryder tang stamp, possibly different blade etchings, different art work on the pile side, etc.)
I don't have a Camillus made, but do have the Rough Ryder.
Equal End Cigar frame.
View attachment 1605718
(RR1838 Hopalong Cassidy shown)
Oh! Camillus also gave Red Ryder and his side kick, Little Beaver, their own knives. Rough Ryder put them together on one knife. (RR1836)
View attachment 1605729
 
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Ron53 said:
To go along with my above post, what we call a "Moose" pattern should have a clip and a long spey blade, usually a serpentine frame. My #54 "Moose" from GEC would actually be called a "Texas Jack" pattern, in the vernacular of the time (late-19th-early 20th centuries). I know we call a medium two blade jackknife with a clip and pen a Texas Jack nowadays. No matt3r if you call it a "Moose" or a "Texas Jack", it's a mighty handy pattern!
Ron
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Thanks for the info. This is my first time learning Moose and Texas Jack were interchangeable in history. It’s surprising, because the patterns are so different now.

Here’s what Levine writes: [LG IV] Illustration on page 170 of a "MOOSE (TEXAS JACK)" and on page 190, "The premium jack has several double-ended counterparts. The most impressive of these is the TEXAS JACK or MOOSE. Texas jacks are big, usually at least 3-7/8" long. I believe that their size accounts for their "Texas" name, while the large blade out each end must have reminded somebody of a bull moose's giant antlers."

afishhunter said:
And an equal end Cigar.
I think the Cigar fame Moose came first. Mr. Nessmuk carried one, according to the sketch in his book.
The Rough Ryder "Riders of the Silver Screen" series moose are the same as the original 1950's/1960's Camillus made, with a couple intentional differences to prevent the RR from being passed off as the now rare and expensie Camilus'. (Including but not limited to Big Ugly "R" on the bolster, the tip of the RR's spear point secondary is more "Spey Bladeish" in profile than the Camillus Speear
point, fewer models (only 5 in the Rough Ryder. At least 8 or 9 in the Camillus) both blades have the Rough Ryder tang stamp, possibly different blade etchings, different art work on the pile side, etc.)
I don't have a Camillus made, but do have the Rough Ryder.
Equal End Cigar frame.
View attachment 1605718
(RR1838 Hopalong Cassidy shown)
Oh! Camillus also gave Red Ryder and his side kick, Little Beaver, their own knives. Rough Ryder put them together on one knife. (RR1836)
View attachment 1605729
Click to expand...

That’s interesting about Nessmuk referring to an equal-end as a Moose. I wonder if, like the above Texas Jack/Moose comment, they were originally not distinguished, but have come to mean different things over time? I remember when the 2010 BFC knife came out, Blues Blues identified it as a Bullhead, not a Moose. That term didn’t catch on though, maybe because Moose was the more familiar term to us at the time. I just happened to remember the distinction though because of the horn-symmetry, antler-asymmetry image.

Here is a thread waynorth waynorth started about Moose v. Bullhead. It didn’t define each pattern, but both Waynorth and Levine acknowledged they were different patterns:


Those are great knives! Thanks for the pics. My dad grew up in Burbank/Glendale, not too far from where the western & cowboy radio & TV programs, and movies were produced. I’ll have to ask him if he ever sat in the studio audience for a cowboy radio program (he did for other genres, I’m just not sure about anything cowboy).
 
RobbW said:
That’s interesting about Nessmuk referring to an equal-end as a Moose.
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I'm not sure if he ever did. He only said "... a sturdy pocket knife ..." in the little he spoke of his trio of axe, fixed blade, and folding knife.

His knife in the illistration cut with a clip point and spear point blade combination, has been identified over the decades since the book was published in 1920 or earlier, as a moose pattern by the blade combination.
Note that his comments were originally in 'Forest and Stream' magazine, and his book, (actually a collection of the articles he wrote for the magazine) was published several years after his death, (Nessmuk passed away in 1890) by Forest and Stream magazine.

Whatever it is/should be called, an equal end with same length clip and spear point blades is what pops into my mind's eye when I hear the term "moose pattern", even though I know it has been made with other frames, and with a same length Spay secondary blade, as normally found on the both blades open on the same end Trapper.
 
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Freaking Brownshoe… 🤣
The comments have been slaying me.
That, and …
Just Tom. said:

"Moose" v "Trapper"?​

If no weapons were available to the trapper, then - based on body size and weight alone - I’m pretty sure the moose would win every time.
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To OP’s question, I’ve never owned a moose, but I think a moose would be sturdier because the pins on either end are reinforced by the spring of the other blade. Whether or not that makes a practical difference? I can’t say. Perhaps the canted Spey blade on the moose would be more helpful for skinning.

I probably wouldn’t whittle Osage orange with anything less than a fixed blade, however. And my goodness, I think the finished product would just be a slightly smaller Osage orange stick.
 
In Levine's Guide (4th Ed.), page 191 the text says the following:

The Bull-Head or equal-end double-end jack knife is a two-blade version of the standard cattle knife. These knives have spear or clip master blades. The second blade may be a spey, a sheepfoot, a clip, a punch or a pen.
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According to Levine, again, on page 190, the Moose is a double-ended counterpart of the serpentine, premium jack / stock knife pattern, at least 3 7/8" long. He opines that the large blade coming out of each end must have reminded someone of a bull moose's giant antlers.

There has been considerable leeway in the use of these terms over the years. (That's me speaking.)
 
I always thought they were called moose because they were big and strong :). Maybe big, strong and two antlers gave it the name?
 
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