Most Popular Slipjoint Patterns Over Past 50 Years?

5K Qs

5K Qs

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What have been the most popular patterns for traditional folders over the past 50 years? I'd appreciate hearing forumites educated guesses for the 5 most popular patterns (or 10 if you're feeling ambitious). Shoot, if you don't have "educated" guesses, I'll even take gut feelings that you have on the question. I'm also interested in any conjectures you care to offer about whether the popularity of certain patterns has waxed and waned over the years. Thanks!

(Ideally, I'd like to get actual production (or sales) data on this issue, but I doubt if the info I want - broken down by pattern and years - is available to the general public. But maybe someone with better Google skills than I has seen this kind of info.)

-GT
 
Surely the Stockman pattern (in all it's variations and sizes) along with the Trapper, the Barlow, the plain old "Jack knife" and the many variations of "folding hunters" must rank up there. OH
 
The 34OT Middleman (medium stockman) was reportedly the most popular knife in the history of Schrade. As such, there's a good chance it was the most popular American knife of all time.
Worldwide, almost certainly the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife outsold (outsells) anything from Schrade.
 
Old Hunter said:
Surely the Stockman pattern (in all it's variations and sizes) along with the Trapper, the Barlow, the plain old "Jack knife" and the many variations of "folding hunters" must rank up there. OH
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Yep, Stockman... Trapper... Buck 110... 2-blade Jackknife... SAK...
 
Actual sales numbers might be hard to come by for some companies, but not for Victorinox; they make 28,000 knives daily.
 
I have heard that the standard trapper is the most popular Traditional pattern.
 
In my location the ordinary SAK seems to be the post popular pattern in general.

Most people here associate a pocket knife with an SAK, in general. They haven propably never seen a "real traditional" like the famous german hunting knives in stag or the US-made patterns.
 
Bob W said:
Actual sales numbers might be hard to come by for some companies, but not for Victorinox; they make 28,000 knives daily.
Click to expand...
Believe those numbers to be low. Last I read, Victorinox was making 32,000,000 - 35,000,000 knives a year. Operating 365 days, that would put production on the lower end at more than 85,000 daily.
 
While I would love to say either a stockman or a nice jack, I fear that is wrong. Since Victoriox is the biggest knife company in the world, and the vast bulk of their models are slip joints, the SAK is most likely the most popular slip joint in the past 50 years. Everywhere I go, there may not be much of a knife selection, but it they have sporting goods, they will have SAK's. Walmart, Dick's, EMS, Bean's, any outfitter and fishing shop, will have a display of them. I see them on keychains of all kinds of people. Heck, the Boy Scouts Of America all carry SAK's now since Camillus is gone. Even non knife people seem to have a SAK around. Leatherman has made some inroads into that field with the small pocket size and keychain sized multitools, but they are nowhere near the production numbers of Victorinox. One you get outside the continental U.S., the Leatherman's become rare, yet Vic's are everywhere.

I think Victorinox probably sells more slip joint pocket size SAK's than any three other knife companies combined. Factor in that they are extremely popular inmost European and Asian countries and it's a slam dunk.
 
If you're talking USA market, and an exact knife (not just a pattern), AND you exclude SAK, then I'd guess it's the Schrade 34OT stockman.

Around the world, the SAK is a slam dunk.

And BTW, Carl, in my travels around the Continent, I've seen a fair number of plier-based multi-tools (mostly Leatherman and Victorinox). Still, mostly what you see are Vics, some Opinel, and -- frequently -- low quality modern-style single blade folders. I have yet to see anyone toting a stockman or trapper or soddie.

-- Mark
 
mnblade said:
If you're talking USA market, and an exact knife (not just a pattern), AND you exclude SAK, then I'd guess it's the Schrade 34OT stockman.

Around the world, the SAK is a slam dunk.

And BTW, Carl, in my travels around the Continent, I've seen a fair number of plier-based multi-tools (mostly Leatherman and Victorinox). Still, mostly what you see are Vics, some Opinel, and -- frequently -- low quality modern-style single blade folders. I have yet to see anyone toting a stockman or trapper or soddie.

-- Mark
Click to expand...

That sort of goes with what I saw in my travels. With the engineers, we worked with civilian workers in a lot of places. In Germany, the old wood handle Herders sodbuster was very popular as was some old beat up Mercators. In North Africa, TDY at the old Wheelus Air Force base, it seemed like some Opinel's and a boat load of Douk-Douk's were on hand with the contract workers. Sometimes it seemdlike every worker had a Dou-Douk on them.

Of course this was before Tim Leatherman had his brainchild.

When traveling in the late 80's, I saw a lot of SAK's in both Germany and England. A change in times? And you are right about the Old Timers stateside. The Old Timers were in a lot of working man's pockets for a heck of a lot of years. :thumbup:
 
I would agree that the SAK is the most popular and best-selling. But out of all the SAKs, the Classic, which is a version of the 'lobster pen knife', is by far THE most prominent and popular. Which would make it the single-most, all-time, best-selling slip-joint pocketknife in the world.

As far as non-SAKs, at least in the past, I would guess the medium stockman(?). Also probably the basic, 2-blade pen knife.

Jim
 
Outside of the SAK I would guess trapper, stockman, jack, barlow, sodbuster and pen to be the top slipjoint patterns for the last 50 years. The Buck 110 and similar style lock blade hunters are not slipjoints but are certainly very popular, however I believe that Opinel locking ring knives far exceed their popularity over the last 50 years.
 
My 5 would be
1. SAK because its probably the most well known knife ever worldwide.
2. Medium and large stockmans. (Large stockmans being my favorite)
3. Trappers, I would assume a large one but I dont really know.
4. Jacks, another guess with no way for me to prove it but people seem to like them.
5. Peanuts, but since I wasnt around back in the day I have absolutely no idea, so maybe I chose that because I like peanuts:D
 
I think as most have said here already. The trapper, stockman, SAK, Buck 110 style knives and small jack or pen knives. Not necessarily in that order
 
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