Most produced American pocket knife?

B

Bartleby

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Oct 28, 2005
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As a result of a somewhat heated debate with a longtime buddy, I have been trying to discover what model really was the most produced pocket knife in the golden age of American cutlery. Was it the military general purpose four blade camp knife MIL-K 818? Or perhaps the Schrade Old Timer 34 OT three blade stockman? If anyone knows where I could find a thread that has given the numbers produced on either of these two, kindly direct me. Thanks!
 
I would hazard a guess as a two bladed jack or barlow.
 
I think it will depend if you want a specific model such as the 34OT or Buck 110, or if you mean a pattern such as a Barlow or two blade jack.

Which do you mean?
 
The Case 54 Trapper is the most COLLECTED pocket knife in the world. I would guess there have been quite a few of these made over at least a 100 year period.
 
I heard somewhere that Buck recently sold it's millionth 110.
 
Just a guess, but I'd bet there were more barlows made then Buck 110s'.

Wounder how many Case trappers have been made?
 
I would say that the OP was considering a smaller knife, although the 110 can easily be carried in the pocket. Having gone over "15 Million" produced a short while back, 110s not dollars, it just keeps on going and going. ( That was 15 not 1.5 ) The 301 Stockman is still back in the dust. 300
 
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No individual manufactures model is going to near the number of knives of the most popular patterns. If you take the two bladed Jack or Barlow you have to look at them being produced in America back into the 18th century. Russell was not the first to make a Barlow pattern, and they produced upwards of 4000 knives a day by 1870. They were not the only company in the USA making those numbers of knives either. The Times (newspaper) in England reported the projected market for knives just to supply the California Gold Rush to be over 3,000,000 (and imports were the minority segment of the market). I doubt most people truely realize the numbers of knives made and used in the past 250 years.
 
rma100 said:
The Case 54 Trapper is the most COLLECTED pocket knife in the world. I would guess there have been quite a few of these made over at least a 100 year period.
Click to expand...

That's good information Bob:thumbup: and because of it, the Case 54 Trapper is one of if not the most counterfeited knives on the market. Even though it may very well be the most Collected pocket knife, I'd think another pattern may be the most produced - maybe just a two bladed knife with a smaller secondary blade than the spey blade such as a knife similar to a Texas Jack. Could even be the common Pen Knife.

I don't think we'll ever know for sure.
 
Regarding a model/pattern made by a single American manufacturer, can any one beat Camillus with their the military contracts with civilian off-shoot sales? Apparently Camillus made 12,000,000 MIL K818s and 10,000,000 electrician knives.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...camp-knives-were-made?p=12898680#post12898680

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...millus-TL-29-For-Tom-Williams-moderator-et-al

US%2520Army%2520Utlity%2520Knife%2520%28Camillus%29%2520Open.jpg

TL-29%2520Open.JPG
 
Well, most of the books say that a trapper is the most collected pattern. I forget the one but I bet someone knows it. There are a lot of versions I think but Barlows are up there too or that 'sleeve board' pattern.
 
Thanks! Sounds like Buck's 110 wins, unless Schrade made more 34 OT's (haven't had any numbers on those yet). Camillus was not the only maker of the Mil-k 818, but our debate was single pattern by single manufacturer.
 
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