New owners of Schrade

veitsi_poika said:
So as far as the original post, to a Schrade traditionalist... it is apples to oranges; if you want a Schrade then you need to go to online auctions or to a flea market or an antique mall and get yourself an original 897UH or an 8OT. However if you want a Schrade*, you can get those on Amazon or at Walmart and likely will have a good user knife. :)
-Edits in red
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So I guess if you want a Dodge pickup you have to go to a used car lot or Mechums but if you buy a new Dodge* today you'll have to spray paint out the Dodge Emblems and spray paint "Fiat" across the hood to get the true representation as to who really made it.
 
afishhunter said:
Rather difficult to remain competively priced and make a profit when you're giving away a fairly large percentage of your production. (And how many were replaced under their "No Loss Guarantee" on top of those replaced under warranty? "People" being "people" how can a company guarantee said "people" won't lose their knife?!? Or know if the "people" claiming to have lost their knife really lost it, and are not just getting another for free as a spare or to give someone as a gift?)
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Actually they only gave away a very small percentage. When I was a young fellow back in the '80's, my hunting mentor lost his knife and filed a claim for loss. He spoke to the Customer Service Representative at the Ellenville factory and asked how many false claims they had during the discussion. He was told that they only had a very few claims a year for loss, his was the third that year, as most people were basically honest and did not make false claims. He received his free knife in the mail postage paid! We found his knife two years later at our deer camp, and believe it or not he sent the company payment for the cost replacement. They returned his check, along with a nice letter thanking him for his honesty and a little 12 UH Roadie knife!

Of course it was a different world back then, but they got a lot of word of mouth advertising and produced many sales directly to their target audience by using this technique for less than the cost of running a single print ad. Of course, today people would assume they should take advantage.
 
afishhunter said:
I am convinced the Swendon Key was a major contributing factor in Schrade's demise.
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Surprisingly, they became the most successful highest volume producer of knives in the world during the period they used Swinden's patent. It allowed high volume mass production at much lower cost. Of course, people would use knives to destruction back when these were made and expected to replace them about every two or three years (although most Schrades outlasted their projected life span).
 
B Bartleby I meant by "pig in a poke" buying ANYTHING online sight unseen I think increases the chances of getting a dud. I'm sure you can find people who've bought a Case online that was sub-par. I don't think they're using the S&W name for nostalgia, S&W owns the rights to Schrade brands and models. :):thumbsup: I did say I think they should stamp "China" somewhere;)
 
Misplaced Hillbilly said:
I don't think they're using the S&W name for nostalgia, S&W owns the rights to Schrade brands and models. :):thumbsup: I did say I think they should stamp "China" somewhere
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Perhaps. American Outdoor Brands Corporation chooses to use particular brands it owns, like Smith and Wesson, to allow people to make associations with these names. I am just pointing out that a proven marketing strategy that is being used in employing a particular name with particular associations.
 
Bartleby said:
Of course, people would use knives to destruction back when these were made and expected to replace them about every two or three years (although most Schrades outlasted their projected life span).
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What is the source of this claim? I have never heard of such a thing, nor have I seen any indication that was schrades intent.
 
TheChunk91 said:
What is the source of this claim? I have never heard of such a thing, nor have I seen any indication that was schrades intent.
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Pop down to the Schrade Collector's Forum, there are a lot of posts by Codger 64 about Schrade history, a few on the Swinden key construction.

Just to clarify, I am not stating that Schrade intended that the Swinden knives would be worn out in a given amount of time, merely that pocket knives in general were replaced lot more often and lost more frequently. We used to nearly always get a new knife to carry at Christmas time!
 
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afishhunter said:
Better Dodge than Chevrolet/GMC.
I've seen many more Chevy/GMC engines go "poof" than Dodge or Ford.
(And Dodge has the Cummins diesel and a Hemi option. :) )
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As someone who used to off road quite a bit, GM from 87 forward the 4x4 components in the independent front suspension, wow talk about grenade-o-matics. I was run'n a 94 jeep yj and could keep my dana 35 with 33's alive, but tough being stuck on a trail behind a GM that the whole front suspension on one side decided to part ways with the rest of the truck. Lol you guys think our discussions on schrade are interesting, go to a Jeep forum and tell them why a YJ is better than a CJ.:eek:;)
 
Misplaced Hillbilly said:
There is a pawn shop about 45 minute drive from me. They are a case dealer, but the have some schrade cases with most slots empty. Still have a few new old stock USA schrades, there's a buzzsaw in that case. Wanted it but didn't have enough money, I only had 20 on me, think it was around 35 bucks. Next time I'm there I'll double check to make sure they really are n.o.s USA schrades,
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$35 for a made in USA one would be a steal
 
These knives came in yesterday and here's my .02¢ on them so far.

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I'll continue to use these knives in the coming weeks and of course carry them. Of the three, I really like the RR 479 Sowbelly. It's solid and fits the hand nicely. So does the IMP 25 Sowbelly.

I think that if someone is just getting into knife collecting, these brands would make a great gateway for them and the price point for these knives would allow them to accumulate several patterns to experiment with.
 
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