Post your 165's!

Yas! While I do like having examples of the pattern from every era, all the better when the knife has all of the original bling with it. Estimating the date of manufacture by putting together all of the clues given makes it much more sure in dating engineering changes on the knives themselves. To paraphrase Bernard, "Read the knife, the box, the papers, the sheath and the shipping materials".

By the way, if anyone really needs the correct papers for a 162UH / Schrade Cutlery Corp. (address 30 Canal Street, Ellenville, N.Y.), speak up. They came as "gimmes" with this NIB knife and I don't need them.
 
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Yes, four sided from c. 1962, a gift from a forum member. I still need another four 897UH variants to complete the 24 hanger clips. Sorry for the photo quality, best my phone will do. I have no idea why the image attachments don't work. I also remembered that I left out a few other 165OT variants like the American Eagle knives with gaucho sheaths.
 
Great displays, Michael! Thanks for showing! What are the two 165's with no shield?

The lower one is an unetched 100th Anniversary edition.

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The upper one is a burl wood custom handled affair that I hope one day to have Dale finish for me with the original Delrin handle contours. I got that far with it myself and decided to stop before I ruined the scales. It was one I bought with bad scales for that purpose.

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You will note that I only have one of the two Ducks Unlimited editions. I can never seem to get the location of a reasonably priced specimine in good condition and my financial situation to jive. Neither have I bought one of the last issues in the tan Sharper Idea box, NIB. I have a specimine or two, just not a complete one with all the correct bling. I've fared better with the earlier issues though. Those are pretty much in order as shown, earliest on the left, newer on the right.
 
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Greetings!

Codger, I actually came to this forum after reading your paper on your study of the 165's. I found your paper while trying to find some info about the nice, but unknown to me, knife I invested my 5 dollars in at a local thrift store. You said you where looking for early SN's for your documentation, this one's SN 1347. Hope this helps!

As an aside, I was hoping that I could get some advice on what I should do with it regarding cleaning/sharpening. It's in good shape, but hardly a closet trophy. It's been used in it's life and I'd like it to be useful again, if that's reasonable. I guess I'm not sure whether it's worth enough that my using it would ruin it. It definitely needs a good sharpening to go back into service! I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks!

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Welcome to the forums Zaubermac! Yes, you found a nice early one for sure. The original matching sheath appears to be in good condition as well. The sheath design was changed fairly early in production because the retaining strap tended to get cut when the knife was removed and reinserted into the sheath. So the sheath in good condition is actually more uncommon than the knife.

Your knife is about 44 years old and not badly worn or abused at all, other than some patina and a few scratches. With the exception of the few remaining pristine unused originals, I am in favor of continuing to use these used knives. The blade may take a bit of work to sharpen, but it is the only way to truely appreciate the utility of the design. I personally don't worry about the patina on users. It helps to protect them from active rust. In fact, you can further force the patina by using the knife to make a BLT sandwich and letting it sit overnight before cleaning. The acids in the tomato and mayo work fast.

Everyone has their favorite sharpening methods. I use a Gerber diamond hone and finish with a leather strop. The brass can be left as-is or you can polish it with superfine steel wool or brass cleaner. Lightly oil the blade when done and, counterintuitively, don't store the knife in the leather sheath when not in use.

Thanks for showing us your knife and don't be a stranger here!

ETA: After reviewing my records, I can say with some degree of certainty that your #01347 knife was shipped to it's retailer in early 1967, some 1,237 having been shipped by the end of 1966.
 
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ETA: After reviewing my records, I can say with some degree of certainty that your #01347 knife was shipped to it's retailer in early 1967, some 1,237 having been shipped by the end of 1966.

Thanks for the info! I too shipped to my retailer (mother) in '67. Looks like we have that in common!

Looking through the Schrade ads on Ebay reminded me of all the Schrade knives I've had growing up; many of which subsequently lost in countless moves. I may have to reclaim a few of those I think. I'll let you know if I find any great deals!
 
just won this one. a Shikari 165. how neat at least to me. Codger what dates were these made, i forget, and the serial number of 07087 puts it about where?
 

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As far as our research has allowed us to know, the Shikaris were all made during the 1966-'67 timeframe. Your serial would put yours in later 1967. Assuming we are correct about them being pulled from the regular production serialized blades. We do not know the exact production figures and won't unless a SFO order surfaces from some archive.

Congratulations on the score! Not every Schrade collector has one. I wouldn't call them "rare", but they are definately uncommon to find in any condition.

Here is the Shikari thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/539168-165OT-Shikari-Research?highlight=Shikari

Oh.. and I meant to tell you Tongueriver that you have a mighty fine rack. And I mean that in a manly way not... you know...
 
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so in reading the thread, and thank you very much for that and the original work, we have to add my serial number to the list and that really changes the number. but like you the serial number is probably just from the 165 production and the shield was changed. too bad he didn't have the sheath but then again it would have been much more expensive for me.
 
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