Schrade LB5 LL Bean edition from the mid 80's/early 90's - what kind of steel

[TheRealJewf]

So I just found my old Schrade LB5 LL Bean edition from the mid 80's/early 90's. Think this was my first pocket knife. It is clearly stainless of some variety but would love to know what kind of steel it is. Anyone know?

 

[BrotherJim]

Post a picture of the LB5 whydoncha !!!
T TheRealJewf , From Schrade articles, they said their stainless was 440A.
If your knife is indeed stainless, it will likely have a "SCHRADE+" tang stamp. The "+" to indicate stainless.
BUT, the disclaimer is that I'm not sure that would also be true when looking at a 3rd party (LL BEAN) knife ... does it say Schrade on the tang?
It would be true if the the tang has a "Schrade" tang stamp. It will either be "Schrade" (1095) or "Schrade+" (440A).
Schrade used two steels in their knives during the time frame you mentioned ...

 

[TheRealJewf]

Post a picture of the LB5 whydoncha !!!
T TheRealJewf , From Schrade articles, they said their stainless was 440A.
If your knife is indeed stainless, it will likely have a "SCHRADE+" tang stamp. The "+" to indicate stainless.
BUT, the disclaimer is that I'm not sure that would also be true when looking at a 3rd party (LL BEAN) knife ... does it say Schrade on the tang?
It would be true if the the tang has a "Schrade" tang stamp. It will either be "Schrade" (1095) or "Schrade+" (440A).
Schrade used two steels in their knives during the time frame you mentioned ...

Thanks man! I should have dug through the Schrade stuff. I was scouring the old ll bean stuff looking for a catalogue. Its totally a Schrade +. Pics at this link

https://imgur.com/a/gAlS08d

. Thanks again B BrotherJim

 

[marantz]

Thanks for the blast from the past, BrotherJim. Feel obligated to point out the two noticeable bits of misinformation the marketing writer wrote. All steels have maganese, symbol Mn, added, NOT magnesium, symbol Mg. Also lists silver, symbol Ag, should be silicon, symbol Si. I think it was written before we could blame Microsoft autocorrect. Other than that, good info. Schrade did a good job with their heat treat on both 1095 and 440A.