I have a switchblade pocketknife made by schrade knives Walden new york reverse side of blade says 154. The blade is 31/2 " long, total extention when open is about 81/2" when closed the knife is 5" long. The knife has a lock and unlock button on the outside. It is in fabulous condition. I believe it was manufactured around the 1950's. I am seeking any information I can find about the age and price of this knife. Please email me with any information you may have. Thank you
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schrade switchblades
- Thread starter jimsfine
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Cougar Allen
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Ah one for me. Your knife is a composite handled ( plastic ) imi jigged bone. These knives were made from the mid 46 ( approx) until 1956 ( approx ) . Yours is large hunter model. This was the last version of this model made by Schrade as is distinguished by the the Tang, model number, handle and blade material. Interestingly these knives will become among the toughest to find in really good condition in the future. There are several reasons for this first the handle material ( which was an early plastic ) is impossible to replace. As strange as it may seem the earlier celluloid or real jigged bone can still be duplicated, the early plastic is impossible to copy exactly due to the primitive nature of the early brittle composition. What this means is that when the handles break they must be replaced with ( usually ) jigged bone or celluloid in the fashion of the earlier Schrade Cut Co Versions ( ie 1543,3/4 ) . Another factor is that the older Schrade Cuts were made for a period of forty years ( approx ). The Schrade Walden versions were only made for a period of 10 years or so ( due to the cessation of production by the passing of the idiot laws which were imposed to save the world from these dangerous artifacts ).
While the Schrade Walden tang marking was indeed used until around 1972 or 1973 these automatics were no longer made after around 56 because of the impending idiot laws and since Schrade at this point was moving to Ellenville and seeing the writing on the wall stopped producing these after the shop location was moved. However, it should be noted that Schrade still continued to produce automatic knives after this and did so in the Ellenville plant these were the Orange military survival knife which has a schroud cutter and automatic clip blade was produced by Schrade through the Korea conflict, and Vietnam eras. this is an entirely different point of history and I mention it to make the point that while these knives were smaller they did have a similar clip style blade which was made of stainless steel versus the carbon your 154 is made of. This means that your version is among the last Carbon steel bladed versions produced by Schrade.
All of these factors make your knife a very desirable collectable which will appreciate faster than its older brothers due to rarity. The fact that these were a later model for a while caused them not to appreciate as quickly as the bone or cell earlier knives however collectors are now aware that there are more of the older ones around and since it is now 50 or 60 years since these were produced the time factor is no longer an issue.
Just to itemize these points again. 1, Handle early irreplacable plastic, 2, Schrade Walden tang ( however Walden Version of tang, Not later Ulster version) Only made for 10 years ( approx) under this tang in Walden. 3, model 154 last model designation for this model , 4, Carbon Steel 5, Last large Hunter model made.
Now all that being said it also should be noted, That as with everything else with Schrade nothing is written in stone so after WWII a few of these were factory handled in bone which gives some credence, to having one in bone. They are rare but it makes having one in bone legit however most of the bone ones will have been plastic which was replaced. So in this case the plastic version are the ones being sought.
Now comes the question what is your knife worth? If your knife is really nice ( near mint ) and you were buying it RETAIL from a dealer he would be asking 500 to 800 dollars if you were selling it they would offer you 200 to 350. I hope this helps if you need more info just let me know and I will drone on in further rant. LT
While the Schrade Walden tang marking was indeed used until around 1972 or 1973 these automatics were no longer made after around 56 because of the impending idiot laws and since Schrade at this point was moving to Ellenville and seeing the writing on the wall stopped producing these after the shop location was moved. However, it should be noted that Schrade still continued to produce automatic knives after this and did so in the Ellenville plant these were the Orange military survival knife which has a schroud cutter and automatic clip blade was produced by Schrade through the Korea conflict, and Vietnam eras. this is an entirely different point of history and I mention it to make the point that while these knives were smaller they did have a similar clip style blade which was made of stainless steel versus the carbon your 154 is made of. This means that your version is among the last Carbon steel bladed versions produced by Schrade.
All of these factors make your knife a very desirable collectable which will appreciate faster than its older brothers due to rarity. The fact that these were a later model for a while caused them not to appreciate as quickly as the bone or cell earlier knives however collectors are now aware that there are more of the older ones around and since it is now 50 or 60 years since these were produced the time factor is no longer an issue.
Just to itemize these points again. 1, Handle early irreplacable plastic, 2, Schrade Walden tang ( however Walden Version of tang, Not later Ulster version) Only made for 10 years ( approx) under this tang in Walden. 3, model 154 last model designation for this model , 4, Carbon Steel 5, Last large Hunter model made.
Now all that being said it also should be noted, That as with everything else with Schrade nothing is written in stone so after WWII a few of these were factory handled in bone which gives some credence, to having one in bone. They are rare but it makes having one in bone legit however most of the bone ones will have been plastic which was replaced. So in this case the plastic version are the ones being sought.
Now comes the question what is your knife worth? If your knife is really nice ( near mint ) and you were buying it RETAIL from a dealer he would be asking 500 to 800 dollars if you were selling it they would offer you 200 to 350. I hope this helps if you need more info just let me know and I will drone on in further rant. LT
textoothpk
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Glad you stopped in with your question, Jim.
LT... you really do us proud with your grear answers.
Phil
LT... you really do us proud with your grear answers.
Phil