Schrade: Why the Hate?

cutter17 said:
Who makes the Schrade automatics? Don't these have to be made in the US?

Taylor owns several old American cutlery brands that are made in China now. I bought a few Hammer Brand traditional folders at a local store. I knew they were made offshore, but not that they were from Taylor Brands. They all ended up being fairly decent knives with blades that took a razor edge, but did require frequent sharpening after frequent use.
Click to expand...

Bugout Bill said:
They are china made button locks converted to autos on US soil, like Boker's autos.
Click to expand...

GEC, Great Eastern Cutlery out of Pa, has made some autos under the Schrade name. These are quality knives on GEC's #73 frame (3 3/4" closed, ~3" 440C blade). Don't confuse these with ones made overseas now.



 
tvacchino said:
eeesh, looks like i kicked a hornets nest here! Sorry didn't mean to start anything :-(

out,
t
Click to expand...

The Schrade brand names are now owned by an import company, Taylor Brands, LLC.

Most of my Schrade interest is focused on Old Timers. The originals were mostly 1095 carbons steel while the imports are all stainless. By most accounts the quality of the modern imports is sub-par to the originals. And the new Delrin just looks horrible.

Taylor has also been involved with some sneaky marketing trying to confuse customers and trick them into buying imports.
Here's an example, imported knives being mated to Anniversary shields and tins left over from the Schrade-USA factory:
TaylorSchrade.jpg


It doesn't say anywhere in the description that the knife is a Taylor import or that it's made in China; that's obvious to any collector, but how many ordinary shoppers thought they were getting an original Old Timer knife? A scuzzy thing to do, if you ask me.
 
Last edited:
Another example, the 'new' 50th Anniversary Old Timers. When these were first released (2008-ish), Taylor had been involved with importing Old Timer knives for about four years, not fifty.

A19-SC34OTBRT.image
 
There was also a bit of 'controversy' with some early Taylor-Schrade packaging - imported knives being sold in boxes that featured American flag logos. I bet some people haven't forgotten that yet.
 
Has anyone seen the rip off of Crusader Forge's knives by Shcrade? They basically stole the CF Metro and made it into a 10 dollar knife.
 
I love Schrade Knives. I am carrying a Schrade-Walden USA knife right now and its a great knife. The Uncle Henry and Old Timer Knives made in USA are among some of the best using knives on the market. All this of course IMHO - Just saying. I have never heard of anyone hating them.
 
Your LB7's look great.

Some people say the USA Schrade LB7's are a little better than the 110, I might buy one in the future because I like the flat pins better than the pins on the 110 handle that stick out.
jill jackson said:
I got these for less than 80 dollars for both. They are tight and nearly new.

16a4hu9.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I don't necessarily hate the " New Schrades " but I am somewhat saddened when they are categorized with the Schrades of yesterday. They probably function fine for some who desires a knife that is low maintaineance. However, for those who demands a knife to take and hold a keen edge they are disappointing at best. My edc is a vintage 340t and during hunting season I have a 70's Sharpfinger. Both hold their edge as well as many custom knives. A few strokes on a crockstick makes them lethal. Schrade could work wonders with 1095 carbon and at least for me the patina only added to their nostalgia. Once the metal darkens they too are about as trouble free as most steels. I don't use them because they are cheap, I use them because they do the job!
Mike
 
davek14 said:
I don't know if the XT2B is carbon steel or not.
Click to expand...

I'm inclined to think it's not. The one I use most (USA made) has "SCHRADE+" stamped on it, which I've gathered is supposed to indicate the type of steel, but I have yet to find a definitive explanation for what it actually is . . . sort of like Cold Steel's "Carbon V" that supposedly could be whatever type Cold Steel was using that week. In the case of Schrade, there is some speculation that the "+" meant it was 420HC along the same lines as Buck or Gerber, bug again, nothing definitive.
 
Schrade+ idicates stainless. Some I believe may have been 440c. However, others were probaly 440a or similiar.
Mike
 
Scharade Knives were a great American made knife many years ago. They were of very high quality and the LB7 was everything the Buck 110 was and is. They went out of business for some reason that I do not know. The name was brought back and the same line of knives, only now they are made in China and of much lower quality. The Old ones made in the US were great, not so much now. That in a nutshell is the hatred for them.
 
I think everyone has pretty much explained it. It's not just about the quality of the knives or even about 'made in China' knives. Lots of people around here buy Rough Riders and have positive things to say about them. (myself included) It's about the somewhat deceptive use of a company's name. Just today a coworker was asking my opinion about what knife to buy, and he had no idea that the Schrades in the stores are not made in the same factory that made his dad's knife. Plus, what really got to me was seeing the gift tins in the stores last Christmas. They had an old photograph on the back of all the American factory workers posing outside the plant. It was kind of an insult to injury thing for me.
 
Bob6794 said:
The Schrade you own is the old USA made Schrade. Schrade went bacnkrupt somewhere around 2005 give or take a few years I think. It was than picked up by a foreign company which just wanted to cash in by the name and style of the knives and not keep the heritage, quality, etc that made Schrade a Schrade.
Click to expand...

The sad date of closure was July 30th 2004. I will never forget the date as it still burns in my memory :(
 
Yeah, the old Schrade's were kickass knives. Good ole 440C American AISI stainless steel. When I was a kid, the Schrade gave me the ideal of what American steel was all about. Buck up till the late 70's I think was also 440C until they went to 420HC later on. And of course the Chinese version is 7CR17MoV stainless steel, which is comparable to 440A AISI steel as the steel from my understanding is not as hard. Just not the same thing. The Schrade LB7 was an American icon, and I think the people were displaced by a Chinese company making them, to the point of it feeling like a traitorous act to take an American iconic blade like the LB7 and transforming it to just another knife. Ah well, I respect all knives each for what they are, but even I am am somewhat upset to what they did to the LB series.

As for Buck, well, I am unsure what is worse, Schrade ending a great run, or Buck just making knives cheap to the point of seriously creating quality control issues. Meh, that is another story I suppose.
 
Taylor is a very wealthy man. He probably could have bought the company in tact and continued to make them in Ellenville. That would have made him no different from the Baer brothers buying from the Schrade family in 46. He put profit before product. 7/30/04, End of an era.
 
Well, this thread got me thinking about the old USA Schrade knives. I ended up buying a Middleman 34OT just now. I've wanted one of these knives for the last 5 years and never could find one in decent enough shape. Most were a bit too pricey for the condition they were in. Should be here next week and I'm happy, we'll wait to see what I end up with. :D
 
2Dead said:
GEC, Great Eastern Cutlery out of Pa, has made some autos under the Schrade name. These are quality knives on GEC's #73 frame (3 3/4" closed, ~3" 440C blade). Don't confuse these with ones made overseas now.

Click to expand...

Sorry, off topic warning, but I'm inexperienced in traditional knives. Can anyone help me out with what the name of this type of automatic mechanism is?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top