Schrade with 1095 steel?

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bigfoot1127

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Dec 4, 2013
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Good evening all, I am on a quest for a Schrade stockman or an old timer 2 blade or something of the like. I have looked on the e-auction site and I see a lot of them some with patina, others without (which I presume are either new- old stock or newer stainless steel.)
What do I look out for on the Schrades to ensure that it is 1095 other than the patina and the description?

All help appreciated. Schrade is one of the brands that I've never really looked into because I was familiar with the stainless steel versions that I wasn't all that thrilled with.
 
Stainless Schrades are designated as Schrade + on the tang. As long as you see that with a USA stamp you are good to go.
 
Towards the last, they were selling Old Timers with stainless steel instead of 1095 steel, but they were not marking these with a "plus" mark in every instance. They were trying to get out of the 1095 business completely by that time. If you look for tang stamps "SCHRADE WALDEN NY USA" on the older ones, you will find them to have nicer fit and finish and nicer grinds. Unfortunately, After 2004 Stewart Taylor has also used this tang stamp on knives, but they are not what you are looking for. One pattern you can count on, if it is marked as above, is the 8 OT large stockman. There is one up right now that fits that description.
 
Late some time during the mid 90's Schrade started slipping into production stainless steel in the old timer range although it was not widely publicised. I have some of the stainless old timers and the stainless has somewhat more of a sheen to the blades. Sometimes it's hard to tell in pictures. To be sure you could look out for a Schrade Walden Old Timer. The older blades were definitely made of the good stuff.
 
The Old Timers with the older tang stamps and the older brands will be carbon steel unless they're marked Schrade+.
Schrade-Walden, as mentioned above, but also the Old Crafty line, the Ulster Old Timers, the NY-USA tang stamps, and the Primble Old Timers.

Of course there are undoubtedly exceptions: Certain Old Timer models were always stainless, and Schrade had a long and proven history of mix-and-matching blades and parts from similar knives.
 
Bob W said:
The Old Timers with the older tang stamps and the older brands will be carbon steel unless they're marked Schrade+.
Schrade-Walden, as mentioned above, but also the Old Crafty line, the Ulster Old Timers, the NY-USA tang stamps, and the Primble Old Timers.

Of course there are undoubtedly exceptions: Certain Old Timer models were always stainless, and Schrade had a long and proven history of mix-and-matching blades and parts from similar knives.
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So what would be my best bet model to look for in carbon?
Should I look for the Schrade + or the ulster, walden or USA?
 
bigfoot1127 said:
So what would be my best bet model to look for in carbon?
Should I look for the Schrade + or the ulster, walden or USA?
Click to expand...

I have an Uncle Henry trapper with the Schrade Walden stamp that has 1095 blades.

If it is a Walden or even a USA Old Timer, it is probably going to have 1095 blades.

But the safest bet is just look for any spots or patina. Knives that old will almost all have them to some degree, especially Old Timer which were not really marketed as safe queens, but were very economical.
 
bigfoot1127 said:
So what would be my best bet model to look for in carbon?
Should I look for the Schrade + or the ulster, walden or NY-USA?
Click to expand...

Schrade + is always stainless, while the older tang stamps you list above are always carbon.

You do NOT want Schrade +.
 
bigfoot1127 said:
So what would be my best bet model to look for in carbon?
Should I look for the Schrade + or the ulster, walden or USA?
Click to expand...

I don't believe the 34OT or 8OT were ever stainless, except for maybe a limited edition at some point or due to an occasional factory error. The 34OT was the most-produced knife in Schrade's history, and the 8OT was certainly up there. As long as the tang stamp says USA, you should be good to go.
 
black mamba said:
Schrade + is always stainless, while the older tang stamps you list above are always carbon.

You do NOT want Schrade +.
Click to expand...

So basically I'm should be looking for a Schrade USA tang stamp to ensure carbon blades and the + designation ALWAYS means stainless
 
I have 98OT Medium Stockman ib Schrade+ as well as several Uncle Henry's and have never had an issue with edge holding over 1095. So what's the problem with Schrade+?
 
NMpops said:
I have 98OT Medium Stockman ib Schrade+ as well as several Uncle Henry's and have never had an issue with edge holding over 1095. So what's the problem with Schrade+?
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I think the statement was made in the context of the thread starter's stated objective...finding Schrades made with 1095.

If that's what your trying to do, you don't want Schrade+.
 
bigfoot1127 said:
So basically I'm should be looking for a Schrade USA tang stamp to ensure carbon blades and the + designation ALWAYS means stainless
Click to expand...

If it has Schrade+ it is stainless. If it doesn't say USA it's stainless. Otherwise, it's probably carbon steel. :)
 
So all in all I'm really wanting a brand new in box Schrade with 1095, and there are some on the e-auction site and I'm wondering what I should realistically pay for a brand new in box 34OT or a stockman
 
bigfoot1127 said:
So all in all I'm really wanting a brand new in box Schrade with 1095, and there are some on the e-auction site and I'm wondering what I should realistically pay for a brand new in box 34OT or a stockman
Click to expand...

That part you are going to have to explore on your own. Look at closed auctions for a similar knife in similar condition. Condition is a large factor in determining price.
 
Bigfoot,
To answer your question easily about packaging I can actually perspectively 'date' when a Schrade Old Timer was made by it's packaging.Here it goes...

-Dark brown wood schemed box with gold lettering:
This packaging was used throughout the Schrade Walden and Schrade USA years up until 1990/1991.

-Cream/Black/Red packaging:
This packaging surfaced in 1991 and ended in 1997/1998 when Schrade USA went into higher volume and began packaging the Old Timer and Uncle Henry lines in blister packs as an additional retail option to the factory box in this same color job.

-Black and Green packaging:
This packaging is actually very rare from Schrade USA and I've only found this in blister pack form.This packaging I want to say started in 1997/1998 and ceased in 1999.

-Blue Striped Packaging:
This packaging Schrade USA switched to for box and blister pack in 1999 and ran until 2004.This packaging is more relevant to the time period when people were getting stainless in place of the carbon steel blades with the Old Timer knives.The findings of stainless steel were showing up in fixed blades first and surprisingly I haven't found any of the Old Timer pocket knives to be in stainless steel.I won't state that the stainless 'bait and switch' claim for the slipjoints is untrue because the pocket knives were really slow sellers versus the modern knives taking popularity.So it probably took a few more years to siphon out all the remaining stock of the 1095 bladed pocket knives in stores.

Tang Stamps:

SCHRADE
WALDEN
N.Y., USA

These ran until 1973 with the model # stamped on the reverse tang of the clip-point blade


SCHRADE
N.Y.,USA
(model #)

This tang stamp ran from 1973 until 1988 at the latest from my findings.Very hard to trace exact year because Schrade used the same packaging for so long.I have an 89OT Blazer (released in 1989) in the old dark brown box so obviously it was made before 1991.This knife has the most current 2-line tang stamp by Schrade USA so I have to assume Schrade discontinued that 3-line tang stamp before 1989.It's just not a tang stamp surfacing on any new models made in 1990 so this narrows things down a good bit.On a side note-it is rare but I have seen 8OT models in this tang stamp bearing the Walden traits (notched long pull nail nick with shoulders ground off the clip-point spine).These can't be any younger than the late 1970's era.

SCHRADE
USA (model #)

Widely seen 2-line tang stamp used from 1988-2004

Hope this helps!
 
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Old thread, but a good addition to it. Thanks for the addition!
 
Bob W said:
I don't believe the 34OT or 8OT were ever stainless, except for maybe a limited edition at some point or due to an occasional factory error. The 34OT was the most-produced knife in Schrade's history, and the 8OT was certainly up there. As long as the tang stamp says USA, you should be good to go.
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I'd have to agree with you as my 34OT came from Walmart in around '04 and has carbon steel blades ( the overall quality isn't the best, but the steel is excellent )
 
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