Scout knives vs. the others

[kamagong]

I have a question for our esteemed members here. What distinguishes a scout knife from its brethren the utility and camp knives? I'm asking because I just received what I thought was a scout knife. It turns out that my pseudo-scout is actually a WWII vintage Army Engineers pocket knife, made between 1940-44.

Is it an association with the Boy Scouts? If that is the criteria, then is it limited to the official knives? From what little I know, there were both official and unofficial Boy Scout knives. I admit that I know very little on this subject, which is why I'm looking forward to a lesson from our more knowledgable members.

- Christian

 

[Blues]

What distinguishes a scout knife from its brethren the utility and camp knives? It turns out that my pseudo-scout is actually a WWII vintage Army Engineers pocket knife, made between 1940-44.

Is it an association with the Boy Scouts? If that is the criteria, then is it limited to the official knives? From what little I know, there were both official and unofficial Boy Scout knives. I admit that I know very little on this subject, which is why I'm looking forward to a lesson from our more knowledgable members.

- Christian

I think the difference is that the military usually wore long pants.

Actually, it's a good question, Christian. I have some military "utility" knives which definitely share lineage but are obviously not "Scout" knives per se.

 

[kamagong]

Thanks Elliott. I had always thought that scout, utility, and camp knives were one and the same, but I was corrected by a very helpful member of another forum.

I guess that means I have to get a "real" scout knife now. Woe is me...

- Christian

P.S. I just noticed the orientation of the pic of the tang stamp. Sorry about that, the photo hosting website did that on its own and I can't figure out how to fix it.

 

[ken erickson]

There were many "official" boy scout knives that did not fit the classic 4 blade utility pattern(3 5/8 equal end with two back springs, four blades and a bail). Lg4 has a comprehensive list of official Boy scout knives along with the BSA number. Looking through the list there is everything from a fixed blade Marble to knives listed as whittlers. That being said I am sure many 4 blade utility knives are referred to as "scout knives" much like generic facial tissues are called Kleenex.

By the way, nice looking utility knife Christian! Love the color and depth of the bone

 

[Arathol]

What distinguishes a scout knife from its brethren the utility and camp knives?

Just a guess but usually a scout knife is marked as such. Official issue Boy Scout and Girl Scout knives have the appropriate logos and script on them, scout knives that are not offical issue are generally marked "scout knife" or something similiar.

 

[LKJW]

Yeah, I know very little about this, but I have "Scout" knives in various configurations that all say "Scout" on them. I always figured if it was labeled as such it was a scout knife. Otherwise, a camp knife. A silly distinction, but that's all I can think of? I have a handful of official boy scout and girl scout knives and unofficial ones.

This is the oddest one I own:

 

[kamagong]

Thanks for the input guys, I guess I overthought all this. It seems that a scout knife is one if it is labeled as such, if not it is a utility or camp knife.

Ken, I have to admit that I got this knife for the bone handles. You can pick up delrin handled utility knives all day on the 'Bay, but it takes a bit more effort to find one with bone handles. The bone on this one is gorgeous as you have already noticed and best of all, is intact. Furthermore the blade remains pretty full. It's obviously been used, but does not look like it's been sharpened.

- Christian