Setting aside a few users...

[Guyon]

I had no idea Schrade closed its doors until last week. When I found out, I went on a buying spree that has just slowed down.

My mom found a rural hardware store going out of business near her. She picked up for me the following: 834UH (Rancher), 885UH (Senior Rancher), a couple of 897UHs (Premium Stockman), 167UH (Steelhead Fillet), 8OT (Senior Stockman). I got all these at very fair prices.

Also picked up an odd mixed parts knife on eBay--885UH blades in an Old Timer frame. Kind of weird but I liked the weirdness of it. Also got a 77UH (Muskrat) and, finally, a 153UH (Golden Spike) on eBay.

All except the Golden Spike seemed reasonable. I remember it going for $39.99 last time I paid attention. I paid a good bit more, but it was a knife I'd always intended to buy (as was the fillet knife), but never did.

All these are the US made Imperial Schrade knives. With the exception of the Golden Spike, I paid normal prices, and most likely, all will be users at some point. I don't see myself as much of a collector. If I don't carry a knife, I generally sell it.

I am glad though to have set aside a few for myself and my son. I have an 834UH for him when he gets bigger and then maybe an 897UH for when he's in his teens.

Glad I found a few good ones before they became really hard to find. I'm sure I'll run up on others at hardware stores, yardsales, flea markets, etc. But I'll sleep a little easier knowing I have some of the knives I always meant to stock up on.

Any of you folks have the same reaction?

 

[Codger_64]

Yes, I found out about the closing soon after the fact, and began buying Schrades, mostly to have a supply of my favorites and to see what Schrade was trying to do with designs in the last few years. Then I got infected with the disease and joined Uncle Henry's Lost Souls here (though it may have been the other way around...I forget). Now, more important than acquiring the knives (which I still do), I am trying to acquire knowledge about Schrade history. The people, the companies, the knives. And to document what I can, sharing what I find. I am still a relative neophite collector, and have less than a hundred fixed blades, about half that many folders. But I add a few as I can. I don't think they will become "hard to find" for a while yet, though some are already scarce. That just means you have to search more for them and be willing to pay a tad more than retail for the older ones, and usually half of retail for the newer ones. By the way, the last retail on the Golden Spike in 2004 was $69.95, so I doubt that you overpaid for yours by much. They are in demand, being the last produced traditional fixed blade, but they were made for thirty one years, so they are by no means rare. Still nice though.

Codger

 

[datsgor]

Yea...I bought a 125OT from a guy that needed gas money ($10) and came home to investigate it....found out about Shrade and went on a collecting frenzy...not just Shrades, but all kinds....I went from owning a Buck 110 and a Buck 619 to owning about 16 knives in about a month....My wife swore I had gone insane...but I have been bitten.....now my objective it to learn about knives and really start to know about them.....My favorite carry knife is my Old Timer 34OT Middleman.....I think it is just about the perfect pocket knife ever made.....peace, John

 

[Guyon]

Codger_64, that's actually exactly what I paid for the Golden Spike. This one was/is new with a pretty cool Ducks Unlimited stamp on the sheath and an extra sharpening stone.

Retail aside though, I definitely remember it for $40 at my local Academy. I almost bought it a half a dozen times or more and then just kind of forgot about it for a while. But still, to know I didn't pay more than suggested retail helps a little. Thanks.

As you can tell, I've favored the Uncle Henry knives. Grew up carrying a 34OT among other knives though, and I still have a 34OT that my dad once carried. Also have an 885UH that was my grandfather's. I wouldn't carry either one as I'd be afraid to lose them.

I may visit my local flea market this weekend and see what I can dig up.

datsgor, Buck 110s are a weakness of mine. I have a couple of the old two dots in 440C, a finger-grooved in 425M, a newer model in 440HC and in ATS-34, and finally, a custom 110 in BG42 with stag scales. I would love to try S30V in a 110.