Sightings " Sticky " Thread

Congrats pocketknife, awesome find!
The graphics on the package are cool. I found an 8OT at a hardware store that was apparently intended to go to the Canadian market as it listed the Canadian Importer's information on the box. I don't know what it was doing in a hardware store in Oregon.

Maybe someone can help me with a knife I picked up yesterday at a feed store. It is a 4 1/4 inch trapper. The tangs stamp is "SCHRADE + U.S.A. LTD." in the blade is etched "Texas Ranger." The scales look like Uncle Henry scales and there is a Texas Ranger logo embedded in one side of the scales. The number "0349" is engraved on the bolster. My assumption is this is a limited-edition but I have never seen this before. Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe an approximate date of manufacture?

Dale
 
I have a correct brochure but it is just to miserable to get to that building however I have a building with current issue brochures. So perhapes this will give some insight to the history of the series. Oh yes another leak discovered in that building losses are minimal at this point however I feel I should stay out of the rain or I may be laid up in this house for another week. Supplies running low may be forced to using beer for a chaser. Must conserve fresh water. LT. PS It is getting interesting state police choppers all over. We do have two state correctional facilitys within 3 miles gee if it is someone missing I hope any escapees stop in here I would like to give them something special .
 
Thanks LT,
That helps. I couldn't make out a date on the pages you posted. Do you have an approximate date of their manufacture? I found a sheath for the knife on eBay today. It's on its way.

How's the water doing Lt? According to the news this morning, you guys are really getting soaked. Keep your powder (and other critical things) dry!

A new knife came in the mail today for me. :D At the recent blade show in Portland, Oregon there was a silent auction for a knife maker who's shop had burned down. I bid on a PH2 that was the ICBA knife of the year. To my surprise I won the knife! It comes in a beautiful engraved wooden case. The knife has dark maroon micarta scales with a brass bolster. The spine is engraved "095" which I would assume is number 95 of 250. The blade is etched "International Blade Collectors Association - Once in a Millennium - ICBA 2000 - 1 of 250." That is also etched in the top of the box.
If I knew how to attach pictures I would put some on here. The knife is really beautiful.

Thanks again for all your help Lt, I hope you guys dry out back there real soon.

Dale
 
LT,

Hope you are OK, many years ago we had some big downpours in Queretaro, my house got flooded about 4 inches, like the feet of furniture were underwater, didn't kill anybody but sure made a mess, my little sister took out an inflatable raft and was paddling in the parking lot, that got her picture in the front page of the local newspaper.

Luis
 
Now where was I.?? Oh yes. A sighting. On a whim, I stopped by the tiny store where I discovered a few 1980's stock Old Timers last fall. It was formerly a Freds until 1982. The last time I was there, all the Schrades were gone. But this time, I spied one hiding behind the cosmetics in a glass display case. It was a lowley 108OT which I didn't need, but at $15, I got it anyway. While checking out, I educated the old owner on Schrade's demise and we got off into a long conversation about Chinese goods taking American jobs etc. I looked around and said "I bet you have more Schrade knives somewhere in here on the shelves or hanging on racks, or buried in the back room." "No, " she politely said, "That is the last of them." Then I spied a cardboard hanging display behind the register half covered with hair pins, a card of zippo flints etc. The display was half full of Irish Imperials marked $10 each. And a clampacked Irish Imperial Barlow, $5. I added the Barlow to my purchase and promised myself to get back soon for a more thorough search. I'll worm my way into that back room yet. Who knows what they left in the back of a forgotten Schrade display case. And since it is their habit to honor the marked prices on knives, no matter what part of last century they were marked........(first trip there netted a 296Y for $20)

Codger
 
Thanks for the nice words Don. I appreciate the concern as always you are a gentleman. Hey Micheal I am busy bailing could you Larry or Phil give the dates on the Texas Ranger issues. I will not be able to get down to the catalogue building for a week or so. I believe the brochure was for the last issue. a guess 2002. Another pure guess would be that they issued versions from the mid 90 tys until they went out of business. I sold my boat last year. LT
 
I found two listings for them, 2003 TXR3, 2004 TXR4 . They aren't in my shortlines for '02, 01, 00, but the shortlines are usually incomplete as their name implies. Both of those are two blade trappers. Larry? Phil?

Codger
 
Duh!
I found the TXR4 listed in the 2004 pricelist. It shows it as a 3 9/16 inch trapper. It also says "Genuine Bone Handles." The one I have is 4 1/8 inches long and appears to have the Uncle Henry type derlin scales. They do not appear to be bone.
The price in the display case also had what appeared to be a coded date on it, if I read it right, it was put into stock in 2001. I don't know if that helps narrow the field or not. Is it possible that it is a TXR3? I don't know how long the TXR3 is.
Thanks again Codger and LT. You guys are a fountain of wonderful Schrade information. Keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Dale
 
3 9/16 signature is what it says about the TXR3, and says it has genuine bone handles. I think Sheathmaker got one a short time back. Maybe he will see this and post his info.

Codger - Once again gushing knife trivia :D
 
Gush away Codger!
I really appreciate your knowkedge as well as LT, Toothpick and all the others. :D

Y'all are great!
(I can say Y'all 'cuse I grew up in the South............Southern Oregon that is. :)
 
I just noticed this....My Texas Ranger came off ebay and it is just A Schrade USA 97OT single blade Staglon with no Texas Rangers marking and in fact no shield,BUT it did have a Texas Ranger sheath. that's all I know about this baby other than the seller thought a whole lot more of it than I do now that I have it.

Edited to add: Mike just emailed me a picture of the true Texas Ranger 2002 model and other than the sheath, what I received is not the same, not even close. So all I really have is a Texas Ranger sheath and a 97OT that happens to fit it. The knife is still nice though.

Paul
 
Pocketknife said:
Thanks for the assignment, Codger. I accept. Will keep you in mind, if I luck out and find two.
I must have a little Irish in me, to go off looking for a pot of gold! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

They aren't impossible to find. I am guessing that this one is late '90s by the clampack design.


Codger
 
I had a surprise 3 days ago. I was looking in a cigar box where I have stored a few keepsakes, like my Grandfather's Old Timer, and some other goodies. In the box I found a 81OT, which as I recall I bought in the 80's, though it might have been in the 70's. It is a 4" stockman pattern. It has a skinny clip blade, which as I recall was called a "Turkish Clip," and the bolsters are rounded on the ends as opposed to the more squarish ones on the 8OT.
It is a great feeling knife in the hand. I hasn't left my pocket (or hand) since I rediscovered it. It is great to rediscover an old favorite!

Can anyone tell me when they were made & if there were any other models that had that type of clip blade?
 
Possibly it is a 61OT? 1976-90. It is a close design relative of the 897UH. The 77OT Muskrat has two of those blades.

Codger
(I have to keep a small magnifying glass and a bright light handy to read small folder tangstamps)
 
I am blinder than I thought :eek: gotta get a more powerful magnifying glass.

Your right Codger it is a 61OT. My 897UH has the same type blade, just a little smaller as it is a smaller knife. Both of my 77OT have much deeper blades than this.??? I thought they were the same also until I compared them side by side.

Thanks again Codger for setting me on the straight and narrow :)
 
The tangstamp dies get worn, as does the stamping, and 8,6,3,9 look a lot alike. A good magnifier and a good reference book help a lot. I could do a much better job of answering pattern questions if I had a one-of-each collection of the UH and OT folders. You need my mailing address? :D

Codger - Still buying Imperial Schrade....one....knife....at ...a.....time.
 
Codger I would be happy to help. I have duplicates of some patterns, mostly the stuff from more recent years. I have also discovered a little store with several models of the old stuff in stock. I would be happy to pick them up & maybe we could do a little swapping........if that is allowed in the forum (I don't remember reading where that was banned, but I could be wrong).

The steel & craftsmanship of the old (real) Schrades means that will last a lifetime to the average user.

About 18 years ago I lived on an old farm in the Oregon Coast Range. My boys, age 3 & 5 at that time, found an old 498 buried in the mud beside a creek. The leather rings of the handle were rotted from being buried for years. Blade was encrusted in rust and I couldn't tell even what brand it was. I cleaned it off & saw it was a Schrade. I replaced the leather rings with some leather I had, polished it up the best I could and now it's as sharp as a razor. The blade does have some pitting but I have used it as a shop knife for all these years. It isn't pretty but I wouldn't hesitate to use it to skin a nice big buck!
 
Codger, thanks for that photo. Pretty easy to spot Canadian stuff, with everything printed in duplicate (French and English)......don't get me going on THAT waste of expense! :cool:

If it helps you to date yours, those two clampacks I posted are tagged 1995.

Pocketknife
 
I had been guessing mid nineties of the green clampacks. Usually those inclused some sort of bonus. A compass, whet stone, an Imperial Ireland knife, a knife care kit, a SK-1 hone, the cards, or some other item. Was the poncho one of them? Thanks for the copyright date. '95 puts that promotion from 1995-19??. Every tiny detail helps. Progress on packaging dating is slow, but to me it is important in helping to date the individual associated knives. The digging continues!

Codger

PS- The 897UH came from Rhode Island. Evidently the result of a re-import?
 
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