The current state of my 305 collection

[Hickory n steel]

SoDak81 wanted to see my 305's and I have acquired a couple since last posting a pic of them all, so I figured it was time and will post new ones here when acquired if I can remember this thread.

So far I've got a grey dymandwood from '17, a brass and rosewood from '15, a Chairman from '14, a standard black from '03, a '98 in brown bone, ' 90 in Buckbone, '89 in smooth red, '89 in stag, another '89 in stag, an '88 in redbone, and an '87 workman.


The only 3 I really need now are a saw cut red, a saw cut yellow, and the late smooth yellow.
There's also an SMKW exclusive of the redbone that had engraved bolsters which I don't expect to ever find parted from the set, but will buy it if I do.
Aside from the regular example from '03 I'm just after the special versions, but I am thinking about finding a mint standard example from '95 and having it rehandled.
I have not decided yet, but am leaning towards some nice orange G10 or Micarta.

Btw I've gotta thank a certain forum member ( they know who they are ) who keeps finding 305's I've missed on Ebay and giving me a heads up, pretty much every time the price and timing have been just right for me to snatch them up.
Without member TAH I'd never have become interested in the 305 in the 1st place, he posted an awesome picture of an early 305 next to a hat and some turquoise that just gave me the itch to try a 305.
Without the rest of you guys I'd never know about or own any of the special versions I've got either, so I've really just gotta thank all of you.

You guys are all a great bunch of enablers.

 

[SoDak81]

SoDak81 wanted to see my 305's and I have acquired a couple since last posting a pic of them all, so I figured it was time and will post new ones here when acquired if I can remember this thread.

So far I've got a grey dymandwood from '17, a brass and rosewood from '15, a Chairman from '14, a standard black from '03, a '98 in brown bone, ' 90 in Buckbone, '89 in smooth red, '89 in stag, another '89 in stag, an '88 in redbone, and an '87 workman.


The only 3 I really need now are a saw cut red, a saw cut yellow, and the late smooth yellow.
There's also an SMKW exclusive of the redbone that had engraved bolsters which I don't expect to ever find parted from the set, but will buy it if I do.
Aside from the regular example from '03 I'm just after the special versions, but I am thinking about finding a mint standard example from '95 and having it rehandled.
I have not decided yet, but am leaning towards some nice orange G10 or Micarta.

Btw I've gotta thank a certain forum member ( they know who they are ) who keeps finding 305's I've missed on Ebay and giving me a heads up, pretty much every time the price and timing have been just right for me to snatch them up.
Without member TAH I'd never have become interested in the 305 in the 1st place, he posted an awesome picture of an early 305 next to a hat and some turquoise that just gave me the itch to try a 305.
Without the rest of you guys I'd never know about or own any of the special versions I've got either, so I've really just gotta thank all of you.

You guys are all a great bunch of enablers.

Awesome collection, Hickory n steel ! Those stags are stellar!

 

[Hickory n steel]

Awesome collection, Hickory n steel ! Those stags are stellar!

Thank you.
The stag on the end is one of my favorite 305's and probably my most carried, I actually had an interesting experience awhile back where an Ebay knife dealer who had sold it sometime in the past accidentally listed it again and I instantly recognized it.
That was a pretty fun though short ride to be on, wondering if I was just mistaken and speculating on the potential circumstances.
The other stag 305 just came along cheap enough that I scooped it up to foster until a fellow collector needs one, it's stag though nice doesn't happen to really strike me like that of my 1st example, and I don't need two because I'm not a hoarder.

 

[SoDak81]

Thank you.
The stag on the end is one of my favorite 305's and probably my most carried, the other one just came along cheap enough that I scooped it up to foster until a fellow collector needs one.

It's tough to beat those 80s stags. Flat grind, top notch Sambar.

 

[Hickory n steel]

It's tough to beat those 80s stags. Flat grind, top notch Sambar.

Absolutely.
Excellent stag, excellent grind, and excellent f&f all around.
They can still do these things on their lockbacks, but it seems that the tooling for the slipjoints is just too worn.
I wish the 305 was still available, but even in their last 10 years of production things were getting hokey and I'm not sure if I'd be happy at all with what that tooling would be capable of today.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Nice collection. I collect 300 series but tend to concentrate on the 303s and 301s before the 305s. But one subset of the 305s I've been trying to get are the clippers. I think I have all of them but the pink one. Still looking for the pink one. I have an empty box for one.

 

[SoDak81]

Absolutely.
Excellent stag, excellent grind, and excellent f&f all around.
They can still do these things on their lockbacks, but it seems that the tooling for the slipjoints is just too worn.
I wish the 305 was still available, but even in their last 10 years of production things were getting hokey and I'm not sure if I'd be happy at all with what that tooling would be capable of today.

I'd love to see the 305 and 309 make a comeback. The 300 series is so iconic, the more the better, IMHO.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Nice collection. I collect 300 series but tend to concentrate on the 303s and 301s before the 305s. But one subset of the 305s I've been trying to get are the clippers. I think I have all of them but the pink one. Still looking for the pink one. I have an empty box for one.

Do you also have the duet ?

for my " collection " I think of it more as an accumulation because I carry and use them even if they were in mint condition when I got them because my love and appreciation for knives stems from their value as useful cutting tools.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Do you also have the duet ?

for my " collection " I think of it more as an accumulation because I carry and use them even if they were in mint condition when I got them because my love and appreciation for knives stems from their value as useful cutting tools.

I only have one Duet, yellow. They are 306s, though, I think.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I only have one Duet, yellow. They are 306s, though, I think.

Yes, the 306 Duet.
I always thought that the clippers should have had a different model number , but I there are points to be made either way.

Personally I'm not after the clipper because I really love the coping blade, and because I became concerned that I might be disappointed with the performance of the scissors.
back when I really wanted one they never popped up at a price I was ccomfortabe with, but now that I've stopped looking the prices have been very reasonable lately and I may have to get a clipper just so I don't have to wonder about the scissors anymore.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Yes, the 306 Duet.
I always thought that the clippers should have had a different model number , but I there are points to be made either way.

Personally I'm not after the clipper because I really love the coping blade, and because I became concerned that I might be disappointed with the performance of the scissors.
back when I really wanted one they never popped up at a price I was ccomfortabe with, but now that I've stopped looking the prices have been very reasonable lately and I may have to get a clipper just so I don't have to wonder about the scissors anymore.

Reasonable? Someone on ebay wanted $185 for the pink one I am missing. I don't think it ever sold. Since it is more scarce than the others, I'd pay a little more. Maybe $80ish. But not $185

 

[Hickory n steel]

Reasonable? Someone on ebay wanted $185 for the pink one I am missing. I don't think it ever sold. Since it is more scarce than the others, I'd pay a little more. Maybe $80ish. But not $185

I've been seeing some for around $75 lately in the listing alerts since I haven't bothered to take it off my saved searches yet, if there was a pink one I never even looked at it but would not be surprised if they're asking that much.