Walden Knife Company, mystery solved

Bob W · May 20, 2005

Reading the recent SMKW catalog I came accross this bit of information regarding the 'new' Walden Knife Company.

Made in the USA Licensed exclusively to SMKW by Schrade Knives, a division of Taylor Brands, L.L.C.

So someone is making these knives for SMKW (Camillus or Bear is my guess) and paying Taylor to use the Walden brand name. There is no new Walden Knife Company.

You guys probably knew that...

-Bob

Codger_64 · May 20, 2005

Yes, I checked their website yesterday and saw that the wood Waldens are no longer listed as on back order. This jives with Taylor's warning to Canal Street Cutlery not to use the Walden Knife Company name a while back.

A side by side photo comparison looks a lot like Bear and Son slipjoints. Camillus has their own versions already in the Gran'Pa series. They are using patterns like the 152 which are old enough to have expired design patents, changing a few details, and using the Gran'Pa shield of a slightly different shape. I heard a while back that Camillus was struggling too. But the Camillus knives I have still show good production quality, and are American made in Camillus, N.Y.

Codger

Bob W · May 20, 2005

Have you handled one of the Taylor-authorized Walden knives? I was thinking of ordering one...

-Bob

Codger_64 · May 20, 2005

Nope, not held one. They do seem to be cheap though. They state that they are scaled with Schrade factory walnut, which is quite possible. Bear and Son never answered my e-mail about those knives. Anyone know Pipes at SMKW? Surely he knows. I would not mind having one, if only to compare to the real deal. That is an Imperial Schrade.

Has anyone bought one of the sheep horn Chinese Taylor knives from Ebay? For the time being, I would rather give my money to Camillus for their Gran'Pa slipjoints if I wanted to experiment. Bear and Son would be a second choice.

Codger

Bob W · May 20, 2005

Has anyone bought one of the sheep horn Chinese Taylor knives from Ebay?

I'd give $5 for one just to check it out. Maybe a passaround idea? Twenty people chip in a buck. After the passaround we have a lottery and the loser has to keep the knife.

-Bob

knifeaholic · May 20, 2005

IMHO, those US made Waldens are DEFINITELY by Bear....check out the tooling/construction details and the patterns and compare with Bear.

I also noticed that my local ACE Hardware stores have gotten new panels in their "multi-brand" knife displays...and that Bear slipjoints have taken over where there used to be Old Timers and Uncle Henrys. The first I have ever seen Bear at the retail level in a "national account" type setting.

I have not owned a Bear recently...these are wood-scaled slipjoints with SS blades, reasonable priced...$15 to $25.

Bob W · May 21, 2005

I have a couple of Bear MGC knives, a small slipjoint and a lockback. Even if the materials aren't the best, there's nothing wrong with the finishing.

I'm glad Bear is getting more exposure. With the demise of Schrade there's definitely a hardware-store market for a small American manufacturer.

Best Wishes,
Bob

Carl64 · May 21, 2005

They definitely have the look of a low-cost Bear slipjoint. I personally think they have a sloppy appearance, but whatever someone's opinion is of the Bear look, it's definitely there. I haven't seen the most recent "good" models they are supposed to have, but the stuff from a few years ago was not to my liking.

Carl64 · May 21, 2005

Codger_64 said:
This jives with Taylor's warning to Canal Street Cutlery not to use the Walden Knife Company name a while back.

I hope the long commute back and forth to both sides of the intellectual property debate is not too tiresome for Mr. Taylor.

Codger_64 · May 21, 2005

Paolantonio Interview said:
....... there was always the gentleman's agreement...... with the other knife companies that prevented each of us from hurting the other guy. Our fathers were all friends with each other and there was enough business to go around without hurting anyone. I guess you can say we all shared a piece of the pie. It was not until...... outsiders came into run the businesses and that was the beginning of the end of the friendships. .

Somehow I think the "new business ethic" prevails and Mr. Taylor sleeps well at night. As does Mr. Trump and most of the other post modern business flycoons.

Ethics. Honor. Honesty. Duty. Pride in American Craftsmanship. Perhaps these intangible concepts are a part of what Schrade represents to us and a part of the reason for a discomfort at seeing products produced and marketed in hodge-podge fashion.

To be 100% intellectually honest with ourselves, we would have to compare the newest offerings to the Chinese and Irish Schrades pre-2004-1/2, as well as some of the low end "space junk" designs we saw for the past four or five years. Their reason entire was not continuation of tradition in design excellence and craftsmanship, but a misguided (IMHO) attempt at pimping the name for increased market share at the expense of the workers, the buying public, and eventually Imperial Schrade.

Codger ... the old cynic today