What about new Schrades?

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billym

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Jan 8, 2006
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I see a lot of love for Rough Riders for their price range. What do folks think about the Taylor Brands line up of Old Timer and Uncle Henry?
They are making a lot of their old patterns. I am thinking I may want a few especially for their cost.
 
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I see a lot of love for Rough Riders
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I'm not sure it's love so much as acknowledgement of their price:performance ratio.


That being said, lets all be real careful to focus on the exact question at hand.
 
I picked one up by accident. A new Uncle Henry. I really wanted to hate that knife, but it's not bad. I won't be buying any more. Rough Riders are great. But owning a Schrade that wasn't made here makes me sad. No bigotry involved, I have owned and respected many RR's, but Schrade is kind of sacred to me. But to answer your Q, based on my one experience, not a bad knife.
 
I thought some of the new Schrades looked good in pictures, so when I was at a large knife store I looked through about 6-8 of each pattern that interested me. I didn't buy a single one. Every knife had some glaring deficiency that kept me from buying it. Poor fitting, poor W&T, blade rubs, stiff actions, etc.
 
I too bought one mistakenly on ebuy a couple of years ago. I was still a bit green at that stage.
This is supposedly the largest folder they ever made!!! gosh ! wow !
As I've said before there's nothing wrong with it.The bolsters are of dubious quality-a kind of brass coated silvery coloured stuff-dunno but they're solid.
It is sharp enough and is well made.The Staglon is very nice.
However
IF I cut my legs off at the knees & change my name to Mickey Rooney will I BE Mickey Rooney?
NO I won't. and neither are Chinese Schrades the "real thing".
-and this is the sticking point with most Schrade heads-.
DSCN6357.jpg
 
The question is how do the Taylor Brands of Old Timer and Uncle Henry compare in quality to the known Rough Rider brand
 
Ugg. Would not buy one.

First, in terms of what they are for the price, I don't they're a good value. The blades arepa quality 400 series stainless. When you can buy Buck folders made with Buck's 420HC at Walmart for under $20, then the Schrades aren't much of a deal, IMO.

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Lastly, Old Timers were called Old Timers because (originally) the used 1095 carbon blades. To my mind, the best Old Timers are the ones with 1095.

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I offer no opinion, but my knife guy tells me that the new Schrades feel a lot like the Rough Riders. I haven't tried either of them yet, but I plan to check them out. I think my boys 'need' scout knives for the summer and I can't get by the $PRICE$ that Case seems to want. I feel like my practicality (or stinginess) is forcing me to look hard at both brands.

Sorry for being a bit off topic.

Mark
 
markpmc said:
I offer no opinion, but my knife guy tells me that the new Schrades feel a lot like the Rough Riders. I haven't tried either of them yet, but I plan to check them out. I think my boys 'need' scout knives for the summer and I can't get by the $PRICE$ that Case seems to want. I feel like my practicality (or stinginess) is forcing me to look hard at both brands.

Sorry for being a bit off topic.

Mark
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Wouldn't a Vic soldier/Wenger SI handle that task well? At $20 or so, it's a hell of a lot better quality than you'll get from the company impersonating Imperial Schrade.
 
I love the old Schrade knives I have found. Especially the Schrade Walden N.Y.,smaller than a peanut, 1080T. Man those guys sure knew how to build a knife. It snaps like a pint size bear trap.
 
If I was determined to have a new Schrade I would opt. for one of the GEC #73s, and the price is on the low end for a GEC!
 
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neeman said:
The question is how do the Taylor Brands of Old Timer and Uncle Henry compare in quality to the known Rough Rider brand
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Thanks Neeman. I wanted to know about the quality not anyone's opinion regarding anything else.
 
Django.cj said:
Wouldn't a Vic soldier/Wenger SI handle that task well? At $20 or so, it's a hell of a lot better quality than you'll get from the company impersonating Imperial Schrade.
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Regardless of the fit & finish issues raised, I would rather use the Victorinox INOX steel (X55CrMo14, as I understand it) than Taylor Brand's generic 400 stainless. With the basic price of the Victorinox Pioneer at around $20 and the Recruit even less, that's a hard deal to beat if the issue is just utility.

If the issue is to get a traditional American pattern (with the SAK is not) at a reasonable price, other options include the Utica Kutmaster line and the Bear & Sons lines, both of which are just a tick more than the Taylor Brand versions of the Old Timers. I've not put my hands on the new Kutmasters yet, but read a favorable review. Both brands sell a bit under the price of comparable Case knives. For example, the Kutmaster 2 blade trapper is about $25.

Peregrin, thanks for the reminder and sorry to have strayed. Forgot I wasn't in the Buck sub-forum which has a bit more latitude. In following with the charter to discuss traditional knives as discussed in book like Levine's Guide, I'll note that its common for knife values to be associated with the particular plant they were made in. Buck collectors distinguish between Buck's made in the California plant, the new Idaho plant and earlier ones outsourced to both Schrade and Camillus, back in the day. Among Schrade/Imperial collectors it is common to distinguish between Schrade Walden and other Schrades and between Imperials produced in in Providence, RI and those produced in Ireland. If the OP has any questions regarding potential collectability and resale value, my suggestion would be to compare the prices of the Taylor Brand made Schrades and older Schrades that bear the "Schrade USA" or "Schrade+ USA" tang stamps. The prices of the USA made ones are going up and up quickly and I would expect them to hold their value or increase in value as time goes on. I wouldn't expect to be true of Taylor Brand Old Timers.

Peregrin, again, sorry to have strayed into politics and thanks for the reminder.
 
billym said:
Thanks Neeman. I wanted to know about the quality not anyone's opinion regarding anything else.
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I was given as a gift a Trapper with an Equestrian Hook
I have not used it so I can cannot comment on the steel

The F&F is of a high quality, the springs show no gaps
The spring ends are square
The walk and talk sounds good and closed with authority
The main blade is sharpened well and equal both sides
This knife feels sturdy
A decent slipjoint ....
 
pinnah said:
Regardless of the fit & finish issues raised, I would rather use the Victorinox INOX steel (X55CrMo14, as I understand it) than Taylor Brand's generic 400 stainless. With the basic price of the Victorinox Pioneer at around $20 and the Recruit even less, that's a hard deal to beat if the issue is just utility.

If the issue is to get a traditional American pattern (with the SAK is not) at a reasonable price, other options include the Utica Kutmaster line and the Bear & Sons lines, both of which are just a tick more than the Taylor Brand versions of the Old Timers. I've not put my hands on the new Kutmasters yet, but read a favorable review. Both brands sell a bit under the price of comparable Case knives. For example, the Kutmaster 2 blade trapper is about $25.

Peregrin, thanks for the reminder and sorry to have strayed. Forgot I wasn't in the Buck sub-forum which has a bit more latitude. In following with the charter to discuss traditional knives as discussed in book like Levine's Guide, I'll note that its common for knife values to be associated with the particular plant they were made in. Buck collectors distinguish between Buck's made in the California plant, the new Idaho plant and earlier ones outsourced to both Schrade and Camillus, back in the day. Among Schrade/Imperial collectors it is common to distinguish between Schrade Walden and other Schrades and between Imperials produced in in Providence, RI and those produced in Ireland. If the OP has any questions regarding potential collectability and resale value, my suggestion would be to compare the prices of the Taylor Brand made Schrades and older Schrades that bear the "Schrade USA" or "Schrade+ USA" tang stamps. The prices of the USA made ones are going up and up quickly and I would expect them to hold their value or increase in value as time goes on. I wouldn't expect to be true of Taylor Brand Old Timers.

Peregrin, again, sorry to have strayed into politics and thanks for the reminder.
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pinnah,

Thanks for understanding. I don't think anyone has a problem with us distinguishing between the American Made and the Imported slip joints. We just need to refrain from mentioning specific countries of manufacture in a negative way. There is a place to discuss politics too. It's just not on this subforum.

The Traditional forum is a world stage and we want everyone to be comfortable. Very cool in my estimation.

Thanks again.
 
billym said:
I see a lot of love for Rough Riders for their price range. What do folks think about the Taylor Brands line up of Old Timer and Uncle Henry?
They are making a lot of their old patterns. I am thinking I may want a few especially for their cost.
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I know it is heresy, but I never was a Schrade fan. My heart and pocketbook belonged to CASE and Buck. The only Schrade I had I really used and loved was the "Golden Spike". Excellent knife.

As for their folders, comparing today's models with the older US made product, the specimens I have seen at the gun shows look to be much better made as far as fit and finish go, especially when comparing to Schrade's end of days. Can't speak to the steel of the blades as I have never used one.

That would be more difficult to compare I think as the only Schrades I used were carbon, and the new offshore product seems to use that same generic stainless that is in all their traditionally styled folders.

As far as being a quality knife, if you like it, it serves you well and you feel you paid a fair price for it, I think you are fine.

Robert
 
I bought a Schrade Old Timer Whittler a couple of months ago. It was a new, chinese made one. Well, the scales didn´t fit correctly on the liners, they were a little bit too small. But the blades were sharp and had no wobbling. The horn handles feel nice at hand. The used 420 steel is not the best, propably. RRs are a little bit better finished and cheaper, I think ;)

For that prize it was ok, so to say. When I next time have to decide me between an RR or a new (!) Schrade, I´ll take the RR.

Kind regards
Andi
 
midnight flyer said:
I know it is heresy, but I never was a Schrade fan. My heart and pocketbook belonged to CASE and Buck. The only Schrade I had I really used and loved was the "Golden Spike". Excellent knife.
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I'm particularly smitten with the Old Timer lock-backs in 1095. When I think of Case, I think of slip joints and the odd liner lock. When I think of Buck, I think of "masters of the lockback" but also think of 420HC (or 440C), not 1095. The original Old Timers intentionally used 1095 and it's pretty hard to find lockbacks with 1095 now.

Here is my 1095 5OT. Really wonderful knife in the pocket and the 1095 is a preference thing. I prefer it to stainless.

schrade-5ot by Pinnah, on Flickr

There are increasingly fewer options for 1095 pocket knives, and that to me is the real story here. I get it. The market has spoken and I don't fault manufacturers for focusing on stainless. To my mind, Schrade jumped the shark on the Old Timer line when they moved to stainless. The Uncle Henry line was supposed to be the Buck competitor, no? No holds barred quest for the best production knife they could make (whether they achieve that or not).

I do agree with you Robert on this point... Other than the Old Timer's use of 1095 and their historic ties to the north east (I'm from New England), I don't find much that would separate Schrade from Buck or Case back in the day. Only a very few of their patterns stood out to me as iconic and easily recognizable. The Mustang (shown above) is one. The 51OT and 5OT were others. Not easily mistaken for anything else. Outside of those few patterns I generally prefer Bucks.
 
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