Where are today's scout knives made?

Bob W said:
OT, but sorta relevent,

Someone showed me a Philmont arrowhead patch last week with a small sticker on the back, "Made in China." Couldn't tell the difference between that patch and the old ones. Just another sign of the times, an indicator that everyone is watching their wallets.

Wouldn't have mentioned it, but that patch is Batonsai117's avatar. :)

Worked at Philmont 10 years myself...
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That's good to hear, you working there ten years, not the china part. I went twice myself. The first trip was with my troop, 232, and the second time was with my troops venture crew the following summer. I got two of those patches, one stays on my uniform, and the other stays with me now that I'm in college. I also have three patches that I keep with me as well, a patch of Baldy, Philips, and tooth of time. Those were the three peaks that we went on during the trips that I went on. Great sights and the best years of scouting that I have to remember.

To make this relevent to the original post, I had my Camilus Boy Scout Deluxe with me both times, as well as a SAK classic.
 
Manufacuture of goods ebbs and flows to different area's. Once Sheffield was the knife capitol of the world, then Solingen, the U.S' had it for a bit, now its China. As a consumer one makes choices, if you don't like one place, make another choice. No, Camillus and Ulster scout knives are no more exept on the 'bay. At present I'm mentoring a bunch of young scouts and thier dad's who are all using Victorinox recruits. Thier happy as can be with the sak's. Look over the market and choose what you like, no matter where it's made.

Don't want Chines, buy Swiss. At least you'll get a known level of quality with a kick butt warenttee.
 
I think it is about getting kids to be able to use knives well.
Part of that is the pride of ownership and the responsiblity of their own knife.
A good quality knife for $10 is accessable for a 12 year old Scout.
 
jackknife said:
I'm mentoring a bunch of young scouts and thier dad's who are all using Victorinox recruits. Thier happy as can be with the sak's.
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I'd love to hear a bit about how that's going, jackknife. I bet I'm not the only one.
 
mnblade said:
I'd love to hear a bit about how that's going, jackknife. I bet I'm not the only one.
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Me too. I'm taking over as pack leader here locally (yup, I'm a little nervous . . . ), and before the last school year ended, I asked all the cubs what they wanted to learn most in their next year. As soon as one kid mentioned whittling, making tent stakes, and other legitimate uses for knives, everyone chimed in that that's what they all wanted to do. Most of the dads use knives daily, some don't, so I'm reviewing the books to see where we can implement some (carefully supervised) fun knife use.

My son's a Bear cub this year, and I just gave him his first little Camillus "Wolf" pocket knife. You'd have thought I'd handed the Holy Grail to King Arthur. :thumbup::D

thx - cpr
 
At least since I got involved in Scouting, official BSA knives have always sold at a substantial premium to the price of a similar, non-BSA knife.

BSA Victorinox knives, official since 1987, are available at very good prices on eBay.

I think the Colonial Cub Scout Knife is at least as good at those made by Imperial or Camillus -- and probably better.

Bear may be dropping out. Our local Scout Shop says so.

The Camillus BSA utiility pattern was a pretty good knife - better that the Ulster U.S.A. version IMO, but the BSA obviously could not keep buying from Camillus as of February, 2007. The demise of Camillus was the opening for "CHINA" - whomever that might be.

The Case BSA knives seem to be collectables for adults. No surprise there.

Folks in 1945 probably yearned for the days of NYKC, Remington, Dwight Devine, LF&C, Cat, and Marbles.
 
Even though these new knives are made in china, I'd have to agree with a few of you that this does make it easier for younger scouts to afford the BSA knives.

Even now that I'm a bit older, hearing almost $40 for a simple, basic, cheap looking BSA knife sounds high. For just a little bit more you could get a "real" knife or like I mentioned before, a buck 110 from wally world and still have change left over.

I suppose for a 10~12 dollar knife, scouts and parents alike won't have to worry about their sons losing these things like their going out of style. I recall losing several knives, but I always found a way to buy/trade for more :D.

Story time:

*Two young scouts at summer camp*

scout 1: I lost my knife!
scout 2: what a shame, wish I could help
scout 1: hey, don't you have two knives?
scout 2: well....don't you have two flashlights?
scout 1: yeah, why do you ask?
scout 2: I want your mini-mag and you need a knife...
scout 1: but it's my new mini-mag...
scout 2: so, do you want to be "unarmed" when karankawa joe pops out
scout 1: NO! okay, I'll do it, just don't tell my mom...YEAH, I have a knife again!!!

True story, I was scout 1 :o.
 
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