Nomenclature

Scout Knife Nomenclature

There are two well-known, excellent books about Boy Scout knives available. One is the Joseph Kerr "600 Official Scout Knives", the other is the book written by Ed Holbrook, "Official Scout Blades". Each book has its own numbering system. In addition to the numbering systems found in these books, each Scout knife has a model number assigned by the BSA or GSA, as well as a model number assigned by the manufacturer.  There is little or no consistency between the book numbering systems,  organizational numbering systems, and the manufacturing systems.  

There are Scout knives on the market today that are not covered by either of these books, and we wanted to have a logical numbering system that would allow new manufacturers and new models, without conflicting with previous model designations. If anyone has a suggestion for improving the designation of knife models, please let us know. Just use the "Contact" link on the left.

When possible, we'll include the designations used by these two books in the model description.

Each knife, axe, or other item in the online collection will have a six or seven character designation that identifies it. Each character in the designation describes some aspect of the knife, so if you understand how the numbering system is designed, it should help you find information on your knife in the online collection.
 

SKN Scout Knife Nomenclature
Characters Character Meaning
1-3 First three letters of the maker's name (i.e., CAM is Camillus, REM is Remington).
4

A = Axe or hatchet (includes axe/knife combinations)
C = Camp Knife
D = Dining utensil (i.e., knife/fork/spoon combination)
E = Swiss Army style knife
F = Fixed blade knife (i.e., a sheath knife or hunting style knife)
L = Lock back knife (i.e. a Buck style knife)
M = Multi-tool (i.e., a Leatherman style knife)
N = Pen knife (a slim knife, relatively small, usually smooth handles)
P = Promotional knife (i.e., branded with name of an event or local camp)
S = Special use knife (i.e., a fish filet knife or Alaskan Ulu)
W = Whittler
5 Number of individual blades
6-7 Letter designation to identify variations in the models.  After "Z", designation will be AA, BB, etc.

Using this system, a "CAMC4B" would be the "B" version of a four blade Camillus camp knife.