Unofficial Scout Knives

There have been a lot of scout (lower case 's') knives produced over the years, knives that were made with the Scout in mind, but were not official BSA knives. These would have names like "Boy Scout", or "Trooper", or "Scout". Sometimes these were produced by the same companies that made official Scout knives at one time or another, and sometimes they were made by companies that had no relationship with BSA at all. Here are some of those knives.

 1941 Imperial Unofficial

1925-1941 Imperial Unofficial

Two views of an unofficial Imperial, made 1925 -1941. (Courtesy Max Reyes)

crucible1

crucible2

Length  - 3 5/8"  closed, Main blade  2 3/8" including tang, One piece can opener, small bottle cap opener with Prestolite wrench and punch, Brass lining and silver bolster with thread, Jigged Handles, date unknown.

Crucible Knife Co., 4-Blade, RARE BRAND (Courtesy Dave Kammerer)

UNION KNIFE WORKS, 4-BLD., CELLULOID, RARE BRAND

UNION KNIFE WORKS, 4-BLD., CELLULOID, RARE BRAND (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

HIBBARD SPENCER 7 BARTLETT, OVB, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFFICIAL

HIBBARD SPENCER 7 BARTLETT, OVB, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFFICIAL (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 REMINGTON, R3333, NON OFFICIAL BONE, ACORN SHIELD, NOTE NOT STAMPED RS3333, SCARCE

REMINGTON, R3333, NON OFFICIAL BONE, ACORN SHIELD, NOTE NOT STAMPED RS3333, SCARCE (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 CAMILLUS, 4-BLD., BONE, SLIM MODEL, NON OFFICIAL, SCARCE

CAMILLUS, 4-BLD., BONE, SLIM MODEL, NON OFFICIAL, SCARCE (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

Imperial Barlow1

Imperial Barlow2

Imperial Barlow3

Imperial Barlow4

Unofficial Imperial barlow knife.  Several of these knives are floating around, purporting to be official BSA knives.  There is very little history on these knives, but there is a lot of history on what was designated official BSA issue.  The tang stamp places this knife in the 1956-1988 range, and based on other variables, this was most likely in the latter part of that era.  3 3/8" closed, 5 7/8" long open.  More than one variety of handles has been seen.  Some are jigged composite like this, some are smooth composite.

This knife does not show in any BSA catalog or magazine as official issue.  Several other factors prevlude this being an official issue.  One, Imperial never used a stamped First Class badge as an insignia.  It used a "hot stamp" FC badge, Tenderfoot, and a federal shield.  The motto, "Be Prepared", is missing.  There is no blade etch.Any one of these deviations from the norm of the time does not rule this out as official, but taken all together, it is more likely that this is not official than it is official.

This could have been a short production run by Imperial done on spec, and not approved by BSA.  Neither the Kerr nor Holcomb books list this as official. 

Should documentation be found that indicates this was an official issue, it will be moved to the Imperial listings.

(Photos from an internet listing.)

schrade 1926

Schrade 1926 "Boy Scout Knife".  This was marked on the main blade as "Everybody's Companion", but the 1926 Schrade catalog described it as a "Boy Scout Knife".  Three knives were described in this manner, only one was actually marked "Boy Scout Knife".  None of the three were official BSA knives.  Click here to see the 1926 Schrade knife catalog. The scout pattern knives are on pages 22 and 66.

(Courtesy Dave Kammerer)  

 NEW YORK KNIFE, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFFICIAL

NEW YORK KNIFE, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFFICIAL (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

NYK BS1

NEW YORK KNIFE, HAMMER BRAND, MARK BS1 . FOUR BLADE, ONE PIECE CAN OPENER. SHACKLE MISSING. 

PAT. NO. 701,878 ON BLADE OF LEATHER PUNCH.  APPEARS TO BE UNOFFICIAL VERSION OF NEWC4A.

(Courtesy Tim Gaskell)

UNION CUT. CO. 2-BLD, WORMGROOVE BONE, NON OFFICIAL, SCARCE

UNION CUT. CO. 2-BLD, WORMGROOVE BONE, NON OFFICIAL, SCARCE (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 REMINGTON R962, 2-BLD, BLACK COMP., NON OFFICIAL, CAMPAIGN HAT SHIELD, SCARCE

REMINGTON R962, 2-BLD, BLACK COMP., NON OFFICIAL, CAMPAIGN HAT SHIELD, SCARCE (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

FAIRMOUNT CUT. CO., BLK. COMP., 3-BLD., NON OFFICIAL

FAIRMOUNT CUT. CO., BLK. COMP., 3-BLD., NON OFFICIAL (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 U.K. CO. 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFF.

U.K. CO. 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFF. (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 ROBESON, 642214, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFF.

ROBESON, 642214, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFF. (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 BERKSHIRE CUT. CO., 4-BLD., JIGGED BONE, NON OFFICIAL

BERKSHIRE CUT. CO., 4-BLD., JIGGED BONE, NON OFFICIAL (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 EMPIRE WINSTED CT., 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFF.

EMPIRE WINSTED CT., 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFF. (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

KA-BAR, 4-BLD., BONE, SHIELD MARKED

KA-BAR, 4-BLD., BONE, SHIELD MARKED "MADE FOR SCOUTS" NON OFF. (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 NAPANOCH, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFFICIAL

NAPANOCH, 4-BLD., BONE, NON OFFICIAL (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 CLOVER BRAND SYRACUSE, 3-BLD., BAKELITE, NON OFF.

CLOVER BRAND SYRACUSE, 3-BLD., BAKELITE, NON OFF. (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)

 UNMARKED, 4-BLD., ALL METAL HANDLES RESEMBELING BONE, NON OFFICIAL

UNMARKED, 4-BLD., ALL METAL HANDLES RESEMBLING BONE, NON OFFICIAL (Courtesy Dmitri Pitarys)  

Sea Scout Knife marked "FORGED STEEL FOREIGN" on tang.
 
Tang of Sea Scout Knife
This "Scout Knife" has no manufacturer's name. Has wood handles,is 3.75" closed, and has a 3" marlin spike. The blade is engraved with the spelling "SCOUT KNIF", as the "E" was never engraved on the word "KNIFE".
(Photos by Allen McBroom)

This is an unofficial Kent scout knife. Closed length is 3 3/8", main blade is 2 1/4" long. Originally had a shackle on one end. The three blades were a main blade, a can opener/flat blade screwdriver, and an unusual can opener. Handles material was fake tortoise shell plastic.

(Photos by Allen McBroom)

 UnoffBrown3BladeWhittler

UnoffBladeEtch

Camillus three blade whittler.  Camllus, like many other official BSA manufacturers, also issued non-BSA knives that were exactly like the official BSA knives they made, with the exception of the BSA shield and the blade etch.  This one is etched simply "Boy Scout Whittler".  Based on the three rivets, the blade material, and the bone handle, this is probably from the 1950-1960 era.  

(Photos courtesy Jerry Downen.)