Vintage Knife Collection Acquired

I was approached while I was sharpening knives, I was asked if I would be interested in buying some old knives. I said of course! Let me see them.

The guy is 88 and he and his daughter decided it was time to thin out his possessions — sell stuff that he doesn't need or use. He brought them to me yesterday, and I bought them all. I have five hunting / sporting knives, a handful of folding knives, and maybe six kitchen knives.

This post will be about the hunting knives.

Vintage Fixed Blade Knife Collection

This is a photograph of the complete group of knives. The knife on the left is a World War II Schrade Walden H-15; the top knife is a KA-Bar Boy Scout knife; next one down is a knife is stamped with 'P. LEPE', which is probably a Mexican made knife with horn handle and eagle decoration; then a Cutco knife, and the bottom knife is marked UNI CORP and MADE IN JAPAN.

World War II Schrade-Walden Fixed Blade Fighting Knife

This knife was brought home when the ship he served on was decommissioned  in 1946. It is in fantastic shape for a knife of this age! The cutting edge is sharp, it appears to me that the still sharp edge has the original factory edge. The handle is excellent, the leather is great. The leather sheath is in very good condition, the snap works, the stitching and the rivets are all intact. There is an image of a stag embossed on the front of the leather sheath.

Schrade-Walden H-15 World War II Knife

Here is the other side of the Schrade-Walden.

World War II Schrade-Walden Fixed Blade Fighting Knife

Here is a shot of the manufacture. It reads: SCHRADE-WALDEN N. Y.  U. S. A. H-15 You can see the handle in this picture and can see how nice the leather handle is.

Vintage KA-Bar Union Cutlery Boy Scout Knife 

This is a KA-Bar Boy Scout knife made by Union Cutlery of Olean, New York. The previous owner bought it new when he was 12 — which would be 1937!

Vintage KA-Bar Boy Scout Knife

Here is the knife out of the sheath. This knife is in very good condition for being 76 years old!

KA-Bar Boy Scout Knife

This picture shows the KA-BAR stamp and the Boy Scout stamp on the leather sheath.

KA-Bar Union Cutlery Boy Scout Knife

This shot shows the Union Cutlery stamp on the knife. It says "Union Cutlery Olean, N.Y.

P. LEPE Knife

I believe that this is a horn handled knife that was made in Mexico. I could not not find any other details on it.

P. LEPE Knife

Backside view of the knife.

Vintage Cutco Hunting Knife

Here is the Cutco knife. My guess (searching the internet) is that it is a Model 62 knife. This knife is in pretty darn good shape considering the age (as all of these knives are), all the leather is fine, snap works, no chips or dings on the blade. The only real issue is the finish of the blade has a lot of fine scratches from sharpening and handling over the years.

Uni Corp Made in Japan Knife

I could not get any information on this knife either. I like this one — it has a plain, simple 'function over  form' design. The handle appears to be bone, brass rivets. This knife is also in excellent condition.

Uni Corp Knife

Other view of this knife.