Boy Scout Knives

I think vintage Boy Scout knives are really cool and collectible. From my research, I found that the New York Knife Company was the first and only official maker of knives for the Boy Scouts of America starting around 1910 or 1911, until 1923 when both Remington and Ulster Dwight Divine became the second and third companies authorized to make Official BSA knives. I only own two, but would like to own more.

The first one is not in great condition, but that is OK with me. It's a Vintage ULSTER KNIFE CO., DWIGHT DIVINE & SONS, BSA #1502, “Official” Boy Scouts of America Folding Pocket Knife. It has 1 Cutting Blade and 4-Tools, with a Carbon Steel Spear Point Main Blade with a Common Nail Pull, a Carbon Steel Combination Blade with a Cap-Lifter (Bottle Opener) and a Flat Blade Screwdriver, a Carbon Steel Can Opener Blade, and a Carbon Steel Leather Punch Blade. A Very nice Set of Medium to Dark Brown Jigged Bovine Bone Scales with No Cracks, Splits or Missing Chips, a Brightly Polished Nickel Silver Federal Type Shield Inlaid in the Front Scale with the BSA Logo Stamped Within it. It has Three Brightly Polished Nickel Silver Handle Pins in Each Scale, Brightly Polished Nickel Silver Single Fluted and Rounded Bolsters, Brightly Polished Steel Liners, Two Heavy Duty Steel Back Springs with No Cracks or Breaks, and is 3 5/8” in Length. It was made by the Ulster Knife Dwight Divine & Sons Company Located in Ellensville, New York and Made Between 1923-1941.

The second one is an Antique REMINGTON UMC 1920-1940, Model RS3333 Official BSA Scout Knife, with Bovine Bone handles. It is an antique Remington knife made in the USA. Official BSA Scout Knife pattern #RS3333, 3-3/4” closed (plus bail). REMINGTON UMC - 1920 to 1940 era. Marked on the spear and punch blades. Two piece can opener is marked REMINGTON over a patent number. Nickel silver bolsters and pins, brass liners. Milled or gimped center liner. Jigged bovine bone handles, dark color. The front handle has a tight fine line under the center pin. All blades are full with minor patina, have strong snap, and no wobble. A used knife – carried and very lightly sharpened. The main spear blade has a faint remnant of the OFFICIAL BOY SCOUTS etch remaining. The punch blade has the original bluing inside.

Who else has some of these Boy Scout knives? Show 'me if you got 'em.
Larry

I think I still have my Cub Scout knife somewhere. Maybe the BS version too. Going to try and motivate myself to find them and post but probably nothing special. I seem to remember spray painting the scales gold as a kid for some reason. Got 8 stitches in my thumb at a national jamboree for bad whittling technique. I had a spyderco engraved for my nephew when he make Eagle Scout.

This is my only one. As a scout I had a couple folders, long gone.

My EDC for the last 5-6 years is an Ulster Boy Scout pocket knife.
The scales look very much like a Schrade old timer and a cursory internet search indicates it was made in the late 60’s through the ‘70’s.
When I bought it it was in like new condition.
It now shows the wear of being a well used farm implement but it still functions perfectly.
I found it in the bargain bin of a goodwill.
For $3.00.

M1A said:

This is my only one. As a scout I had a couple folders, long gone.

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Dead ringer for the old Hitler Youth Knives. I recall buying one of these in the 60s. Made in Germany and the scabbard was metal. still. Nice to see another.

Mauser 9
There may be some relation of the Hitler youth knife to these. Refurbished or manufactured with the BS logo.

Took this fishing today.
I usually catch and release but feel better if I have a knife

When I saw the fixed blade knife all I could think of was Hitler Youth (HJ)!

Ivan

BTW: No Scouting Organization on earth recognized the Hitler Youth as a legit Scouting program!

M1A said:

Mauser 9
There may be some relation of the Hitler youth knife to these. Refurbished or manufactured with the BS logo.

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Those are Hitler Youth knives made after the war with leftover parts. They have no connection to Scouting, the fleur de lis was just a convenient design.

Thanks for replies. I probably paid $3 or $4 for the one I bought back around 65-66. Blade seemed pretty tough actually and it had plastic grips. Had a few knives from my youth I should have kept but probably lost or traded. Thank god I held onto my Puma Skinner made in 1966. Around $26-27 I remember back when I bought it in 1967!

gfors said:

Took this fishing today.
I usually catch and release but feel better if I have a knife

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I have that same knife. I bought it from a collector maybe 2 years ago. Near-mint condition. I'll try to find a photo.


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I found one of mine, but, it's not the same one, but slightly different.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=500164&d=1614542116


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The media is anti-Scout enough. Please don't give them any reason to try and connect the BSA to something so evil.

M1A said:

This is my only one. As a scout I had a couple folders, long gone.

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I had a Boy Scout folder many years ago. I have no idea what happened to it and I wish I still had it.

I found it. Here it is:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/141001591-post1.html


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In my years of collecting antique US folding knives, I have had my fair share. I have never found a Dewight Devine cheap enough to add to the collection. I have an early Remington RS4233 which is a smaller version of the 3333 with the other exception of having a long pull, main blade with a single gut swedge and pinched bolsters. I have a Utica Girl Scout featherweight 2 bladed knife with bone stag scales and aluminum bolsters and liners. Also have the same Utica featherweight Girl Scout knife with aluminum bolsters and liners but with a rough black plastic scales. The Imperial Boy Scout single blade knife with folded over metal scales also resided in my collection. I acquired a new in plastic sleave Ulster 4 blade Boy scout knife from a tackle box at a yard sale. Tackle box full of tackle and knife was a whopping $5. Any knife made by the New York Knife Co. is GOOD stuff. They were the "Snap-On" of the knife world. The one I desire most of all and have never seen in person is the knife made for the Boy Scouts near sailing communities. It was called the Sea Scout and its main blade was a flat point rope blade and the second "blade" was a marlin spike and it was made for them by Ulster. The Boy Scout knife style is nothing but the oh so common 4 blade camp knife that so many people carried in the 1920's thru the 1960's. The original multi tool. The US military started issuing them in the 1940's and are still issuing them as the MIL-K metal scaled "demolition" knife. A man could go broke collecting just the scout-camp pattern knives. I recently acquired the 5-blade version made for the 10th mountain division of WW 2 fame. This is just a standard 4 blade scout pattern with an additional "blade" that is a Phillips screwdriver used for their ski binding. Bone stag scales made by Ulster and only issued and made in 1944 and 1945. Then there are the Jumbo camp knives. So large that pocket carry is impractical. My only jumbo is a Blish-Mize Hardware marked, made by Utica, with a beautiful buffalo head shield and with awful goldstone celluloid scales. I could go on.....

I bought this one around 1976 or '77 for just a couple of bucks from a local department store that was closing out it's small Official Boy Scout items counter. I also bought a compass, sharpening stone and a small folding stove that used some kind of solid fuel. They all had a Boy Scouts logo on them. The knife is made by Imperial, Rhode Island USA. When it was new it had a Boy Scout Logo etched onto the main blade but that quickly wore off.

I would love to have a Boy Scout pocket knife as made in the late 60s, when I became a scout. Where would be the best place to look, and what brand would I be looking for for that era? I kinda thought mine was a Camillis, but I might be wrong.

My only boy scout knife, fork and spoon. I found these in 1952 on Point Loma, San Diego in some old gun emplacements on the ocean side.

I still have and use my knife fork and spoon set, different from that one. Still have my mess kit, too. Lost my pack and other gear along the way. I see those old packs bring big bucks today on the used market!