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Cattle Knife - Stock Knife

I, like a great many, feel Bernard Levine has gone to great lengths to try to make as clear as possible what's behind the names of various patterns and where they originated. If you are not familiar with Bernard Levine and his unprecedented research, please read this and/or go to his link to get more background on him and his research - http://www.iknifecollector.com/profiles/blogs/bernard-levine-profile

The following is from Levin's research - For more in-depth descriptions please read "Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values";

Cattle Knives

"The Cattle Knife is a heavy duty three bladed pocket knife, ordinarily 3 5/8 or 3 3/4 inches long. Some are Junior sized, as small as 3 1/4 inckes. Others are as large as 4 1/2 inches (such as the Case 94s). A very few Cattle Knives have four blades.

As the Name suggests, the Cattle Knife was designed for work on and around livestock. The type seems to have been introduced around 1870.

The standard Cattle Knife has the same round-ended equal-end shape as the equal-end Jack, and was probably derived from the common Jack Knife shape. At least 90% of Cattle Knives are standard equal-ends, but a few have been made in other shapes.

The master blade of a Cattle Knife is most often a spear blade, though many, including most Case Cattle Knives, have clip master blades. A few have sheepfoot master blades. The second blade is usually a spey, while the third can be a sheepfoot, pen, or punch."

Stock Knife

"The Premium Stock Knife (Stockman) is a serpentine shaped double-end pocketknife that ordinarily has two springs and three blades. Some Stock Knives have four blades, and a few have five, or even six. Five and six blade Stock Knives have three springs. Any Stock Knife under 3 1/2 inches long closed is called a "Junior Premium Stock Knife".

"The Premium Stock Knife was introduced about 1890 as a less bulky and more dressy version of the Cattle Knife. The Stock Knife was designed as a Rancher's pattern, so it was at first marketed mainly in the west."

Tags: Cattle, Knife, Stockman

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Featured Comment by Craig Henry on March 26, 2013 at 17:32: Addendem:

Other shapes used for a Cattle Knife;

"Premier" - or serpentine

"Eureka" - swell-center serpentine

"Balloon" - or straight swell-center

"Jumbo" - or heavy sveveboard

"Canoe" - also called "Gunboat" nowadays

"Surveyor" - sort of a swell-center Canoe

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on March 4, 2013 at 16:56: I believe "Cattle Knife" was mainly a name used by American manufacturers for the expanding cattle industry at that time.

New York Knife Co. etched theirs "REAL CATTLE KNIFE" - Ulster etched theirs "Ulster Cattle Knife" - Keen Kutter called theirs "KEEN KUTTER KATTLE KNIFE" all with "Ks" LOL! Imaginative!

Comment by Smiling-Knife on March 4, 2013 at 14:07: Wostenholm called this a Farmer's knife but it seems to fit the cattle knife description above.

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on March 4, 2013 at 1:35: A Stock Knife can have a punch.....I think you have to go back to the basic frame; "The standard Cattle Knife has the same round-ended equal-end shape as the equal-end Jack, and was probably derived from the common Jack Knife shape." The Stock Knife; "The Premium Stock Knife (Stockman) is a serpentine shaped double-end pocketknife..."

Comment by Jan Carter on March 3, 2013 at 19:02: So if it has a punch it is most likely a cattle knife?

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on March 3, 2013 at 18:50: LOL!

manager Comment by Steve Hanner on March 3, 2013 at 18:49: I knew I always liked you Craig!

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on March 3, 2013 at 18:46: My very first knife that I ever bought for myself was a Stockman! A Schrade made Craftsman. And I've always carried a Stockman off and on over the years!