Darmok With Flags Unfurled, Part 2: Rare Semaphore Scout Knives.
Myron Erickson
Welcome to Part 2 of my ongoing series of articles on collecting the semaphore scout knives, those 4-blade scout/utility knives made between the mid-1920’s and the mid-1940’s and featuring a lovely shield that sports a crossed pair of semaphore flags. Although they exist in the guise of many different brands, the knives were all made by Camillus and there is tremendous variety for the collector to enjoy, and the insane to lament. In Part 1 I described the history of these knives (what little is known, anyway) and what collectors can look for. If you haven’t read Part 1, you might want to go back and read it first.
In the ensuing time, I’ve picked up a couple more semaphore scouts, so I thought I’d update my article and document the new additions here. None of these knives is in mint condition; far from it, in fact. They are all user/carriers, with long lives behind them. Some of them needed repair, and they all needed some basic maintenance. My typical practice is to stabilize a knife, but not to over-restore it. Obviously, this describes a spectrum, and different collectors draw the line between stabilization and restoration in different places along this spectrum. With that said, on to the knives.
The Keen Kutter K6558.
Keen Kutter was a brand of the E.C. Simmons hardware company that dates to the 1870’s. The Keen Kutter name was used on cutlery, meat grinders, axes, and all manner of tools the self-sufficient homeowner, tradesman, and outdoorsman might need. It is still around today, although E.C. Simmons is not. Many people collect Keen Kutter pocket knives, but the semaphore scout is among the rarest.
In addition to my own, I have seen exactly one other of these knives, which is on the long running scout knife thread on Blade Forums. Mine came to me missing its rear scale, but oddly the pins were all intact. So I sourced a contemporaneous Camillus knife with a broken front scale and intact rear scale and performed a scale transplant surgery. The color and jigging was very close, and the two pin holes had to be ovalized only slightly to get the donor scale to fit. I then filled in the ovalized pin holes with 2-part epoxy that I mixed with bone dust that I gathered from the donor knife’s broken front scale.
The Keen Kutter K6558 semaphore scout.
The Keen Kutter’s tool set is the standard fare, with a plunge-style top-opening can opener and a “spiral” awl. The tang stamps are cool, and of course the shield is the star of the show and a must for any collector of semaphore scout knives.
Note the sharp-chinned cap lifter on the Keen Kutter Scout.
The Keen Kutter Scout’s shield, obverse tang, and reverse tang.
Donor scale scraped for bone dust and the repaired back scale of the Keen Kutter.
The Henry Sears & Son 1865.
Founded in 1865 in Illinois, Henry Sears & Son was another American hardware brand. And like every good hardware brand in the mid-20th century, they apparently also sold a semaphore scout knife. Although its “SCOUT” shield is among the most common semaphore shields, I haven’t seen many Henry Sears & Son branded semaphore scout knives, and what’s really rare and unusual about this one is its top scale with inset compass. I have one other inset compass semaphore scout knife, a Camillus with “STANDARD SCOUT” shield. Sadly, the compasses have not proved as durable as the knives themselves, and are usually broken or missing altogether.
Compass inset knives: Camillus “STANDARD SCOUT” (L) and Henry Sears & Son “SCOUT” (R).
Henry Sears & Son 1865 Scout with inset compass.
The Henry Sears & Son’s shield, obverse tang, and inset compass.
The Clauss 104.
Founded in 1877 as the Elyria Shear Works and re-named after the founding Clauss brothers had to rebuild in 1889 after a devastating fire destroyed the original factory, the Clauss Cutlery Company also sold a semaphore scout knife. The model 104 had the common “SCOUT” semaphore shield, but uncommonly also employed “rough black” style scales. Of all the semaphore scout/utility knives I’ve looked at over the years, this is the only one I’ve ever seen with these scales.
The Clauss 104 semaphore scout.
The Clauss 104.
The Clauss 104’s shield, obverse tang, and reverse tang.
I have a pair of 50-year old Clauss all-purpose scissors that live on my desk, and the tiny little sewing snips that I have used to snip the threads of every watch strap I’ve ever made (that’s over 2,000 and counting now) are also from Clauss. It is a great American company and I am happy to have discovered their semaphore knife.
An Econo Stainless Scout.
I was surprised, but I guess shouldn’t have been, to find a Stainless Cutlery Co. semaphore in a less-than-deluxe trim. The Stainless Scouts are rare, and the scant few I’ve seen have had bone scales and other deluxe features. But it turns out that Camillus also made the Stainless Scout in a lesser spec that did away with some of the tang stamps (no CCC or S on the openers), the permanent bail, and the lovely bone scales of the full spec knife.
Stainless Scouts in deluxe spec (L) and economy spec (R).
The tool set includes the side-opening can opener and the fully etched blade, sadly scratched all to heck on my specimen. Preparing for this article, I noticed something about the Stainless Scout shields I hadn’t before: their semaphore flags are solid. Literally every other knife I have with some version of this shield displays flags that are open. It’s just another example of looking for the variety within the homogeneity, and what makes pocket knife collecting so enjoyable.
No, a brick does not make a good sharpening stone.
The econo-spec Stainless Scout’s shield, obverse tang, and reverse tang.
The Stainless Scout in economy trim. Note the strange tarnish on upper bolsters and shield.
In Part 1 of this series I identified five shield varieties and took a stab at their relative occurrence. I can now add two.
Standard Scout (common)
Scout (common)
Camp (less common)
Signal Scout (rare)
Stainless Scout (very rare)
Signal Knife (very rare)
Keen Kutter Scout (ultra rare)
And to the list of ten brands, we can add two.
High Carbon Steel
Clover
Fairmount
Sword Brand
Hibbard, Bartlett, Spencer & Co
Sta-Sharp
Craftsman
Stainless Cutlery Co
High Carbon Steel
Keen Kutter
Henry Sears & Son 1865
Clauss
Do you have a semaphore scout knife? I love hearing from readers and always welcome comments and factual corrections. Thanks for reading!