Colt Firearms Collector
Preserving our American history

Like other major gun manufactures, Colt branded knives by outside makers and most of them have become collectibles, a few were originally intended for the collector market. Unlike their firearms competitors, Remington and Winchester, Colt's entry into the knife market in 1969 and its tenure lasted only four years, from 1969 to 1973.

The Wilderness Line of Colt sheath knives were packaged in a wood grain paper box with the knife contained in a red velvet drawstring pouch, which is embossed with the Rampant Colt emblem. J. and F. Hopkins & Sons of Sheffield, England made sheath knives stamped 'Sheffield'. They were imported through Indian Ridge Traders in quantities of approximately 2,500 each. There were four variations of the Sheffield made knives, each with sweeping clip blades. The three larger patterns included a sheath with a snap that closes over the bottom of the guard. The smallest skinner came with a pouch sheath.

The Sheffield knife handles were made in two colors: brown and black.  The heavy leather scabbards were also of matching colors in brown and black.

There were about 20,000 sheath knives called the Sportsman Line were contracted in the USA by the Olsen Knife Company of Howard City, Michigan. They were stamped with the Colt Serpentine trademark and the words 'Hartford, Conn.'  Due to a fire in Olsen's factory, only about 1,000 of their knives were ever produced and the remainder of the contract was never fulfilled, making the Olsen knives more rare than the Sheffield knives.

Retail prices of the fixed blade knives ranged from $29 to $49 in 1973. Current collector values are about $175 or more, with large patterns valued slightly higher and smaller knives valued at slightly less.

In 1993, the Colt trademark for knives was acquired by the United Cutlery Company and a variety of fixed blade knives were marketed by them until 2007.