Hen and Rooster Pocket Knives have a solid reputation for creating high-quality handmade knives, which extends back to 1845. Founded by Carl Bertram in Solingen, Germany, every knife made undergoes 200 different hand operations before leaving the factory. Such level of attention to detail is not something that is commonly found today. It’s also quite surprising when looking at the variety of pocket knives they produce and how affordable most of the Hen & Rooster pocket knives are.
While the Bertram Hen and Rooster Manufacturing company has changed ownership a few times since its founding, one thing that has remained consistent is their dedication to producing high-quality pocket knives made by some of the highest skilled craftsmen in the world. In addition to a number of unique limited edition and collector’s knives, Hen and Rooster also produces a wide range of everyday use pocket knives, as well as bowie knives, straight razors, and cutlery sets.
To give you a better idea of the quality that you can expect from one of these handmade German pocket knives, we’ve put together a reviewed list of some of the best Hen Rooster pocket knives.
Limited Edition Trapper Knife With Mother of Pearl Handle
This Pearl Engraved Bolsters is a limited edition Hen and Rooster trapper knife. There were only 500 of these beauties produced and each comes in a collector’s box with magnetic closure.
Closed, it measures 3 ½ inches long and has two blades on the same end, as one would expect from a trapper style pocket knife. The blades are made of Solingen stainless steel which, admittedly, is a sort of catch-all name for any stainless steel produced in Solingen, Germany. Frequently, Solingen stainless steel turns out to be a 420 HC — a high carbon stainless steel that is known for its ability to take an edge and its high resistance to corrosion.
This Hen and Rooster pocket knife has a clipped blade with a clean cutting edge and good point, as well as a spey blade, which has a dulled point that makes it well suited for tasks where a sharp point would just get in the way or hinder your work.
The handle on this pocket knife has stunning mother-of-pearl scales with nickel-silver bolsters. These are further complimented by the high polish on the knife blades which give this trappers pocket knife a lot of visual appeal. There is also an inlay shield with the traditional Hen & Rooster logo set into the mother of pearl scales. This pocket knife weighs just 3 ounces.
Granddaddy Barlow With Stag Antler Handle
If you’re looking for a Hen & Rooster pocket knife with a bit more heft to it, then the Granddaddy Barlow is a great choice. This pocket knife measures 5 inches long when closed and weighs just over 5 ½ ounces. This provides you with a bit more to hang onto, which makes this knife a good choice if you have larger hands.
It has a single, clipped point blade made of Solingen stainless steel. It has a cutting edge of a good 3 inches and fingernail groove to help with easy retrieval of the blade. The handle has an elongated nickel silver bolster, as it is a Barlow pocket knife, and stag antler scales along both sides. The antler scales are held in place with brass pins and feature a Hen & Rooster logo shield inlay near the bolster.
The size, weight, and quality of this knife make it a perfect everyday knife for general tasks. While the clipped point doesn’t make this knife an ideal choice for hunting and skinning, it is still perfect for any tasks you may encounter while roaming about your homestead or farm and need a knife.
Pen Knife With Corelon Handle in Star Spangled Pattern
This Pen Knife has a really unique appearance, thanks to the red and blue swirl pattern on the corelon scales. Hen and Rooster calls this their star spangled banner pattern, which is quite apt for the patriotic visual appeal it offers.
The appearance of this knife is further enhanced by the nickel silver bolsters along each end of the knife and the inlay shield with the traditional Hen & Rooster logo upon it. The corelon scales are affixed with brass pins.
This pen knife has two blades, fixed at opposite ends. The longer blade is a clipped point with a fingernail groove and engraved rooster detail near the tang while the smaller blade is an unmarked pen blade. This makes this pen knife pretty handy to have on you if you’re looking for a lightweight knife perfect for on the go whittling. The combination of blades allows you to accomplish most carving tasks. Both blades are made of Solingen stainless steel, likely a 420 HC stainless steel that holds an edge well and is strong enough to handle the force and twisting that whittling puts a blade through.
Closed, this pocket knife measures just 2 ¾ inches long, making it a compact knife that you can easily wield for detail carving. It weighs just over ½ an ounce.
Congress Pocket Knife With Stag Antler Handle
The Congress Deer Stag style pocket knives seem to be one of those styles that people either love or hate -and for the same reason. It all comes down to that distinctive curvature of the handle. The handle curves toward your fingers, when gripped, setting the open blade at a slight angle to the handle. While this makes for better control during certain tasks, that curve also makes it so that the four blades of this knife don’t fit neatly into the handle. A slight edge of each remains out, which some people find uncomfortable to hold.
For those of you who appreciate a good congress knife, there’s a lot to love about this one. As with all Hen and Rooster pocket knives, this congress knife is handmade in Germany using Solingen stainless steel. It features four blades: two sheepsfoot, coping blade, and a pen blade. The blades have been highly polished to present a near mirror like finish.
The handle measures 3 ¾ inches in length and features genuine stag antler scales. These scales are held in place with brass pins and have a shield inlay with the Hen & Rooster logo upon it. It weighs just over 3 ounces, just enough for a solid grip but not so much as to be bulky when carried in your pocket.
Damascus Lock Back Pocket Knife With Stag Antler Handle
Of all of the knives we’ve looked at in this Hen and Rooster pocket knives reviews, The Stag Damascus Lockback knife is a bit more unique. The handle measures 4 1/8 inches long with a blade measuring 3 ½ inches in length. This makes it larger than most of the knives we’ve looked at, but it also has a clipped point blade made of genuine Damascus steel. This type of steel provides great hardness and strength but is known more for its striking appearance that is a natural result of how it is produced. Hundreds of layers of different types of steel are layered together to form this type of steel, providing it with the advantages of both harder and softer stainless steels. But it also results in a unique patterning across the steel that really makes knives with Damascus steel something to look at it.
The handle on this Hen Rooster pocket knife has genuine stag antler scales and large nickel silver bolsters on both ends. The handle also features a dropped heel, making this knife quite comfortable to hold onto. That handle design and blade shape make this knife well suited as an all-purpose hunting knife.
This pocket knife has a lock back to provide extra safety and security and is part of a limited production run of only 300 knives. It weighs about 4.9 ounces which is a comfortable weight for a pocket knife of this size.
Final Thoughts on Hen and Rooster Pocket Knives Reviews
Hen and Rooster Pocket Knives have a strong reputation for consistently producing high-quality knives. Strong commitment to detailed work by master craftsmen and the use of quality materials have been the secret to success for the company’s nearly 200 years of manufacturing.
Although many of their pocket knives are surprisingly affordable, the standard of quality that Hen & Rooster is known for is not directly proportional to the price. It may be a common practice for many knife manufacturers to use lesser quality materials in order to provide a more affordable product, but Hen and Rooster remains committed to quality and dependability — and those are features in a pocket knife that you just can’t argue with.
Reference and Resources
- Hen & Rooster, Official Brand Website.
- The Benefits of Sharp Knives, Chef Steps.
- Guide to the Best Knife Steel, Knife Informer.
- Why Is Hunting Good for the Environment?, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.