Morseth 5” Original Model 1 Stag Safe-Lok Sheath - Norway / Washington USA 1950’s

Early production Model 1 stag handled Morseth outdoor knife made in the early 50’s.

Harry Morseth immigrated from Norway in 1906 at the age of 17, he settled in Everett Washington and worked for 40 years at the Walton lumber mill. In 1934 Morseth made his first hunting knife with saw blade steel and stag handle and butt cap similar to the Marbles knives that would have been very popular with hunters in the 30’s.

Harry Morseth’s next plan after a 1939 visit to Norwegian steel mills was to begin using the laminated Norwegian steel that he grew up using but WW2 put a crimp in the plan to import Norwegian steel. Finally in 1949 he was able to import blade blanks cut to his design, being a semi-finished product rather than simple sheet stock the manufacturer’s name was required. Morseth had the blades for his knives tempered to RC-63, harder than the typical high 50’s usually used by Brusletto at the time.

Morseth knives were more expensive than the average hinting knife of it’s day and being that there was so much war surplus even more so. However Morseth’s laminated Norwegian knives were of a great quality and the sheath ingenious, he developed a following and was arguably responsible for introducing many American’s to the high quality nature of Norwegian laminated blades.

The first late 40’s and 50’s imported blades have the marking on this knife: “Brusletto Geilo Made in Norway” with “Morseth” on the opposite ricasso. The back of the ‘fancy stitched’ Morseth designed Safe-Lok sheath says “Pat Apld For” dating it to post 1951 when the patent was applied for.

This knife has seen a lot of use, it has been sharpened in from 5” to 4.5”, the stag handle certainly shows wear from use along with one hairline crack but otherwise is in great shape. Sheath is healthy and free from broken stitches but like the knife shows that it was used a lot. We have opted to only lightly clean the blade and leave the knife with as much of it’s honest worked personality as possible.

Levine values the 5” original design with stag at $700 in his 2001 5th edition of Levine’s Guide to Knives and Their Values. We have come up with our price given the 20 odd years since that cut the condition of the knife and sheath, these do not come around much however.