What is the purpose of carrying a knife out in a safari..

[HankBuck]

I thought the same thing. My guess is that the buff was already dying and would have tipped over without the the knife wounds. Even so, I will still carry a knife when I hunt anywhere.

@Doug Hamilton - agree, always have a knife (even in the shower).

 

[Doug Hamilton]

DAMN, GUESS I MADE A FAUX PAS WHEN I CUT OFF MY ELEPHANT TAIL WITH A 5" CUSTOM BUCK PATHFINDER.

Yeah. I'd say so, but better than not having any knife at all

 

[HankBuck]

If you want to look like a douchebag, carry a big, expensive belt knife. You don't need one. That's what the skinners are for. Carry a small folder for utility. And yes, you could even cut off an elephant tail with it.

@Roller - carry a Knife and Look-like-a-douche bag or Don’t carry a knife and BE-A-DOUCHE BAG….tough choice

 

[C.W. Richter]

In case your gun fails (or is dropped) at a bad time, in case you find yourself wrapped up by a python, if you're about to be mugged, etc. And, the Skinners LOVE 'em!! https://www.africahunting.com/hunti...-man-who-killed-his-lion-with-a-knife&cat=511

 

[mrpoindexter]

@mrpoindexter — interesting video and some questions:
1). Why wasn’t the .375 used again to finish off the buff? Even if Son/PH had to grab the rifle out of the Clients hands to go save his Dad. Or some other rifle, was there only “One rifle” in the entire group??
2). Who was standing there “still filming” while someone is getting mauled by a Buff?
3). What Buff can be killed with only “3 stabs to the lungs” with a 7” knife? I don’t think a deer would die that fast.
Even Tarzan took more time to kill dangerous game with his knife !!

1. My understanding is that the client either froze or just ran (and my guess is the latter, which would explain that.
2. Two sons. One sprang into action while the other was filming. No way this was staged - I am positive this legit happened. The other son may have been told "no matter what happens, keep filming" and who knows how old he was. The son that went in with the knife was likely the older son.
3. I agree that 3 stabs alone wouldn't kill a buffalo quickly enough to save his dad, but I would say that it likely accelerated the process. If you can shave off a few seconds of a buffalo trying to kill your dad, you do it. Three stabs in the lungs certainly would add a lot more to the bleeding and perhaps assisted in collapsing a lung.

It seems to me that you go and get the rifle, but I was not there. Certainly this was a horrific scene and I am glad I only got to see it on video. It is hard to judge people who act in the moment and under duress against what I would have done with time to think in a low stress environment and without a rampaging mad buffalo looking to kill somebody right in front of you, maybe even occupying the space between you and the rifle.

 

[HankBuck]

1. My understanding is that the client either froze or just ran (and my guess is the latter, which would explain that.
2. Two sons. One sprang into action while the other was filming. No way this was staged - I am positive this legit happened. The other son may have been told "no matter what happens, keep filming" and who knows how old he was. The son that went in with the knife was likely the older son.
3. I agree that 3 stabs alone wouldn't kill a buffalo quickly enough to save his dad, but I would say that it likely accelerated the process. If you can shave off a few seconds of a buffalo trying to kill your dad, you do it. Three stabs in the lungs certainly would add a lot more to the bleeding and perhaps assisted in collapsing a lung.

It seems to me that you go and get the rifle, but I was not there. Certainly this was a horrific scene and I am glad I only got to see it on video. It is hard to judge people who act in the moment and under duress against what I would have done with time to think in a low stress environment and without a rampaging mad buffalo looking to kill somebody right in front of you, maybe even occupying the space between you and the rifle.

@mrpoindexter you are Right and gave a thoughtful serious reply to my “somewhat sarcastic” post….
I was Not there and cannot say with certainty what I might have done. I hope, that under No circumstances, I would just-keep-filming and I don’t care about the importance of getting it on video. If that was my Father or Son - i would take some type of action, might not be effective, maybe even get afraid and “run for help”…but not stand there and “film”. That is the only reason I can NOT believe this was really a Life-or-Death situation. Maybe Not staged, but nobody was getting injured or hurt. The narration afterwards (was it narrated minutes, hours, or weeks later?) showed No injuries. I just think something is “missing” here?

 

[mrpoindexter]

I think this was shot quite a while after the event and this was to promote the knife they used.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

It didn’t look like to me his hand got close enough to the buffalo to get full penetration on the stab. I’m saying it didn’t quite make the lungs.
I wonder why he wasn’t holding a rifle.

 

[HankBuck]

Whether you have skimmers or not carrying a knife with a blade over about 4" in length marks you as someone that really doesn't know what he's doing. In NA you can skin an elk, a moose or a bear with a blade that long. Whenever I run into a deer hunter with a 6" buck knife, I've noticed that he usually won't have a buck. One time I did see a buck that a guy with a big knife had actually killed. It was a small, barely legal 3x2. In his pride he told me that the buck was really old. He knew this because the buck didn't have any teeth on top in the front.

I just congratulated him on his buck.

@Doug Hamilton - are you Ready? It is almost amazing that You can determine someone’s hunting skill - not only by their knife but right down to the blade length “within an inch” ie: 3“ to 4” = skilled but 6” = No Deer?. For many years I only carried a 4” folder and it worked fine for deer & bear, then occassionally had a 4” fixed blade - very light inexpensive buck “Woodsman” And liked them both as they were “enough”. But I sometimes carried a custom 5” fixed out West for Elk (Not knowing it reflected poorly on my hunting skills). I hunt some remote areas and usually alone but never had any difficulties or “adventures doing so. Twice, on Guide hunts - spent an unexpected Night-in-the-woods: once in Maine after killing bear over hounds miles from truck - Guide said he’d walk back to truck, drive closer and walk in to get me …told Me to stay with Hounds leashed up and dead bear and expect him back in 4-6 hours… - 20 hours later (just after sunrise as I was getting ready to release hounds and walk out —with one of their ‘tracking collars” in my jacket) he returned. He’d had gotten lost then truck wouldn’t start, he was “relieved to see me” and glad I didn’t panic and get lost…we had no cell phones or radio communication on that 1979 hunt. I was able to start a fire, cook a slice of bear meat and it was September so Not cold. Didn’t’t have to build a shelter or cut a lot of wood for big warm fire and it didn’t rain but I realized how “Unprepared” I was for an UNexpected night in the woods. Now, on any similar remote hunt - with or without a Guide - I’m a little better prepared: 5” or 6” straight knife & Leatherman back up, plus small packet (50’ parachute cord, matches, fire starter, back up compass, space blanket = 7oz weight). Only used it once in 30 years and could’ve survived without it then too - but it was helpful, gives me confidence to hunt areas I might not go alone. I’m not a trained “Survivalist” and Not a “Prepper” but I attempt to be slightly self reliant if something unexpected comes up. Lastly, I’ve found that a 5”-6” straight knife can split a deer sternum easier then a 4” folder and makes getting gutting/cutting windpipe a little easier. I can bone a deer with a 4” but a 5” blade makes it easier. There are some functional reasons to carry a 5“, 6”, even 7” fixed blade besides looking like Tarzan (although I admire Tarzan !!)

 

[HankBuck]

I think this was shot quite a while after the event and this was to promote the knife they used.

That makes sense —

 

[Doug Hamilton]

@Roller - carry a Knife and Look-like-a-douche bag or Don’t carry a knife and BE-A-DOUCHE BAG….tough choice

You'll only look like a douche bag if you carry a gaudy, oversize knife. Any reasonable knife either folding or fixed with a blade up to about 4" is fine. As you said not having any knife at all could qualify you as a douche bag.

 

[soumya sarkar]

I have responded to this before but it just doesn’t seem to want to go away. If you don’t know whether or not to carry a knife on safari (?) You most likely shouldn’t have one. For me it’s like asking should I have ammo for my rifle. The uses for a knife are many!! I have had an occasion where the PH didn’t have one until after we had left for home. It doesn’t have to be a big Bowie. For some a Leatherman will do just fine. Knives tend to say something about the man that carries it and it’s all the better if he knows how to use it. Hope this puts the subject to rest—

I'm the OP, obviously you did not read my opening post.

 

[KurtVH]

I was born forty years before 1990.

If I have to buy some Good Samaritan's assistance during an emergency, I'm not sure I would trust that assistance to be helpful. Keep on driving down the road, pal.

Carrying Canadian cash is detrimental because the slippery stuff has a way of climbing out of my pocket ... constantly. Go to the bank and ask for a hundred dollars Canadian, carry it around in your pocket for a week, and you'll see what I mean. Using cards is much better for the economy too. It moves money faster. And the faster money moves, the more productive the economy. For example, few years back Canada did the wise thing and eliminated pennies. Made sense. Costs like seven cents to make each penny and people threw them away like they were paper cups. Everything is still dollars and cents up here. If the customer pays cash, the price is rounded off to nearest nickel. Pay with card and it's the exact amount. So people were encouraged to use cards. Great. Keep the currency moving and working instead of home in a jar or laying useless on the curb.

I don't care for Taylor Swift ... but I'm not stuck in Frank Sinatra mode either.

Are you someone who hasn’t lived through a widespread natural disaster, perhaps? Doesn’t happen often to most living on much of the globe, but if it happens to you once you’ll keep some cash at home and some in your pocket in the future.

Beyond that, I seem to be coming across more businesses all the time that only accept cash or charge a fee for card users (or offer a “cash discount”. I’m sure they’re fed up with the fraud or with paying the credit card companies for the privilege of being able to take cards and are opting out or recouping those costs.

(A money clip or a front pocket wallet/card case or a rubber band holds Canadian bills just fine.)