Old fashion fixed blade hunting knife

[rookhawk]

Buck Silkirk

Fallkniven f1 pro

Esee camp lore

Wright Bush Knife

 

[Ray B]

Below are two photos. One is of knives that are sold in USA as "hunting" knives. the other is of knives sold in USA as industrial use knives. A primary difference between the two categories is that the industrial knives are easily replaces, so little concern for being durable. Secondly, industrial knives have little aesthetic value in the handle- so no stage or elk horn, just hardwood shaped to fit a hand to supply a firm and non-tiring grip even when slimy. Interesting how the blade shape of "African" knives have similar measurements to the industrial knives. None of the above knives were designed for extracurricular activities such as chopping firewood or bone. I think it as sacrilegious to use a fine slicing instrument for chopping akin to using a Porsche to haul gravel.

 

[008]

Twos my favorites but mine are combi edge.

 

[Ryan]

As a teenager I was mystified by damascus steel and when I started looking into African Hunting Peter Hathaway Capstick ranked high on authors. Those two came together in the 80's and can still be had at www.damascususa.com

 

[rinehart0050]

@rookhawk really looking forward to your report!

I've got a custom knife on the way the I'll add a report for too

 

[rookhawk]

The one thing I don't understand is why the custom knife makers don't use a scandi edge grind on their knives?

I see two kinds of hunting knives in the world:

A.) ruined ones because they were resharpened wrong

B.) dull ones because the owner doesn't want to ruin it sharpening it wrong


Why not put an edge grind on that is imbecile proof where you just follow the angle and it gets sharp again!

Knifemakers, what are your thoughts?

 

[Shootist43]

Rookhawk, I was unaware of the term "scandi edge" until reading it on your post. I agree to a great extent that it is a good edge. However, I do take some umbrage with your thoughts that simply following the same angle will re-sharpen the knife. The thought is correct, the ability to do so is not that straight forward. When sharpened by hand, every stroke across a stone is at a slightly different angle. If your "field sharpening" equipment consists of a LoRay, or Lansky styled jig that assures that every stroke is at the same angle I agree with you. Another problem is the angle of the grind is different from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some are 20 degrees others are 22&1/2 degrees others are 25 degrees and so on. Many years ago my boys and I (over a period of several years) field dressed 11 whitetails with the same Cold Steel Carbon V Master Hunter. Although it would have done more I decided to re-sharpen it. It took me about 8 hours spread over several evenings to get it "shaving" again. Even though I was using stones that ranged from 100 to 1200 grit. Some time later, a year or so we all were using a Carbon V Master Hunter. Since then, I've never had to re-sharpen one of our blades. That being said, I have been buying them (off Ebay) to give to my grandkids. Unfortunately almost every one of them had their edges ruined by their previous owners re-sharpening attempts. No doubt that is why they were for sale. Not wanting to spend the money to send them back to Cold Steel for re-sharpening I decided to purchase a Work Sharp Ken Onion Model and do it myself. I'm happy to say that putting an edge on one of these knives now takes about 15 minutes.

While looking at and reading your posts about which knives "made the cut" I saw a knife that looks almost exactly the same as a Cold Steel Carbon V Master Hunter, that being the Fallkniven F1-Pro. I went to a "Bush Crafter's website and found a thread comparing the two. The article stated in essence that they were virtually (but not literally) the same knife. The blade steel (coming from the same source) is identical. The old knives that I buy were made from 1/4" stock, the new ones from 4mm.

 

[Pheroze]

Let me add the Canadian contribution.

http://www.gknives.com/index.php/products/outdoor/hunting-knives/4-survival-detail

I have this one with a horn handle and sharpening steel. It really is a beautiful knife. The Grohmann #1 was in a Field & Stream article about the top ten knives.

These knives stand up to some considerable abuse. Use it hard!

 

[rookhawk]

@Shootist43 two things:

1.) you've mentioned your love for those vintage cold steel knives. Could you please post a picture for all of us to see this model?

2.) I think, but not positive, you are incorrect on scandi edges. It is not a double bevel edge like most knives. You run a flat stone across the one inch thick bevel and the edge is restored. You don't need to know or guess or feel what angle you must use to put the sharpenesss back on. That's the beauty of a scandi. A 5 year old can sharpen one. This means a lot to me because I'm the world's worst sharpener.


I bought an old galco sharpened kit after buying every gadget on the planet. For complex grinds like hollow, convex and secondary bevels I can only resharpen with that galco set, and only at home in a calm, leisurely fashion.

I and most bushcraft people can take a river stone of any flat piece of old metal, or another knife, and put an edge back on a scandi bevel. Nearly 100% of survival / bushcraft knives have this edge profile for whatever it's worth.

 

[Shootist43]

I think you are probably correct in that we are looking at two different style of edges. I just did a google search and they showed about 6 different styles of scandi edges. So I'm at a loss. On a bush crafters website the scandi edge was stated to have a bevel of 16 degrees. Here is a photo of a Carbon V Master Hunter (bottom) and a Mora Knife (top). The similarity of the Master Hunter to the Fallkniven F1-Pro should be self evident.

 

[rookhawk]

The mora is a perfect example of a scandi grind. Can't screw the edge up with a stone. Slap something resembling a stone against that 1/4" long bevel and it will get sharp again with no skill or good judgement required.

 

[Shootist43]

I took 2 Mora knives to Africa. I wasn't planning to do any of the skinning so I didn't figure there was any sense in bring a larger knife. My PHs face lit up when he first saw the Mora I was carrying. He was a rather small man 5'-6" or so and probably 130 lbs. About half way through the hunt I gave him my "spare." He was a very happy camper. All of the PHs in camp were awed by what a cotton ball with a little Vaseline rubbed in and a ferocium rod can do. The next day My PH was bumming cotton balls and Vaseline from the camp staff. I'd given him my ferocium rod the night before. He put both in his truck for future use.

 

[Ray B]

I worked with a fellow that liked to sharpen his knives with the Scandinavian method- that being to lay the blade flat on the stone and take metal away uniformly to the edge, then use a steel to align the edge. I preferred to leave the side of the blade intact, then use a stone for the edge- getting it so that I could get a straight reflection off of the bevel- then a fine steel for final touch-up. Either way seemed to work well since we both had sharp knives for the workday- which at peak went 9 3/4 hrs a day and tons of beef. Although a lot of keeping the knives sharp on the killfloor was in knowing what to cut and what NOT to cut.

 

[Art Lambart II]

@rookhawk I look forward to your knife review.

 

[John A Flaws]

I bought the larger knife, a reproduction of a knife found in the 1925 Manton and Company catalog from Lewis Drake and Associates. Lewis Drake and Associates still sells this knife along with many other quality reproduction knives. I purchased the elephant ivory handled knife some years back online but I cannot recall the vendor's name.

 

[Rick Cox]

Has any one got or can supply pictures of a fixed blade hunting knife from the 30s onwards somthing that looks like it would take down a cape buff or elephant
im getting a leather cartridge belt made up for my 9.3x62 andwas thinking of getting a knife that looked the part as i have read everything is bigger in africa lol

Check out Winkler knives. Go to Knife Art.com

 

[Rick Cox]

http://www.knifeart.com/woodsman1.html#