A couple I got this month

[JAB]

Much as with firearms, I don't generally buy 'high dollar' knives.  Not that I don't like them, necessarily, but just that I don't want to spend so much $$$ on something that I will be afraid to use it, etc.  Instead, I try to find knives that I like and can use but that aren't very expensive.  To that end, I picked up the following two this month:

 

Russell Green River Works "Dadley" knife:

 

Got this one at the "Island Home Festival" in Vonore, TN.  There were events at both the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum and at the old Fort Loudon.  The guy from whom I bought this knife had his table set up in the fort.  From what I can find out, the Russell/Green River brand is one of the oldest knife brands in the country and this appears to be one of the 'historic' knife models that they made early on.  According to the guy I bought it from, this type of knife was popular among the settlers/pioneers in the Rocky Mountains.  The guy who sold it to me orders blades from the modern day Russell Green River Works and then makes the grips and sheaths, himself.  The sheath has good stitch work but it is more geared toward 're-enactors', I think.  I bought the knife because I liked the blade style and thought it felt like decent steel.  I will probably end up making a more 'standard' type sheath for it.  I was worried that maybe I paid too much but after seeing the price of these same blades from sources I found on the 'Net and considering the time and other materials he put into making the handle and sheath, $40 doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

Having now 'introduced' it to my whet stone and having managed to get pretty much a razor sharp edge on it, I think I will like it.  I do kind of wish it had a guard to keep my fingers away from the blade (so I'm clumsy sometimes - I don't deny it) I still think it will be a useful knife.  If it holds up and keeps an edge as well as I expect, I might have to order a couple of Russell Green River Works blades and make handles, etc. for them myself.

 

 

 

The second one doesn't need much introduction.  It is a Mora Companion.  Haven't had a chance to really 'use' it, yet, but think it will prove to be a great knife for the money.  It was right at $20 with shipping - not bad, at all.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2013 by JAB

[UncleJak]

I love those green river knives! I need to get one!
And Mora is great, I have one for hiking.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[MacGyver]

That is a good looking knife.  Is that jimping on the back of the blade or do they have some serration going on?

[JAB]

That is a good looking knife.  Is that jimping on the back of the blade or do they have some serration going on?

 

Well, it's kind of odd - the 'teeth' are only on one side and the top of the spine.  One of the web sources I found where the blades can be ordered just described it as 'decorative' but the guy who sold me the knife said that it was intended to be used like a small bone saw - and I could see that it might work for small bones (or, more likely, for sinew and connective tissue.)  It isn't exactly like the jimping I usually see - although I have held it with my thumb in that position and believe that those notches would work well for that purpose as they are not sharp enough along the top of the spine to be uncomfortable - nor are the grooves 'serrations' in the normal sense, either.  Maybe the seller was mistaken and it is just some historic form of jimping?  I'll try and get a closer pic this evening, if you would like.  It is a little clearer in the pic at this link (one of the places I am considering ordering some of their blades from):

 

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/453/1/BLADE-RGR-05

Edited September 19, 2013 by JAB

[MacGyver]

Interesting.  Yeah, that picture is a lot clearer.  I don't know what would really be intended for.  The guy did a nice job on the finished blades, though!

[JAB]

Interesting.  Yeah, I that picture is a lot clearer.  I don't know what would really be intended for.  The guy did a nice job on the finished blades, though!

 

Yeah, he did.  He had some that were 'brighter' like the one in the pic but I liked this one because of the dark/sort of 'patina-ed' look.  I'm guess it is a forced patina or something similar but didn't think to ask if he did it or if it was done at the factory.

 

These blades sharpen up pretty easily, too.  When I got it, it just had the factory edge.  A few minutes on the rough side of my stone, a few more on the smooth side, a couple of passes through each side of a ceramic hand sharpener and then a quick buff out on a piece of leather - probably only about ten or fifteen minutes total - and it is literally shaving sharp.  I just hope it can hold the edge.

Edited September 19, 2013 by JAB

[Moped]

Great looking knives!  I have several Moras.  They are hard to beat for the price!  Like the Dagley, but I've always wanted the Hunter model.  Did that gentleman have one of those in his booth?

[JAB]

Great looking knives!  I have several Moras.  They are hard to beat for the price!  Like the Dagley, but I've always wanted the Hunter model.  Did that gentleman have one of those in his booth?

If the hunter is the one I am thinking of, I don't think so. He had the Dadleys along with one called the Ripper. He also had a really small, kind of blunt point model that he sold as a patch knife although I think it is also labeled as a paring knife in some places. The final model he had was one of the Skinners with an extremely curved blade. The skinner blade was fairly thick at the spine - which I liked - but seemed like it would be a bit awkward for general purpose use because of the curved blade.

[JAB]

Moped, here are a couple of sources I have found for some of the blades.  I don't see one specifically called the 'hunter' model (which could simply mean that neither of these places sells that one) but the one they call the 'camp knife' and the one they call, simply, the 'sheath knife' both look like they might work.

 

The problem is that - as with ordering anything from the Internet - shipping costs are 1/4 to 1/2 what the blades cost.  The good thing is that shipping doesn't increase until after the first, few blades so I will likely wait until I am ready to order three or four.  Personally, having seen it in person, I really liked the Ripper.  I went back and forth between it and the Dadley but the Dadley won out because I think the larger blade would be better for 'general purpose' use.  I also like the look of the camp and sheath knives.

 

http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=119_299_381&osCsid=c582b80d0836f3d0b677347b622977bc

 

The shipping from these folks is a little more but I will probably order my first ones from them.  I don't have much experience with building knives and they offer full kits - blade, pre-cut scale blanks and pins - for just a few dollars more than the blade, alone.  The kits are on just about the second half of page 2 and on page 3.

 

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/453/1

 

That site also offers some pretty nice looking, complete knives at good prices (no idea what the actual quality would be like, though.)

 

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/461/1

 

That 8 inch Hudson Bay Dagger looks like something I expect Spots would like.

[JAB]

Interesting.  Yeah, that picture is a lot clearer.  I don't know what would really be intended for.  The guy did a nice job on the finished blades, though!

 

As promised, here are a few more detailed pictures of the Dadley blade:

 

 

As you can see, the other side of the blade is completely smooth:

 

 

The way the indentations are set up, while they don't create sharp 'teeth' along the ridge of the spine, they do create what feel to be pretty serviceable 'teeth' at the left edge of the spine.  Feeling of them again yesterday evening, I still think they really might work as a simple, small saw.  I'd hate to have to tackle a big job with them, though.

 

Here is the Dadley with the Mora Companion and a .357 round for a better indication of size/scale:

 

[Moped]

The Camp Knife is also known as the Hunter on some sites.

 

http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CCTP&Product_Code=4925-040-001&Category_Code=841-400-100

 

These are pretty popular with the Bushcrafter Community!

Edited September 20, 2013 by Moped

[jimmydeuce]

I'm tempted to order a Metis Belt Knife from the link JAB posted. 5 1/4" etched blade in 1095 for 36 bucks...might be worth a try.

 

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/464/1/KNIFE-METIS

 

 

Kinda like the French Trade Knife too.

 

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/461/1/KNIFE-FT-M

[Murgatroy]

My Mora has replaced all my other 'work/beat around' knives.

 

Well, other than my EDC stockman.

[JAB]

I'm tempted to order a Metis Belt Knife from the link JAB posted. 5 1/4" etched blade in 1095 for 36 bucks...might be worth a try.
 
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/464/1/KNIFE-METIS
 
 
Kinda like the French Trade Knife too.
 
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/461/1/KNIFE-FT-M

Yeah, that French trade knife is one of the models that really caught my eye, too. I don't think those are Russell Green River but still carbon steel so that sounds good.

[jimmydeuce]

I was looking at some trade knives last night and ran across this one. Different style blade but I like the looks of it.

 

http://www.kellamknives.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_33_83_86&products_id=205

[Moped]

If you like those French Trade Knives, go on EBAY and check out Jeff White Knife!

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.XJeff+White+Knife&_nkw=Jeff+White+Knife&_sacat=0&_from=R40

[jimmydeuce]

If you like those French Trade Knives, go on EBAY and check out Jeff White Knife!

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.XJeff+White+Knife&_nkw=Jeff+White+Knife&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Saw those last night too, nice looking blades. I've got a couple in my watch list.

[Moped]

I belong to another forum called Bushcraftusa, and Robert Jones, belongs there.  He is the one that makes all the sheaths for Jeff White's knives.  He also collaborates with Mike on some of the their designs.  He was pretty instrumental in getting Jeff to come out with the Rancher and the Kephart.  Makes some really nice leather sheaths!