Old school survival and fighter

[Spots]

My friend, teacher and mentor Colonel Dwight Mclemore ordered a new knife from me about a month ago. He sent me a very detailed drawing of what he wanted for his long hunter kit that he is putting together. According to him, this represents closely what would have been a normal blade style at that time. Very plain, blacksmith made, no guard, heavy duty kitchen knife. I have to say after seeing it in steel it screams all utility no frills. This one is special, as it was forged qnd finished by my dad, at 61 yrs old. This is the first knife made for a customer entirely by him, he usually just watches and advises. Now on to the good stuff. Its made from 1/4" thick 5160. The back of the blade was hammer textured and everything was left forge finished at the Colonels request. 10" blade, 5 1/4" handle. Handle is oak, fitted with brass pins and epoxy, and artificially aged.

By far the coolest design picture I've ever seen. Hand drawn by Dwight.











The hands that make the knife. Thats 60 years of experience, hard work, scars and calluses. These hands taught me everything I know.





For those of you who know me, you can kinda compare the size. For size reference I am 6'1" and 250 lbs so it is a good sized knife.

[crashgordan]

very very cool

[sybo]

AWESOME!!!

[Grand Torino]

Beautiful knife Spots  :up:

[JAB]

That is awesome!  That thing doesn't need a guard because the lower/rear portion of the blade fills that role nicely.  That thing is just begging to get some deer blood on it!

 

  I have read in more than one place about how those trappers, settlers and hunters in the old days wouldn't have known what a custom 'bush knife' was if they saw it.  Instead, they used the fairly common (kind of general purpose) trade knives or, pretty often, carried an honest-to-goodness butcher knife which they might or might not have modified a little.  Apparently, they weren't worried about having an extremely thick, heavy blade that could chop down small trees or stand up to using a 'baton' method to split wood because that was what the hatchet, tomahawk or camp axe they carried was for.  I have also seen pics and reproductions of secondary knives they carried - sometimes used as patch knives or just as utility knives for small work - that pretty much looked like an Old Hickory paring knife.  Heck, for that matter some of the popular trade knives apparently looked a lot like kitchen knives.  I guess they figured if it worked for cutting stuff up in the kitchen or slaughterhouse then it would work for cutting stuff up in the wild, too.

Edited March 31, 2015 by JAB

[Spots]

That is awesome! That thing doesn't need a guard because the lower/rear portion of the blade fills that role nicely. That thing is just begging to get some deer blood on it!

I have read in more than one place about how those trappers, settlers and hunters in the old days wouldn't have known what a custom 'bush knife' was if they saw it. Instead, they used the fairly common (kind of general purpose) trade knives or, pretty often, carried an honest-to-goodness butcher knife which they might or might not have modified a little. Apparently, they weren't worried about having an extremely thick, heavy blade that could chop down small trees or stand up to using a 'baton' method to split wood because that was what the hatchet, tomahawk or camp axe they carried was for. I have also seen pics and reproductions of secondary knives they carried - sometimes used as patch knives or just as utility knives for small work - that pretty much looked like an Old Hickory paring knife. Heck, for that matter some of the popular trade knives apparently looked a lot like kitchen knives. I guess they figured if it worked for cutting stuff up in the kitchen or slaughterhouse then it would work for cutting stuff up in the wild, too.

Thats my understanding also. The big elaborate blades didnt get popular until later on, and even then a large basic knife was much more likely. This thing is very close to an old hickory butcher knife, but its thicker, heavier and a little longer. Its my understanding it will be carried with a small patch knife, and that would be my idea woods setup. This is also very close to what seems to be the generally accepted knife used by Jim Bowie in the Sandbar duel. Thanks for the compliments everyone I will pass them on to my dad.

[Moped]

Dude, that is one awesome looking Long Hunter knife!!!  How much would something like that go for.  Jeff White sells his on EBAY for for around $40, but his are 1/8" thick.

[Spots]

Dude, that is one awesome looking Long Hunter knife!!! How much would something like that go for. Jeff White sells his on EBAY for for around $40, but his are 1/8" thick.

$80 to $100 depending on exact size, handle material, etc. That one is a basic 10" with oak handles and would bring about $80 or so.