Bantams heat treatment

My bantam from the early 2000s was no different than any of my other 420hc bucks in sharpenability, edge retention, or toughness. I used it commercial lobstering and it held up admirably. I lost it at sea. Found it again. And retired it. My only complaint was that the handle wasn’t thick enough for such heavy work as to be as comfortable as say a bucklite or 110.
 
I got a much-abused Bantam as part of a deal for a Spitfire that I really wanted. The Bantam was a nice surprise. After I sharpened out the chips (relatively minor in size, but there were several), I noticed that the knife takes a great edge. It's now a work knife that rattles around in the door of my van all day.
 
Culprit99 said:
Whoa. Back the UPS truck up a moment. Are we just going to let this roll on by without asking for details?! I would love to know how you found it again!
Click to expand...
Funny story. I clipped the bantam to my oilskins. I had a mora clipped to the front bib and the bantam under like the armpit area. Lots of lines going overboard in coils on a lobster boat and this was an open stern boat. It was on a mooring in Rockport harbor in Mass., which is basically like a little quay. We would row out to the boat and row back to the dock once the lobsters were unloaded. The Bantam must have fallen off of where it was clipped and into my rain pants or something and fallen out as I was climbing the ladder. The “head” on that boat was the open stern and I had oilskins over rain pants over jeans over thermals, so relieving one’s self was tricky in a 5 or 6 foot sea with the deck awash. I gave it up for lost. I can’t remember exactly how long it was gone (I’m pretty sure I posted in a thread about this back when it happened in like 2006 or something) but going back down the ladder at low tide to go back out on another day I saw a glint on the bottom. It was only a couple inches deep at the wharf and sure enough there was my knife, right at the base of the ladder. The clip was intact and it was no worse for wear except a few rust spots from being in the seawater. I rediscovered it this past spring when I was moving. When I get a minute I’ll snap a photo. I don’t think I ever cleaned it up or carried it on the boat again. I’m superstitious: “what the sea wants the sea will have.”
 
Last edited:
jude_061 said:
Funny story. I clipped the bantam to the suspenders on my oilskins. I had a mora clipped to the front bib and the bantam under like the armpit area. Lots of lines going overboard in coils on a lobster boat and this was an open stern boat. It was on a mooring in Rockport harbor in Mass., which is basically like a little quay. We would row out to the boat and row back to the dock once the lobsters were unloaded. I donned and removed my oilskins on dry land because it was easier than doing it on the boat. The Bantam must have fallen off of where it was clipped as I was climbing the ladder. I gave it up for lost. I can’t remember exactly how long it was gone (I’m pretty sure I posted about this back when it happened in like 2006 or something) but going back down the ladder at low tide to go back out on another day I saw a glint on the bottom. It was only a couple inches deep at the wharf and sure enough there was my knife, right at the base of the ladder. The clip was intact and it was no worse for wear except a few rust spots from being in the seawater. I rediscovered it this past spring when I was moving. When I get a minute I’ll snap a photo. I don’t think I ever cleaned it up or carried it on the boat again. I’m superstitious: “what the sea wants the sea will have.”
Click to expand...

53400152131_29bcf991f8_c_d.jpg

53399221492_2f2081cd15_c_d.jpg

You can still see the rust and grime and other nasties that happen to knives on commercial fishing boats. It’s still sharp though, still opens pretty smoothly, and still locks up tight.

ETA: that is in fact a 2006 knife. So this probably happened in late 2006 or early 2007 because I got a job at the alternative school in my city in late January 2007, and only lobstered on the weekends with my brother on his commercial boat on school vacations after that. I found it a day or two later.
 
Last edited:
jude_061 said:
Funny story. I clipped the bantam to my oilskins. I had a mora clipped to the front bib and the bantam under like the armpit area. Lots of lines going overboard in coils on a lobster boat and this was an open stern boat. It was on a mooring in Rockport harbor in Mass., which is basically like a little quay. We would row out to the boat and row back to the dock once the lobsters were unloaded. The Bantam must have fallen off of where it was clipped and into my rain pants or something and fallen out as I was climbing the ladder. The “head” on that boat was the open stern and I had oilskins over rain pants over jeans over thermals, so relieving one’s self was tricky in a 5 or 6 foot sea with the deck awash. I gave it up for lost. I can’t remember exactly how long it was gone (I’m pretty sure I posted in a thread about this back when it happened in like 2006 or something) but going back down the ladder at low tide to go back out on another day I saw a glint on the bottom. It was only a couple inches deep at the wharf and sure enough there was my knife, right at the base of the ladder. The clip was intact and it was no worse for wear except a few rust spots from being in the seawater. I rediscovered it this past spring when I was moving. When I get a minute I’ll snap a photo. I don’t think I ever cleaned it up or carried it on the boat again. I’m superstitious: “what the sea wants the sea will have.”
Click to expand...
That’s awesome - I love to hear stories like that!
 
Nice to see the Bantam getting some positive "press" its a quality product at an affordable price and will do any job expected of a knife of similar size. When I need to carry a knife larger than my stockmans I prefer a Bantam rather than a 112.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top