can someone explain the shape of the nessmuk to me?

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drew2

Joined
Feb 24, 2007
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It looks like it would be a comfortable knife to use but is there a specific reason for the large amount of metal on the backside of the blade?

Any writeups on the design that you could direct me to? Thank!
 
I have no idea why George Sears actually wanted the design but after making and using one myself, I came to believe the hump is a very useful feature. Properly sized for the hand, it can allow a finger to ride on top so that during skinning the point will not pierce the hide. Also it can be used as a pinch point to hold the knife close to the point for fine work. For food prep a wider blade gives a bit of straight "steering" when cutting meat,veggies, and cheese. The back side of the hump closer to the handle can act as a thumb ramp too :)
 
The shape is probably due to what was left over after he reground a knife with a broken tip into something usable. He made do with what he had, saving money in the process.

In short, there is no real intentional reason for it, design-wise. Altho, as Bill says, it CAN be useful in some circumstances.

.
 
The hump is also nice for using the knife as an ulu. It also has a wide blade that you can eat off of.
 
Nessmuks knife is a good skinner and camp kitchen knife. Its thin blade makes it an awesome slicer. The hump can be used as a spoon, or when skinning you can insert the knife edge up and run the hump along the muscle while the edge cuts the skin. It is by no means the be all and end all bushcraft knife. But if you like a high performing slicer, then its right up your alley.
 
I don't believe he made the knife himself anyway, he had it made to his specs. I also don't think many of the monster nessmuks we're seeing lately really match the specs he was interested in. He wanted a skinner/utility, not a big chopper. (That's why his "trio" includes an axe.)
 
Are nessmuk style knives seemingly so popular purely due to the performance of the blade design, or does the attraction stem more from the tales of George Sears and a bit of romantic nostalgia? I don't mean to imply that it isn't a good working blade, but perhaps more of the latter comes into play when someone selects a nessmuk?

I'm curious as someone who doesn't own one.
 
I've got a Bark River Wolf River, which is a small "buffalo skinner" and his Adirondack Guide, which is a small nessmuk. The blade profiles are similar. I am convinced the nessmuk was originally intended to be a skinner.

But mine hangs out in the kitchen where it replaces the ulus I also like to use. It slices very well, scoops up sliced and minced food efficiently like a spatula, and the big curved cutting edge is effectively a dropped edge, keeping the blade below my knuckles against the cutting board.

The blade shape works for me. I am not an expert on his adventures.
 
Raskolnikov said:
Are nessmuk style knives seemingly so popular purely due to the performance of the blade design, or does the attraction stem more from the tales of George Sears and a bit of romantic nostalgia? I don't mean to imply that it isn't a good working blade, but perhaps more of the latter comes into play when someone selects a nessmuk?

I'm curious as someone who doesn't own one.
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A lot of it is romance. Its the anti-tactical knife. JMHO.
 
The Nessmuk is a hunting knife - specifically, for skinning and slicing. The hump helps to keep the point from snagging the "innards" when opening up the carcass.

It's not a bushcraft or woodworking knife.
 
This is all Sears ever said of his knife. I have read pretty much all of his magazine articles and he says nothing about knives. He knew a lot more about canoes and loved his axe.

"A word as to knife, or knives. These are of prime necessity, and should be of the best, both as to shape and temper. The “bowies” and “hunting knives” usually kept on sale, are thick, clumsy affairs, with a sort of ridge along the middle of the blade, murderous-looking, but of little use; rather fitted to adorn a dime novel or the belt of “Billy the Kid,” than the outfit of the hunter. The one shown in the cut is thin in the blade, and handy for skinning, cutting meat, or eating with."

3363266f.jpg


Pretty much all theories as to the origin are nothing but speculation. Some think it was a reground blade, some think he designed it.

All Sears left was this woodcut and his vague description. Unless someone can cite a source for their belief, those two things are all you have to go on.
 
ilbruche said:
This is all Sears ever said of his knife. I have read pretty much all of his magazine articles and he says nothing about knives. He knew a lot more about canoes and loved his axe.


Pretty much all theories as to the origin are nothing but speculation. Some think it was a reground blade, some think he designed it.

All Sears left was this woodcut and his vague description. Unless someone can cite a source for their belief, those two things are all you have to go on.
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Bruche hit the nail on the head IMO. Out of all the publications (most of which are out of copyright and on the web) there is almost nothing written about his knife. We know a lot about his axe, right down to his friends tung in cheek summery of what they considered his "poor business" skills. We do know how he liked to carry his knife however.


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Fiddleback said:
A lot of it is romance. Its the anti-tactical knife. JMHO.
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This is the main reason I carry it. I've said before, and I'll say it again, there is only so much "performance" that can go into cutting something. If your knife is sharp, it will cut stuff. I love the design of the Nessmuk. It's not a kabar and it's not a puukko, so right there it's not 80% of the knives I see other people carrying in the woods.

I like to be a little unique in my choice of knives :)

Edit: Removed my comment about one maker's design being far removed from the original. I don't want this to turn into an arguement on traditional/modern interpretations of the Nessmuk design.
 
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il bruche has it right - that's all we know...the rest is speculation. (nothing wrong with speculation....as long as we freely admit it :D)


Nessmuk did not design the knife....it is a traditional skinning knife pattern from the old west.

What he DID do was popularize it tremendously...

WE put his name on the knife...

much like we put the Bowie name on a butcher knife. ;)




I'm a big fan of the Nessmuk style knife...and all of the various takes on it are AOK with me.


The only time I get prickly is when someone claims that the only "true nessmuk" is one that looks like George's. :rolleyes:
(I think even George would take issue with that claim....:p)


Most of these "traditional/historic" designs I've seen have something near a 50/50 blade-to-handle ratio...

If you look at George's pic...the handle is probably only 75% as long as the blade...


Like I said...I think they're all great. :thumbup:


Dan
 
One of the great things about modern knives is the tremendous variety of designs we have from a few originals.
It's not about what the original design was for, it's how well the new version works in its own right.
 
Well, then I finally get it...it is one mans idea of a knife. I have wondered many times why anyone would want a knife that looked like that...I have handled them..and they seem unwieldy to me...I do like a Koster I handled..that was nice. I guess I can relax and enjoy me NOT liking them...all along I thought that there was something wrong with my taste in knives! Give me a woodslore anyday...or a puukko. Just a much better blade for the bush..than that flat spoon....(just ribbing you guys..nobody send me any hate mail) Gene
 
Another nessmuk thread?;)

This might be a good time to ask this question since some of the more popular nessmuk makers are responding to this thread...

I had the impression that the point of Sears' knife was for skinning and food prep and that his thin fixed-blade never touched anything but food. So, is the nessmuk really even an effective skinner? I've only ever skinned rabbit and I helped with a deer once and the knife that was used on these occasions was a Buck Omni Hunter (or similar). The stock used on that knife is a little thicker than a (traditional?) nessmuk design, which helps prevent the spine from breaking the skin. So has anyone actually used their nessmuk for skinning? And how did it perform?
 
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