Hi everyone,
I am slowly working on building a somewhat period correct kit using modern reproductions for the Canadian Courier Des Bois / Voyageurs, but am hung up on the knife.
I intend on actually using the gear for stuff from hunting game from deer all the way to rabbits and grouse, to camping/bushcraft, so some gear will be more modern such as a stainless steel pot over a period correct tin pot, etc. So while not exactly reenacting, its more of a traditional style kit if that makes sense.
The intended uses will be for dressing and skinning game, and wood carving (i have a snow/nealley hudson bay axe for wood, and currently carry an opinel no 7 or a buck stockman if more detailed carving ends up being needed or if i dont want to dull my tbd beltknife.
So, back to the knife, from what i can tell it does not appear that the french used butcher knifes such as the old hickory, and instead used more of a scalper design. As well, i found modern reproduction copies of the french trade knifes from Chris Slinger and dean olivers Courier Des Bois knifes (5” and a 3.5” version), all of which fall towards the top of my price range (~50usd). At the moment, i wonder about the roughly 5” blade length for processing small game, and to an extent deer. As well, with the french trade knife i am concerned abit about what appears to be a lack of belly on the knife, but i dont know, if this is what was carried it must have some use. The 3 1/2” version of the CDB knife however seems to be alittle small. Who knows, i might end up getting the trade knife now, and the 3 1/2er later.
So, in short, i was wondering about the historical accurateness of the dean oliver Courier Des Bois knifes, if any of you guys have used these knifes and have feedback good or bad, and how well you think they may work for my intended purposes, or if for the knife i should get something else entirely. (i currently carry a mora classic 2 and along with the folder, but i dont intend on using the folder for game, as i also use it as a dinner knife when eating, and dont want to deal with cleaning all the crevices in the woods. The french trade knife profile appears similar to the mora, albeit longer, and without the slight drop point from what i can tell.
Note ive never actually skinned a deer, never had the desire to do anything with it, but in the past year ive taken up leatherworking, and think it would be cool to learn to tan the hides and try to make something out of it.
Hope you guys could make something out of this rambling, if you have any other recomendations, please let me know. Ill post my current gear down below so you know what i mean by being kind of reenactmentish.
I am slowly working on building a somewhat period correct kit using modern reproductions for the Canadian Courier Des Bois / Voyageurs, but am hung up on the knife.
I intend on actually using the gear for stuff from hunting game from deer all the way to rabbits and grouse, to camping/bushcraft, so some gear will be more modern such as a stainless steel pot over a period correct tin pot, etc. So while not exactly reenacting, its more of a traditional style kit if that makes sense.
The intended uses will be for dressing and skinning game, and wood carving (i have a snow/nealley hudson bay axe for wood, and currently carry an opinel no 7 or a buck stockman if more detailed carving ends up being needed or if i dont want to dull my tbd beltknife.
So, back to the knife, from what i can tell it does not appear that the french used butcher knifes such as the old hickory, and instead used more of a scalper design. As well, i found modern reproduction copies of the french trade knifes from Chris Slinger and dean olivers Courier Des Bois knifes (5” and a 3.5” version), all of which fall towards the top of my price range (~50usd). At the moment, i wonder about the roughly 5” blade length for processing small game, and to an extent deer. As well, with the french trade knife i am concerned abit about what appears to be a lack of belly on the knife, but i dont know, if this is what was carried it must have some use. The 3 1/2” version of the CDB knife however seems to be alittle small. Who knows, i might end up getting the trade knife now, and the 3 1/2er later.
So, in short, i was wondering about the historical accurateness of the dean oliver Courier Des Bois knifes, if any of you guys have used these knifes and have feedback good or bad, and how well you think they may work for my intended purposes, or if for the knife i should get something else entirely. (i currently carry a mora classic 2 and along with the folder, but i dont intend on using the folder for game, as i also use it as a dinner knife when eating, and dont want to deal with cleaning all the crevices in the woods. The french trade knife profile appears similar to the mora, albeit longer, and without the slight drop point from what i can tell.
Note ive never actually skinned a deer, never had the desire to do anything with it, but in the past year ive taken up leatherworking, and think it would be cool to learn to tan the hides and try to make something out of it.
Hope you guys could make something out of this rambling, if you have any other recomendations, please let me know. Ill post my current gear down below so you know what i mean by being kind of reenactmentish.
