Well after years of using production knives the "bug" struck recently when a close friend sent me an article about Idaho Knife Work's authentic reproduction of the historic Hudson Bay Knife.
Although I work in the wild carrying high quality production knives... the "fun-real" side of me enjoys more primative technlogy, skills & ways. However "fun" has to be kept in check with function. I cannot afford to have "cool" gear that isn't usable.
I'm preparing to depart in a few weeks on a traditional Muzzleloader deer/elk/bear/mtn lion hunt. And for this hunt a Swamp Rat, Busse or Mora, while functional, just doesn't "cut-it" while on a tradtional muzzleloader hunt and living for over a week in a traditional canvas tent shelter equipped with wood stove.
So...this led me to contact Deb and Mike Mann and explained my project. I requested as close to an authentic, historic, knife indicative of the 1800's that would have been a common frontier working man's knife. I told them I'm interested in a piece ranging from the time of the Mtn Man era, to the great Buff'lr Hunt to the Cowboy days - quite a historic range. Mike said this is no problem as the Hudson Bay Knife was used extensively during this time period.
I then explained I have no interest or need for a large "chopper" knife (no slam here - but I use an ax thank you very much) and I needed a knife that could perform important tasks such as skinning and processing wild game, generating wood shavings and curls, to whittling & primative carving tasks (snares, traps, tent pegs, fire boards and the like) which would have been common in the 1800's. I needed something nimble in my hands.
The standard Hudson was generally 7" in blade length in this time period. However I needed something more agile in my hands for whittling a snare trigger or skinning an elk. Mike (who is outstanding to work with BTW) said "no problem...it was fairly common for knives in this time period to get broken or chipped and the owner would have the knife shortened and reground." I know up until today's mindset our forefathers NEVER disposed of anything. It it didn't work or it broke they just modified it. I have seen examples of authentic Hudson Bay knives shortened and it was probably done as a choice or out of of neccessity. Either way, Mike shortened the blade to just a hair over 5" and profiled the knife to my hand size and intended taskings - this is a mission specific tool!
The piece is beautiful! It looks like someone just stole it out of a muesum! In two weeks I'm taking it on my week and a half hunt. I will give you a full performance review along with pics from the hunt.
Although I work in the wild carrying high quality production knives... the "fun-real" side of me enjoys more primative technlogy, skills & ways. However "fun" has to be kept in check with function. I cannot afford to have "cool" gear that isn't usable.
I'm preparing to depart in a few weeks on a traditional Muzzleloader deer/elk/bear/mtn lion hunt. And for this hunt a Swamp Rat, Busse or Mora, while functional, just doesn't "cut-it" while on a tradtional muzzleloader hunt and living for over a week in a traditional canvas tent shelter equipped with wood stove.
So...this led me to contact Deb and Mike Mann and explained my project. I requested as close to an authentic, historic, knife indicative of the 1800's that would have been a common frontier working man's knife. I told them I'm interested in a piece ranging from the time of the Mtn Man era, to the great Buff'lr Hunt to the Cowboy days - quite a historic range. Mike said this is no problem as the Hudson Bay Knife was used extensively during this time period.
I then explained I have no interest or need for a large "chopper" knife (no slam here - but I use an ax thank you very much) and I needed a knife that could perform important tasks such as skinning and processing wild game, generating wood shavings and curls, to whittling & primative carving tasks (snares, traps, tent pegs, fire boards and the like) which would have been common in the 1800's. I needed something nimble in my hands.
The standard Hudson was generally 7" in blade length in this time period. However I needed something more agile in my hands for whittling a snare trigger or skinning an elk. Mike (who is outstanding to work with BTW) said "no problem...it was fairly common for knives in this time period to get broken or chipped and the owner would have the knife shortened and reground." I know up until today's mindset our forefathers NEVER disposed of anything. It it didn't work or it broke they just modified it. I have seen examples of authentic Hudson Bay knives shortened and it was probably done as a choice or out of of neccessity. Either way, Mike shortened the blade to just a hair over 5" and profiled the knife to my hand size and intended taskings - this is a mission specific tool!
The piece is beautiful! It looks like someone just stole it out of a muesum! In two weeks I'm taking it on my week and a half hunt. I will give you a full performance review along with pics from the hunt.
mike makes some some bad a$$ blades... i have always liked his woodsman knife...