Do you like stag, or it's not your cup of tea?

C

cards94

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Jul 23, 2013
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I'm not sure how I feel about stag handles. Do you like or dislike stag and why?
 
It's okay but there are other materials I prefer more. Those include wood, synthetics and bone...pretty much everything else.

It's not my cup of tea.
 
I like stag a lot, but find that I am very picky when it comes to stag. I like both scales to be nicely matched in appearance. I also like for it to be fairly thin and even across the scales. For those reasons, I tend to shy away from purchasing it on-line - unless the seller posts lots of good/usable pictures showing the knife from most all angles. That said, a well executed stag handled knife is a thing of real beauty to me.
 
I like stag in general but I don't like all stag. Some just doesn't appeal to me, but when you get really good stag (good to my eye anyway) its probably my favorite handle material. My Ken Erickson stag spear point is pretty much perfect for me, I love the stag on it and it feels amazing in hand.

34BA86BE-3CD5-4CD4-A082-15A30BBA8275.jpg
 
Stag can be hit-or-miss for me. I don't like it if it's cut too thick and creating a bulbous handle profile, if it's too bright, or if it's too knobby. It doesn't seem to mate well with certain patterns either.
 
As those who posted above I like stag but am picky as well. It has to speak to me if that makes sense. I do love the texture and feel of it but I do feel I have to be more careful with stag. I could be wrong on this but it just seems like it would crack faster. For this reason I tend to carry for daily use wood or micarta. (you guys correct me so I can get over this and not miss out on a stag edc)
 
I love stag, but I'm picky about tit. The American knife companies all too often don't know what they'er doing with it. They either polish off too much of the character, or mis-match the scales so you have a sliver on one side and a half inch slab on the other.

The absolute best production stag was on the old Sheffield and Solingen stuff. Especially the English guys, they knew how to put some outstanding outa this world stag on knives. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
I am on the same level as most, I like it when it down nicely. I prefer the 3rd cut stag as it is a cleaner and somewhat smoother look. I tend to gravitate more towards bone and woods. I love a nice sawcut bone the most.
 
If I had my way I would have most knives in stag but it is not that common anymore. I have a lot of older German knive with stag handles but not as many new ones.
 
Stag.
A favorite when properly done.
I could handle thick and thin scales but can't have any visible pith.
Doesn't matter if it is dyed amber and sealed with super glue.
No pith, please.
 
I like stag, but I'll echo what others have said…I like my scales to match in overall appearance and thickness. I know I may hate myself come November, but I forced myself to pass on the forums' knife this year because stag is not always matched to my liking. Here is a pic of the only stag that I have at the moment (when it was new of course)…


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I'll be waiting for the forums' knife on the exchange at the end of the year! :D
 
I have been pretty much a bone kinda guy since I got into traditional knives. The price of bone knives usually fits my budget a bit better and the quality of stag I feel lacks a bit depending on where it comes from and the price of it usually turn me off a bit. I have a few fixed blades with some pretty nice stag that looks good but I really like folders the most because that's what I carry the most. The only stag folder I had was a Case peanut and the stag on it was awful, at least to me it was. A buddy offered me a bit of cash for it one day and I let him have it. For some reason that knife and I didn't bond and I had no problem letting it go. I have high hopes that my liking for stag will change after receiving the new 2014 Bladeforums knife. I actually cant wait for that knife and am pretty certain GEC will do a great job and hopefully make me and my accumulations a bit more diverse in the future.
 
I like stag especially early Sheffield stag like this Innocent & Sons (pre 1860)
Innocenandsons2web.jpg


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Or this vintage Benetfink/Cheapside whittler
benetfinkstagwhittler1.jpg


benetfinkstagwhittler2.jpg
 
I think stag looks fine. It's on par with bone or wood. I don't really understand the premium on stag. If it was the same price as bone, I'd still opt for the bone because I like buying domestic over imports. Instead, there's usually around a 50% markup for the stag. That seems insane to me. Especially considering the country we're importing from doesn't want us importing it anymore. I don't understand why blades from China are only bought at a steep discount, but antlers from India are so sought after. American elk looks better to me, and I saw some whitetail deer antler scales today that were just beautiful. I'm hoping that down the road the stag will dry up and we'll see more American materials in traditional knife handles.

I've made a lot of generalizations here, and jumped around a bit. Sorry about that.
 
Old & In The Way said:
I like stag a lot, but find that I am very picky when it comes to stag. I like both scales to be nicely matched in appearance. I also like for it to be fairly thin and even across the scales. For those reasons, I tend to shy away from purchasing it on-line - unless the seller posts lots of good/usable pictures showing the knife from most all angles. That said, a well executed stag handled knife is a thing of real beauty to me.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much my take also. I love when the stag is nice enough that it could be a shadow pattern and still be "dressed" classy. Some of those old Sheffield knives are perfect examples. I am looking forward to the forum knife, that's the only time I have purchased stag without first handling it. I also have several sets of good stag purchased at shows for future projects.

Bottom line for me is when it's done right it can't be beat.

Cgris
 
Stag is okay. It has a cool, old school look and feel that gets better as it gets more worn out. I prefer other materials but I gave it a chance and and happy I did. But there's really no way to know how you're really going to feel until you've carried and used one for yourself.
 
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