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

I have acquired quite a few Case peanuts in stag, they make up the majority of my collection for one handle material with the exception of bone which is the most common scale material I believe. I have them from the tested era up, there is very little discernable wear on any of them from 1915 on up to my most recent ones. I Read on a SHC news letter that like ivory stag is getting more rare also. Personally I like organic handle materials much more than plastic. I have a grand total of one peanut with celluloid scales and one with micarta/G10!! I have two Case lockbacks from the 70s and the stag couldn't be more different on them, one is a dark brown popcorn stag and the other is almost white smooth textured stag. I just discovered the peanut pattern at least for the Case brand started "sometime" around 1915.. I guess that means my oldest peanuts are just 99 years old
 
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I'm still new to stag but I'm pretty much in line with everyone else. I don't mind it if it's matching on both sides and not too thick. But that's usually difficult to determine online unless the seller posts very detailed pictures so I stay away from it unless it's a very special knife or at a very good price.
Linus
 
I like covers with character, which to me are stag, bark ram's horn, primitive bone, figured wood, deep random jigged bone, etc.

BUT . . . both sides have to match well, and cannot be too thick (maybe up to 1/16" wider than the bolsters). Here's a few nicely matched stags.

Northfield #54 bighorn moose in burnt stag
54BHMstag_zpsb4b91d2b.jpg~original


MooreMaker #5301 large stockman in burnt stag
260efa83-d941-41b2-b7c0-461ef8d9b8e5_zps0d0639b1.jpg~original


John Lloyd slimline trapper in red stag
LloydMark_zps7085f44f.jpg~original

LloydPile_zpse58bf52a.jpg~original


Northfield #72 mini-hunter lockback in red stag
RedMarkPile.jpg~original
 
I'm the same as several others as far as not liking fat stag & wanting the scales to be pretty close to the same thickness. I don't care if both sides match though as long as both sides look good.

This Eric's Jack is my first stag knife but I do have 2 of the forum knives on order as well. :)


 
I like stag and had them on a few camping knives when I was a boy. Those knives went to some local boy scouts a decade or so ago.

On a folder, I'd love one or two examples which is why I jumped on the forum knife run. I prefer the look and feel of organic covers over Micarta but in my climate, synthetics are a better choice in a daily user. For Sundays though, it's bone, stag or wood! :)
 
I love beautiful stag and buy it when I can handle the knife and look it over good; I collect stag handled knives, but carry and use jigged bone or Delrin handled knives. OH
 
It is definitely my cuppa tea but bone is my morning shot of espresso:)
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I like Sambar Stag but European Stag, Elk Stag and Whitetail Stag pretty much leave me cold except for isolated cases. Sambar Stag and Rogers Bone would take first and second place on my list of favorites.
 
Stag for me was just something I wanted to have to be represented in my collection. I did not like it's appearance most times... but some seemed to tickle my fancy much more than others. With my having to get most of my knives via internet purchases, the chances of receiving what I'd like were slim.
Anyhow, I took my first chance on getting stag by ordering this mini german knicker (Linder branded). It is shown in this pic with my german k55. It was my first stag handled knife, and I REALLY liked it's appearance. Because of it, I now have 2 fixed blade stag knives, and 2 stag handled folders. Not my favorite handle material, but I do now like it :)

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While we're at it...what's the distinction between "natural" & "genuine" stag from GEC?
 
Never could appreciate stag as a folder handle material....bone, ivory, wood, Delrin on my traditional traditional's, and alox on my SAK's are preferred.
 
The uniqueness of stag and the fact that it is so hit & miss when it comes to symmetry makes it all that more desirable to me because when you find a good one it is truly special. I've had my share of catch & release stag handled knives but that doesn't deter me from pursuing another.

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Cory Hess said:
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.
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It’s not the country, it’s the stag. Stag from the Sambar deer is beautiful, dense, with a small pithy core. Just right for knife grips. I first learned this from Randall Made Knives. To this day Randall use Sambar for stag handles. The quality of Randall’s stag has declined since the Sambar ban. I used to assume I’d get a great stag handle from them.

The story was that Indian kids got egg money by gathering naturally shed stag horn for resale. That was probably true when demand was low. India banned Sambar stag exports as a conservation measure. I expect that kids after egg money have been replaced by poachers after quick money.

Yes, you can use stag from other cervidae. Europe used stag before the East India Company. Many knives use scales or rounds from European and American breeds.

If you don’t want material from un-American sources, you should check this out, direct from Case:

THE BONE USED TO MAKE KNIFE HANDLES AT CASE CUTLERY COMES FROM THE SHIN OF ZEBU CATTLE FOUND IN BRAZIL. BONE FROM THIS MAMMAL IS SUITABLE AS IT IS LARGER IN SIZE, MORE DENSE, AND CONTAINS LESS MARROW THAN CATTLE FOUND IN OTHER COUNTRIES. WHEN THE BONE ARRIVES AT OUR PRODUCTION FACILITY IN BRADFORD, PA, IT IS LEVELED AND CUT INTO SMOOTH, SQUARE SLABS. SOMETIMES THESE SLABS ARE KEPT IN THIS FORM AND USED FOR SMOOTH BONE HANDLES, WHILE OTHER TIMES THE SLABS ARE JIGGED DURING PRODUCTION.

Note the same considerations in either material. Large, dense, small core. Unless GEC has discovered a new cattle species, they use Zebu shins.

Does Zebu Shins sound like a rock band to anyone else?
 
The reason that Sambar stag is so sought after, and therefor expensive (besides the embargo), is because the walls of the antler are much thicker compared to Elk and Whitetail.
This means more available material to folder makers and more leeway in handle shaping for fixed blade makers.

I bought this piece of stag for 10 or 12 dollars before the embargo.


Now it would easily be 5x the price.
 
Thanks for the quick lesson in stag. I knew that the sambar was considered more dense, and when I was referencing stag I was giving my opinion on that specific stag which only comes from India if I'm not mistaken. I did not know that about bone handles. It doesn't change my opinion on them too much, I'm not die hard American only, but it is disappointing. I guess it just puts bone and stag on even ground in my book, which still means the bone is usually going to win out due to price considerations. I like the character of stag, and tend to find bone more appealing when it's less uniform as well. I like GEC's pioneer, frontier and primitive bone, and bones with unusual unsymmetrical jiggings. Same goes for wood. I like pieces that have alot of variations.
 
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