Elmer Keith Pattern Question

Binalith

Binalith

Joined
Apr 22, 2012
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391
I just read this zombie thread here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1049465-Elmer-Keith-knife-yep!
And am wondering what's the purpose of the pommel guard? Looks almost like the original was a d-guard maybe an old military knife that was re-purposed, possibly even had the blade reduced. maybe it is meant to perform the same function as a sub-hilt? Certainly seems to add a combat or pig sticking aspect, even though the blade is obviously a skinner.
 
So you could open your hand to use the fingers and still have the knife stay in that hand. Or so he said.

I thought at the time that it was a solution in search of a problem.
 
Thomas Linton said:
So you could open your hand to use the fingers and still have the knife stay in that hand. Or so he said.

I thought at the time that it was a solution in search of a problem.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, as many develop arthritis gripping a slippery handle (from fat, etc.) becomes more difficult.
 
Maybe it was a a buggeoning design if you didn't want to actually cut like you might use brass knuckles or something similar.
 
well, now it does. thanks.
For any new readers on this thread, the old one has been expanded as of early this morning with more explanation of the design.
thanks.
 
I read that Elmer Keith had a deformed hand growing up, and it was reset at home. Looking at this thread I can't help but wonder if that effort at reformation might've inspired the design.
 
I read a few of his books and he was burned very badly as a child. Almost died and his father had to cut the skin separate on his hand after they fused together from the fire.
 
He was supposedly caught in a house fire set by an arson when he was a child. He wrote in his book Hell I Was There later when he was grown he said he was leaving to kill the man but I don't remember the outcome. He talked about killing a lot of people.
 
That perp probably deserved to find an early grave. He never seemed to have any trouble handling a six-shooter but I don't recall which hand was badly damaged in the fire. His early years are the best part of the book "Hell I was there". He was quite the character considering he had a big influence in the 357 mag, 41 mag, and 44 mag designs which pretty much revolutionized handgun power and brought us to the current offerings of big bores revolvers calibers.
 
It was his left hand that was, as he put it, "kind of bent back on itself." Keith was brilliant when it came to ammunition, powder burn rates and loads.
 
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