Hoffman Harpoon for Wilderness Survival Kit?

I know what your talking about mike. Iv been wanting one for a while.

In addition to harpooning things, it holds a decent amount of Paracord, and would work GREAT as a detail knife when pared with a larger blade. So it DOES have a good amount of utility to offer.

But good GRACIOUS! $80 for a little scrap of 1095? Its OBSENE. It realy is.
Its not even a complicated design, and the steel realy isnt hardened very hard.

you could cut this simple design out of sheet of 1095 and heat treat it yourself with a torch and some old motor oil, and have an equaly performing knife for $20.
 
foxyrick said:
Here's something that came with a cheapish 'survival' knife I bought when I was too young and stupid to know any better.
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I was once too young and stupid to know better too. Unfortunately, I'm being a little hard on myself as the Aitor is a great knife.

harpoon.jpg


It was the best thing in the pack.
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That is the Aitor accessory, "harpoon" blade I was speaking about on the first page of this thread. :)

The knife was an Aitor (sp?) Jungle King. Blade is actually not bad, shame about the single pin holding it onto the otherwise heavy-duty aluminium hollow handle.
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It's not a shame if it works. Hahahaha! It's not exactly cool to quote yourself, but I said in an article about the Aitor that people don't really understand anything except "full tang" but they'll stand around a cutting demo with katana that are secured to the grip by a bamboo peg.

It's taken a *lot* of abuse over the years though, and hasn't broke yet.
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That's been my experience with Aitor knives as well, they are a bastard to sharpen if you don't have the right gear to do it.
 
For those of you who own this knife, have you compared it to a standard three-prong frogging gig -- in terms of ability to take fish.frogs? (I have carried a gig [and a couple of screws to attach it to a pole] as a companion to a gill net.)
 
I think it's way to big for frogs. More like for pike or salmon.

How's this for a rough idea:
1/4" thick 5160 OAL about 8+" long.
Harpoon.jpg
 
Genious! YOU are a skilled knife maker! No all you gotta do is start selling them for $70 a pop and youl be rich!
 
mr.trooper said:
Genious! YOU are a skilled knife maker! No all you gotta do is start selling them for $70 a pop and youl be rich!
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Thanks.
I gotta tell you, from cutting to grinding to finishing it would take some serious time. It was more brute force than skill, that is a fact.

That is just a rough out. Still a lot finishing ahead.

But thanks for the compliment.
 
the harpoons are nifty to look at but they do look like a little too much for small fish and frogs...for that function probably a large fishing hook lashed to a pole would serve better....for the potential of hunting larger animals...or for defensive capabilies (i can't imagine what else you would need a spear for) I typically throw one of those small flat cheesy press metal throwing knives in my bob Tey're cheap they usually come in a pack of 3 for 10 dollars and they have a very flat profile so if you can split a notch in to a shaft deep enough to slide the handle in up to the blade and wrap it tight with paracord it makes a pretty functional spear...It can also be filed to have barbs if you want....however I think rather than a spear the tops harpoon would make a nice neck knife but I think it's a little pricey but that's just me yomv
 
OK skunk, you're in business. You could probably sell 100 blanks for $5.00 each. Where do we send the money?
 
Don Rearic said:
I'm thinking the gig would be a lot better. :)
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Yes, Don, I suspect so. But I wondered if any of the HH owners had actually used it as a spear. My three-prong frog gig cost $3.99, but it's up to $5.99 now.
Of course it isn't a knife, but we have other options in that area.
 
The design of the Tops Harpoon is absolutely ancient and has been used by many different cultures (nothing new under the sun here). Yep, I agree, asking seventy to eighty bux for a VERY small piece of 1095 is plumb ridiculous in my book. In some of my classes, we would make similar designs using old broadheads (grind one side off) and a wood or fiberglass shaft. The amount of fish and other we caught vouched for its effectiveness. BTW, "small and thick" might make for a robust spear point or harpoon, but it won't cut worth the darn.
 
Rescue Mike said:
This could be an interesting project.. Where would I find a spare piece of railroad track to make an anvil?? (Other than the obvious.)
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"Train derails, engineer says track was missing!" story at 11

I am in the same boat as all of you, I've wanted that too for some time but couldn't justify the price, I'd rather make my own, all good tips, thanks guys..
 
Looking at that Tops Harpoon and the CS B&T knife, all I keep thinking is that if you took apart your wife's hair cutting scissors, you'd have two of the same thing :D Heat treat them in the oven and sharpen the edge.
 
SkunkWerX said:
That will wear down a grinding wheel or belt faster, and create a hell of a lot of heat, which can affect the heat treat of the metal.

Annealing makes it much easier to work, whether it's hammering, grinding, bending.

But, in this case, the heat treat isn't a big issue , anyway.
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These were all made by the Po-Boy process:







It was my first 7 knives, and the pics are in order. Sylvrfalcn has made an untold number this way, and tought it to me, and they've been sold here on BF. Its not as easy, you've a point. But you don't have to have the HT equipment, and knowledge, so its a cool way to get started. All these were done with a bench grinder and an old file. I've got a few dollars in each knife at finish.
 
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