Hunters of my Youth

Nostalgia for me are these old Kids Knives.
My family was big on taking vacations to state parks and such.
I would scour the gift shops for souvenir knives and anything with cowboys on it.
One of my fondest memories was a trip to Oregon and Crater lake, chasing chipmunks.
When I saw the Crater Lake knife on the big auction site, I just had to have that knife!
They aren't expensive knives or even highly collectible, but they bring back fond memories of growing up.

They make me smile. :)
 
Took another pic of some Woodcraft style skinners.

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From the left: Marbles USA Gamegetter @ 8¼", Western L88 @ 9", BluntCut Custom @ 9⅜"
 
Great thread, Jeff! I'm enjoying all these fine knives and the memories being shared.

Camillus said:
Love the posts and these old knives guys. Good to see some recognition of the unassuming do it all knife of yesterday, pre-instagram and youtube channels.

That pattern is probably more practical than the newfangled “bushcraft” crowd would care to admit!
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The more and more I work with knives, the more and more I want my knife to simply be a good cutter. These old knives are cutters with thinner stock than we are used to seeing on a lot of the newer outdoors knives. I want my knife to be an efficient cutter, not something that I have to bludgeon my way through whatever it is that needs cutting or separating.

afishhunter said:
Truth to tell, I'd never heard of batoning a knife before I started hanging out at/on BF. I still don't see or understand the draw. Why do some folk want to take a chance on breaking their knife when afield, and may be days from their vehicle and/or someplace they can get a replacement knife? (or for that matter, waste the funds?) It makes no sense to me.
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To be fair, batoning is not a new technique and has been in use long before the advent of social media. Personally, I am a proponent of it as a technique that can be implemented when circumstances dictate (having suffered an axe injury, batoning can be a safe alternative when using an axe is not ideal (with cold wet hands for instance). But it is just another tool in the toolbox and shouldn't be the deciding factor when choosing an outdoors knife.

I would argue that a lot of popular YouTube "bushcrafters" do the batoning thing to the point of absurdity.

tongueriver said:
Actually fixed blade hunting knives are my first love and I have examples from many makers. I don't have many group photos available, but here are a few Western States and Western Boulders.View attachment 1314412
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You have an amazing collection!


I don't have many old fixed blades. But I do have my Buck 119, which was the very first fixed blade I purchased as a teenager. Knowing what I know now and knowing what I desire out of a knife, I would argue that there is too much material behind the edge of this Buck and I'd love to re-profile it someday.

(An old picture, taken soon after joining BladeForums).

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Great posts, Cal and Dylan! Calvin, those Westerns make me drool . . . you have some REAL beauties in there!
 
Pàdruig said:
I don't have many old fixed blades. But I do have my Buck 119, which was the very first fixed blade I purchased as a teenager. Knowing what I know now and knowing what I desire out of a knife, I would argue that there is too much material behind the edge of this Buck and I'd love to re-profile it someday.
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I remember trying to slice some turkey off the Thanksgiving carcasse, and discovering that the 119 (or it might have been the 120) did not carve turkey very well.
 
That H-15 is a glorious knife.
The only honestly of my youth knife in the group below is the Western BSA.
The Johnson of New York (made in Germany) is a recent gift from my brother. The Kabar is from a few years ago, maybe more than a few by now. I love the handle. Plenty long enough, sort of rectangular sectioned, shallow finger grooves that tell you where you are without dictating your grip. I replaced some missing handle washers with a bit of old belt. Nice flat-ground all purpose blade.
The Schrade Walden H-15 is quite recent too. Such a commodious handle, so light, such a simple, sensible blade.
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Old Hunter said:
Dylan, great photo of your Buck 119 and Winchester levergun.

Cal, always great to get a peak at your hunting knife collection! Your Korean War vintage Schrade MILSPEC knife jogged my memory, I have a civilian Schrade-Walden, the H-15. Used it on this doe a few years back. OH

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Bruce, it is time to show some of your BUCKS!
 
Will Power Will Power - that is something I'd like to see too. A white synthetic hasn't been done in nearly 60 years (they are currently using black Phenolic with occasional SFO runs of red). The Bass Pro Shop SFO had white bone handles for a number of years on certain models (like the Buck 105 in my picture) - a white Micarta would be nice as well. OH
 
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