Is it just me, or is the nessmuk just a plain knife with a funny humpback on it?

Damn, the smiley did'nt show in my last post and the edit isn't workin'. There was supposed to be a smiley after the wanker bit lol :p :D
 
Siguy and Hollowdweller....you both hit the nail squarely on the head with your explanations! Although we ALL have gotten used to our multi-tools and "high-speed" blades, having a hefty 2-blade folder, a mid-size skinner and a small hatchet will still do just nicely in the North...or South...woods these days! One of my favorite pocketknives for outdoor use is my Vintage Knives "Moose" which looks a lot like George's old pocketknife. And his "utility/skinner" design will still do fine as well for most of the other camp and hunting chores the pocketknife doesn't handle well.

The 4" Pathfinder that's on the way from Bryan Breeden is just a slightly-modified "Nessmuk." I'll probably pair it up with my VK "Moose" and use them for camping and hunting this year.

Just my opinion!
Ron
 
I like hollowdweller's answer so much I'm almost too embarressed to post my own, but I'll give it a go:

I think the hump comes into it's own for a pinch grip in the weak hand. If you hold the knife horizontally in both hands to scrape tissue it may confer an advantage. That's the most compelling argument I've heard and it makes the “as a spoon” one appear dumb. I'm unconvinced about the skinning and inverted grip ideas, other patterns already do that.

I still like hollowdweller's best.
 
The forward position of the edge relative to the fingers makes it a good kitchen knife. The belly allows forward pushing cuts. Its thin blade makes it good for whittling and notching.

But it isn't the end all be all bushcraf knife. Its the anti-tactical knife. It suffers no choil. And has value just for that.
 
I suppose the reality of it is that a man just shouldn't underestimate the value of a good hump.....
 
Nessmaxe?

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Ha, Mike Stewart said he's gonna call all his knives Nessmuk -

"If everyone else can call any damn thing a Nessmuk--i should be able to also.

I'm calling all of them nessmuks.

Clip Points
Drop Points
Spearpoints
Trailing points
Scramasax's
Wharncliffes
Sheepskinners
Dadleys
Stabbers
Scalpers
Rippers
Bowies
Bull Nose skinners
Semi-Skinners
Upswept Points
Daggers
Dragon Slayers
Short Swords
Machetes
Push Daggers

All of them

You name it--I'm calling all of them Nessmuks.

It is obvious to me that nobody cares what all these patterns are really called or what they are for.

I have never seen so many Strangly made interpretations of a nessmuk--I'm calling all knives nessmuks from now on."
 
baldtaco-II said:
Ha, Mike Stewart said he's gonna call all his knives Nessmuk -All of them

You name it--I'm calling all of them Nessmuks.

It is obvious to me that nobody cares what all these patterns are really called or what they are for.

I have never seen so many Strangly made interpretations of a nessmuk--I'm calling all knives nessmuks from now on."
Click to expand...


Mike has a point. In my mind I nessmuk should be a thin bladed belt knife with a profile approximating the picture.

On the other hand if you look at the knives that are called "bowies" or "bushcraft" you'll see pretty much the same sort of wild variation.

The thing is a lot of times it seems to me that people buy the knife based on the label but not really reading anything to understand what the actual knives like they are buying were intended to look like.

To me the Koster is not nessmuk enough for me because the way the edge is not even with the handle.
The Bark River Lil Nessie, (and I have 3 of them and like them) is too thick and the blade is not wide enough to be a true nessmuk.
 
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Oh yeah, and in his book Nessmuk mentions eating with his knife so the wide blade could partially be intended to be able to eat off the blade without cutting your lips on the edge.

I have also read somewhere on the net, no idea if it is true or not, but that some relative or friend of Nessmuk said the purpose of the hump was say you were skinning a deer. You could take the hump and lay it on the muscle and then run up the legs for instance, cutting the hide apart but not digging the tip into the meat.

Both make sense to me.:thumbup:
 
hollowdweller, hola

I think we mostly agree, although I believe that although both Nessmuks and Bowies both share huge variations as a common theme, many of the great variations in patterns of Bowie can all legitimately claim to be kosha even when they are hugely different from one another, and that can't be said for a Nessmuk.

Yup, I have the book, and yup to the eating off the edge thing. However, I'd consider that akin to a wading bird that uses its wing as a shade to see fish better. It can be pressed into service as such but wasn't an original parameter in the design.

The use of the hump for that task makes sense. I think of that like a semi-skinner. I believe it was then exaggerated for further processing using the both hands and that pinch grip.

Just for fun here's the thread I took Mike's quote from. It's a fun read. http://www.jerzeedevil.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32348
 
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That thread cracks me up! I've read it a couple of times now and its a classic.
 
For all those saying the Nessmuk is a tribute to humpback whales, you are close, but not quite on target. It actually is a tribute to the Loch Ness Monster. As seen below, the curve of the knife reflects the curvature of Nessie's neck.


recon20004.jpg


windowslivewriternessie-13d163-21-loch-ness-monster21.jpg
 
I love these threads!:D We've gone all the way from hump-back whales to Nessie...as in the one in Scotland! This is a classic!

Seriously, George Washington Sears was a hunter. His sheath knife, with the thin blade, was first and foremost a hunting knife, which also was used for chores around camp.. Somehow I think his two-blade Moose-pattern folding knife would have handled most of those, though. In reading his book, you will see his references to his cutlery. Here is a quote from Sears concerning his "humpbacked" sheath knife:

"A word as to knife, or knives. These are of prime necessity, and should be of the best, both as to shape and temper. The “bowies” and “hunting knives” usually kept on sale, are thick, clumsy affairs, with a sort of ridge along the middle of the blade, murderous-looking, but of little use; rather fitted to adorn a dime novel or the belt of “Billy the Kid,” than the outfit of the hunter. The one shown in the cut is thin in the blade, and handy for skinning, cutting meat, or eating with." - Nessmuk

Ron
 
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