Let's talk tracker.

koyote

koyote

Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
5,846
Not the abortion that is the barbell of a "Tracker(TM)(SM)(c)" knife. But what should a tracker knife be?

I was talking to a friend who has done about, oh, a couple years worth of 2-4 times yearly tom brown courses, and spent a lot of dirt time out on his own, including real no supplies treks.

He likes the straight spined leuku pattern bushcrafters I've been making, and one of his main reasons is that it's big enough to use as a draw knife, has a good geometry for the work, and the straight spine makes it a lot easier.

Got me to thinkin, what kinds of things WOULd I add to a knife?

I think arrow straightening/drawing holes would be reasonable to add to a knife, I'm not much on sawbacks for a lot of reasons, but I suppose a serrated section 2 inches long wouldn't kill me. No, it would. never mind.

What else can you add without destroying the basic knife or ergonomics?
 
A buttplate so you can hammer it if necessary without wrecking the handle. A fat belly so you can scrape with it like an ulu. I used to have a Tracker knife, one of the Tom Brown knives made by Tops. I sold it after repeated attempts to get it sharp. It was a good chopper, but dang the edge was obtuse.
 
Hey koyote,

In another post, I think it was Dannyboy Leather that posted a picture of a knife with a short file on the spine. He used it for scraping magnesium, I think, among other things. I thought that was a pretty good idea, but would probably take away from the cachet of your designs. Your thoughts?

Doc
 
Hammer pommels are good, but i usually use a stout stick or a rock.

rockywolf, how would you rate the leuku pattern BC as a scraper?

doc- better than serrations! I did see that thread and i may try out a single cut file ridge. It should fit in with the overall style
 
I like the leuku a ton! Mine is one of my favorite knives....you make user friendly stuff that I use the heck out of...It can be a scraper, but to be like an ulu it needs a bit more belly, more like a cumberland knife.
 
i think that about an inch long obtuse edge somwhere on the spine fore striking a firesteel would make a good addition so then one wouldnt have to carry a flint striker or dull the main edge. this feature could also yeild other uses.
 
Tha ti have thought about. I'd doo it up near the tip except that for small draw knife shores you may be hanging on there. I think a file edge would solve the problem, though.
 
I've also seen small altoids tin survival knives made out of hacksaw blade, putting a version of that in a piggyback would be handy. But that gets away from integral tool additions.

On arrow holes, how big would I want to go? Want to start out a bit larger than final size
 
I can't stand the tracker type knives. One tool to find them all and in the darkness bind them just don't work for me.

They look all Klingon-esque to me, and I'd expect a Tracker to be hanging on every trailer park living room wall.

JMHO.
 
koyote said:
I've also seen small altoids tin survival knives made out of hacksaw blade, putting a version of that in a piggyback would be handy. But that gets away from integral tool additions.

On arrow holes, how big would I want to go? Want to start out a bit larger than final size
Click to expand...

what exactly is an arrow hole?
 
Fiddleback said:
I can't stand the tracker type knives. One tool to find them all and in the darkness bind them just don't work for me.

JMHO.
Click to expand...

No real argument. Everyone I've talked to extensively with lots of Tom Brown time dislikes the Official Tracker Knife in assorted forms. (except one guy who had a custom one made that is ONLY a bowmaking tool, and it works okay for that)

So the genesis of this was- what would a tracker knife really be and do? So far the file edge and some arrow carving/straightening holes are about all I've come up with that I'd care to add. I'm not a huge fan of the KSA world.

BarberFobic1992 said:
what exactly is an arrow hole?
Click to expand...

hole or holes of various diameter used to "draw" a shaft through for trimming down and for a bend point when straightening
 
I have had a fascination with all kinds of different survival knives, including the Tracker. I don't find them ugly, in fact I think they look kind of cool. But they just don't work for me. Tom Brown had an idea of what he wanted, but honestly the guy could do more with chipped flint than most of us could do with a pack full of knives.

Trying to add too many features is what kills otherwise awesome knives sometimes IMO. In other words, don't do it Koyote! If anything, adding a pouch to the sheath to carry more tools is the best way to add functionality to a knife. Yours are already perfect.
 
yea, i pretty much hate the tracker patter and i dont see it as being nearly as usefol as other less murderous looking, more traditional tools. i dont think that was really the point of the thread though.
 
Well, I'm certainly not going to go all tracker :)

The thought of arrow tools is a good one, but I'm not sure if that doesn't properly belong on a 1x3 piece of steel in a piggyback pouch.

The file on the spine... well, I'm going to have to try one.
 
I've Quoted this before:

My wife has read all the Tom Brown books and I got her a Tracker.

She took it out in the woods and tried it out.

She looked at me and said:

It is obvious that Tom Brown had never handled a khukuri
Click to expand...

:D:D:D:thumbup:
 
koyote, you might be able to intigrate a gut-hook inti the blade design. i dont know how useful that would be though.
 
Fiddleback said:
I can't stand the tracker type knives. One tool to find them all and in the darkness bind them just don't work for me.

JMHO.
Click to expand...

That is hilarious Andy. :D

walkintomordor.gif



I think the arrow hole is a good idea. Put it near the front of the handle so it can be used as a forward lanyard also.
 
near the front, through the scales, or just the blade? I'm pondering both, but i'm not sure how the straightening will work in 3/32 or 1/8 steel and not sure how trimming would work through scales.
 
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