Marbles Ideal Hunter??

S

savageman

Joined
May 27, 2005
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I like the looks of this classic knife for and all around big game hunting and general camp knife. I have a few questions about it:

How good is this steel? Does it have any stainless properties to it or is it straight up carbon? How well does it take an edge and hold it?

Also I like the looks of the stacked leather handle but how well does it hold up with time? Also it has to hold up to water, blood a other things. Or would I be better off with a bone type material?

Are these knives any good for an $80 knife give or take?
 
You can most likely do better for your money unless you just like the look of the knife. There are some Marble knives with Damascus blades, but I don't think their quality is worth much. It's not very beautiful as Damascus goes and the real deal is way out of price.

As a brand name, the Marbles company isn't known for its great quality. You get what you pay for....

P.S.-- The ad says it's a carbon steel blade, so I can't say more than for the price, try it. How good it is depends on the heat treat.

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You might look into a Bark River Knife & Tools' Boone. A similar design with a variety of handle materials available and the steel is 52-100. They have a lot of happy customers.
 
If you can, get a pre-2002 Ideal.

Specifically, 1997-2001.

These were made by some of the same people who left Marbles and formed BRKT (Mike Stewart, for example.)

They are more or less the same quality as today's Bark River knives.--Convex ground by hand out of great steel.
 
Confederate said:
As a brand name, the Marbles company isn't known for its great quality. You get what you pay for....
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I cannot agree with this, nor can numerous writers...Davis Petzal from Field and Stream included the Ideal as one of the 20 best knives made. Marble's Outdoors is making some of the better production fixed blade knives available today.

They are using a high carbon Chrome Vanadium steel so no, it isn't stain resistant like stainless is but on the plus side it is easy to sharpen and will take a very fine edge. It is also less prone to chipping. I like the leather as well but for an all around knife I think I would go with the jigged bone. I will say I am not fond of the sheaths they are using these days but replacement sheaths for the Ideal are easy to find.
 
DLT Trading, and others, get a few 'specialty' Marbles each year from the old Gladstone, MI folks. The sent out an e-mail recently re the latest offerings. Still CS - 0-170, I think, decent sheaths, too - and convex ground edge. my stacked leather Ideal has held up quite well - but I'm a camper/hiker, no longer a hunter.

Of course, I am really fond of my Bocote-handled Bark River Boone. It's larger than the regular Ideal, shorter than the long Ideal - and fits my medium-plus sized hands a tad better, with a great balance. Dlttradingcompany.com and knivesshipfree.com are both great sites to see the knives displayed - and both have been exemplary to deal with. Below, top down, you'll find a KaBar 'Utility' knife (aka 'USMC Fighting Knife'), Buck 119 Special ($34 at Wally World!), my Bocote Bark River Boone, and my Marble's Ideal. The Buck is the least expensive, followed by the KaBar (~$55-$65), then the Ideal and Boone are close - $125-$150 or so. I suggest the black or natural canvas Micarta handle for the Boone - it's Bark River's least expensive handle material, although others consider it a premium handle (I do!).

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Stainz
 
I really like the classic looks of this style of knife, would I be better off with the Kabar offering in aus-6 or the Case offering in SS?

Bark river is nice but too much money in my mind.
 
I really, really like the Marble's Ideal pattern. In fact, the knife that started me collecting was an Ideal with a Tigerwood handle that my father gave me when I was about 11.

I don't know much about the current Marbles. The older models -- marked Gladestone, Mi -- are made out of 52100 steel, which is one of my favorites.
 
I really like the classic looks of this style of knife, would I be better off with the Kabar offering in aus-6 or the Case offering in SS?

Bark river is nice but too much money in my mind.
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They're all good. :)

I haven't seen that Buck with the stacked leather handles before. A nice variation.

If your preference is stacked leather and you don't mind stainless, the best knives for the money (IMO obviously) are the Case.
http://www.casexx.com/DisplayPatternPageFH.asp?PatternAutoID=20

My own preference though is for carbon steel, so I'd be leaning towards the Marbles.
 
crom said:
I read once that the ideal pattern goes way back, is it a Marbles trademark?
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The gargantuan fullers are classic Marbles. They started with it in the '20s, and kept it up for a very long time. Remington was a bit jealous and released their copies as "Remington Pattern" knives. Is it a true trademark? Maybe. Is it readily identifiable as Marbles? Yes.
 
Sword and Shield said:
The gargantuan fullers are classic Marbles. They started with it in the '20s, and kept it up for a very long time. Remington was a bit jealous and released their copies as "Remington Pattern" knives. Is it a true trademark? Maybe. Is it readily identifiable as Marbles? Yes.
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That Field + Stream top-20 article states the Ideal was 1st made back in 1899.

Did the design it lack the fullers until the 1920s?
 
First, if you think a Bark River is high - check out the Buck 119BRSLE (Stacked leather & bone) - MSRP $210! Check out the Buck forum - the stacked leather hasn't been that nice, either. It's hard to beat a basic 119 for <$40 from Academy Sports or Wally World.

Below, top down, is a Buck 105BR (The BR signifies brass & wood handle in place of the Al guard/pommel and black phenolic.), the short Marbles Ideal, a KaBar 1232 Hunter (Japan - AUS6, I think!), and a Queen Cutlery #92 (D2). All but the KaBar are US-made. The Marbles is the most comfortable, followed closely by the Buck and KaBar, with the smallish Queen least comfortable to me. Cost wise, the Buck runs $60 at B P S (Less in black phenolic handle.); the Marbles is $90-$125; the KaBar is ~$30; and the Queen runs ~$50.

Of course, if you like that groove... the Marble's Ideal is the obvious choice. Consider phenolic, Micarta or G10, or even resin inpregnated wood as a better choice for blood and guts use - they cleanup easier!

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At least go to WallyWorld (or Academy - or Bass Pro) and look at the Buck 119.

Stainz
 
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