coloradowildman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2009
- Messages
- 1,202
Hi everyone, this is my first real post here and I'm glad to see there is a place for folks who dig knives to congregate and share info.
Being as I live in the Colorado Rockies and backpack year round I wanted a wilderness\survival knife that would be a once in a life time purchase. There is always tons of precipitation and\or snow in the high country so it had to be stainless for me, as I don't feel like carrying vegetable or olive oil in my pack just to keep the blade from rusting (gun oil works well to protect a non-stainless blade if also carrying a gun but it tastes aweful if the blade is used to cut food with). I know the old mountain men here carried carbon steel knives but I think if they had the choice they would have chosen a high quality stainless blade to use in the often very wet and snowy Rocky Mountains
In a drier environment I probably would have gone for a Ka Bar Becker BK2, Cold Steel SRK or Ontario's Rat 7, as they seem like great all around high quality wilderness knives but are made of non-stainless rustable steel. The Buck 119 is an American classic, tough and built with a 6" stainless blade, but sadly isn't drilled for a lanyard, has a slippery handle, and comes with a cheapy foreign made cordura sheath nowadays (they used to made a nice leather sheath for it). Same thing with the Buck Nighthawk, well built but no lanyard hole and cheapie sheath (what was Buck thinking!?).
The US made Gerber Prodigy and LMF II are stainless and were close in the features and quality I was looking for (torture tested in Iraq and Afghanistan by many soldiers who carried them and by the knife destroyer on Youtube) but I really prefer a 5 to 6 inch blade (not too long and not to short) for all around wilderness use and if possible, prefer a traditional looking knife so as not to attract unwanted attention from overzealous backpacking Boulder-ites (local joke lol) and Barney Fife law enforcement types (Andy! Look at that woodsman! He's packing a black ops military knife big enough to lop a human head off! Can I run him in Andy?? Can I? Please Andy! If not, can I at least shake him down and search everything he's got?) (lol).
So after quite a bit of research and talking with the older mountain folks here I decided to save up and get a Puma White Hunter. I had never held one, but with a 30 day no questions asked return policy from Puma USA I figured I couldn't go wrong if I didn't like it and had to return it. After springing the money and before I got this knife I honestly started to sweat a bit because of the high cost. After receiving it today though I'm extremely impressed with it, more so than any other knife I've ever held or owned and wouldn't dream of returning it now.
It has a great high quality leather sheath that is both beautiful, tough looking, and highly functional. The snap on it pops with a loud reassuring sound, and the string that's attached to the bottom of the sheath to secure around the leg seems high quality as well. It has another string at the top of the sheath which seems to be there for an additional safety if the snap should ever fail. Just a really beautiful chocolate brown tough looking leather sheath (I still prefer the look, feel, and functionality of a high quality leather sheath over synthetics, though some of the newer Kydex sheaths are nice if you prefer the tactical look, like the one the Ka Bar Becker BK2 uses).
As for the knife itself, it has a wonderful balance and weighs only a little over 8 ounces (excessive weight is your enemy when traveling any distance in the back country). It has a full tang, real stag handles, great finish, and hole in the handle to accept a lanyard (very important to me). The blade is roughly 6" long, and what's unusual is that the middle part of the blade has been ground in a way to make it skinnier (but still strong) in order to be good at cutting and skinning game, while the end of the knife towards the tip is thicker and wider, which makes the knife chop much easier than the majority of knives in this length and weight class. I tried a couple of light chopping swings into a cardboard box and it just plowed into it with ease (for such a light knife).
It also has an area on the back of the blade just before the tip that's almost a 1/4 thick and looks like a great batoning surface if need be. I find the stag grips very comfortable and secure feeling, and the hand guard feels just right. There is a serrated thumb rest just ahead of the hilt on the back of the blade to aid in control, and it works wonderfully. Mine does have some kind of saw like serrations on the lower part of the blade, which I assume is for sawing through bone. Maybe another Puma WH owner can fill me in on this?
The knife has the usual Puma etchings in the blade towards the tip, to include the writing "handmade", which is a nice touch.
I haven't put it through its paces in the mountains yet, so I can only give my initial impression, which is to say that I'm pretty blown away so far. I now realize at least in part why this knife is so famous. I read a comment recently about the Puma White Hunter on another blog site from a guy who considers himself a fan of Ka Bars and Pumas that the White Hunter "As a wilderness knife the design is unexcelled, versatile and without weak points." Here's a link to his blog http://hubpages.com/hub/Guide-to-Survival-Knives-from-Ka-Bar-and-Puma
One last note- I've recently discovered that lightly used later versions of these regularly sell on ebay in excellent condition for $140 to $190, definitely more in the range of folks who would never think of spending over $200 on a knife. It's funny because no good mechanic ever thinks about spending $$$ on high quality tools to insure his longetivity and success on the job, or law or medical students going to the very best school they can afford, but yet most people are scared to death to spend the equivalent of an extra dinner or two out to get equipment that won't break (and only has to be bought once) when they're backpacking into the wilderness which can and does kill on a regular basis if not prepared. There are definitely many good knives out there but I also don't mind spending the extra $$$ to get something that is highly functional and will probably last a lifetime (lifetime warranty on these as well).
Just some food for thought and comments welcome
ColoradoWildMan
Being as I live in the Colorado Rockies and backpack year round I wanted a wilderness\survival knife that would be a once in a life time purchase. There is always tons of precipitation and\or snow in the high country so it had to be stainless for me, as I don't feel like carrying vegetable or olive oil in my pack just to keep the blade from rusting (gun oil works well to protect a non-stainless blade if also carrying a gun but it tastes aweful if the blade is used to cut food with). I know the old mountain men here carried carbon steel knives but I think if they had the choice they would have chosen a high quality stainless blade to use in the often very wet and snowy Rocky Mountains
In a drier environment I probably would have gone for a Ka Bar Becker BK2, Cold Steel SRK or Ontario's Rat 7, as they seem like great all around high quality wilderness knives but are made of non-stainless rustable steel. The Buck 119 is an American classic, tough and built with a 6" stainless blade, but sadly isn't drilled for a lanyard, has a slippery handle, and comes with a cheapy foreign made cordura sheath nowadays (they used to made a nice leather sheath for it). Same thing with the Buck Nighthawk, well built but no lanyard hole and cheapie sheath (what was Buck thinking!?).
The US made Gerber Prodigy and LMF II are stainless and were close in the features and quality I was looking for (torture tested in Iraq and Afghanistan by many soldiers who carried them and by the knife destroyer on Youtube) but I really prefer a 5 to 6 inch blade (not too long and not to short) for all around wilderness use and if possible, prefer a traditional looking knife so as not to attract unwanted attention from overzealous backpacking Boulder-ites (local joke lol) and Barney Fife law enforcement types (Andy! Look at that woodsman! He's packing a black ops military knife big enough to lop a human head off! Can I run him in Andy?? Can I? Please Andy! If not, can I at least shake him down and search everything he's got?) (lol).
So after quite a bit of research and talking with the older mountain folks here I decided to save up and get a Puma White Hunter. I had never held one, but with a 30 day no questions asked return policy from Puma USA I figured I couldn't go wrong if I didn't like it and had to return it. After springing the money and before I got this knife I honestly started to sweat a bit because of the high cost. After receiving it today though I'm extremely impressed with it, more so than any other knife I've ever held or owned and wouldn't dream of returning it now.
It has a great high quality leather sheath that is both beautiful, tough looking, and highly functional. The snap on it pops with a loud reassuring sound, and the string that's attached to the bottom of the sheath to secure around the leg seems high quality as well. It has another string at the top of the sheath which seems to be there for an additional safety if the snap should ever fail. Just a really beautiful chocolate brown tough looking leather sheath (I still prefer the look, feel, and functionality of a high quality leather sheath over synthetics, though some of the newer Kydex sheaths are nice if you prefer the tactical look, like the one the Ka Bar Becker BK2 uses).
As for the knife itself, it has a wonderful balance and weighs only a little over 8 ounces (excessive weight is your enemy when traveling any distance in the back country). It has a full tang, real stag handles, great finish, and hole in the handle to accept a lanyard (very important to me). The blade is roughly 6" long, and what's unusual is that the middle part of the blade has been ground in a way to make it skinnier (but still strong) in order to be good at cutting and skinning game, while the end of the knife towards the tip is thicker and wider, which makes the knife chop much easier than the majority of knives in this length and weight class. I tried a couple of light chopping swings into a cardboard box and it just plowed into it with ease (for such a light knife).
It also has an area on the back of the blade just before the tip that's almost a 1/4 thick and looks like a great batoning surface if need be. I find the stag grips very comfortable and secure feeling, and the hand guard feels just right. There is a serrated thumb rest just ahead of the hilt on the back of the blade to aid in control, and it works wonderfully. Mine does have some kind of saw like serrations on the lower part of the blade, which I assume is for sawing through bone. Maybe another Puma WH owner can fill me in on this?
The knife has the usual Puma etchings in the blade towards the tip, to include the writing "handmade", which is a nice touch.
I haven't put it through its paces in the mountains yet, so I can only give my initial impression, which is to say that I'm pretty blown away so far. I now realize at least in part why this knife is so famous. I read a comment recently about the Puma White Hunter on another blog site from a guy who considers himself a fan of Ka Bars and Pumas that the White Hunter "As a wilderness knife the design is unexcelled, versatile and without weak points." Here's a link to his blog http://hubpages.com/hub/Guide-to-Survival-Knives-from-Ka-Bar-and-Puma
One last note- I've recently discovered that lightly used later versions of these regularly sell on ebay in excellent condition for $140 to $190, definitely more in the range of folks who would never think of spending over $200 on a knife. It's funny because no good mechanic ever thinks about spending $$$ on high quality tools to insure his longetivity and success on the job, or law or medical students going to the very best school they can afford, but yet most people are scared to death to spend the equivalent of an extra dinner or two out to get equipment that won't break (and only has to be bought once) when they're backpacking into the wilderness which can and does kill on a regular basis if not prepared. There are definitely many good knives out there but I also don't mind spending the extra $$$ to get something that is highly functional and will probably last a lifetime (lifetime warranty on these as well).
Just some food for thought and comments welcome
ColoradoWildMan
