Bill Siegle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2000
- Messages
- 6,897
So when I was maybe 13-14ish I was selling my knives at Mountain Man Rendezvous. Throwing knives were ever present and a lot of participants had their blades doing double duty as camp blades too. I fell in love with a H&B Forge Beaver Tail Dagger I’d swapped for. Took a LOT of time with a file to thin out the two edges to make them thinner for actual cutting. Certainly not a record holder for edge holding but certainly tough enough to cut chop and throw. I carried that knife all over when in the woods! I left it at home when I was in the Army but rediscovered it when I returned home. It was just a fun knife!!! It was lost on an errant throw and I suspect it entered the ground at a low angle. I was never able to find it again. I’ve made a few similar knives over the years and even made my Son’s Boy Scout Troop a set of throwers following the beaver tail concept. Here are a few examples I have in my possession currently. They spanned at least a decade or more between them. The smallest one is closest to my old H&B. The clip point is the most recent being finished today. I think my next one will be a little smaller for easier carry. Those big guys are “stay in camp” size to be honest but they THUNK very well when thrown and are super fun for breaking up firewood while sitting around the fire 
