The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Well, I'd hoped to get some fresh pictures today but the weather was dark and gray so I'll have to use some more recycled ones.
The Tribal Lock...
This is a beautiful knife. The Burnt Amber Jigged Bone has excellent depth and contrast and on this example is well matched on both sides. I put this knife in the Large Stockman/Large Trapper family as it is rather big. But, as a single blade, it is of course much thinner. The snap on my particular knife is quite satisfying and from a design and quality aspect, there is little for me to critique. The blade does sit slightly off center at rest but the truth is, until I discovered the internet, I didn't even know that was a thing. It doesn't rub and I don't care.
This knife is exceptionally comfortable in the hand, rivaling the revered Buck 110 in my opinion. It's solid and substantial and I like it very much. While its size and feel lend it to heavier working tasks, I think I'd caution that the TruSharp steel may not be as equally up to those demands as the knife design. Surely, you can get things done but I'm not sure, with this steel, I'd put this knife in the "harder use" category.
In the end, my narrowing preference for "medium" sized knives is the only thing keeping this wonderful blade out of my pocket full time. All of the larger blades are just a touch, well, larger than I like for my ever day toting. Even before this foray into traditionals I was already focusing in on mid-sized carry. But this knife carries very well and is outstanding.
The blade is very easy to open with a pinch grip and is actually pretty easy to open and close one-handed. If you're considering a slightly larger knife, this one is absolutely worth checking out!
Tribal by D P, on Flickr
Horsewright
will undoubtedly prove me wrong. 
All that is to say, that for a general EDC knife, I just don't find the blade shape useful and would prefer a thinner Wharncliffe. I'm sure people make great use of the spey and I think I could see it being alright for fish, but again, for my everyday needs it just feels wasted.
Nice post.And so we close in my last couple posts.
The Trappers...
Obviously, the Trapper pattern goes way back and there's a reason it remains popular. I will say, I'm not entirely convinced if the "trapper" name is authentic or marketing but it is cemented now regardless.
The Large Trapper in Bermuda Green is beautiful and this knife is another that I would put in the Buck 110 category of pristine comfort. It just feels so good to use. When you handle one of these there's no mystery to why this knife is so popular, regardless of maker. As a pure user, this knife is fantastic. I'm not entirely anti-spey blade but I'm yet to become a fan either. Like the trapper moniker, I'm not entirely convinced the spey blade is genuinely preferred (or was) for castration. I lived on a cattle ranch for a time and we didn't use spey blades for the task. I recall clip blades, typically fixed, and shears of some type that the vet would bring. Long time ago, but I do know no one around was pulling out a Trapper pocket knife.
And speaking of Wharncliffe blades... The Medium Trapper in 6.5 Bone Stag is, for me, out-freaking-standing! Yes, my handles are slightly different from one side to the other. One side is a little darker than the other but not bad. I do know some offerings have a wider difference. That aside, I consider this knife an awesome EDC choice. The slender clip blade is great for fruit and such and the Wharncliffe makes a fantastic utility blade. I love the size and it blows my mind this blade combination is not far more widely available. Truth be told, I do think I'd prefer it without half-stops but that's just nit picking. If all I could carry for the rest of my EDC days were this knife, I'd be quite pleased.
Then there's the single blade Wharncliffe in Yellow Delrin. Fan-freaking-tastic! So slim and so easy to carry. I find myself reaching for this one when there is cardboard to breakdown or a package to open. This is a great knife! Given a single blade, I find I prefer some belly so for EDC, this one gets edged out. But again, if it was all I had, I'd be quite happy.
Great patterns!
And I agree that the wharncliffe mini-trapper is FANTASTIC (I was gifted one last year.)
Prester John
introduced me to this pattern via a GAW and I have since purchased another and two minis. I agree that the spey/spay is a conundrum in today's world. I share your take-it- or-leave-it opinion.
I think "spey" was somehow just considered a politer term. If you look at old catalogues (a century or so ago), it is usually called a "castrator" blade, and I know people that have used it for that purpose.Great thread
This is a good resource for those exploring Traditionals, and Case for that matter.
I share your love for trappers, full and mini.
As to your thoughts on if it was used to castrate, perhaps it was actually meant to be used on female animals?
To spey/spay references females from what I can research.
Males get neutered. (Which interestingly shares etymology with the word "neutral")
The blade is not called a "neuter."
Anyway, I'm as curious as the next guy on all of this, just thinking out loud.
Ahhh, good point.
Thanks, it is a fabulous knife and one I wish they'd bring back.That's a fine knifeJohnDF . It boggles my mind that that pattern is so rare in the modern catalog.
And so we close in on my last couple posts.
The Trappers...
Obviously, the Trapper pattern goes way back and there's a reason it remains popular. I will say, I'm not entirely convinced if the "trapper" name is authentic or marketing but it is cemented now regardless.
The Large Trapper in Bermuda Green is beautiful and this knife is another that I would put in the Buck 110 category of pristine comfort. It just feels so good to use. When you handle one of these there's no mystery to why this knife is so popular, regardless of maker. As a pure user, this knife is fantastic. I'm not entirely anti-spey blade but I'm yet to become a fan either. Like the trapper moniker, I'm not entirely convinced the spey blade is genuinely preferred (or was) for castration. I lived on a cattle ranch for a time and we didn't use spey blades for the task. I recall clip blades, typically fixed, and shears of some type that the vet would bring. Long time ago, but I do know no one around was pulling out a Trapper pocket knife.
And speaking of Wharncliffe blades... The Medium Trapper in 6.5 Bone Stag is, for me, out-freaking-standing! Yes, my handles are slightly different from one side to the other. One side is a little darker than the other but not bad. I do know some offerings have a wider difference. That aside, I consider this knife an awesome EDC choice. The slender clip blade is great for fruit and such and the Wharncliffe makes a fantastic utility blade. I love the size and it blows my mind this blade combination is not far more widely available. Truth be told, I do think I'd prefer it without half-stops but that's just nit picking. If all I could carry for the rest of my EDC days were this knife, I'd be quite pleased.
Then there's the single blade Wharncliffe in Yellow Delrin. Fan-freaking-tastic! So slim and so easy to carry. I find myself reaching for this one when there is cardboard to breakdown or a package to open. This is a great knife! Given a single blade, I find I prefer some belly so for EDC, this one gets edged out. But again, if it was all I had, I'd be quite happy.
Great patterns!
