Purpose of German hunting boot knives

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bhp9

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May 13, 2016
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What were the German stage hunting boot knives used for. Since they have a relatively straight blade with no curve they would not be ideal for gutting or skinning and since most are about 4 inches long they would not be ideal for dispatching a wounded animal. So what was their purpose? Most do not have a sheath that goes on a belt either but simply a sheath that would be stuffed in the boot or hunting coat. Also many have gnarly stage handles that would not be comfortable when grasping during a skinning or gutting procedure. I find this knife's purpose a mystery to me.
 
Killing off a Deer or Pig, 4" is enough. Stab into lung/heart and twist. They have a special name in German, "Hirschfaenger" (Deer catcher), or "Saufeder", for instance.
 
ferider said:
Killing off a Deer or Pig, 4" is enough. Stab into lung/heart and twist. They have a special name in German, "Hirschfaenger" (Deer catcher), or "Saufeder", for instance.
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Here is are pictures of my knife I just purchased. Can you tell me anything about it. The blade is 4 5/8 long. It says on the blade Waidmanns Helfer and there is another name that appears to be Fandarbeit. I may have got the first letter wrong.

Here are pictures of it.

www.ebay.com

Vintage E. Knecht Germany Waidmann's Helfer Stag Boot Knife & Sheath | eBay

It is in nice condition for its age. No knife sales to anyone under 18.
www.ebay.com
 
Carried in the Lederhosen pocket, is the yarn I've heard. The knife is also called Jagdnicker (hunting nicker) and Trachtenmesser (drawing knife). I don't know what "nicker" means. I've just assumed it is another word for knife.
 
bhp9 said:
What were the German stage hunting boot knives used for
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Never came across "German hunting boot knives". The link to the knife doesn't work any more. Maybe you were referring to a sheath like this?
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Trachtenmesser ("Tracht" = folk costume). The sheath is shaped this way for carrying in a special trouser pocket:
zjinUjb.jpg

In Bavaria, they were used for EDC.

The old-style Jagdnicker, which has a similar blade, has a sheath for belt-carry.
Y3st969.jpg

"Jagd" = "Hunt". "Nicker" is from "abnicken", this is a way of dispatching wounded animal by a stab in the neck.
Nowadays, "abnicken" is discouraged, because it needs practice to hit the right spot; if done wrong it causes unnecessary suffering. Better carry a handgun and shoot from a distance. This has the additional advantage of preventing fear and panic in a wild animal, which in the old way finds itself approached by its greatest enemy, the human.
This is what Wikipedia has to say: Nicker, Knicker (google translate).
 
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Just a note that not every German or German Hunter wears Lederhosen/"Trachten" (nobody in Solingen, for instance), and that the OP's knife has a belt sheath and ~5" (?) blade (guess).

Carry on. :)
 
Arathol said:
Trachten is clothing, in this case it refers to the whole outfit, or "Alpine Trachten", a traditional regional folk costume....
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That sounds familiar, clothing being stuff dragged/drawn on. I was remembering Trachten as cognate with English drag/draw, and interpreting Levine's "dress knife" translation as field-dressing or drawing out the guts knife.
Then I google-translated Trachten and got "search".

All very interesting to me.
 
Jolipapa said:
Lederhosen are typically Bavarian and still popular in the coutry. Not very practical in town because it is not too supple (my older bro' wore one all along his teen years). You can play Where's Waldo in this Oktoberfest picture. (not mine)
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Me too, and I'm not Bavarian. My mom loved them because they were indistructible, I liked them because they had a side pocket for my SAK :) Bought on a street market in Suedtirol (Italy, actually), I remember. Common there and in Austria as well. Yours truly many years ago :)

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I once picked up a German hunting book at IWA (European SHOT) that explained in detail how to stab a fallen animal where the neck meets the skull with this type of knife to finish them off. Done right it seems very quick to me.
 
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