Real Indian stag??

[Mountainwind]

I have saw some older Sword Brand knives on Ebay with Indian Stag handles.
They really don't look like real stag, but I could be wrong. Anyone here know yea or nay?

 

[KKHansen]

Depending on how old they are it could be real. I went looking for a Zansabar Stag Crown a while back and found out it was pricy and scarce.

It seems that years ago Zansabar Stag were slaughtered about as fast as they could for the Horns to be exported and it had really hurt the animal population. The Indian Goverment put a 10 year Ban on exporting any Zansabar Stag. Select importers were allowed 1 single order limited in weight during the Ban and that was it. Hence, if and when you find the real stuff it is pricy.

Karsten

 

[Phil Gibbs]

The Sambar stag is ony harvested after it is shed by the animal.

If they are removed from the animal, the antlers still have the "velvet" on and are unusable.

The trick is to find the shed stag before the rodents do & eat it.

 

[hlee]

The velvet of an antler is a temporary tissue covering that protects and nourishes the developing antler. Those lines you see in the antler are caused by blood vessels. When the antler is in velvet is it soft, but once the antler hardens the velvet is shed. Live deer can have antlers that are either soft and in velvet, hard and shedding velvet, or hard and free of velvet; all depending upon what stage of development the antler is in. Soft and easily damaged antlers are of little use in sparring associated with dominance and mating (which is the main reason deer have antlers). To say that an antler that is removed from an animal will "still have the 'velvet' on and [be] unusable" is incorrect. Deer will carry hard and velvet free antlers for several months before they are shed, therefore antlers taked from animals could be hard and useable for knife handles and such. However, you are correct that sambar stag antler used in the cutlery industry is shed antler. Thus, it is a renewable resource and provides jobs and money for the indigenous peoples where these deer are found. You are also right that the trick is to find it before the rodents do. High in calcium and other minerals, shed antlers provide lots of nutrients to those animals that find and can digest it. Shed antlers rarely last more than a couple of months unless found by shed hunters.

 

[Phil Gibbs]

hlee,

Thanks for the clarification, I appreciate it.

 

[CAMCO]

Camillus produced a line of knives with imitation Indian Stag handles starting in the early 1970's. The handles were made from Delrin. The knives in this series included models #6, #7, #8, #19, #26, #31, #70, #71, #73, #78, #88, #89, #97, #1011, #1012, #1013 and #1014.

Tom Williams