Ruana Bonner Montana

V

-Virginian-

Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
3
Hi,

I Inherited a Ruana Bonner Montana from my father about 8 years ago. I'm a whitetail hunter in VA and have used this knife quite a bit but it's a bit robust for my purpose. So I googled this knife and had no idea of it's value and heritage. Shame on me for using it... I believe my father purchased it for a blackpowder ram hunt out west sometime in the late '60s to '70s (a guess at best on the timeframe). I thought I would share some pics of it here with the true knife aficionados.

I would be interested in any comments regarding it's possible time frame. It appears to be very much like the 20B with a few differences. Most notably to me is the thumbnail groove on each side of the blade. The sheath and markings on the blade to not have any notable marking to help define the time period it was made.

V/r,

Eric






 
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I believe he started making knives sometime in the early 40's and made them through 1984. I remember reading an article a year or so ago about him in Blade Magazine. As for value, I think that type of question is prohibited with "registered" membership. I could be wrong on that though. Email me and we can talk more
 
Nice. That knife was made to be used, so no worries.
 
Great looking knife. It was bought and carried by your father. Don't feel bad about using it.

Enjoy it, and take care of it. As long as you don't butcher it with your dremmel, or loose it out in the wilderness, don't worry too much!
 
I agree with jdm61. Ruana made his knives to be used. The finish on them was never fancy. Today, a knife made by Rudy himself certainly is a great part of a collection, but it's not so expensive or rare that it should never be used. Especially if your father used it, a bit more use won't really affect the value. I say enjoy it all the more because of its history. By the way, there was a very good book written about Ruana called "Hear the Hammer," that would help you identify when it was made and tell you a lot about the maker and his knives.
 
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