Ruana Knives?

TAH

TAH

Joined
Jul 3, 2001
Messages
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I am interested in purchasing a Model 21A or 12A. I'm only familiar with the company by name. I know they have been around for over 60 years, but that's about it.

So, I'm looking for general infomation. Good knives, overall? Website says "high carbon blades, not stainless" - what type of steel is it? Are they hard to find and purchase? Do they have a telephone number? Didn't see one on their website.

Thanks for your help! :thumbup:

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They are forged blades, cast pommels and guards as far as I know and elk antler handle slabs. I owned a Smoke Jumper at one time and it was a good knife albeit a little small for my hand. So I sold it. They are nicely made though and like you said have been around for a long time so that should say something about them. keepem sharp
 
Sold a Smoke Jumper also. Decent knives but, are way over priced now since Rudy passed on IMHO. Just about any Mora blade cuts just as good IMHO.
 
The Models you are looking at are both Forged from 1095 on the same equipment that Rudy built many years ago. Mr Hangas and his Sons have made an effort not to change too many aspects of the business but their knives today have a much higher finish than those Rudy made.

I own lots of older Ruanas and several newer models and really think very highly of all them. The new ones are tough but beautifully finished and the Sheaths are still extremely well built, thick quality leather.

If you are considering buying one I would rec moving quickly, the boys tend to delete models from the available lineup every couple of years and it's hard to tell what will go next.
 
Steel as noted above, and the knives have been made pretty much the same way for the last forty five or so years, although with a bit more emphasis on finish work now. Rudy was one of the pioneeer knifemakers in this country and his son-in-law and grandsons own and work the shop. Since it is a three man operation, and they do all the work, they avoid interruptions by not giving out the phone number. If you're interested contact them by email from their website. You'll probably hear from Mike (a grandson) and he'll work with you from there.

They've been making knives people have been using in this part of the country, and Alaska, for a long time. I've carried one on nearly every hike and camping trip I've been on since the '70's. And quite recently, Mike skinned a moose with the two-finger "smoke jumper" model. Well worth personally investigating. Have fun.
 
Overall, the grinds, fit, finish, sheath work, etc.... on the new knives is about on par with current Randall stuff. Good, clean, heavy duty stuff that isn't super fancy. The older knives were a bit crude, finish wise, but nice.

If you are buying it as a working knife, go with the 12-A, it handles much nicer than 21-A, but the 21-A has loads more eye appeal.

Treeman knives is a big Ruana dealer, Paragon in NYC sometimes stocks, and if you can watch Ebay, they're pretty common there. The Ebay price on mint current knives tends to be a decent discount over over both the factory website, and stocking dealers.
 
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Bobby Branton said:
I believe the regular knives are 1095 and the Bowies are made from 5160.
They are a great value and they have a long history. Glad to see them still in business.
BB
Click to expand...

Here's your answer. Mr. Branton has a well-earned reputation for integrity and honesty, both here and elsewhere.
 
Well, I just received my new Ruana Sticker. When I talked to Mike on the phone, he said he was just finishing up a 21A and could ship it in a couple of days.

Talk about great customer service - when I told him that I wasn't crazy about the color of the new leather sheaths (more orange and shiny) and that I preferred the older sheath leather (more tan and dull), he said that he would try to round up some old leather for my sheath. I couldn't believe they would go the extra mile, but they did and my knife and sheath arrived looking just like this one on the Red River Knives website.

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Anyway, the knife's fit and finish is superb and the handle is one of the most comfortable that I have ever held.

Great product and overall experience! :):thumbup:
 
Thanks for following-up with the post on your excellent experience. Great to know. :thumbup:
 
Okay, I took my 21A camping last weekend and I have to say that I am impressed. Before I left, I sharpened it on my Sharpmaker with no problems. I used the knife for food prep and a lot of whittling - including several hot dog sticks and a rather large tripod that was used over the campfire for cooking. Blade stayed sharp all weekend.

The one thing that I noticed most was how comfortable the handle was after using it for an extended period of time. I had absolutely no hand fatigue. This comfort comes from the way the elk antler swells out on both sides which really fills up your hand. I wasn't sure if I would like the finger grooves at first (all looks and no function :eek:), but they are designed very well and definately add to the security and comfort of the grip. Furthermore, the finger grooves are not too pointy on the bottom if you need to grip the knife with the edge up. As for the thumb rest, it is simply the best that I have ever used. It actually works! It is just sharp enough to grab your thumb without being too abrasive. It is also longer than most thumb rests which allows different thumb placement. Well done! :)

And finally, I like the way the knife fits in the sheath. It's snug, but the knife can be easily removed with one hand.

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I guess after 70 years of being in business, these Ruana guys know what they are doing. :D :thumbup:
 
really in every way:thumbup: Like the sheath too... cant beat leather:thumbup:
Classic!
congrats
ivan
 
Thanks. I'm pretty excited about this knife. I've even ordered a custom Firesteel to match it from John at Bitterroot. Elk antler and aluminum hole liner, of course. ;) :thumbup:
 
Something else I find interesting is that you don't see many Ruana knives for sale compared to Randall knives. For instance, currently there are 1,057 Randall items for sale on eBay (granted some are just sheathes and zippered pouches) and only 11 Ruana items (all older knives, nothing new). I realize Randall has more employees so they are probably able to produce more knives, but Randall has a 5 year backlog and Ruana is under 6 months. It would being interesting to see how many knives are produces in a year from each company. Also, I know of several websites that have Randall knives available for sale, but I don't know of any website that has Ruanas for sale. Wonder why that is? Randalls have greater resale value and are able to turn a quick profit? Or Ruana owners aren't interested in selling their knives?
 
Somebody will chime in with an accurate Randall shop count, but I think they have about twenty knifemakers. Ruana has three: Vic, Mark and Mike Hangas (Vic is Rudy's son-in-law).

In the early days, Rudy sold a lot of knives to folks in Alaska and of course, Montana. These were primarily users. That doesn't mean there aren't a few quite complete Ruana collections around, just nothing to match Randall.

It was also sort of a Rudy tradition not to advertise or use vendors...pretty much stuck to by Vic and Rudy's grandsons. KNIFE WORLD ran an article about them on 9 September, '06.
Gargs
 
Yes, it is a full time shop. Don't forget that Vic is getting a little along in years and can't maintain the same pace he could even three or four years ago. He enjoys the sheath work a lot.
 
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