- Joined
- Jan 30, 2002
- Messages
- 7,269
OK, a two-year old buck is processed and in the freezer (12 slug, Ithaca mod. 37 for those who care) and I used the SARGE knife for most of the field dressing and skinning work.
I did not like the SARGE knife I got from Bill. Fortunately, someone who is collecting one of each of the special series DID like it, so off it went. Two friends of mine had ordered SARGEs to make sure the run was done, and I had a wood-handled one on order, so I waited.
The wood-handled ones arrived, I didn't care for them either. Why? Well, the blade shape is only generally similar, The knife is 3/4 to one inch shorter than the original, the handles on the wood models were at least only half as thick as they needed to be for a working knife, the points were non-existent (on the five I saw), and they arrived dull, and they appeared as if more attention was done on the sheath than on the knife itself. (Almost like Bura resented doing small knives, especially when his beautiful work on swords and such were being presented as UBBDs.)
I traded with a friend a chandan (rosewood?) wood-handled one (very pretty) for an antler-handled one that was less worse (in my eyes), ground down the tip to have a point of sorts, and sharpened it to an H.I. edge. The handle is still too narrow for my tastes, but it worked. The antler handles are almost an inch longer than the wood, for no good reason that I can think of, I really had hoped that the wood would would be much bigger and fill the hand better...but, not to be. The antler is beautifully finished and polished. So is the wood, but too small for me.
For the sheath, they are all tight, but fine, although difficult to snap shut since they ride high on the belt. A Scandanavian-type dangle sheath might be more well-suited for this knife.
I wasn't going to review the knife at all, since I didn't want to distress Bill M., but having used it, I changed my mind.
It worked wonderfully. It is almost the perfect size, holds an edge throughout skinning a fairly large deer and quartering, as well as taking out the backstraps, and dis-jointing the legs.
The deer was still slightly warm, so skinning was not at its worst condition, but the knife performed to the extent that it surprised me. It enabled me to separate skin and muscle and fat with ease, and with long sweeping slices. It worked without wobble or endangering slices through the hide.
I needed the point to penetrate the hide for the first cuts and the legs and neck cuts to skin the hide off. It worked fairly well.
The point was designed to fit in joints to spread them AND cut to drop the legs and make it easier for processing. The blade cut through tendons and ligaments, cartilege and fat with almost equal dexterity. It did not need sharpening after all the work.
So...the blade works fine with some modifications, the hilt was much appreciated when I was forcing the blade into joints, the sheath is pretty but might be switched to a different format, and the wood handles FOR SURE need to be made much larger, in my opinion.
It is not an attention-getting knife, so for EDC use, it might be perfect with some small changes.
IF BirGorkha makes more, Bill, please have them make the handles bigger and with a sharper point, at the very least.
Thank you very much for your energy and existence. I know this came at bad time in your career, but I truly appreciate all your efforts.
Be well and safe.
I did not like the SARGE knife I got from Bill. Fortunately, someone who is collecting one of each of the special series DID like it, so off it went. Two friends of mine had ordered SARGEs to make sure the run was done, and I had a wood-handled one on order, so I waited.
The wood-handled ones arrived, I didn't care for them either. Why? Well, the blade shape is only generally similar, The knife is 3/4 to one inch shorter than the original, the handles on the wood models were at least only half as thick as they needed to be for a working knife, the points were non-existent (on the five I saw), and they arrived dull, and they appeared as if more attention was done on the sheath than on the knife itself. (Almost like Bura resented doing small knives, especially when his beautiful work on swords and such were being presented as UBBDs.)
I traded with a friend a chandan (rosewood?) wood-handled one (very pretty) for an antler-handled one that was less worse (in my eyes), ground down the tip to have a point of sorts, and sharpened it to an H.I. edge. The handle is still too narrow for my tastes, but it worked. The antler handles are almost an inch longer than the wood, for no good reason that I can think of, I really had hoped that the wood would would be much bigger and fill the hand better...but, not to be. The antler is beautifully finished and polished. So is the wood, but too small for me.
For the sheath, they are all tight, but fine, although difficult to snap shut since they ride high on the belt. A Scandanavian-type dangle sheath might be more well-suited for this knife.
I wasn't going to review the knife at all, since I didn't want to distress Bill M., but having used it, I changed my mind.
It worked wonderfully. It is almost the perfect size, holds an edge throughout skinning a fairly large deer and quartering, as well as taking out the backstraps, and dis-jointing the legs.
The deer was still slightly warm, so skinning was not at its worst condition, but the knife performed to the extent that it surprised me. It enabled me to separate skin and muscle and fat with ease, and with long sweeping slices. It worked without wobble or endangering slices through the hide.
I needed the point to penetrate the hide for the first cuts and the legs and neck cuts to skin the hide off. It worked fairly well.
The point was designed to fit in joints to spread them AND cut to drop the legs and make it easier for processing. The blade cut through tendons and ligaments, cartilege and fat with almost equal dexterity. It did not need sharpening after all the work.
So...the blade works fine with some modifications, the hilt was much appreciated when I was forcing the blade into joints, the sheath is pretty but might be switched to a different format, and the wood handles FOR SURE need to be made much larger, in my opinion.
It is not an attention-getting knife, so for EDC use, it might be perfect with some small changes.
IF BirGorkha makes more, Bill, please have them make the handles bigger and with a sharper point, at the very least.
Thank you very much for your energy and existence. I know this came at bad time in your career, but I truly appreciate all your efforts.
Be well and safe.
