Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,025
I have been meaning to take the time to post some more comprehensive feedback on T.M. Hunt Custom Knives for a while now, but life has just been really busy lately. I first met Todd Hunt a couple of years ago at a spring gathering at Ethan Becker's house, and got a look at his first prototype of his Yuma model. I absolutely loved the design. The gimping on the first one was a little rough, being done by hand with a saw, but being a prototype, that was easily overlooked. It functioned fine, was just a little lacking in the aesthetics and symmetry. Other aspects of the knife, like the intricate bolster and layered handle scales looked great, and I was very much interested in it. The thing was, that even though at the time Todd had been making knives for fifteen years, he had been making them locally in his home town on weekends and evenings, since he also had a full time job he worked. He had a strong following there, and he did not have a website. So, of course I immediately started in with the questions to get to know Mr. Hunt. After a lot of questions on steel type, heat treat, etc., he smiled and said "I tell ya what. Why don't you just take it with you, keep it for a while, put it through some tests, and see what you think for yourself." To which I said... "are you sure? I am heading to Florida to work for in the swamps for a while, and it will be gone a bit before I could get it back to you, but I'd love to check it out in the bush." To which he responded with a smile and said that sounds great, let me know what you think.
So, in a few days the Yuma and I were south Florida bound. I took the knife into the marshes of the Green Swamp area, and carried it as my field knife for weeks there. Over that time I put the knife through a lot of different tests. I cut and whittled with it. I I batonned and truncated with it. I bored holes in hardwood with the tip. I used the knife for fire prep and fire ignition multiple times testing the edge versus a ferro rod, and having found a nearby farmers market which had Maine Lobster for less than $5 per pound, I used it to prep meals in the field with multiple times. I put the knife through every test that was important to me in a field knife I could think of multiple times. The size was great, not too big, not too small, and very functional and versatile. The handle ergos were excellent, and I loved the various features of the design. I just really loved the knife as a whole, and after all my tests, there were no more questions as to the quality and durability of Mr. Hunt's work in my mind.
The following series of photos are some of the ones taken during the time I had the knife in the field.
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So, in a few days the Yuma and I were south Florida bound. I took the knife into the marshes of the Green Swamp area, and carried it as my field knife for weeks there. Over that time I put the knife through a lot of different tests. I cut and whittled with it. I I batonned and truncated with it. I bored holes in hardwood with the tip. I used the knife for fire prep and fire ignition multiple times testing the edge versus a ferro rod, and having found a nearby farmers market which had Maine Lobster for less than $5 per pound, I used it to prep meals in the field with multiple times. I put the knife through every test that was important to me in a field knife I could think of multiple times. The size was great, not too big, not too small, and very functional and versatile. The handle ergos were excellent, and I loved the various features of the design. I just really loved the knife as a whole, and after all my tests, there were no more questions as to the quality and durability of Mr. Hunt's work in my mind.
The following series of photos are some of the ones taken during the time I had the knife in the field.
.
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