I know, the proper current name is fixed blades, but you'll have to forgive me, I still call them sheath knives which is what they were called back when Mr. Van was our scout master.
I was taking stock the other day, and I was inspecting, (okay playing with) the old fixed blades I have. I was looking at the old wood handled mora that maybe looks like its cousins from ages past. Dark stained laminated carbon blade, plain semi-round wood handle with linseed oil finish, brown leather sheath. It looks like the type of knife that has been used in scandinavia since guys with big beards and axes made life miserable for working peasents on the coast of England.
A few years ago there was a traveling exibit here in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian museum. It was a large amount of viking artifacts from the Viking museum in Stockholm. Among the runic covered items like arm bands, gold necklacs, axes, was a familiar looking knife. It was a badly weathered puuko from a viking burial mound, and it looked very much like the present day knives made in Sweden and Finland. Just a plain blade with some wood to hang onto. I guess a good design is sort of imortal. Today Frosts of Sweden is still pumping these things out at huge production numbers, and I'm told that if you ask to borrow a knife over there, that this is the one you will get. The new ones have a plastic sheath.
Another knife I have is a Buck 102 woodsman. I think this model is one of the original knives designed by H.H. Buck himself, and I recall seeing them around for a very long time. Maybe 40 plus years. Thats a pretty long run for a modern production item these days. There must be people still buying them for deer hunting, or like me, just plain outdoor use. In truth the 4 inch pointy blade is a handy one to have. It does alot of things well, and a fixed blade (there, I said it) is a heck of alot easier to clean up than a folder. Looking at it it's very much like a small Bowie. Like those sportsman knives that were everywhere in the 50's. Another good design, the clip point 4 to 5 inch blade.
With hunting season on us, what are you guys using for a traditonal sheath knife?
I was taking stock the other day, and I was inspecting, (okay playing with) the old fixed blades I have. I was looking at the old wood handled mora that maybe looks like its cousins from ages past. Dark stained laminated carbon blade, plain semi-round wood handle with linseed oil finish, brown leather sheath. It looks like the type of knife that has been used in scandinavia since guys with big beards and axes made life miserable for working peasents on the coast of England.
A few years ago there was a traveling exibit here in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian museum. It was a large amount of viking artifacts from the Viking museum in Stockholm. Among the runic covered items like arm bands, gold necklacs, axes, was a familiar looking knife. It was a badly weathered puuko from a viking burial mound, and it looked very much like the present day knives made in Sweden and Finland. Just a plain blade with some wood to hang onto. I guess a good design is sort of imortal. Today Frosts of Sweden is still pumping these things out at huge production numbers, and I'm told that if you ask to borrow a knife over there, that this is the one you will get. The new ones have a plastic sheath.
Another knife I have is a Buck 102 woodsman. I think this model is one of the original knives designed by H.H. Buck himself, and I recall seeing them around for a very long time. Maybe 40 plus years. Thats a pretty long run for a modern production item these days. There must be people still buying them for deer hunting, or like me, just plain outdoor use. In truth the 4 inch pointy blade is a handy one to have. It does alot of things well, and a fixed blade (there, I said it) is a heck of alot easier to clean up than a folder. Looking at it it's very much like a small Bowie. Like those sportsman knives that were everywhere in the 50's. Another good design, the clip point 4 to 5 inch blade.
With hunting season on us, what are you guys using for a traditonal sheath knife?
) for sale section in the knife makers forum, some makers are selling some nice EDC/hunter sized blades for under a hundred bucks.