Wowbagger
Gold Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2015
- Messages
- 8,100
Moderator : Move this if you must but I am comparing and talking about thick, not tall, roundish handles and my quest for the best shape more than I am a how to on how to mod a Boker Trapper.
Well I have been wanting a knife with a handle that is not tall but is fairly wide so my thumb and index finger have a full platform. I was all about the Sprig for a while but I just felt I needed more real-estate down front near the blade so I went this here other route.
[before you say "He is insane; comparing a Sprig to a Trapper . . . I wasn't ever going to use it for Bird and Trout just as an everyday utility knife wanting roughly a tear drop handle shape]
The knife :
Boker full size Trapper
Green bone; so dark it is mostly black looking.
Carbon steel ; Boker calls it C75 (I couldnt learn much about the steel but it throws a shower of sparks when the abrasive cut off wheel hits it . . . I love that . . . I cant get used to these Super Steels that hardly spark . . . thats just not natural . . . thats just not right ).
I am a sucker for Bokers jigging that looks kind of like a feather. Really fine texture and pretty cool that !
I have a Stockman in super dark green bone with the feather jigging and have always wanted more. Now I have more.
For those who just want the short version (just the facts mam).
I cut off the spey blade so that there was no closed blade in the way messing with my grip. I know they make single blade knives sort of like this but, for my taste, they are too narrow . . . so . . . the surgery.
So rather than this :
We now have . . . ahhhhhhhh. . . THIS ! :
Well sort of. The spey blade is out and the clip point is closed in the first photo but you get the gist.
END OF SHORT VERSION
Some comparisons to what I have been EDCing and enjoying the last few months but they were not quite "there".
Note the Trapper handle has more usable length than the Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter yet is not tall, which I could do without, I prefer the slender handle of the Mini Hunter but want much more length though its new length latest version is pretty darned great.
I include this photo mostly to show the color of the handle, which for me is just really desirable, and to show the blade length on the Trapper is pretty much the same as the Pendleton Hunter. For me what I need is length not so much width. Shame I cant get this Trapper in M4 or some such. Maybe one day.
What all these knives have in common and why I have been EDCing them is they have thicker handles than the slab sided folder like say for example a Para 2. Making them all better carried in a sheath than a pocket but so be it.
Another good shot to show the dyed bone color but what I want to show here is . . . notice the fine hair like fibers inside the handle . . . that is literally hair fine strips of brass from the liners. German quality . . . this one is made in Germany right ? ? ? . . . has gone down some. It seams that after they ground the opening to the blade housing square to the sides the guy that normally takes it from there and deburs the edges of the openings was off that day . . . down the line it went . . . quality control ? ? ? yah that guy had the day off too.
yah there is like, kind of a lot of brass fibers all over the edges. Not just a little bit.
I love the knife and it is over all pretty darned nice but CERTAINLY NOT UP TO CASE QUALITY IN MANY RESPECTS. I may do this to a couple of Case Trappers soon but I HAD to have the C75, in dark green bone, with the feather jigging first. Had to. Had to.
I am so pleased with how this turned out!
G_L_O_R_I_A is jealous but . . . anyway.
Hey I recommend anyone who is curious . . . get an old used Trapper and try it. You might like it.
One more shot with the other knife I modded for exactly the same sort of wide platform for thumb and index finger grip area. Both knives feel very much the same in use. Because the handles are rounded and not tall one can ROLL the handle in your grip and kind of smoothly do a curved carving pass with the blade.
Well I have been wanting a knife with a handle that is not tall but is fairly wide so my thumb and index finger have a full platform. I was all about the Sprig for a while but I just felt I needed more real-estate down front near the blade so I went this here other route.
[before you say "He is insane; comparing a Sprig to a Trapper . . . I wasn't ever going to use it for Bird and Trout just as an everyday utility knife wanting roughly a tear drop handle shape]
The knife :
Boker full size Trapper
Green bone; so dark it is mostly black looking.
Carbon steel ; Boker calls it C75 (I couldnt learn much about the steel but it throws a shower of sparks when the abrasive cut off wheel hits it . . . I love that . . . I cant get used to these Super Steels that hardly spark . . . thats just not natural . . . thats just not right ).
I am a sucker for Bokers jigging that looks kind of like a feather. Really fine texture and pretty cool that !
I have a Stockman in super dark green bone with the feather jigging and have always wanted more. Now I have more.
For those who just want the short version (just the facts mam).
I cut off the spey blade so that there was no closed blade in the way messing with my grip. I know they make single blade knives sort of like this but, for my taste, they are too narrow . . . so . . . the surgery.
So rather than this :
We now have . . . ahhhhhhhh. . . THIS ! :
Well sort of. The spey blade is out and the clip point is closed in the first photo but you get the gist.
END OF SHORT VERSION
Some comparisons to what I have been EDCing and enjoying the last few months but they were not quite "there".
Note the Trapper handle has more usable length than the Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter yet is not tall, which I could do without, I prefer the slender handle of the Mini Hunter but want much more length though its new length latest version is pretty darned great.
I include this photo mostly to show the color of the handle, which for me is just really desirable, and to show the blade length on the Trapper is pretty much the same as the Pendleton Hunter. For me what I need is length not so much width. Shame I cant get this Trapper in M4 or some such. Maybe one day.
What all these knives have in common and why I have been EDCing them is they have thicker handles than the slab sided folder like say for example a Para 2. Making them all better carried in a sheath than a pocket but so be it.
Another good shot to show the dyed bone color but what I want to show here is . . . notice the fine hair like fibers inside the handle . . . that is literally hair fine strips of brass from the liners. German quality . . . this one is made in Germany right ? ? ? . . . has gone down some. It seams that after they ground the opening to the blade housing square to the sides the guy that normally takes it from there and deburs the edges of the openings was off that day . . . down the line it went . . . quality control ? ? ? yah that guy had the day off too.
yah there is like, kind of a lot of brass fibers all over the edges. Not just a little bit.
I love the knife and it is over all pretty darned nice but CERTAINLY NOT UP TO CASE QUALITY IN MANY RESPECTS. I may do this to a couple of Case Trappers soon but I HAD to have the C75, in dark green bone, with the feather jigging first. Had to. Had to.
I am so pleased with how this turned out!
G_L_O_R_I_A is jealous but . . . anyway.
Hey I recommend anyone who is curious . . . get an old used Trapper and try it. You might like it.
One more shot with the other knife I modded for exactly the same sort of wide platform for thumb and index finger grip area. Both knives feel very much the same in use. Because the handles are rounded and not tall one can ROLL the handle in your grip and kind of smoothly do a curved carving pass with the blade.
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