Who made the Drop Point popular and when?

H

Hal

Joined
Feb 26, 1999
Messages
830
I'm old. (70)
My memory is Swiss cheese.

I was looking in the traditional forum at Barlow knives (I have get me a Barlow! I love them and don't have one!)

I noticed a few of the pictures of older ones that they had a sort of drop point and that made me wonder about it.
I was pretty sure the drop point had been popularized back in the 1960s and was a sort of recent design.

I'm probably wrong - but - any more that's not news ;).
 
Most* blade shapes have been around for millennia...pretty sure drop point is one of those.

(*probably excluding 20th/21st century "tactical" and "fantasy" shapes...)
 
The modern drop point was popularized by Bob Loveless -- specifically his drop point hunter. The first modern hunter with a full tapered tang and drop point blade shape.

It was innovative at the time (1960's). It was so successful that it is now considered a "classic" design and is often copied by other companies/makers, kinda like the Rolex Submariner


bob loveless custom knife sheath


link to a good article on Bob's drop point hunter

blademag.com

The Legacy of Bob Loveless’s Dropped Hunter

Bob Loveless changed knifemaking and knife collecting forever with his dropped hunter. Here's the story behind this classic custom knife and why it refuses to fade away. Includes photos and videos.
blademag.com blademag.com
 
Last edited:
There are ancient flint knives with the drop point design. The drop point has probably been around since man started making knives.
 
Ron Sabbagh said:
The modern drop point was popularized by Bob Loveless -- specifically his drop point hunter. The first modern hunter with a full tapered tang and drop point blade shape.

It was innovative at the time (1960's). It was so successful that it is now considered a "classic" design and is often copied by other companies/makers, kinda like the Rolex Submariner


bob loveless custom knife sheath


link to a good article on Bob's drop point hunter

blademag.com

The Legacy of Bob Loveless’s Dropped Hunter

Bob Loveless changed knifemaking and knife collecting forever with his dropped hunter. Here's the story behind this classic custom knife and why it refuses to fade away. Includes photos and videos.
blademag.com blademag.com
Click to expand...
I have a custom Loveless design knife that I received last fall. Beautiful knife.
 
shane45-1911 said:
I'm pretty sure it was popularized back at the dawn of man. ;)

Prehistoric/stone age flint tool examples have drop point profiles.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think I also heard that. The designer's name was Otzi, if I am not mistaken? Horrible, the royalties that must be owed to him, or his family, if he's not alive anymore.

We really need to give credit where credit is due and stop stealing knife designs.
 
tltt said:
Loveless, but Loveless credited a late 19th century Lamson and Goodnow butcher style hunter with helping him develop it (some of the shape and a lot of the tapering).

See first page here for the Lamson style in relation to the Loveless - https://www.oregonknifeclub.org/Newsletter 1110.pdf .
Click to expand...
85085124-DF07-4E66-9768-C8D8F31DE434.jpeg

That’s a cool story! You’re right to point out that Loveless simply took a few design elements from that Lamson knife because those pictures are deceiving to go along with the descriptions given in the article. For people wondering and the purposes of this thread relating to the drop point style, only one shown is really a Loveless Dropped Hunter pattern, the top knife by Stanley Fujisaka. The Loveless knife is actually a Utility Hunter since it has a clip point style blade.

The Jimmy Lile knife is sort of a blend between the two variants of the Large Utility Hunter and Dropped Hunter due to the blade profile and overall size, he called it his “Big 7”. Both the Loveless and the Zac Buchanan are Utility Hunters with that straight cut clip point spine. The Thad Buchanan knife is actually a Loveless Semi-Skinner model (notice how the spine has a rise prior to dropping toward the tip.)
 
5lkoz3U.jpg
Here’s a pic showing my Bob Dozier made, Loveless style knives. The stag is the Utility Hunter, the two others are Dropped Hunters. I love that Loveless called them Dropped Hunters and not “drop point hunters” for some reason, I guess it’s one more way he stayed in his own path vs everyone else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top