Why a trapper?

I don't know how 'you GEC fans' could call the regular 4" trapper large or bulky given the large number of 4" patterns GEC seems to be easily moving. That said my case trapper rides just find in the coin/watch pocket of my wrangler jeans.

While a lot of members mention moving down to 3" patterns I seem to be moving up from my usual 3.5" stockmans to 4" stockmans/trappers.

Mark
 
Pete1977 said:
I used a Schrade 96OT commercial fishing ... I found that the spey blade worked similarly to a sheepsfoot or wharncliffe with its almost perfectly straight cutting edge when cutting rope. It was longer than the sheepsfoot blade on a stockman and the "point" is blunt enough to use on a pitching boat deck.
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Yep. Currently I don't have a trapper (in time, I'll likely pick up another; probably in the sub-4" range), but when I would carry my old Case yella CV, I just thought of that spey blade as a long, straight edge that just happened to have a blunt tip. It's perfect for cutting rope or hoses, or for heavy wood-cutting like when you're cutting down a sapling and lopping off the branches for use as a hotdog cooker or fishing pole while camping. I found a trapper to be a great outdoors pattern, and mine never cut any flesh unless you count the ham in a ham sandwich.

-- Mark
 
Sounds like there's really 2 issues going on: the size and the blade configurations.

Can't speak to the blade configuration but will to the size. My primary EDC knives are an Opinel #9, Buck 500 and Buck 112 with blade lengths in the 3"-3.5" range. Any smaller, and I have problems with food and with rope. The trapper pattern doesn't move me particularly, but it's in the size range I prefer, so at least I get that aspect of it.
 
I've always viewed the trapper pattern as a sort of folding knife an avid hide handler would carry seeing as the long Spey blade would be more than ideal for task of this nature due to the blunt yet sharp blade profile not to mention you've got a long skinny clip point blade that I see as more of a utility blade but could suffice as a skinning blade if you're Spey blade was dulled to the point were it is no longer useable. Overall I actually see the trapper ad a more practical pattern intended for a specific job or person. To be honest I'm not to much of a trapper guy but rather a jack knife enthusiast I just see it as a more brad pattern with a wider array of usage.
 
Trapper are proven form and function...I use them hunting and they are a very good tool for skinning game..Apart from the already mentioned uses of the spey blade,a not so (sharp) spey is my choice for headskinning,particularly for the eyes and ears......a teaspoon works well too.....just my 0.2.......................FES
 
This is from another thread, I didn't feel like retyping it.


I have always carried a two blade trapper, partly for tradition and partly for function.

Tradition: Every working cowboy I've ever know has carried a trapper. My grandfather gave my dad a trapper when he was a boy and taught him how to sharpen and care for it. My dad did the same thing for me when I was eight.

Function: The reason we carry these trappers is branding and castration of calves. The spey blade is for cutting the sack open and severing the cords that connect the nuts. The design of the blade is perfect for this because it is extremely easy to get very sharp. If you have a large quantity of bulls need cutting you have to sharpen your blade every ten or so to make it easier on you and the animal. You need a knife that you can sharpen very quickly so you don't hold up the operation sharpening you knife. The rounded or sometimes blunt end of the spey blade also prevents you from stabbing your help, the calf or yourself. I know quite a few hands who don't sharpen the rounded end since it's bad form to stab the guy holding the steer down.
The main blade is used for cutting ear marks, lancing abscesses, opening up an udder and other general cutting and stabbing where there isn't a risk of poking another person.

This is how I use my multi blade knife and have seen countless others use theirs over the years.

Ben
 
ranchmanben said:
This is from another thread, I didn't feel like retyping it.


I have always carried a two blade trapper, partly for tradition and partly for function.

Tradition: Every working cowboy I've ever know has carried a trapper. My grandfather gave my dad a trapper when he was a boy and taught him how to sharpen and care for it. My dad did the same thing for me when I was eight.

Function: The reason we carry these trappers is branding and castration of calves. The spey blade is for cutting the sack open and severing the cords that connect the nuts. The design of the blade is perfect for this because it is extremely easy to get very sharp. If you have a large quantity of bulls need cutting you have to sharpen your blade every ten or so to make it easier on you and the animal. You need a knife that you can sharpen very quickly so you don't hold up the operation sharpening you knife. The rounded or sometimes blunt end of the spey blade also prevents you from stabbing your help, the calf or yourself. I know quite a few hands who don't sharpen the rounded end since it's bad form to stab the guy holding the steer down.
The main blade is used for cutting ear marks, lancing abscesses, opening up an udder and other general cutting and stabbing where there isn't a risk of poking another person.

This is how I use my multi blade knife and have seen countless others use theirs over the years.

Ben
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Thanks for the information. Very insightful.

John
 
ranchmanben said:
This is from another thread, I didn't feel like retyping it.


I have always carried a two blade trapper, partly for tradition and partly for function. [...]

Ben
Click to expand...

And there it is, with extra detail. Just out of curiosity, Ben, how do you hold your trapper when you're cutting calves? I posted pictures of my grip earlier in this thread.
 
I have a Case Folding Hunter. It's kind of a beast.

There's a lot of utility in the format. It's a little bigger than a Buck 110, as you can see here (and here, too)
2008_0418-Knife042.jpg



I also have a couple of Case Trappers. The format is pretty similar to the Folding Hunter above, except that the skinner blade is replaced by a spey blade and the clip point blade is more of a "toothpick" style.

The Trapper is smaller -- but not a lot smaller -- and considerably lighter. Whereas I could never pocket carry a Folding Hunter, I can easily pocket a Trapper. (If you think about it, the Folding Hunter is appropriate for large game, while something you'd call a "Trapper" would be aimed at somewhat smaller game animals.)

Having both blades pivot at the same end isn't necessarily my favorite format -- I kind of prefer the opposing blades of the Muskrat or Moose patterns -- you nonetheless get a very versatile knife with a general purpose clip blade and a blade that can be used for something more specialized (I use my spey for preparing food).

I like having two full-sized blades, whether they're opposed or pivot at one end.

The Trapper provides that.

(I wonder what a knife would look like with three full-length blades -- think of a Stockman, but with all the blades the same length. What would you even call one of those?)

 
James, I hold it just almost exactly the same. This is how I think I hold it, when it comes actual nut cutting time I've never really looked to see how I'm holding my knife. Going with what you said earlier, I do know i have as much blade out there as I can. Here is a bad cell phone picture. If it won't gross anyone out, I have a hand full winter calves that are going to get cut on Monday or Tuesday and I'll post some proper Spey blade action shots.

Ben

IMAG0175.jpg
 
The trapper has to be my favorite traditional design. I do find the blades on a muskrat pattern to be more useful.
 
The trapper makes a great farm and ranch knife as others have said above. If the snow will hold off for the next week or two, the local ranchers will be rounding up and ear-marking, innoculating, cutting the young bull calfs, and branding all the newborn calfs before moving them up on National Forest and BLM land. The spey blade of the trapper makes for a quick opening, zipping, and shinning of rabbits, squirrels, and other game.

casecvtrapperyellowdelr.jpg
 
ranchmanben said:
James, I hold it just almost exactly the same. This is how I think I hold it, when it comes actual nut cutting time I've never really looked to see how I'm holding my knife. Going with what you said earlier, I do know i have as much blade out there as I can. Here is a bad cell phone picture. If it won't gross anyone out, I have a hand full winter calves that are going to get cut on Monday or Tuesday and I'll post some proper Spey blade action shots.

Ben
Click to expand...

Castration elicits a really strong reaction from virtually everyone - my brother-in-law won't even stay within earshot while I'm cutting a calf - and I imagine that most folks feel the same. On the other hand, I could be wrong. We're an eclectic group, here in the Traditional Forum.
 
JAlexander said:
Castration elicits a really strong reaction from virtually everyone - my brother-in-law won't even stay within earshot while I'm cutting a calf - and I imagine that most folks feel the same. On the other hand, I could be wrong. We're an eclectic group, here in the Traditional Forum.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
The pictures will be reviewed prior to being posted. We already talked to Ben about it and he has no problems with using us as a filter.
 
Mark, since I live 45 minutes from Matador, Tx many of the folk here carry Moore Maker knives. They all believe that Moore Maker manufactures their own knives. I have seen no reason to tell them otherwise. Ignorance is bliss.
 
I love the Trapper in general and have several but I generally carry a Case Large Stockman. It just seems more useful to me.

Sent from my Ally
 
I've got a picture around here somewhere of a pile of furry, multi-colored, ball-sacks from a roundup I participated in a few years back. No blood or gore involved. We turn them inside out, scrape the skin away from the inside of the hide/sack, turn them rightside in, put some salt in them and let them set for a couple/three weeks to cure, lace a piece of string rawhide around the open top for a cinch string and use them for small item storage pouches.
 
I would like to see the pictures. When I was younger my grandfather used a sodbuster style knife to cut the balls of the goat we had, I wish I would`ve been able to learn how to do it. Same with skinning deer. I taught myself how to skin smaller animals and birds, but I`m not gonna mess up a deer because I don`t know how to do it properly.
 
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