Why Trappers over Stockmen??

J

jim_l_clifton

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Mar 31, 2000
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Just curious.Why do people perfer Trappers??Understand a lot of hunters like them but a lot of people carry them for everyday use,as stated ,curious!!
Thanks,
Jim
 
I never saw it either. I had a couple different trappers in different sizes and always went back to a stockman, whittler or congress. I like having at least three blades I guess.
 
A few thoughts:

In the custom arena, it seems that there are more trappers than whittlers and stockman made/available. One more blade, two pivots vs. one. Blade fitting is more complex. Blade rub issues, etc make it obvious why. I do realize that I'm biased towards certain makers.

Trappers give the most blade length for the knife size which benefits hunters who really use them for their intended purpose. But the blade shapes and length make them bad choices for whittling. Too much blade flex imo. I do more whittling. I rarely carry a stockman. Two of the 3 blades are not well suited for whittling, plus I haven't been able to score a Bose stockman under 4 inches, and I rarely carry anything larger than 3.5 inches.

Of the 5 custom stockman I own, I don't love any of them. All the whittlers are wonderful. I miss the numbered Reese Bose Remington bone whittler I owned. 92degrees, please sell it back to me! :( ;) :( ;)
 
The Trappers handle shape is more friendly to my hands. The skinning blade has a lot of utility uses. The two blades are a little longer in a trapper for the same length handle. I want 2 blades but don't need more. It looks nicer. It's a good enough whittler to do little spoons.
 
My favorite whittling project is balls in cages. I find wharncliffe and coping blades work best.
 
I find a sheepsfoot useful for whittling in a mid size stockman, but the coping blade is better for sure. In a big stockman it is not good either. I wish Case made a whittler with CV steel.
 
I think it's nice to have two full-length blades.
And it does seem more comfortable in the hand when cutting.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Guys,
Just to add a little to this discussion! Some mention the Trapper fits the hand better. Have those making this statement ever held a large Stockman?? Do you find that you all "really" like the Trapper OR like it cause your Dad ,brother or Grandpa carried it??
Be safe,
Jim
 
I like the rounded butt of the trapper, it seems to swell in just the right place in the hand.
 
Right now I've got a Boker 4" stockman (in carbon steel) in my left pocket. In the past I have carried a Camillus trapper but the Boker is a slimmer knife so it's been finding its way into my pocket more often as of late. I never carred for the 3.25" stockman, the spey and sheepsfoot were just a tad too small for me. YMMV

Frank
 
fasteddie said:
A few thoughts:

Of the 5 custom stockman I own, I don't love any of them. All the whittlers are wonderful. I miss the numbered Reese Bose Remington bone whittler I owned. 92degrees, please sell it back to me! :( ;) :( ;)
Click to expand...

wuz wid you? you forget my phone #? i still have that splitback. i have a 3.5" Reese stock too (#1). if you ever called me...

trappers are great. i like small coffins too -- like the small pen blade.
 
I like a 4.25in Stockman. I think the main reason Trappers are so popular is that they have the easiest handle shape to manufacture tricky materials for special editions into, in other words, pretty much two straight inserts, without the curves that would be in other handles. However, I can't see why anyone would prefer a Trapper over a big 41/4 in Stockman.
 
Spydiefan04 said:
However, I can't see why anyone would prefer a Trapper over a big 41/4 in Stockman.
Click to expand...

I guess it all depends on your specific needs and tastes. The 4.25 stock feels like a brick in my front pocket!
 
I think you can get used to a knife or blade so that it feels right and then others may feel awkward, I have carried a stockman since the 60's and it is my preferred knife but I can see that a couple of long blades, one pointy and one with good belly in a comfortable handle can be a good choice.

I like the sheepfoot for whittling but have never tried a coping or a wharncliffe, I have never seen a whittler pattern for sale in Mexico. I admit that for whittling I often use an X-acto set.

Luis
 
I don't even rotate my EDC anymore, I have found true contentment with a Case CV Trapper. It does everything I need from a knife in the city. The clip is sharpened for utility, and the spey has been thinned down for times when you need the sharpest edge possible. It never leaves my pocket, and is much more acceptable at work than my Spydercos' and Benchmades.
 
I really like them both. The trapper is great for hunting related tasks such as field dressing and also is pretty good for food prep around camp. The stockman is so versitile that it will always be a good chioce.
 
Don Luis said:
I admit that for whittling I often use an X-acto set.
Click to expand...
If you don't use a pocket knife, isn't it carving, not whittling? (BTW, I've used X-acto knives too, especially for scissors joints)
 
I don't know about you guys, I'm not a big fan of two bladed knives, but I love my jr Stockman from Cold Steel. I have an old Colonial barlow, and a new Boker barlow, I'm getting rid of each, I've come to not like barlows too much.
 
I use both trapper & stockman knives. The trapper is a fairly specialized knife. The long spey blade will reach into deep fur & make cuts more easily than the short spey blade of a stockman, although the shorter blade is more capable of precise cuts. Make a starting cut, then run the blunt tip of the spey blade along the carcass & the rounded nose of the spey blade will cut the skin from underneath without cutting the flesh & fur. The long clip blade of the trapper with the more upswept tip is better suited to skinning cuts & to sever joints. The trapper is basically a skinning knife. Using it for everyday tasks pretty much renders it useless for its intended purpose. I only carry a trapper when hunting. For everyday use I carry a stockman (sometimes medium, sometimes large). The large clip blade is great for general cutting. The sheepsfoot blade is great for cutting when there is the need for precise cuts or cuts that require a lot of downward pressure at the tip (also commonly used to cut tobbaco plugs). I try to reserve the spey blade for skinning small game. I would assume a majority of the people carrying trappers just like the way they look, and we all know there is nothing wrong with that.
 
The stockman is a classic but when using the spey or clip blades, the closed sheepsfoot is somewhat uncomfortable in the grip (moreso on the Old Timers than the Buck 300 series).
The trapper is very comfortable when using either blade.

I always seem to use the trapper's long spey for about 95% of everyday cutting, saving the edge of the clip for when precise cuts are needed.

And of course it's easier to select the blade you want without looking when using the trapper.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
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