Durability of Sambar Stag

J

jeffbird

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
Messages
641
Curious how sambar stag holds up to being carried in a pocket every day, especially on larger size pocket knives?
 
I’ve had this one for almost 12 years with lots of pocket time with no issues. Stag is not as fragile as some would make it out to be. Heck for a few years this one was in my pocket almost every day.

Others experience may be different.
EFEA20BF-66F7-459B-9830-9A3E2A41A0F6.jpeg2E75B7CC-DCE9-410C-9174-D99D3BEFAF34.jpeg
 
During Spring through Fall I usually carry this old Stag Pruner along with another user . It is old enough to have been made with Integral Bolsters and previous owners had used and sharpened the blade to some degree . So they must have used it quite a bit . I do use it when the need arises but that is almost always not where it would be dropped on a hard surface . It has Steel Pins and Liners therefore there will never be any Verdigris from Brass . This is one Stag knife that I do not have to carry in a slip . IMO ,,, green colored Verdigris is the killer of Stag . I consider Stag to be as tough as , or tougher than , any other handle material other than maybe Delrin .
zsuaMQ5.jpg

FFAID2F.jpg


Harry
 
Holds up very well. I carried a stag sowbelly for years and years. I even dropped it a few times on a hard floor accidentally over the years. While I don't recommend dropping it, stag is a hardier handle material than people give it credit for.
 
Sambar antler is pretty tough, but so is red stag - i hunt both. I believe the toughest on earth is caribou but they don't have the pearling that makes sambar and red desirable. I have a fallow buck I'm thinking about turning into knife scales but to me a good set of red antlers is hard to beat. I made one of my brothers a fixed blade in red stag antler and it's held up to his abuse.
 
waynorth said:
The nice thing about Stag, is, it usually gets better with age, not worse!!
And if it wore or, broke easily, Ungulates 🦌🦌would be complaining on this forum!!!😄
Click to expand...
- agreed. Over a very long time, good honest dirt n grime can tend to darken the lower ravines, while the peaks and nobbly bits get kept paler and shiny...........patination of a characterful and endearing nature.

So long as it's not too thin on the handle, has good bash resistance too, should outlast most of us.! :cool:
 
It's actually both tough & beautiful. Doesn't crack as readily as Bone, its look usually improves with age- the whiter parts turn buttery yellow and other bits darken- unlike woods many of which just go dark brown losing grain colour. It reacts to changes in moisture far better than most Horn which can be very temperamental in some cases. Stag has a certain elastic quality to it. Sambar gets a lot of applause, richly deserved too. I prefer it with all steel, stainless or carbon construction, brass can bleed into it very badly although many people like this- like those who like Liver, unbelievable :eek::poop:
 
kyhunt said:
I’ve had this one for almost 12 years with lots of pocket time with no issues. Stag is not as fragile as some would make it out to be. Heck for a few years this one was in my pocket almost every day.

Others experience may be different.
View attachment 2047439View attachment 2047441
Click to expand...

Old Engineer said:
During Spring through Fall I usually carry this old Stag Pruner along with another user . It is old enough to have been made with Integral Bolsters and previous owners had used and sharpened the blade to some degree . So they must have used it quite a bit . I do use it when the need arises but that is almost always not where it would be dropped on a hard surface . It has Steel Pins and Liners therefore there will never be any Verdigris from Brass . This is one Stag knife that I do not have to carry in a slip . IMO ,,, green colored Verdigris is the killer of Stag . I consider Stag to be as tough as , or tougher than , any other handle material other than maybe Delrin .
zsuaMQ5.jpg

FFAID2F.jpg


Harry
Click to expand...
Wow, just a whole lot of gorgeous stag right here!
 
Hatchet_Jack said:
Sambar antler is pretty tough, but so is red stag - i hunt both. I believe the toughest on earth is caribou but they don't have the pearling that makes sambar and red desirable. I have a fallow buck I'm thinking about turning into knife scales but to me a good set of red antlers is hard to beat. I made one of my brothers a fixed blade in red stag antler and it's held up to his abuse.
Click to expand...
An acquaintance in NZ sent me this Red Stag to rehandle the knife. Glad to know it should stand up!! ;)

If I'm not mistaken, Red Stag has a smaller, dense pithy core, similar to Sambar Stag; but that is from seeing a relatively small sample! :rolleyes:
Red NZ Stag DJ 1.jpgRed NZ Stag DJ 2.jpgRed NZ Stag DJ 3.jpg
 
Last edited:
waynorth said:
An acquaintance in NZ sent me this Red Stag to rehandle the knife. Glad to know it should stand up!! ;)

If I'm not mistaken, Red Stag has a smaller, dense pithy core, similar to Sambar Stag; but that is from seeing a relatively small sample! :rolleyes:
View attachment 2048489View attachment 2048491View attachment 2048492
Click to expand...
Lovely scales.

On a side note, the colour of antler is purely environmental, the sap from trees stains their antlers as they rub out the velvet. It can tell you a lot about where the deer are from. It call also very quickly and obviously highlight BSers trying to pass off high fence pale antlered deer as wild ones.

Australian sambar and Red deer around where I live have very dark antlers because they rub wild cherry, redgum must add to this somewhat too locally. I've personally always found that interesting.
 
I have a gec with stag handle slabs that spent 2 weeks or so being run over in the driveway after I dropped it getting out of a vehicle after a wedding. The rest of the knife was a bit rough until I thinned the blade past the pitting, but the stag was fine.
 
waynorth said:
I've heard that Antlers were required to be dipped in Potassium Permanganate by exporting companies, to render them safe from transmissable parasites!!??
This would surely add color, as it's a strong oxidant!!
Click to expand...
I don't know about parasite control, I've never had an antler or heard of one being infested either? But I know guys do use that to create faux colouration on velvet shot stags, old casties and farm shot pale heads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top