Old Hickory hunter - first impressions.

Hale Storm said:
Old Hickory "Outdoors Line". Sounds good, Better blade shapes and easier to just put new scales on them. I hope they have a Kephart.
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I believe there is a smaller kephart looking knife they call a bird and trout or something.
Theres a couple YouTube videos showing the lineup.
 
afishhunter said:
The "old fashioned" 1095 with riveted hickory (or maple) grip Old Hickory and Russell Green River hunting and skinning knives (along with their cleaver and "kitchen" knives) are difficult to improve upon for functionality.
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Back in the '60s when I was really geared up and hunted/hiked/fished when I could, there were a LOT of these Old Hickory and Russell knives out in the field. I mean a ton. In most cases, they had no special care of them, but they were relied on and served well. I remember in one of the hunting camps that there was an old timer that had a long box that had his collection of "processing" knives in it. None in sheaths, none with protective covers, and nothing to protect the edges. He would pull them out in camp, edge them with a gray "fine" (??) stone that looked like a Norton of some type with 3in1 oil for lubricant. He put a toothy edge on those knives that wouldn't quit. Sliced up those animals like a light saber. But to him and the rest of us as well, these knives were tools, so they did their job or they went away. He never daydreamed about his knives, played with them while watching TV, or spent countless hours looking for something better. They worked well, were great for the money, so that was that.

afishhunter said:
True, a Old Hickory and Russell Green River are not really suitable for batoning, full tang or no ... then again, most people didn't use their knife to fell a tree, build a cabin, or split firewood until decades after World War Two ... (why they want to use a knife for those tasks, which makes a for a lot more work (and takes a lot more time) than using the proper tool, not to mention taking a huge chance on breaking the knife, I'll never figure out.)
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We didn't know better back in those days. Back in those days, my two prize hunting/camping knives were my Buck 110, and later the Schrade Golden Spike. One of those literally went on every expedition large or small, no matter what length of time. I came to depend on them for different reasons, and loved them both for their utility. Carried them for years, and now on a very infrequent hunting trip the Golden Spike still goes with me. No one, ever, would have thought about taking one of my knives and smashing the spine until they split a piece of wood so they could make a faster fire, or worse, just because they could. Personally, I would have taken the club used on my knife and used it on them.

I learned the proper use of a knife and knife safety from some pretty rough old cobs. Knowing them, if they had seen me beating on the spine of my knife, they would have taken my own knife away from me.

Robert
 
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This is hard to pass up at $19.99 with a pretty nice sheath. Without a vernier caliper handy, I can’t say for sure if there is a distal taper to the blade stock, but from the start of the swedge, the spine tapers gradually to the point. I guess you’d still have to call it a distal taper, even though it comes from the geometry of the swedge rather than thiining blade stock. In any event, the point is noticeably finer than on the butcher knives, which do not taper at all.

I had always read 1095 steel, just as on the Green River knives, but if the maker says 1075, then so be it.

This is a nice rig for the price, but I think I still prefer the Green River 4 1/2” fish knife. With a 5” Kabar sheath it comes to a few bucks more than the OH, but still less than $30.

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midnight flyer said:
Back in the '60s when I was really geared up and hunted/hiked/fished when I could, there were a LOT of these Old Hickory and Russell knives out in the field. I mean a ton. In most cases, they had no special care of them, but they were relied on and served well. I remember in one of the hunting camps that there was an old timer that had a long box that had his collection of "processing" knives in it. None in sheaths, none with protective covers, and nothing to protect the edges. He would pull them out in camp, edge them with a gray "fine" (??) stone that looked like a Norton of some type with 3in1 oil for lubricant. He put a toothy edge on those knives that wouldn't quit. Sliced up those animals like a light saber. But to him and the rest of us as well, these knives were tools, so they did their job or they went away. He never daydreamed about his knives, played with them while watching TV, or spent countless hours looking for something better. They worked well, were great for the money, so that was that.



We didn't know better back in those days. Back in those days, my two prize hunting/camping knives were my Buck 110, and later the Schrade Golden Spike. One of those literally went on every expedition large or small, no matter what length of time. I came to depend on them for different reasons, and loved them both for their utility. Carried them for years, and now on a very infrequent hunting trip the Golden Spike still goes with me. No one, ever, would have thought about taking one of my knives and smashing the spine until they split a piece of wood so they could make a faster fire, or worse, just because they could. Personally, I would have taken the club used on my knife and used it on them.

I learned the proper use of a knife and knife safety from some pretty rough old cobs. Knowing them, if they had seen me beating on the spine of my knife, they would have taken my own knife away from me.

Robert
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Reminds me of my dad. He always had old Imperial hunting knives from the local Western Auto store and would keep them sharp on a wetstone as you described that a course and fine side. He used those knives until the 90's when I bought him a Buck 110. He used that until the day he quit hunting. He also used 3 n 1 oil. The OH were in the kitchen. I guess he never thought to use them outdoors even though he cut plenty of meat in the kitchen with them. But knives were just tools as you said and he never thought about it that much the way we do.
 
I have a couple of Old Hickory paring knives in my block and they get used for LOTS of food processing. They are so easy to hone razor sharp and touch up in seconds when they start to lose the edge. My wife loves her Asian knives but I still swear by those old carbon steel Old Hickory blades.
 
Are these knives 55,56 rc like all old hickory knives?If they are,they should make these 58,9,that would be awesome.Simple designs with simple steel and thin blade stock work best.
 
It seems that the "Outdoor" series knives vary in specs. The Hunter, first of the series, is 55-57 RC and the exact steel is not listed on their site. Various knife sellers list it as 1095, which is consistent with most of the butcher knives. The others are specified as 1075 steel at 57-59 RC except for the fillet knife. It's 440c at 53-58 RC.

The Kephart style knife looks nice.
 
Really a good deal. I did pick up the Butcher model. Pretty sure most of these are the same knives that are being offered for the kitchen just remarked adding a sheath.

Rich K.
 
rustyspike said:
Really a good deal. I did pick up the Butcher model. Pretty sure most of these are the same knives that are being offered for the kitchen just remarked adding a sheath.

Rich K.
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The Hunter model is about 5.5". I think they used to have a smaller butcher knife, but 7 inches the shortest one now. The Hunter blade tip is reshaped a bit from the butcher. I got a couple of the 7 inchers awhile back for $7 each.
 
As for the OP's desire for more handle contours.... get a half round double cut file and have at it.
Or some 80 grit wrapped around a hammer handle or bit of broomstick.
Tape up the edge so you don't slip and get hurt. And remove the knife from the vice when you're not working on it.
Using hand tools the progress is slow enough that you have to make a large effort to mess it up.

I use an OH everyday in the kitchen.

A good while ago, the thing to do in the outdoor forum here was to get an OH sheep skinner with the curved blade and trim it down at the curve to make a realistic Nessmuk knife.
 
USMCPOP said:
It seems that the "Outdoor" series knives vary in specs. The Hunter, first of the series, is 55-57 RC and the exact steel is not listed on their site. Various knife sellers list it as 1095, which is consistent with most of the butcher knives. The others are specified as 1075 steel at 57-59 RC except for the fillet knife. It's 440c at 53-58 RC.

The Kephart style knife looks nice.
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That Kephart (which they call the Fish and Game knife) does look good, very close in size to the well-regarded Green River 4 1/2” fish knife.
 
I'd be up for a bird and trout if it was full tang

i'd pay double for it too

as is what the point?

worst steel

poor sheath

better off with the paring knife and spare change
 
I just finished turning one of these knives ( the 7" butchers) into a kephart style, with an old rustic look about it. Burnt oak handle with hammered copper pins, dark patina blade with a hint of copper plating on it. Making a sheath as we speak.

I love the damn thing to bits :) so i know why you love the one you have bought.
 
Ruukuu said:
I just finished turning one of these knives ( the 7" butchers) into a kephart style, with an old rustic look about it. Burnt oak handle with hammered copper pins, dark patina blade with a hint of copper plating on it. Making a sheath as we speak.

I love the damn thing to bits :) so i know why you love the one you have bought.
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would love to see a photo
 
Ok, so i use IMG thumb and it shows the image. I guess that logo wont be there if i pay for storage.....hmm, i will try imgur as well.

Anyway, this picture is of three 7" old hickory knives i altered. Top one just altered blade shape and sanded handle. Middle one i added a copper patination, and the bottom one i changed the scales to burnt oak with copper pins.

And back to original thread topic...………..these Old Hickory knives are cracking good. Everyone should have at least one IMHO. And the new hunter version with sheath is the icing on the cake :)
 
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