This is the first email I sent Bill Martino a few weeks ago.
Bill,
I know you have a full plate, but I've been working on a blade design for
HI's product line. A lot of folks WANT a regular hunting knife from HI, but
the closest we come to it is the JKM, which is very similar to other pukkos
or a Bilton.
This design (attached, I hope) is one I've worked out for all North American
Game, a do-it-all hunting knife. I call it "Sarge" in honor of Sylvrfcln,
but...also because the sargent is the heart of most services. The design
comes from years of practical experience, butchering AND processing game animals.
The blade is 3 and 3/4 inches long. At the widest spot (from the bend) it is
one inch. At the most narrow (near the hilt) it is 7/8ths of an inch.
Overall, about 7 1/2 inches. It is about 1/4 inch thick on the spine.
It has THREE bevels: 1. the false edge, designed to fit in bone joints to
sever tendons and ligaments. The false edge is not sharpened.
2. the blade from the bend to the tip has a continuous bevel back to the
main blade thickness. It is designed to aid in penetrating the bone joints
and sever tendons/ligaments, as well as pierce hide and flesh.
3. the third bevel is the blade from the bend back to the hilt. This is the
slicing blade, and is thinner than the other two.
I made this knife from an Arcade file, found in a farmer's field during one
of my walks. It must be 60 years old. The hilt is the top of an old spoon!
The handle is the last piece of antler I had left after sending you and Sarge
my whitetail supplies. It's not very well done, but I really don't have much
craft talent.
OK: First, Steve? Beautiful images! Thank you so much. This is wonderful.
Second, the knife:
I want to donate the design to Himalayan Imports, if it can generate a market for itself. A lot of folks WANT a hunting blade from HI.
On this prototype, I've attempted to differentially temper the blade, but only have a gas stove and a propane torch.
This is to be a "practical hunter", named after SARGE from HI. A most honest man. It should be small enough to pass unnoticed by regular folks, and big and strong enough to fulfill most demands of a belt knife.
I took the early 20th century designs I like of Marbles and others, and squared the blade shape to make it more "confrontational" to the meat/game/prey. The different bevels took shape as the knife started making itself.
I only have a one-wheel bench grinder and a fiber cutting disc, so my great achievement was stopping, leaving and coming back another day.
The rest was hand work with various papers, wet/dry mostly.
I hope that enough folks would like it so that Bill Martino might 1, order an initial run to meet the desires of folks who want a HUNTING knife from HI; 2, add it to his line to draw more folks into the Himalayan Imports family, and on to khuks, etc.
I WANT to donate this design to Himalayan Imports for their product line. If you think that 12 folks might want to order one, I can't tell you how nice that makes me feel. Perhaps calling it an "American Practical Hunter" or "Sarge" would also give some tribute.
I'd imagine the pricing would be like the JKM, but I can't say.
I have no preference for either horn or wooden handle for it. All my khuks are horn, but I also have a variety of wood-handled blades. Should be one or the other for a short run, wouldn't you think?
Majority of interest determines handle material?
(I am not a "handy" person, nor a knife designer by any stretch of the imagination, but this blade shape was in the Arcade file, and all I had to do was remove the excess.)
Hope it pleases.
Kis
