The Ultimate Irish Hunting Knife

JG97

Davy it's JohnnyG here from ehh..well you know where....;)


What a fantastic effort you are putting into this....(everyone else too of course)....You are doing Irish Knifemakers and Craftsmen in general proud....not to mention youself and your good name....superb idea here and i am 100 % behind you in everyway i can....


I'm sure everyone here who has had and input in this thread has checked out Davy's work....(if you haven't them please do). You couldn't have a better man heading up this project folks....I myself am a "nobody" in the knife world but I do know Davy and I do know his work....He is a very talented and generous man....


Finally if i may say i am very impressed with the leval of interest in this project. The suggestions and feedback are excellent....well done to everyone and keep it up....


Davy, my friend, your wife may be right but i don't think you were going to be talked out of it....:D


Yours sincerly,

JohnnyG.....


(first post here so hope all ok *holds breath and press submit* )

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

JG97 wrote: »

I myself am a "nobody" in the knife world but I do know Davy and I do know his work....He is a very talented and generous man....

Flattery will get you everywhere Johnny.
Great to have you on board.


And as for being a "nobody" I can tell you guys that Johnny is a very knowledgable man about knives and knife craft it will be great to have his input.


Davy

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Mellor wrote: »

Just a question on blade length, will the length be decided by the single most votes, or an average of the top 2/3 choices.
for example, say 4.5" is top on 20 votes, and 3.5" and 4" each have 19.
The top answer is 4.5", but the weighted average would be just over 4", and this choice would be closer to the length wanted by most people

I believe the weighted average would be the correct way to proceed as the winning vote [choice 1] would possibly be too far removed from choice number 2 to reflect an over all balance. especially if the voting is as close as it currently looks.

example

20 votes for 3"
5 votes for 4"
21 votes for 5"

Project length will be 4"

Davy

Offy

I found this on the internet last night, change the rear quillion to a flat and I think it would make a great hunting knife.

Taken from www.jayfisher.com

Grizzly 45

Of the three Davvy supplied blades A C or F does it for me.
Of the Randal designs E in the outsdoor man selection or A and B in the skinner selection,especially the leather washer grips. I suppose the cheaper version would be the SOG MACV Vietnam commeration knife.:)

Anyways,I have a nice Irish Fallow deer antler that has a nice angle to it in the stock for a grip,and an inbuilt choil in the eye tine .It is over 40 years old and well preserved and am willing to donate this to the project if Davvy wants it and we decide to go with stag horn for grip material.

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Generous offer thankyou and if we do get to that point then I'll be sure to give you a shout. As for the leather grips I'm afraid that we can't as we are going Full Tang



If you guys had to choose a GROUP from the Randalls

would it be

• The Outdoorsman Group
• The Hunters Group
• The Skinners Group

Remember that the knife has to be an allrounder and has to suit everyone not just the deer hunting boys & girls.

Mellor

Maybe, I don't know yet.

davymoore wrote: »

• The Outdoorsman Group
• The Hunters Group
• The Skinners Group

The hunters group for me

Double Barrel

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Davy,

Of the Randall's, Hunters B & C for shape .
I carry a Beretta 3 blade locking folder mostly when stalking, a 3" pointy blade, saw & a gralloching blade.

Davy, if you can design a fixed blade to fit all the needs of an experienced deer hunter you will be the first.

Many have tried: Puma Waidmesser :
[IMG][/img]

mallards

Yes, Sun 23rd only

Hi Davy,

Off the outdoors mans knives I prefer H. The knife looks more balanced when compared to its handle than the rest. The point tapers fine enough to carry out delicate work like skinning or cutting in a tight place. The rest of the blade looks more substantial, that it could take a bit of punishment for general cutting and of course the overall blade is easy to sharpen. Although it doesn't look uniquely Irish yet I would be happy if that’s what popped out at the end of this.

All the best,

Mallards

riflehunter77

Maybe, I don't know yet.

If you guys had to choose a GROUP from the Randalls

would it be

• The Outdoorsman Group
• The Hunters Group
• The Skinners Group

Remember that the knife has to be an allrounder and has to suit everyone not just the deer hunting boys & girls.[/quote]


The Hunters group for me but with shorter blade 3.5 to 4 inch max

Grizzly 45

Toss for me between the Hunters or Outdoorsmen line.

BTW The Puma Waidmesser is pretty much THE std German all round hunting knife design.[Along with possibly the Puma Waidblatt.]
It is an old design proably going back to the medival times[without the attachments obviously:)].And was even used as a trench fighting knife in both world wars.Boker knives is doing a recreation of it at the moment

ianoo

Yes, Sun 23rd only

davymoore wrote: »

Generous offer thankyou and if we do get to that point then I'll be sure to give you a shout. As for the leather grips I'm afraid that we can't as we are going Full Tang



If you guys had to choose a GROUP from the Randalls

would it be

• The Outdoorsman Group
• The Hunters Group
• The Skinners Group

Remember that the knife has to be an allrounder and has to suit everyone not just the deer hunting boys & girls.

the hunters group ..knife A ....classy piece of kit

ian

jwshooter

the hunter range B or C with good pointed blade for stabbing wildlife davy

triskell

davymoore wrote: »

Generous offer thankyou and if we do get to that point then I'll be sure to give you a shout. As for the leather grips I'm afraid that we can't as we are going Full Tang



If you guys had to choose a GROUP from the Randalls

would it be

• The Outdoorsman Group
• The Hunters Group
• The Skinners Group

Remember that the knife has to be an allrounder and has to suit everyone not just the deer hunting boys & girls.

C in the skinners group with a slightly longer blade(guessing that one is about 3", 3.5 to 4" would be grand. I like the fact you can choke up on the blade for fine detail work.
i use a cold sreel outdoorsman but find the blade is to long for alot of jobs

triskell

davymoore wrote: »

Generous offer thankyou and if we do get to that point then I'll be sure to give you a shout. As for the leather grips I'm afraid that we can't as we are going Full Tang



If you guys had to choose a GROUP from the Randalls

would it be

• The Outdoorsman Group
• The Hunters Group
• The Skinners Group

Remember that the knife has to be an allrounder and has to suit everyone not just the deer hunting boys & girls.

C in the skinners group with a slightly longer blade (guessing that one is about 3") 3.5 to 4" would be grand. I like the fact you can choke up on the blade for fine detail work.
i use a cold sreel outdoorsman but find the blade is to long for alot of jobs

lordarpad

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Mellor wrote: »

The hunters group for me

seconded

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Thanks for voting on the blade length section guys we had a good variety of tastes and preferences with all of the votes grouped in he 3 1/2"- 6" range.

The greatest concentration 20 of the 27 votes were focused in the 3 1/2" to 4 1/2" range.

In order to reflect this the knife will be .......


Fixed Blade, Full Tang, 4" / 100mm long.

sfakiaman

Maybe, I don't know yet.

davymoore wrote: »

The Outdoorsman Group
The Hunters Group
The Skinners Group

The Outdoorsman F would do it for me. Nice curve for skinning, pointy enough for stabbing and looks like the top of the blade is sharpened allowing a more obtuse edge for chopping, leaving the main edge for delicate work. My long time hunting knife is a Puma White Hunter and I find the choice of cutting edges very useful.

Offy

The Outdoorsman Group for me too.

Mellor

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Kinda stalled a bit here, blade was always going to be the hardest to sort

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

You are right on both counts Mellor

Does anyone hate the sight of the Randalls ?

If the answer is a no then I suggest we proceed down a line of a hybrid between the Outdoorsman group and the Hunters group. I suggest this as the only vote for the skinners group so far was for Knife C which is not too far removed from the other two groups as it is.

Any objections ?

Anyone for this?

Any other ideas ?

lordarpad

Maybe, I don't know yet.

gets my vote

Mellor

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Sound good, curved blade with a good point

"The Irish Outdoor-Hunterman"

Double Barrel

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Davy,

Randall's, Denmark, Model 26 "Pathfinder" and one could put the GTR Special and the Model 23 gamemaster in that group, are very interesting knifes. Is it possible to get the Denmark / Pathfinder blade profile in a blank ?

Randall Model 26 "Pathfinder"
Steel: Carbon
Blade length: 100 mm
Blade thickness: 4.0 mm
Total length: 210 mm



Randall Model 26 "Pathfinder"

Double Barrel

Maybe, I don't know yet.

[QUOTE=
BTW The Puma Waidmesser is pretty much THE std German all round hunting knife design.[Along with possibly the Puma Waidblatt.]
It is an old design proably going back to the medival times[without the attachments obviously:)].And was even used as a trench fighting knife in both world wars.Boker knives is doing a recreation of it at the moment[/QUOTE]

Griz,

I see versions in use quite often in central Europe.
Mikov in the Czeck Republic also make a "deer knife" :http://www.mikov.cz/en/produkty/mikov-hunting-knives-exclusive-knives-with-fixed-blade/370-XP-3/mikov-deer-knife.html
And the Mikuláovice version of my Beretta has a cleaner blade with a fingernail slot, no doohickey on the top of the blade a la Beretta:

http://www.mikov.cz/en/produkty/mikov-hunting-knives-folding-knives-with-safety-lock--fixir/232-XH-3_KP/mikov-knife-with-antler-fake.html

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Double Barrel wrote: »

Davy,

Randall's, Denmark, Model 26 "Pathfinder" and one could put the GTR Special and the Model 23 gamemaster in that group, are very interesting knifes. Is it possible to get the Denmark / Pathfinder blade profile in a blank ?

Randall Model 26 "Pathfinder"
Steel: Carbon
Blade length: 100 mm
Blade thickness: 4.0 mm
Total length: 210 mm



Randall Model 26 "Pathfinder"

As I said in my earlier post this is probably my favourite knife in the world.

This is in my mind what a hunting knife should look like and I think it has all the elements that have been discussed so far(to some degree or other)
4mm is a little thick, I think though to be a great All rounder in Ireland and is probably more at home on larger wildlife found in the US

Randall used to sell kits and blanks back in the 1970's but they don't sell them any more.

Our build is different now though in the fact that we have decided to build a full tang knife as opposed to this hidden tang version from Randall I do like the blade profile though and I believe that a full tang with this blade profile would be a good build. One of the things I love about this knife is the flat, diagonal grind it's very distinctive.

So how's about one of these in full tang ?

What about the blade thickness ?

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Double Barrel wrote: »

Griz,

I see versions in use quite often in central Europe.
Mikov in the Czeck Republic also make a "deer knife" :http://www.mikov.cz/en/produkty/mikov-hunting-knives-exclusive-knives-with-fixed-blade/370-XP-3/mikov-deer-knife.html

Interesting concept, I'd be worried about the business end of the large blade though while using any of the smaller ones

Double Barrel

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Davy,

Can the blank be sourced from others? It is an unusual grind but we are building the ultimate.

A forged hidden tang or full makes little difference to me, it's not a crowbar.
Blade thickness at this point is best left to the knifemaker imo, that said 3.5mm should work.

Double Barrel

Maybe, I don't know yet.

"Interesting concept, I'd be worried about the business end of the large blade though while using any of the smaller ones"

+1

Works much better as a folder.:cool:

wicklow newbie

Yes, Sun 23rd only

Like that grind. Very distinctive.