Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Puma White Hunter..why?

Sam, you failed to mention the 'quality' sheath.

Don't sugarcoat it Sam...might as well say how you really feel about it.

Looks to me like Buck started with the Puma blade design, shortened it, and introduced it as their model 103. Shortening the blade seems to have made it a pretty usable design, doesn't Puma offer a shorter version?

I always considered the WH (and other designs like it) as a camp tool, not a hunter's carry knife. Cut small branches, split light kindling, chop, hack and dice. But you don't carry it around in the woods unless you expect to face some survival situation. Not supporting the design, nor do I own one. I do have one of the just-as-ugly Browning Camp knives and it has been just as handy for a fraction of the WH price.

I think the first ones were made from 440C, but I am not sure about that.

I thought the same thing about how it looks and feels the first time I saw it. That is until I saw my friend using it. He and I field dressed, skinned, and quartered several large mule deer with it. Or he did, I just held the legs, but I never saw him sharpen it and every time I felt the edge, it was always razor sharp.

Kind of like judging a book by it's cover.

440C may be old hat, but done right is one heck of a good blade steel.

There are a lot of better looking knives out there that will hold an edge just as well.

But hey, this is America and to each his own, and it is kinda unique.
I will have a more qualified opinion when I finish re handling my friends with some stag and sharpen it.
jmho
Tim

Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you have to be an A-Hole about it.

Err,, maybe it does.

Update on Randall 20.

I made thet mistake of sharpening it, and the steel is such that I am going to keep it for use.

i collected & used many pumas in the 70s & can attest that the stainless was,nt = to good 440c. the pumaster carbon of puma was a great performer & white hunters if made of pumaster would be a decent cutter & although this model has a large following i do'nt think much of the pattern. for sure 123456 154cm would have out performed any puma alloy. i.m.h.o. if puma had moved with the times in the newer stainless steels their performance would have been much better. as a plus the construction & appearance of the 70 & 80s knives was very good. whatever i think early pumas are highly collected.--cranky72

I had a White Hunter the first time I went deer hunting, and tried to field dress a deer with it . What a joke , My brother-in-law said get out of the way and he did it with a pocket knife in about 5 minutes. When I got home I sold it and bought a 3" Buck Knice.

I'm no Puma collector, or White Hunter user, but I think some here don't get what the knife was designed for. As I stated earlier, it is a LARGE game knife. Not designed for/by American deer hunters, but by professional hunters in East Africa. They obviously had more than just "gutting" in mind. And critters larger than deer, also. As well as the ability to handle various camp/bushcraft chores.

Again, I'm not defending it. But using a knife for the wrong task for which it was designed, does not make the knife suck IMO. It should also come as no surprise if the knife leaves much to be desired in such regards.........

I remember the knife. The baby too. Both are illegal here. You can't own a double edged knife, and grinding a false edge on the top of the blade counts. A bull nose skinner counts too. The laws are crazy.

They look like they are designed to be a multi purpose knife with various edges and the obvious weight forward for chopping. The geometry would seem to make it difficult to use very much of the blade. My blacksmith friend hates all knives with a belly. How the blade tucks up towards the center line. Hard to use. Hard to sharpen. Some are far, far worse. I like very simple knives with 3" to 4" blades and a full handle.

Been away a few days stalking so missed the responses here..

IMHO for a "chopper" the blade is too short; ..And I am not sure African game come apart much different to North American game..if a knife will work on a large brown bear or an elk, I am sure it will work on the largest plains game in Africa. On stuff like Ele, the natives would probably do most of the butchering anyway, and they are likely to do that with their panga's which have blades considerably longer than 6"..

But regardless of its origins, it still does not explain the almost cult status of the WH today nor the prices they command..

But each to their own I guess!

I have a White Hunter set with the big, huge WH and a smaller (Actually rather handy) exact smaller version both in one sheath. I've had it for about 20 years and never used it because I'm not man enough to carry it on my hip! Eventually I need to figure out a price on it and just sell it.

What we are all missing is by the name, White Hunter, it evokes images of African hunting during the heydays of safari hunting on the Dark Continent. And at that time no respectable white hunter actually would be seen carrying his own knife! That's what they had porters for. LOL!

I just traded for this mint condition specimen. Have no idea why It is an 11-6375 with no other numbers/markings on it. Any info would be great. I'd be up to exercising trade offers for either of the Pumas I have shown in this thread. Thanks.......

i'm with many fellows here as to wondering about the cult admiration of the pumas. i know that the number code stamped on the folders tells the month & year or the year & the quarter knives were produced. i had a puma schedule that showed the meaning of the numbers but gave it to a buddy that sells lots of older knives.many of the puma folders also were rockwelled & it was very common to see the indetations on lots of their knives. i noticed a large interest from collectors for older pumas but am still at loss as to the cult status of these knives.--cranky72

Both of my Pumas have the Rockwell "dimple".

My thoughts are that they really are kinda cool and different knives. They are also well made and stoutly built. However, as stated earlier, it says nothing of their cult like following, or prices realized. On fleabay, they get eaten up like a nightcrawler in a pond of piranhas. Apparently, they have a very large following. The PWH I picked up, had a price tag of over $500 on it (Which don't mean jack, I know. Just sayin'). Somebody is makin' a [bleep] ton of money off these things.......

For me, my love of all Puma's stems from my Dad getting their Bowie back in the early 70's. I cannot speak to their cult following anymore than I can that of Randall or several others. I do however enjoy mine for the reason I stated above. I have two, both pre-64, meaning no date codes on the guard. One is a safe queen, and the other is a user. As stated by some, it is a solid well built knife. No more so than their bowies or skinners, but they do not enjoy the same following. I would hazard a guess that a large degree of it simply stems from the unusual nature of the design. Practicality is certainly up for discussion, but you have to admit, you would recognize the design anywhere.

One of my hunting friends has one. He is an immigrant from Germany and the knife speaks to him I guess. Biggest problem to me is that it's too damn thick. I could live with the rest. Perhaps if you butcher an elephant such thickness is desirable? Certainly not needed for small big game like moose.

I bought my first Puma in about 1966, had several as for many years, they were the "best" knives one could buy in BC. I never thought much of their real quality and tried Bucks and Cold Steels as well as the old Gerbers with the cast metal handles....which, until I got into custom blades actually WERE "the best" for cutting game meat.

People, often make "cult" status out of all kinds of mediocre items and then are willing to pay ludicrous prices for them.....who knows, we humans are a funny bunch!

Now, with really GOOD knives, Fjallkniven, Busse, H.E.S.T., Chris Reeves, many others available everywhere, I would not take a Puma as a gift, but, if someone likes them, hey, why not, we only pass this way once.