The Puma White Hunter is one of those knives that has reached "cult" status..In the UK, new ones retail for around $600 while literally the skys the limit on certain older models..



Current specification says the 6" blade is "special D1.4 cutlery steel"..

A search on the net indicates that D1.4 likely a puma designation for 440A, a fairly average stainless steel by today's standards..

I have handled a few over the years, but I just don't get what the hype is about? For hunting, it is not a blade shape I would choose in a million years. In fact, for hunting I would take an Fallkniven Knives TK2 for just over half the price every time..



So what am I missing about the White Hunter? Does it deserve its cult status?

I had no idea it was a desired knife. My feelings on it match yours...not my choice for use.

You are not missing anything...they are not a using blade.

...townies seem to like them, though God alone knows why.

Not a blade shape or length that I would want to use.

While I am at it, I will two other what I would class as knives with a cult following which do nothing for me, and that is the Ka_Bar in its traditional form, and Randall's such as their Model 1..That said, out of the three mentioned I would tend to believe a Randall would be the better build quality, I just don't like their bulk, particularly their handle style..

When I was a kid, I thought they were the coolest knife ever with (to me) beautiful stag handles....they were expensive even then and I never could save enough to get one....might just buy me one someday....

I have a Randall 1-7 sitting at home and it works well for trimming the small branches and twigs from my fruit trees, it is surprisingly quick and light in the hand.

I have purchased a Randall 20 which should be arriving in a couple of days...and am contemplating an old style model 8-4 in carbon, ns, and stag.
Because...well...why not?

I shall probably just end up giving them away as I do with most of my knives.

I hunted a couple of times with someone who used a Puma White Hunter.

He used the rounded part of the blade to open up a deer's belly. He kept the curve razor sharp and he could field dress a deer quicker than you could imagine.

It would not be my choice as a hunting knife, either, but this man was an expert with it.



A friend of his asked me to make one for him. That is it in the lousy picture.

154 CM steel, brass guard, Rosewood scales.

Each to their own! It would be a dull place if we all liked/used the same things!

Getting back to knife design, I tend to like a Loveless drop point or variations on the basic design..I also like a knife with proper bolsters or a guard providing its not too big and bulky..

Nice work, and given the steel used, better than an original I would bet..

If folks like the basic shape of the White Hunter, Linder make a knock off known as the White Horse..





They use 440a for the blade and stainless steel for the guard..They retail at about $140, which I think is a much more realistic price than the Puma original..

To each his own. I collect vintage Puma's and have two of these...both pre-64's. However, while I do like them, they certainly aren't what hangs off my belt heading into the woods. Now a Skinmaster, that has much greater potential.

I saw one of those for sale on another forum for about $90..It looked in mint condition and the poster said it was unused..

Of course by the time I saw it, somebody had snapped it up!

I dig some of the Pumas. I must admit however, they are not for everyone. I think they are more useful for someone who actually hunts LARGE game and field dresses and butchers(or at least quarters) their meat and packs it out. Not a blade for the average deer hunter.

As for value, they probably are overpriced. The steel they use is nothing to write home about, IMO. They still get "cult" prices for them.

This is the only Puma I still own. They no longer make it, AFAIK.....

I've got one that someone gave me for a wedding present. I'd sell it to anyone that's interested for the price you mentioned.

Reminds me of something a 12 year old boy would design.

I just received the Randall model 20 in the mail...that 12 yo lad must of had a friend that designed the Randall.

I shall give it to someone local that needs a knife.

Try and find one in the Stag or blackwood, different animal all together. It is an integral, very stout design.

Gonna have to break some out and get pics for all you haters.

I have one right now that a friend/customer wants the split handle repaired.
Originally he had asked me to make one from scratch for him and thought there would be a market opportunity to work up a production run.
I absolutely refused to try to grind such a blade pattern by hand.
I will rehandle the cracked wood and replace it with stag for him---since he has five of my knives.
This is one pattern that does not appeal at all to me....but there does seem to be a niche for them. Well, two niches. A beater or a collector.
jmho
Tim

THAT knife is ugly, shaped all wrong, made from crap steel, and is useless. That ANYone would find it 'desirable' is laughable.

Et tu Sam?

LOL

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.

right on kutenay like you mention everyone hopefully can obtain their desires in cutters.--cranky72

I always wondered how one would be for a useful tool but it just never qiute seemed to be "it". The weight forward heavy angle spine might be good for splitting ribs or pelvis, while the bellied blade wouldn't be unusable it would be harder to sharpen.

I'd like to try a similar design blade out of 01 or A2, maybe 8670M. It would be my intention to make it to replace the hatchet, saw, and big knife in a pack. I rarely bring a hatchet, but miss having one at times.

This whole idea may be mental masturbation. The older I get the less inclined I am to be found needing to primitive camp. As for dressing game, I'm more of a 4" blade or even less kind of guy, as long as it'll stay sharp I'm pretty happy.

I guess I must be a "junk man" at heart......



cause I do like vintage Pumas as well as other production "junk".

JAPPF,


GWB

Geeze geed, are those Doziers you have listed as production junk?

You might as well list the models

I'm more of a Puma Hunters Pal kinda guy.

The Puma White Hunter is an iconic knife, designed to be used by professional hunters in the former German colonies in Africa. The blade is heavily influenced by native African bushknives from those areas.
The Puma White hunter (especially good vintage pieces) is a sought after collectors piece by European Puma collectors - though I have only, in all my life, met two hunters who acrually carried and used one.

Here is my personal Puma White Hunter II from 1996, a rare (shorter) variant of the White Hunter, that is no longer in production:


1996 Puma White Hunter II by Elbæk, on Flickr

The German made knives are still very high quality - and expensive, my favourite one is my Puma Original Bowie:


Making charcloth and playing w. new gear at the allotment October 13. 2012 by Elbæk, on Flickr

Puma IP knives are made in Spain, and are cheaper than the German made Puma knives. My Puma IP Grizzly Stag Bowie is a good example:


Mine's bigger than yours - Puma IP Grizzly Stag Bowie by Elbæk, on Flickr

The cheapest Puma knives are the Puma TEC series, manufactured in the Far East. The quality of those waries a lot - but there are a few rather nice small folding knives among the Tec series. I have none myself though.

I also have the German made model Jagdnicker, with the fixed blade and folding saw and gut opener in the handle. I will snap some photos of that asap.

I have an early 1970s vintage PWH with a wood handle. I bought it for my first elk hunt in 1972, as this style of knife was referred to as an "elk knife" in some circles. Never did end up using it and it has spent all of its time on a shelf or in a plastic tote box.

Never cared for the looks or ergos of the White Hunter, a pre-date code Senior is my edc knife....

2- Pre-64's