Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Custom Knives ?

Absolutely true. I've owned 1/2 dozen each at least from Benchmade and Ingram just in S30V. I own Benchmade's in M390 and a couple in 154, they don't hold an edge like Gene or Charlie's.

FWIW, I prefer Sog and Mcusta's VG-10 to Benchmade's anything as well due to edge retention.

Makes sense to me.

Coming from a dude that has made a living with a knife,
And who seems to like customs,
It's probably legit.



Honestly my first thought were,
Those posting about the superiority of customs don't know
that many farm out their HT.
Considering Bos is among the best at custom HT,
And was responsible for Bucks process and application...


Why do buyers of fancy stuff have such a hard time with their decisions?


"I like nice stuff."

Good enough!

How do you explain the vast majority of professional chefs who use high end knives to take what comes in the door and do the real work of butchering day in and day out? These people daily take whole gutted fish, whole top rounds of beef, whole loins, the whole major cuts of virtually all animals and reduce them to serving sized portions. When their knives aren't cutting meat they're cutting the vegetables to go on the plate with the meat.

On the rare occasions that I do buy meat I most often buy whole break down cuts and those cuts are almost always hack jobs cut off the bone by people running the common Mora/Victorinox type butchering knives. That reason is likely that these are minimum wage or close to it workers AND THAT'S WHAT THE EMPLOYERS PROVIDE.

Not really all. No doubt some of their products might involve CNC, but their bespoke models not really..

What is it about the old Gerber Minimag that you you like? I've one that I bought in the 1970s and only use it as a trout knife. The blade shape and Armorhide handle seem perfect for that chore. Consequently, it has not had hard use since cutting small fish is not much of a challenge for hardened tool steel.

Oh so custom knives are just like custom rifles!?

I have two custom knives (Ingrams) that I use for game processing and I really can't say that they are worth so much more than something you can buy from a mass manufacturer. What I really like, though, is the way that I can specify blade length and shape, and scale material, with the customs, and that actually has a lot of value to me. For example, I filled my elk tag earlier this week and will be breaking it down today. I have an Ingram drop point with stag scales and it fits my hand perfectly and is the perfect size for field dressing as well as breaking down the larger cuts. It feels like a scalpel and the scales help with grip when the going gets bloody.

I'm sure there are knives available from the larger makers that would work just fine, but it's nice to have something that is made explicitly to your specifications.

I have worn one virtually daily ever since I returned from Vietnam and they are a useful as a kitchen pairing knife, hold and edge very well, very tough and can be bent almost 60% without breaking or warping and with the Lamb grip fit the hand well and don't slip when wet or bloody.
Plus they were never expensive and as I wore them down they seemed to get better. I have worn out maybe 8 or 10 and am down to my last three.

I purchased a couple of those for my mother when I was a young fellow, probably the cruellest thing I could have done to her, the one she has left gets used for digging weeds in her garden.

It was truly pitiful to watch her attempting to sharpen them on a carborundum stone...funny though.

Sadly, yes....The purveyors of these knives will lure you in with pictures of their beauties they have made. Hookers of steel is what they are...Laffin 😎

I have 3 custom knives, the Randall is from 1960. My father gave it to me for Christmas, my middle brother got one just like it with his initials on it. The Olsen's were my Fathers, he gave them to me when he quit hunting in the 90's. They all have been used for a long while and have held up well. The Randall stag handle has a rack in the handle, I assume from drying out. I oil the handles with mineral oil now and they are fine. I have other knives but these are my favorites.

That pretty well wraps it up. People buy custom knives for the same reason they do a lot of things...vanity. If its made 'just for you' it makes you feel special.

And don't get me wrong, Ive been toting around a Model 7 Randall for 47 years....so I'm "vain" too!

But the fact is I use a lot of other factory knives and most will do anything the Randall does...handily.

But I also now shoot a .275 Rigby instead of a 7x57....

so yeah...I'm pretty much like everyone else....

I've got J.A. Henckles in the kitchen. They don't hold a candle to any of my customs from Hank, Rick, Tim or the other craftsmen guys here.

To me a knife is just another tool.

One point not brought up here is the angle of the bevel. Wouldn't a more acute angle "feel" sharper but dull faster than a wider angle of the same steel?

In theory, yes, but it all has to do with edge geometry, which will vary from maker to maker.

I didnt know original Pumas were labled as such on the blade or had brown leather sheaths.

Mine are a light, high yeller.

A sharpened blade will have one bevel for sure, probably two bevels and a good chance of three bevels
from the spine down to the cutting edge ---as received from the maker/manufacturer.

Each of those bevels will be either flat, concave or convex.

Angles will vary with the thickness and width of the blade and the makers methods and targeted results.

The width at the cutting edge prior to initial sharpening will vary also.


Then the owner/user will sooner of later modify that geometry to fit his preferences and/or methods of sharpening.

Results, at any stage, in the eye of the user will be anywhere from being a p.o.s. to scary sharp ----on a use by use basis.


And then there is all the different blade materials, heat treatment, mediums, materials and equipment used and.........

I just about talked myself into giving up!!!!!!

But on the other hand......

Hmmmmm.....Seems I may have underestimated the Gerber MiniMag. But then again, as the saying goes; it is archer,not the arrow. Do you use the MiniMag to dress out bears?

This is Phil Shoemaker we're talking about. He uses it to kill them...