Knives of all kinds have been a part of my life since childhood in Arkansas and East Texas. While living with my grandmother as a child, I remember using small paring knives to peel potatoes and other vegetables in the kitchen. Large butcher knives were used by the adults to butcher and scrape hogs at hog-killing time. I don’t remember carrying a pocketknife until I was about 12 years old. It was probably a Case or Ka-Bar, and since that first knife, I’ve carried a Buck or Case pocket knife every day of my life.
Historically, various types of knives have been a part of human culture since the beginning of time. Cavemen used crude knives of stone, and Native Americans used flint knives for many purposes, especially for skinning game. The Plains Indians have left evidence of flint knives, and at one time I owned a perfect four-beveled flint knife about 4 inches by 1½ inches in size.
I found the knife on a cow trail along Pecan Bayou in Brown County. In the early days the Comanche and Kiowa tribes inhabited that area. I considered the piece a rare find, but I traded it for a bird dog pup in lieu of $50, which I thought was a good deal.
Folding and sheath knives
Most of my uses of knives have been pocketknives for personal use, and both folding and sheath knives for hunting. Before World War II, most of the hunting knives were sheath knives, with 6-inch blades and leather handles. After the war, folding knives became popular, and still are today.
Carbon steel was used for all knives until the war, after which carbon and stainless steel were used. I always thought carbon steel made the best blades, but they required regular sharpening, while stainless steel seemed to keep a sharp edge longer. Today, knife blades are made of excellent steel such as 440 and are much superior to the knives of pre-war days.
Some folks are picky about knives made in the USA. If you are one of these, you can’t go wrong with a Buck knife made in Idaho. However, the steel is more important than where it’s made, and you also can’t go wrong with a knife of your selection made with 440 stainless.
Knives I used
When I killed my first buck in 1958, I used a sheath knife made by Western. As I continued to deer hunt, I switched to folding knives, mostly Buck and Boker, which had 3- to 4-inch blades suitable for gutting and skinning deer. My favorite deer hunting knife for a long time was a Carl Schlieper two-blade, one blade being a good saw blade. I used the saw blade to separate the pelvis bone in older deer. Later, I found that the Buck 110 with the thick blade could easily slide through the pelvis of a whitetail, mule deer, or pronghorn.
I’ve used several custom-made folding and sheath knives. The most important thing about deer hunting knives is the length of blade and handle that will reach up into the rib cage and cut the windpipe and allow the removal of the upper diaphragm parts. Small knives with short blades are not suitable for this work. Wayne “Javelina” Spahn of Gonzales made an excellent straight blade sheath knife for deer hunting.
Thick blade important
An important factor in a deer hunting knife is a thick blade that will allow the cutting of the rib cage and the pelvis bone. I often placed the blade on the soft spot of the pelvis of younger deer and hit it with a rock or piece of wood to split the pelvis down to the gut. The rib cage can be cut by holding the knife securely in both dry hands. This kind of work requires a strong blade.
Most knives I have carried on the hunt are capable of skinning a deer, but special blades are needed to skin squirrels or cape out a deer head. It’s difficult to have it all in one knife, and I often used my sharp Case Trapper pocketknife for such detailed and tedious cutting.
I have a folding Buck 110 Hunter, engraved with initials, in an ostrich leather sheath. I won the knife at a political fundraiser skeet shoot several years ago, sponsored by Laura Berry of Corpus Christi. It’s one of my favorites for deer hunting, but it will also cut BBQ and dried venison sausage. The knife is priceless.
Blade length
The length of a knife blade is important if used mostly for gutting and skinning game. Blades shorter than 3 inches do not allow for deep cuts, and blades longer than 6 inches are unwieldy. I have used 4-inch blades with good success, and straight knives with blades up to 6 inches are useful, especially if the handle is full-length for the hand, such as the famous Buck 119. The best folding knives I have used are those with a handful of handle and a blade that is 4-inches long, like the German-made Carl Schlieper and the American-made Buck 110.
Caring for your knife
Knife blades are not for twisting or prying things apart. The result may be a broken blade or a cut hand. Use your knife to cut things that should be cut, and you will do well. When not in use, sheath knives should be in the sheath and folding knives should be folded.
There are many ways to sharpen a knife these days, and many knife users do not know how to use a stone. The knife owner should experiment with the many types of sharpeners and use the one that is most successful and convenient. Stainless steel is more difficult to sharpen, but the blades will maintain a cutting edge longer than carbon steel.
Knife safety
Whether you use a straight sheath knife, or a folding blade, care should be exercised when using them. Always cut AWAY from the body and be careful when you’re punching the blade into any hard material. A slip of the blade can cut something that you don’t want cut. After using a knife, clean it and put it up, or in your pocket, IMMEDIATELY.
Lost knives come from being careless and leaving them lying on the fender of the pickup, or on the ground in the pasture. Small children may want to borrow your knife, but don’t let them. Also, don’t leave your knife lying around after use for a youngster to pick up and cut the wrong thing.
Knives are useful and necessary tools. When used with care, they can be one of the most useful hunting and recreational tools that you will ever use, and many are handed down from generation to generation.
