[Tnhunter]

I do love a classic stag handled knife, whether solid or stag scales. Of course on any new knives I see listed, the stag handled are more $$ than wood, Micarta, G10 or most any other handle material other than buffalo or sheep horn.

I'm not near wealthy enough to be able to afford really nice custom knives, but if you might have one or 8 please share some pics. If you might have an oldie but goodie with stag grip, no matter if it's your old fishing knife, please do take a pic and show us. I simply love looking at old worn, classic knives that have lived an honest, hard working life!

I bought another online today, but this is what's sleeping here tonight:

 

[sharps4590]

Hmm...lemme look.

Ah..here's one, custom made for a late friend of mine from...30+ years ago? There is a name on it but I've never taken a magnifying glass to it so don't know who made it. I bought it at his estate sale and have no idea what I paid. Not a lot back then. First time I used it was this year on the deer I killed.

These are all pretty much fer lookin' at except for the top one and the one on the bottom left. Top is just a Track of the Wolf roach belly but boy, it sure works good. The bottom left is a Jimmy May damascus I ponied up for over 20 years ago. It is a nice knife. Dad made the one on the bottom right.

 

[JBelk]

I've used a lot of genuine stag, but don't have any examples of them.
Stag Stockmans are my preferred pocket knives.

 

[Tnhunter]

Hmm...lemme look.

Ah..here's one, custom made for a late friend of mine from...30+ years ago? There is a name on it but I've never taken a magnifying glass to it so don't know who made it. I bought it at his estate sale and have no idea what I paid. Not a lot back then. First time I used it was this year on the deer I killed.

View attachment 104664

These are all pretty much fer lookin' at except for the top one and the one on the bottom left. Top is just a Track of the Wolf roach belly but boy, it sure works good. The bottom left is a Jimmy May damascus I ponied up for over 20 years ago. It is a nice knife. Dad made the one on the bottom right. View attachment 104665

That's what I'm talking about!👍

Beautiful knives and pictures. Thanks for posting them!

 

[Tnhunter]

Hmm...lemme look.

Ah..here's one, custom made for a late friend of mine from...30+ years ago? There is a name on it but I've never taken a magnifying glass to it so don't know who made it. I bought it at his estate sale and have no idea what I paid. Not a lot back then. First time I used it was this year on the deer I killed.

View attachment 104664

These are all pretty much fer lookin' at except for the top one and the one on the bottom left. Top is just a Track of the Wolf roach belly but boy, it sure works good. The bottom left is a Jimmy May damascus I ponied up for over 20 years ago. It is a nice knife. Dad made the one on the bottom right. View attachment 104665

Interesting to hear about the knife from your friend's estate and maker's mark. I have a "custom" knife I purchased over 20yrs ago after advice from a guy at work who'd also bought one from someone he called a friend. I paid $120 for it IIRC and only recently took a magnifying glass to the engraving on the blade.

"Mike Wooten, Albany, Ohio". So, if anyone here knows a single thing about Mike (or Albany, Ohio for that matter) please feel free to share. It's the knife 2nd from bottom with antler base burr.

 

[JBelk]

I know he's not in the Knives '82 directory of custom makers.

 

[Tnhunter]

Thanks, Jack 👍

 

[JBelk]

I love stag and still have some really nice scales to use one of these days.

Colt Match Target Woodsman, Second Model, 4 1/2". Stag grips are numbered to the gun inside.
One of my 'KitchFish' knives from about 1980.

 

[Tnhunter]

Beautiful grips! And, I truly like the simple, classic lines of the knife as well. 👍

 

[Pudfark]

I love the Woodsman, that is perfect. Total harmony. The knife, a classic. Not often enough do I get to see things like this. I have a profound respect for excellent workmanship, design and those who care for it, I respect all. Then there are those who tastefully and equally add to it. That's why I come here often, everyday. Thanks.

 

[JWSmith1959]

The knife that Jack showed is very similar to one my Dad made for me for my 13th BD. It unfortunately got stolen some 25 years later. I don't know if I've ever owned anything with true Stag Handles though. Even the old Uncle Henry's I had were surely plastic recreations. My newest edition I know is plastic. lol I am either being visited by some space aliens that love pocket knives, or I'm being careless in my pocket knife inventory. Went looking for one last week and I know I had at least two Browning and a couple of inexpensive Cabela knives that have flat disappeared and nowhere to be found. Time to restock I guess. I seem to have a good handle on where all my fixed blade knives are, but the folding ones are avoiding me of late.

Of course, the knife that Jack polished up for me a couple of years ago fell into the void for over a month...but eventually found its way to him and back home. I guess I just have bad luck with knives in general.

The cheap skinner I recently got.

 

[Pudfark]

Nice blade JW. That's a knife, that looks like it means business. I'd bet it turns out to be a keeper. Hope you can try it out on a hawg, soon.

 

[Tnhunter]

Mail lady left me a present this morning. A Joker made SS with stag handle, I won in an auction. 3.5" SS blade (molybdenum Vanadium) an 8" total length. In unused condition, but with a different sheath that I was surprised that I liked as much as I do. Price was quite low considering the quality of Joker Knives and the nice stag scales, full tang and SS bolster. Joker knives are handmade in Spain.

 

[JBelk]

tnhunter-- That knife has a very Rudy Ruana look about it.
Knife DNA shows up all over the place because the last really new blade design was done in a cave.

 

[JBelk]

For those that don't know the story of genuine stag--

Cleveland Amory was the publisher of TV Guide. At the time, the largest circulation of any 'magazine' and it made him a brazilianair. He was an 'animal lover' and started Fund for Animals which drew millions of dollars which were used to interrupt 'animal trading'. Me sued and got a judge to declare tens of tons of Sambar Stag horns dumped at sea. It was pointed out the horns were naturally shed and remote villagers made their living from finding them, but such people are never embarrassed by their stupidity.
When I started knifemaking in 1970, stag was getting hard to find for a decent price. What sold in 1965 for $2 had jumped to $10, $40 and not available. Really good stag scales were traded like real money at knife shows. Micarta was the high-tech solution and embraced by most, but I like natural materials. Wood is soft, buffalo horn warps, bone is not in big enough slabs for big knives and ivory was a hanging offense for owning, much less using. (slight exaggeration).
I lived at the bottom of a treacherous shale cliff 1600 feet high and big horn sheep sometimes fell off. I recovered a couple old horns and figured out how to make it stable enough to use and suddenly became the 'sheep horn guy' at knife shows. The very best scales are from old rams and if they're not fresh, most of it is wasted. That means most knife handles you see with the dark coloration of mature Big Horn came from an old trophy mount. I've bought three one-horned mounts with the other destroyed by a house fire. I love to work with sheep horn and very happy with its longevity. Most of my late knives have sheep horn and engraving.
My stack of exotic woods, horns, oosics, ivory and the such is now retirement money!

 

[sharps4590]

I remember Cleveland Amory all too well. What a scum bag.

JB, those are some kind of beautiful.

 

[JBelk]

I'll slip this tidbit in this discussion because it is pertinent.
Jigged Bone has been a pocketknife scale material for hundreds of years.
What kind of bone is it? It's the front half of the shin bones of cows, horses or camels. It is as dense as ivory and sambar stag and takes the same polish and luster. It will take stains very well, as seen in most all pocket knives. It is naturally a creamy white color, but it will take using stains easily, so its used pre-stained instead of raw. (I learned an early lesson about that)
Jigging is done with a small rotary burr or series of them that digs tiny ditches in an effort to duplicate true stag. Now, some companies are making plastic jigged bone that is supposed to imitate stag. <sigh>
Compared with shin bone, stag, and ivory, N. American deer family antlers are very porous but also very useable, especially if 'treated' with clear epoxy.

Natural materials give 'life' to a knife or gun, in my most humble of opinions. Plastic is only found in nature as trash.

Stag Stockmans. Germany gets the best Indian stag now. Prices are up, of course.

 

[Tnhunter]

I like stag grips, followed by bone, wood, jigged bone and various synthetics like G10, or Micarta. Much of the "bone" handles/scales I see online are termed bovine or camel bone. I'm quite surprised that this particular knife has not sold at what seems like a fairly low price online and I'm tempted to grab it myself. However, I already have the same style knife by the same subsidiary of Puma, but older and stamped with somewhat different markings and handled with stag scales.

 

[JBelk]

In my opinion, your stag handled knife is at least one step above a jigged bone and several floors above plastics, but I do have a special place in my heart for Micarta. I used a lot of it when stag was precious and wood had to be imported. Bob Schrimsher 'made the business' with his Texas Knife Supply that brought the scarce stuff together. Bo Randal gave me a pair of stag scales that had been scrapped in the shop. I designed and made a knife around his scales and then gave it to him in 1971.
Here's one of my very few ivory-handled knives, called The Eskimo Skinner. It has Walrus ivory scales harvested from a broken off stump of a big tusk bought in Anchorage. This is called 'bark ivory' or 'raw ivory' as opposed to polish or carved.

I apologize for the photo. It is a scan of an instamatic print with a bunch of stuff cropped out.

 

[Shiloh1944]

These were all made by a personal friend. The bottom with the stag scales was made for me personally. The other two I purchased from other individuals since my friend has passed away. He was a professional blade smith.

I also used to make a few knives myself. I had a thing for Bowies. This is one I made for myself and it has original Sambar Stag scales.