10 Knife Mistakes Old American Hunters Almost Never Made — But We Keep Making Today

Comments · 37

• UN

  @UncleJim-h5r · 1 month ago

  Im 77.Growing up and now, examining old, antique knives, they were horribly taken care of back then.The modern sharpening systems are the best things we&apos;ve ever had for caring for quality knived.Hardening and tempering are more consistent than they&apos;ve ever been.<br><br>I love old times and some old things but you cant discount legitimate modern improvements.

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• KO

  @koukariotis · 1 month ago

  thank you for the very useful information!

• ST

  @steve-w5c7k · 1 month ago

  I&apos;m 70 years old, have carried a pocket knife since I was about 10 years old, I have never owned a &quot;Premium steel, mega expensive knife&quot;, all my knives have been inexpensive aka CHEAP, I have never had a knife break on me, and I have camped out for at least 45 years, and still try to as and when my old bones let me. and most of my knives are under 6&quot; blades.

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• WI

  @williamsisk2897 · 3 weeks ago (edited)

  Nessmuk had a different grind on both edges of his double bit hatchet. So he had 5 different cutting edges between the 3 tools.

• DW

  @dwightehowell8179 · 1 month ago

  Good advice.

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• LU

  @luebkeb · 1 month ago

  Mines been in its sheath for 50+ years.

• GL

  @glenparker234 · 1 month ago

  Im 70 what really bothers me is around the last 20 to 40 years people quit using knives to cut with they are trying to use them for a axe to split logs with they put it on a big log take a club or big lim and beating it through the log or trying to use it for a crowbar. They make crowbars you can get little ones big ones. They don’t break they’re made for prying stuff even the cheap three or four dollar ones. I’ve never managed to break one. If you want to split a log, using an ax, don’t make an ax with a short handle and then try and beat it through a lug get an ax with handle on it and it’ll slice right through the log splitting it on impact. And you can’t cut with any of these knives that are a quarter inch thick blades as you said it just wedges it can’t cut anything. I still have a couple of buck knives that were made back in the 70s. They still cut cardboard boxes and things they were originally made out of old flat files that were ground down. It has a hollow ground on it and then a thin beveled edge. They held an edge for a long time they still do. I still have them. They’re not rusty they didn’t go to bed. I did break the tip off of one. I don’t remember what I stabbed with it. I don’t do that anymore like I said you want prybar get a prybar. And I don’t understand all of the weight issues in WWII. they gave you a heavy canvas backpack and a heave K bar knife I watched the history of them it was picked because they wanted a thick knife that wouldn’t break when you stabbed them into a wooden crate and pry the lid off without breaking the knife blade it’s was sharp on one side and pointed so you could slice or stab someone with it. That was all and the boy knife the original was made from a piece of an asteroid, which was very hard and heavy and from the stories I’ve heard most of the fighting he did with it. He held the backside of the blade and hit people with the handle a few times, he stabbed a few people and threw it a few times, but mostly he hit them with a handle because it was so heavy. He was using it like a club and he liked the design of it because he thought it would scare people when they seen it. &nbsp;His knives weren’t used for cutting or doing anything they were used for pry bars and clubs basically. And now people are trying to take these and use them for everything other than what they were made for. But they still want to use them like an ax which I don’t understand. My dad studied cabinet making did a lot of stuff whittling with his little pocket knives. He had like the old timer. And chisels my mother went and bought him a bunch of saws and stuff because she couldn’t believe he went out and made a gun cabinet, which I still have that tongue and grooved using some chisels in a small wood. As he always said you can tell if your knifes or chisels are sharp, take a piece of pine and slice off a thin shaving on it don’t cut deep just thin and you can’t cut things like oak. They’re too hard. They will just break the blade. But on pine if it’s sharp it will cut a paper thin piece off and it will be smooth as glass if the blade is dull it will tear the wood and it will have little strips like fuzz on it and not clean and hard. And you never ever cut into a knot with a knife or chisel you saw the knot in half and sand or file it down. You do not touch it with a knife or a chisel that you intend to ever use again because you will destroy the blade. And nobody whoever is a knife seriously would ever try and cut into something like that with a knife like they do nowadays as you said it take breaks the blade. Yes it does and you don’t go and bust a big chunk out of the middle of your knife blade you’re not going to be able to repair it. And anyone who has ever used tools would never do such a thing even with a axe Ive seen big chunks of axes knocked out from chopping oak. You just don’t cut or chop knots with anything with the blade other than a saw because that’s what they’re made for cutting into harder things taking out small pieces of it without destroying the blade but even a chainsaw it will tear the blade off very quickly cutting through knots. And you are the first person I have ever heard of saying that people used a kind to cut through them with a knife which goes back to the people who take a knife and beat it through a pice of wood with knots or using a hammer to drive their blade through a nail to show how sharp their knife was and yes, I’ve seen a few people do this and their knife was so sharp that the blade side looked as dull as the back of the knife blade but if you had it hard enough, you can push it through a piece of wood until you tear out big chunks of the blade. There are names for people like these, but I wouldn’t call him a craftsmen or anything nice

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• JA

  @JamesHart62 · 1 month ago

  In 1836, a knife was created that is still being made to this day. That would be Green River Knives. It is a thin bladed knife, and there are different models. I got my first Green River Hunter, way back in 1980. It came as a kit, and I put it together and I still have it to this day. I&apos;ve skinned a few deer and antelope. And the knife is very good to cut meat.

• BL

  @blueeyeswhitedragon9839 · 3 weeks ago

  Old leather sheaths were made from acid processed leather. So that keeping knives in their sheaths was actually causing rust and deterioration of the metal.<br>Today&apos;s leather sheaths are acid free and do not cause steel to rust on their own, but they can hold moisture and promote rust in carbon steel blades.<br>Knives should be cleaned and oiled after use and stored out of the sheath, even today with acid free leather and modern stainless steels.

• BO

  @BobFord-i3n · 3 weeks ago

  same reason you dont store a pistol in a leather holster.

• TE

  @Temporalplace · 1 month ago (edited)

  Wait what ? If i repair instead of maintaining i pay with steel ? I thought you pay yhe same amount of steel in both cases ? Isn&apos;t remowing 0.001 oz of steell 3 times, the same &nbsp;as remowing 0.003 oz of steel at once ?

• NI

  @nickcasolino8903 · 1 month ago

  Wait a minute not to fast dude, &nbsp;that&apos;s 3 heavy items to carry in your pack. &nbsp;I want &nbsp;one knife to do all camp chores. &nbsp; But a pocket folding knife to do the skinning and the eating. &nbsp;The weight would be much less than an axe; and less gear to carry. &nbsp;Let&apos;s not get to crazy dude.

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