Knives ???

I have been talking with a few of my American hunting comrades and the discussion of hunting and everyday carry knives came up. Of course this is all a matter of personal tastes and such. I was just wondering if the PH's on this site, as well as the more seasoned hunters that have been to Africa a few times could chime in and tell us what are the main types of hunting knives carried by PH's and why. Also what type do they seem to carry for EDC (everyday use). I know when I hunted in S.Africa my PH carried a simple one handed folding knife with about a 3 in. blade.
Hope to get some answers so I can inform my friends, thank you in advance.

Paul

A knife which is tremendously popular and perhaps even the tool of the trade amongst trackers and skinners in Southern Africa is the folding OKAPI knife which is made in South Africa. It is not only very affordable and widely available at stores but it is a durable and very versatile knife as it is used not only for personal use but also as a day to day working tool for farm workers and hunting teams alike... Nothing fancy but it will get the job done and well, a good size blade in length and thickness, this folding knife with a locking blade is light and non-cumbersome and will fit easily in a pants' pocket to carry around with you all day... I have seen trackers and skinners use this knife intensively in the bush for decades from slaughtering, skinning, butchering game with ease and dexterity to cutting branches to create a small opening in a makeshift hide. This knife will sharpen to a razor sharp edge quite easily and I have seen it being sharpened on just about any hard surfaces from concrete, stones, steel to horns and hoofs on game.

The Okapi knife was originally produced in 1902 for export to Germany's colonies in Africa. The knife takes its' name from the Okapi, an animal which at the time had recently been discovered in the Belgian Congo. The Okapi knives are no longer produced in Germany and in 1988, Okapi South Africa (then trading as All Round Tooling) bought the trademark and tooling and began producing the Okapi line of knives in South Africa.

Okapi sells a variety of pocket folding knives varying in sizes and blade shapes. Here below is one commonly used Okapi knife by skinners and trackers, a 5 1/2 inch folding OKAPI knife with a 4” locking blade, it has a rachet front top lock on the top with ring attached. Their pocket knives are manufactured from superior quality hardened and tempered carbon steel and the handles are made of seasoned hardwood. The South African Okapi lockback knives are made in South Africa.












Here is an article I would by browningbbr which might be of interest to you: Selection of Knives & Equipment - Slaughtering & Boning

Thank you for the info. I'll have to get an Okapi for my collection. Neat looking knife!

Paul,
Personally , I carry a Norwegian made knife, called a Brusletto. Excellent Blade that keeps its edge unbelievably well. Not sure if they have a website. They should. I use the "Troll" Model.

All the best.
Marius

The Cold Steel Kudu Knife is made after the original South African OKAPI pocket knife.

Jerome,

How can one procure these knives ? wonderful piece of art....

Monish

From Cold Steel at www.coldsteel.com.

Here is a link to a video where PH Joe Viljoen from Brave Heart Safaris is being gored by a wounded Cape Buffalo and his son Zen Viljone comes to his rescue using a knife. Click here to watch the video.

Hey guys,

I generaly have my Titanium Leatherman Multi tool with me all the time. It has everything you need in it if you maybe need to tighten a some screws on a gunstock, little saw in it when you need to get that one little branch out of the way so you can rest your gun on a branch for the shot... I also have a Coldsteel kudu in my hunting bag that always comes in handy.

I also have a question for you guys, are any of you familiar with a handmade knife called an S.R Johnson Drop point Hunter? A client gave it to me as a gift and said it is a very sought after knive but I have never heard of it before? Here is some pics of the knife...

Thank you in advance,

Very nice Jacques... Here is the link to S.R. Johnson's website www.srjknives.com. Johnson custom knives are really thought after by knife collectors and are hard to come by. Their knives are as expensive as they get...

Holy smokes! $1,500 to $3,300 for a sheath knife?

I guess if someone was a dedicated collector or had lots of extra money....

- browningbbr

I have one, got it at the Shot show in vegas about 12 years ago was not that pricey but was 550 at the time

Thank you for the link Jerome. I now really appreciatte the knife and the client gave it to me! I did not know it was that expensive and will certainly not give ot to my tracker to skin animals with it! Thank you guys!

Just got back to looking at this post. Thanks for all the responses. I haven't been here for awhile due to work constraints and computer problems. Anyway, I too have one of the Kudu knives, great extra knife to have on hand. I usually carry a Cold Steel large folder or fixed blade when hunting. Thanks again everyone.

The question on knives...

Last year i gave 7 knives away as gifts to some member of the crew.

1 Buck filet knife for the Chef-cook with ceramic sharper...Alex was on top of the world to get this knife.

3 Buck knives to the trackers with leather sheath with a diamond sharpener...these went well...2 of 3 really liked there knives...All the knives were different however very good knives and the trackers picked in order of status in the camp...

3 Buck knives with nylon sheath ... and ceramic sharpener...these did not go well due to the nylon sheath, they were taken with reluctance...(i have one of these knives and it is a great knife...)

1 Buck folding knife to the driver that i have used for over 30 years and he was on top of the world when i gave it to him...go figure...

What Kind of knives do the Trackers & Skinner like...This year i plan to take Browning knives with leather sheaths...i am trying to keep the price below $100 per knife and still obtain a quality knife...

Next week i plan to stop at a knife store in Arkansas to add to my gift stash box that i have on hand...so if a safari deal comes along and i jump i will have items on hand and it is easy to put together gifts for the crew...

I am not a PH but this is a knife that was made from a pattern I made that is a modified Rick Frigault custom design (Canadian custom knife maker). The blade is shorter than his Basadie knife and more rounded like an Ulu knife with a more swept back tip. The mods I did to this design were not a whim or accident, after hunting and guiding many years I found that most knives have a couple things in common. 1) the dropped points made use of the blade near the hilt difficult 2) The dropped points also put your hand awkwardly strained forward when opening the gut (feild gutting not while hanging) 3) because the tip of the knife was primarily used it is much easier to accidentally cut holes 4) the flat or slightly curved blade did not lend itself to efficient skinning.

To solve these problems I kept the design of a Basadie handle which I loved the feel of, laid the point back significantly, and rounded the edge of the knife to mimic the most efficient skinning knife known (the Eskimo Ulu). I could not be happier with the results. When gutting the tip is cammed down naturally pointing where it should be and while skinning is swept back out of harms way, the rounded edge is easily usable for the center 2/3 of the blade while skinning (with blazing speed) leaving a small portion of the blade by the hilt sharp for rope and such (and vice versa - no cutting rope or abrasives on the skinning/gutting portions). This knife is usable from tip to hilt and as those in the know... er know, the blade stock of damasteel damascus is not only beautiful but one of the most durable knife steels available and still quickly takes an edge. Moose hide can be up to 3/4" thick and I have done 2 of them before touching up the edge.

The knife was made as stated from my pattern by one of Rick Frigaults apprentices (at half price than Rick himself) He did as good of a job on the blade as he did poorly on the scales and bolster. I plan on having them redone and have decided on Warthog ivory scales and nickle silver bolster. Overall this is the best knife I have ever used.

Knife (600 x 400).jpg

Frigault Store

Originally Posted by James.Grage

these did not go well due to the nylon sheath, they were taken with reluctance

That was nice of you James. The only thing that irked me was the above statement. Apparently the knives worth 1/2 a months salary for them werent good enough. Maybe they would have prefered nothing.