The anatomy of a hunting knife
There is more to a knife than meets the eye.
The answer to the question of what makes the best hunting knife is not a straightforward one. It is as much a loaded question as when the wife asks whether the new pair of jeans makes her look fat, or when your pal asks your opinion on the best allrounder calibre.
We need to look into the anatomy of a knife to understand how the sum of the parts comes together, because the sum of the parts is much more than the parts on their own.
The typical fixed-blade knife has four main components; the blade, the tail or tang where the handle is attached, the handle scales themselves and lastly the guard or bolster, which is added to the wedge point of the blade in front of the handle.
THE ANSWER
I drove to Johannesburg on a windy morning to ask the assistance of Albie Wantenaar, one of only three adjudicators for the Knifemaker’s Guild of SA. Albie
graciously agreed to help me answer the question, despite being under pressure to finish his own knives for the annual Guild Show (on 18 and 19 August).
Albie pointed out that no single knife design can be used to create a single all-rounder that will be fit for a number of tasks. A good hunter has a more robust design, with a fair-sized blade for field dressing and it could have a gutting hook. The blade of a skin- ner is much shorter and fatter, allowing for a three-point grip with two fingers on the blade itself. Caping knives are much smaller with tiny blades designed for small intricate cuts.
It goes without saying that the steel should be of good quality from a renowned manufacturer. The steel determines how well you can sharpen the blade, how long it will keep its edge and to what extent it will resist corrosion.
According to Albie the handle or handle scales on a good hunting knife should have no sharp corners or protrusions, allowing it to be used continuously for more than an hour without any part of the knife digging into or hurting your hand. Plain, clean lines are best to ensure that the knife does not get trapped in clothing or on bones and sinews in the carcass. Finger grooves or choils are great to look at, but they limit the way that a knife can be comfortably held. Butchers use their knives continuously every day and the commercial butcher’s knives all have clean lines and well-rounded handles.
The height of the grinds on a blade not only establishes the platform for the cutting edge, it also determines the life of the blade. Blades with higher grinds can be re-sharpened many more times than blades that have short grinds with steep angles to the edge. Albie prefers a blade that has been ground right to the top or spine of the blade, or at least three quarters up the blade. I almost suffered a heart attack when he grabbed a cheap commercial knife with a plastic fakewood handle, to demonstrate his point. These knives are successful, because they are ground right to the top and can be sharpened over and over again.
On handmade knives, crisp grind lines that are not rounded and are symmetrical on both sides of the blade, are a good indication of the skills of the knifemaker in making sure that you purchase a quality product. There should not be any “oopsies” where the knifemaker tried to blend in a blemish or where he has left some tool marks on the knife.
Blades are usually either mirror polished or given a satin finish. Albie prefers the satin fin- »
» ish for a working blade as it is less prone to show scratches and scour marks through wear and tear. A mirror-polished blade is beautiful and brings out the best in stainless steel, but requires care to prevent damage and provide good looks.
CUTTING EDGE
Edge geometry plays a very important role in knife use, so that one can keep control of the blade at all times. A cutting edge of 17 to 22 degrees is best for caping knives, but may require sharpening more often. A good hunter should be sharpened at 22 to 25 degrees, while something like a camping knife that will also be used for chopping, should have an edge of 30 degrees or more.
The part where the handle scales are attached is called the tang and four types of tangs are most commonly encountered. A full tang is where the steel continues all the way to the backend. Two handle scales (one on each side) are pinned and glued to the tang. This is the strongest type of tang and is very pleasing to the eye when it is tapered to the back. Symmetrical taper lines are another good indication that the knifemaker is a master craftsman. Full tangs can however not be tapered when a gut hook is added to the backend or hilt of the knife.
A through tang (or rattail) is also strong, as one solid piece of handle material is pulled onto the guard by a nut at the pommel, mechanically locking the handle into place. A stick tang, sometimes used on bowie-type knives are not as strong, as the tang often only goes halfway into the handle material and is held into place with a single pin or screw and some epoxy glue. Better quality knives with guards have a composite tang with a narrow tang over which the guard can be put into place, a separate piece that is installed to fill up the tang into the shape of a full tang and then the handle scales that are pinned through both parts.
BOLSTERING STRENGTH
Bolsters and guards are fitted to fixed-blade knives to strengthen them, to protect the end grain of the handle material and to give some protection to one’s finger – it prevents the finger from slipping onto the cutting edge. Blood is extremely corrosive on steel and it can also damage some types of handle material. No gaps should be visible between the bolsters and the blade or where the handle scales meet the bolsters. The steel should look as one item when viewing the knife from the top or from the bottom, to ensure that no blood will enter those gaps and give rust a chance to work (and damage) the steel. Pins used to attach bolsters should be blended into the bolster steel and should not be visible.
Albie agrees that a gut hook is a personal choice on a hunting knife. Some hunters love them, others hate them. A good gut hook should be placed and angled so that the sharp tip of the knife cannot come into contact with the stomach or intestines during dressing. This is easier to achieve by having the gut hook at the back of the handle, not at the front close to the tip of the blade. The two sides on the gut hook should be rounded to act like skis, guiding the skin into the bend of the hook, where the sharp end is. Again, the gut hook should not introduce sharp edges that can injure or tire one’s hand.
Two hours later I realised that the half-hour Albie agreed to, has long gone and I am overdue for lunch at home. The most important part of your hunting knife is that you must like it. The very best knife, fitted with synthetic handle scales or some exotic wood or other material that will never corrode, fade or require maintenance, will not do the job if you do not like it. There are numerous options available including natural materials such as wood, ivory or bone and also very good synthetics such as micarta, fibreglass composites and even synthesised ivory.
It is easy and not as expensive as it sounds to have a custom knife made to your specifications. South Africa has some of the very best knifemakers in the world and you can view the list of guild members on http:// www.kgsa.co.za/South-AfricanKnifemakers-Guild-Members. aspx to find one close to you.
As for the loaded questions about the new jeans and the perfect calibre; the correct answer to your wife is that you would like to buy her more flowers and chocolates because she is so pretty and of course there is nothing that comes even close to a .375 H&H as the best all-rounder.
I will only allow further discussions on calibre choice around a proper camp fire when we have a suitable supply of refreshments at hand and freshly-grilled kudu steaks.