Fro those gents who like tactical knifes Part 2

[Black Jack]

I have heard nothing but amazing and first rate things about the handcrafted American knifes from Jerry Hossom. These are without a doubt some of the most beautifull and functional esthetic large tactical performance blades I have ever seen on the web.

I am on a quest to find some at a knife convention and feel them out, something about them just blows me away, and I know from the comments of others is that I will not be disappointed. I also like the downhome American feel the maker has put to the sights and to his products. All I have to say is wow and I want not one but a few.

There's something about big blades and training with big blades that feels good to my hands. Hope those of you who like these things will enjoy the pics and maybe one or two of you have handled these classics at one time or another and will share you experiances.

www.hossom.com

[Royal Dragon]

cool looking knives.
I'm not familliar with the steel used though.

I myself like te ATS 34. It is heavy dense, and can be hardened quite a bit without getting brittle. I think my Mallard is a rockwell of 60?

It's hard to sharpen though, and ruins a regular stone after just two sharpenings. I really need a diamond stone to get it it's sharpest. Last time I did use a diamond stone to sharpen it, it had a sashving edge, went camping with me, and cut wood down to kindling size for most of the trip, and still shaved when we came home.

I'm planning to some day have a blade made with an old KA Bar handle out of ATS 34 because of the total abuseability my Mallard has. It's a damm near perfect knife steel if you ask me.

[Black Jack]

Whats up bro,

I don't know the specifics of that grade of steel but I bet its very high as indicated by the steep price tag, I would wager a high note more than the standard ATS 34 and used for the type of backwards grinding method he incorporates in his knifemaking.

The Hossom blades are supposed to be STRONG.

Now, lets talk about your favorite and one of mine, lets talk PURE historical Americana

Over 100 years in business, no frills and straight to the point, but a hardcore blade to the very bone, a pure business fighting knife coupled with a real legacy of sweat, blood and tears.

www.kabar.com

I list the kabar as one of my all time favorite knifes, VERY AFFORDABLE, a great company, a great history and a great selection.

Some wishy washy naysayers sometimes say the knifes are a bit weak for pure out utility work, but I say, if they were good enough for the American fighting men in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm and whatever other Theater of War the winds may take them, then they are more than good enough for a guy like me.

KA-BAR rules.

[red_fists]

Anbody got any experience/opinion on this Knife:


Knife

Thanks, in advance.

[Black Jack]

I've never held one but I doubt you could go seriously wrong with something from Glock, they make those knifes to certain army requirements for Austria, sounds like a good buy to me.

I think you "might" be able to get one at a discount rate from www.cheaperthandirt.com

Which by the way is a real cool site for some good finds, real army issue material, some surplus stuff from WWI, WWII and Korea.

All in all a neat and cheap website for gear, I believe I saw a Glock Field Knife on their a few months back, you would save around $20-30 bucks I bet.

Cheers

[red_fists]

Black Jack.

Thanks.

I might ask somebody from my Family to get me one, depending if I can get it into japan that is.

My Family doens't live too far from the Glock Factory in Austria.

Seeya.

[popsider]

That knife makers web site is so full of bull**** it's unreal. All that Sept 11th "cowards war" crap and the stuff about slicing turbans is verging on racist.

[JWTAYLOR]

Ahem, God I'm going to take some sh!t for this,

I don't like hollow ground knives.

There, I said it.

Although they are lighter, there is just too much steel removed from the blade for my taste. I've had an edge chip chopping a joint of a pig, and I'm very wary of a blade snapping between a rib in combat.

BTW,

154 CM is a friggin super steel, if you can find it. It is, however, a real b1tch to sharpen or shape. I have a blade that I made it with, shapped by hand file, and although I'm proud of it, I'd never do it again.

ATS34 is the modern version of 154 CM, basically the same, and maybe a little cleaner. I've noticed that it sometimes has a weird sheen to it, but no big deal.


S30V is a BRAND NEW steel. I'm pretty sure it's made by Crucible, but I'm not sure. It's a powder steel. It's a process that takes the allow down to a teeny tiny powder balls and then the balls are compressed to make a very clean, very very uniform steel. I have never worked it, but I hear good things from those who have. Apparently it's not so hard to work with either. I don't have a blade with this steel, so I haven't seen how it performs in the field.

JWT

[Black Jack]

JWT, you work steel, are you a trained knifesmith or self taught like Hossom?

I believe one of the benefits, though this could be argued very easily in a tactical manner is that those hollow ground knifes can be removed faster in a stress draw, I don't buy into that but I believe I have heard it stated somewhere before.

Popsider,

If you are talking about the man's justified political views, thats a different issue, I don't see anything wrong with them, if hijacking a commerical jetliner full of men, women and children and then flying it into a non-military based target, full of again civilan men, and women is something you call a non cowards war then I would hate to think what you would call a cowards war.

Keep your poltical bs to another thread.

[JWTAYLOR]

I apprenticed at Kelly Forge in Wimberly, TX for 2 years. I've learned some basics, enough for me to make usable blades, but nothing close to what even a Journeyman can do. Basically, I tinker. I'd love to do more, but equipment costs allot, and it takes an incredible amount of time. So far, I've made a maybe half a dozen blades usuing a home made forge, a sledge, an anvil, and leaf spring, and a flat b@st@rd file. I even cook my own raw coal for coke. I've bought some steel blocks for stock removal as well, and I've had allot better results with it. But, again, it takes some serious time. My last knife took at least a hundred hours of filing.

It's all really simple at my level, anyone could do it.

JWT

[JWTAYLOR]

D@mnit all to hell.

This thread got me all hot and bothered. I've been mulling over old books and notes all day. I haven't got a d@mn thing done at work.

I've got another block of 154CM that's been siting in a drawer forever.

I've always wanted to try cutlas grinding a blade, so what the hell? I mean come on, what's a couple of hundred hours of time out of my life for a mediocre knife anyway?

I called a buddy who works in a bronze foundry and he may be able to help me out with a Burr King that would cut my time by about 90%. I've just got to get some scrap and give it a try.

D@mnit.

JWT

[Black Jack]

JWT,

Have you heard of a steel called D2?????

I hear they use it on custom knifes.

[Royal Dragon]

Personally, I LOVE My Ka Bar!! I've got the original WWII version.

Ideally though, I'd like a Ka Bar with a heavier blade. My Mallard is perfect, except the handle came out too small. If I could put a KA Bar handle on it I'd have the perfect knife.

Black Jack, The Knife I always thought was the coolest besides a custom Ka Bar inspired knife was the old EK Warior bowie.

It is not much more than a steel bar, sharpened with paracord wrapped around the dull end for a handle.

The dressy verision was the Swat Bowie, all it had different, was a shiney brass gaurd, and a polished blade.

I just love cave man simple stuff like that. It was a beautiful knife, and I never bought one when I had the chance becaue I had been sending to much $$ on Knives and stuff like that at the time, and my wife (Who divorced me a few years later) was *****ibg big time about my "Useles obsession". Then, years later, after my Divorce (actually as a celabration of it) I decided to to buy one as I was free to with no hassles, only to find out the EK Bowie company went out of buisnes!!!

It's the only knife I really still want for my small collection. I can't find one anywhere though. Damm it, I should of told the ***** to F-off and just bought it when It was avaliable. But who thought a knife that was in production since WWII would just dissapear over night one day.

JWTAYLOR ,
Why don't you get a small belt sander?? It turnes slow enough to have controll, and will shae a blade just fine, or at least rough it out for you. That's better than filing the whole thing by hand right??

I have always waned to buy a bar of ATS 34, and cut myself a blade for an extra Ka Bar handle I have. Once I get it cut and roughly sharp, I could just send it to a local heat treater to harden it up to a Rockwel of 57-59.

[Black Jack]

My golden list of knifes, my favorites for my wish-list collection, for different reasons, here are the base generic labels.

U.S.M.C. KA-BAR

V-42 Stiletto (the knife used by the Black Devil's Brigade in WWII)

Fairbairn/Sykes Commando Dagger

Fairbairn Smachet

WWI Trench Knife

Kukri (A number of different models but I really like the Gurka model)

Fighting Bowie (the Hossom/Keating Bowie is REAL nice looking, so is the Bagwell Hells-Belles, so Szabonic, any nice fighting bowie)

Arkansass Toothpick

Barong

Bolo

Dha

O.S.S. Devil Darts/Push Daggers/Lapel Knifes

Bodkin/Dirks

Balanced throwing blades/irons/spikes

Different military collectable bayonets

Vietnam Era Tomahawk (I know its not a knife, but I mean
come on!)

Sabers

[Royal Dragon]

I've got a Russian Spetznaz Combat throwing Shovel

It's my favorite camping tool