Vintage Knives Moose Update

A while back I wrote this post about the Vintage Knives Moose pattern slipjoint. I mentioned to Spen the other night that I'd been playing around with this knife again and he pulled his out of his pocket. It appears that the slipjoint bug never really goes away.

This knife has gotten easier to open without losing the "walk and talk" it had fresh out of the box. The blades still look great with some mild patina--something I try to get on my knives.

The badge has quite a bit of wear from carrying in the same pocket as my keys. The bolsters, however, still look great. I put a drop or two of Tuf Glide into the pivots once a month and suspect that has had something to do with the smoothing of the action.

The blades have both been convexed using sandpaper over a mouse pad. I started with something like 320-grit and worked up to 600, 800, 1200, 2000, 2500, and then green chromium oxide and, finally, the black stropping compound from Hand American. Other than the occasional touchup to the strop, the blades have not needed any edge work.

Pup is also the guy that convinced Bob Dozier to remake a custom he and I worked on a couple of years ago combining his Pro Guide handle with the Master Skinner point.

There's also the Delta Traveller (DT,) a variation on Bob's Arkansas Traveller pattern, seen here. The DT is a Vintage Knives exclusive and Pup has offered them in a variety of interesting handle materials including green canvas micarta, the gold micarta seen above on the Pro Guide, the brown micarta seen on my DT, black canvas micarta, and a variety of bone and antler handles.

I've always had good luck dealing with Pup and he's great for a conversation any old time. If you're in the market for these knives or knives like them I'd encourage you to drop him a line or give him a call.

Thanks for reading,


B

Matt Caldwell Knives

Pup at Vintage Knives contacted me the other day to let me know that he was getting in some prototypes from Matt Caldwell of Caldwell Knives and I asked him for more information on them.

It turns out Matt has sent him 1-7s and 1-9s (7" and 9" blades respectively) with sheaths by Rob Humelbaugh of Survival Sheath Systems--a very good thing in my opinion.

The knives are made of 154CM and Matt is offering them in various colors of micarta. You can see all of the new knives here while they last.

I hadn't heard of Matt Caldwell until I saw his knives (1-4 and 1-6) on Pup's website and hesitated long enough that they were all sold by the time I got around to trying to pull the trigger.

Fit and finish looks great. They're some robust stock (.235" thick) and the 1-9 at the same thickness ought to be a beat of a chopper.

Matt says, "Production will be limited to 120 Model 1-7's and 60 Model 1-9's. Chances are I'll never build knives of this size ever again." So if you're inclined to buy a knife of this size and/or style I'd encourage you to take a look at these. I missed my shot at the 1-4s and 1-6s.

Pup convinced Bob Dozier to make my modded Pro Guide Knife several years ago, he steered me toward the Delta Traveller, hooked me on the Vintage Knives Moose, and has been my go-to guy on Carbon Steel slipjoints for years. When he gets excited about a knife model or knifemaker I tend to listen closely. He hasn't steered me wrong yet. :)

Just some of my history with Pup--includes pictures of the knives mentioned above.

Thanks for reading,


B

Dozier Knives at Vintage Knives

Pup just got in some new knives from Bob Dozier's shop.

Several years ago I approached Bob to make a Pro Guide (one of his larger models) with a different tip as I wasn't a huge fan of the clip point he'd been using. He agreed and the modified Pro Guide was born. In a fit of madness, I gave that knife to a friend and then desperately tried to get another made. My friend Billy "Pup" Cochrane of Vintage Knives is a Dozier Knives Dealer and I convinced him to order up a few at the Chicago Show a few years back. He got in a batch, sold them all, and then ordered some more. Here they are:
Drop Point Pro Guide with tan canvas Micarta handles
Drop Point Pro Guidewith green canvas Micarta handles


Bob makes the Arkansas Traveller as a sort of everyday carry/utility blade and Pup had the brilliant idea to up-size the whole package a bit so this:
Arkansas Traveller
became this:
Delta Traveller

and I had another favorite design from a fantastic maker.

If you've been around here a while you've read my posts on the Delta Traveller (DT) in the past and you'll know that I think it's one heck of a knife. I'm tempted to get my hands on one of the Arkansas Travellers just to determine whether or not the design loses anything in translation either up or down in size. I can't imagine it does but this is the excuse I'll have to give myself...

If these knives appeal to you I'd suggest you jump on them pretty quickly. Doziers don't last long and you're hearing about it here first.

Thanks for reading,


B

New Blades

Did some shopping at Vintage Knives early Monday morning and a package greeted me at the door today when I got home.

I've been on a real slipjoint kick lately and Pup's got quite a selection of new and used slipjoints. He's even got one, a Moose pattern, with the Vintage Knives tang stamp. It's got massive backsprings and the blades snap open and closed with authority. 1095 Carbon steel takes a nice patina from use and the model I've had since they were first introduced has a nice dark grey finish with even darker spots. That's the one I just gave to my Dad for his birthday.

There were only 107 pieces made and I don't think there will be any more down the road so if you're interested I'd advise you to shoot Pup an email or give him a call and get whatever information you're going to need to finalize your decision.

Thanks for reading,

B

Dozier and Caldwell at Vintage Knives

Pup's got new blades from Bob Dozier and Matt Caldwell on his site HERE.

I picked up an orange G10 Delta Traveller last night to replace one I lost and one I gave away.

Give them a look.

B

Newest Nessmuk Trio

Here it is. Combining my Koster Nessmuk with a Vintage Knives Moose and a Ragweed Forge double-bit Nessmuk axe I've got a modern interpretation of Nessmuk's often-replicated trio of woods tools.

The idea to shoot a picture of all three items has been rattling around inside my head since I picked up the Koster Nessmuk a couple of weeks ago but I just got around to it this morning.

I hope you enjoy the photo.

Thanks for reading,


B

One more for today

My Osage Orange Lil' Nessy from Bark River Knife and Tool alongside my Vintage Knives Moose. Awesome pieces of history here. I hope my photo starts to do some justice to the job Mike and his crew have done.

Thanks for reading,

B