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Tristate

Tristate

Long Time Member
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Alright fellas. We had a nice knife discussion. Please post pics of some of your favorite knives and any back story about them you would like to share.
 
This is one of My RELH/HATFIELD Knives!

When I Was Younger While Skinning a Buck I Slipped & Yanked the Knife Back towards Me Burying it clear to the Bone about 4" above My Knee!

When the Point of that Knife hit the Bone that Smarted just a little Bit!

Shoulda been Sewed up but Hunting PISSCUTTERS was More Important!

RELH KNIFE.jpg
 
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I FINALLY got me not 1, but 2 of RELH/Hatfield knives in the mail just the other day... to say I'm like a chubby kid in a candy store is an understatement!!!! I unboxed them and my sweet Wife says " what did you buy now?" I showed them to her, while I'm grinning and giddy... I show her the dry shave trick on my forearm, and she says, and I quote, " which ones mine?" :ROFLMAO:, and then,,, " now you have an ugly bald spot on your arm"..
I'm not gonna hijack this new post, BUT, there is absolutely zero comparison between these custom one off knives and a damn havalon,,, zero!!!!
Anyways, I'll be adding many more Hatfield to my family, extended family for sure

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Homer it is not mine as that is a flat grind on the blade and I prefer to do a hollow grind. Does appear to be a darn good knife that should give you good service for many years.

RELH
 
Homer, very interesting knife. The deep removed pitting I actually like. Has that look like it was made from som old farm equipment like an edger blade or something.

Keep them coming fellas. I'll post some too. I really like old used ones also.
 
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Here's on of mine folks. I know it's ugly but I had to have it.

Driving down a paved road in the middle of nowhere Zimbabwe, there is an old black man sitting next to a fire and a wrecked car. He is cutting pieces of metal off of the wrecked car, re forging the metal into blades and making folding knives. The handle is hand shaped African lead wood. Blade is tight when you open it and the spring latch is perfectly fitted and makes a loud snap when you open and close it. Not super hard metal but easy to sharpen. It isn't pretty but mechanically it is better than most store bought folding knives in America nowadays.

Price $3.
 
DW that knife was one I just finished a couple days ago. It is pending sale to a MM member in the great state of Utah. As for any knives in stock. My inventory is ZERO as I have not been able to keep any stock inventory since last Christmas. My record for selling after posting on Facebook is 2 minutes and that was the knife before the one in the photo above.

RELH
 
Waaaayyyyyyyyyy back in the 1980s, I went to Buck's Camp at Rivers Inlet, BC to fish for king salmon. There were some folks from Utah there, including the late Lynn Maxfield -- a custom knifemaker from Layton. Before we parted he told me to design a knife I would like to own & he would make it for me no charge. So after I got home I sent a drawing to him & he made it. It's a 4" drop-point of 440-C steel with a 59 Rockwell rating and has a balbinga wood handle with a brass guard, butt plate and decorative inserts.

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Now fast forward to a couple months ago when I decided to sell the knife, which was unused & never sharpened. I listed it on several sites, including here, and sold it to a guy from AZ that actually lived next door to Maxfield in UT back when the buyer was a youngster.
 
OutdoorWriter said:
Waaaayyyyyyyyyy back in the 1980s, I went to Buck's Camp at Rivers Inlet, BC to fish for king salmon. There were some folks from Utah there, including the late Lynn Maxfield -- a custom knifemaker from Layton. Before we parted he told me to design a knife I would like to own & he would make it for me no charge. So after I got home I sent a drawing to him & he made it. It's a 4" drop-point of 440-C steel with a 59 Rockwell rating and has a balbinga wood handle with a brass guard, butt plate and decorative inserts.

View attachment 35850

Now fast forward to a couple months ago when I decided to sell the knife, which was unused & never sharpened. I listed it on several sites, including here, and sold it to a guy from AZ that actually lived next door to Maxfield in UT back when the buyer was a youngster.
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Great looking knife!
 
I really like the style of custom knives made pre 90's. It's kind of like girls jeans and classic cars. Nice to see the old style. Grabs your eye. A lot of the new style custom knives start to look the same as each other. An old one jumps out at you.
 
Tristate said:
I really like the style of custom knives made pre 90's. It's kind of like girls jeans and classic cars. Nice to see the old style. Grabs your eye. A lot of the new style custom knives start to look the same as each other. An old one jumps out at you.
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They buy blade blanks......how unique could they be?
 
Tristate, if that style is your favorite, then you like the knives designed by Bob Loveless and made famous by him. Anyone with a Loveless knife in perfect shape has a good investment for their dollar spent.
RELH
 
RELH said:
Tristate, if that style is your favorite, then you like the knives designed by Bob Loveless and made famous by him. Anyone with a Loveless knife in perfect shape has a good investment for their dollar spent.
RELH
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His drop-point hunter was the inspiration for my design.

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PCPython bought that knife when my price was lower. Had to jack up the price due to top grade stabilized wood taking a big jump in price. Black line spalted maple doubled in price in one year and it is hard now to find the exhibition grade that I like.
A set of handle scales that used to cost me 10-15 bucks are now costing 25-35 bucks and even higher. Steel has only risen a few percentage points in price in past 16 months.

RELH
 
Just wait, stainless had gone up a lot and I hear mild steel might go up as much as 40%. I hope not, but inflation hits everything.

Those are some great looking knives. To nice to take out hunting. I would be afraid of loosing one.
 
Here are a couple made by Brad Watkins out of Dillon MT. Skinner belongs to a friend that helped us out on a mule deer last year and the little drop point is the knife I bought from Brad in November.

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I bought this in the MM classifieds from some guy named Eel. It was advertised as a first generation original “Hatfield” from the “Kerosene Cutter” collection. The ad didn’t have a pic but he assured me it had been cleaned in the dishwasher, so I was happy to find that in fact it had been. I was disappointed that it didn’t have a gut hook, but not a deal breaker. Overall I’m very happy with the blade.... it has gutted, skinned & processed two bull elephants, a Cape Buffalo, 3 elk & 4 turtles. Still haven’t had to sharpen it. Thx again Eel!
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wetmule said:
I bought this in the MM classifieds from some guy named Eel. It was advertised as a first generation original “Hatfield” from the “Kerosene Cutter” collection. The ad didn’t have a pic but he assured me it had been cleaned in the dishwasher, so I was happy to find that in fact it had been. I was disappointed that it didn’t have a gut hook, but not a deal breaker. Overall I’m very happy with the blade.... it has gutted, skinned & processed two bull elephants, a Cape Buffalo, 3 elk & 4 turtles. Still haven’t had to sharpen it. Thx again Eel!
View attachment 35927
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Classic!
 
Wetmule I doubt you cleaned several turtles with that blade. No nicks or chips on the cutting edge from the shell.
If you did knock off a few turtles, were they Roy's turtles that Eel got blamed for doing? If they were, better pled the 5th. and stay silent. Eel still has a few gallons of kerosene that he borrowed from me. He loves to sneak around during the hours of darkness and lighting big bon fires.
RELH
 
I Have a few of these!

Tony Stanfield out of White City,Oregon is the Craftsman that Builds These & They are Top Quality!

Yes,I Have Gutted & Skinned Deer with them!

They're More of a Show Piece than anything!

Look Him Up,They Make Great Gifts & Are Made Right Here in the USA!

I Don't Own this particular Knife,It's Actually for Sale & You Can Be the New Owner!

obsidian knife.jpg
 
RELH said:
Wetmule I doubt you cleaned several turtles with that blade. No nicks or chips on the cutting edge from the shell.
If you did knock off a few turtles, were they Roy's turtles that Eel got blamed for doing? If they were, better pled the 5th. and stay silent. Eel still has a few gallons of kerosene that he borrowed from me. He loves to sneak around during the hours of darkness and lighting big bon fires.
RELH
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RELH - you are correct their are no chips or nicks on the cutting edge from the hard shell turtles, but that is due to the JetDri treatment Eel applied from the dishwasher. Normally yes you are correct - that just one turtle would wreak havoc on a blade & ruin it. But as you know if the dishwasher temp is high enough it provides an extra level of forging & “turtle” hardens the blade. There’s a reason some car paint waxes call themselves turtle shell tough.

No RELH all my turtles have been free range public land harvests, none of that high fence, private, high dollar SFW expo auction stuff that Roy is so famous for. I drew all my tags surprisingly from areas that mostly require only 0 - 3 points. But like flounder I know how to play the points game and since I’m so good at finding trophy turtles I can usually find someone to share their points with me in exchange for my vast turtle knowledge.

Yes I’m keenly aware that Eel has a kerosene stash hidden away for those special occasions and a penchant for bonfires. I tipped him well when I purchased the blade for that very reason but it’s hard to avoid the elephant in the room on just why we never see our brother Overton post anymore? Someone ought to look into that. Other than the missing gut hook I’m still enjoying my “Hatfield Kerosene Special” & hope you keep churning out your custom blades.
 
Wetmule, you must be a writer of fiction and I bet your books made the best seller list. I am still laughing over that piece of fiction above.
RELH
 
RELH said:
Wetmule I doubt you cleaned several turtles with that blade. No nicks or chips on the cutting edge from the shell.
If you did knock off a few turtles, were they Roy's turtles that Eel got blamed for doing? If they were, better pled the 5th. and stay silent. Eel still has a few gallons of kerosene that he borrowed from me. He loves to sneak around during the hours of darkness and lighting big bon fires.
RELH
Click to expand...
yeah just ask your cousin in Shelter Cove about his sneaking around LOL
 
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Here is knife #2 for me on this post. I said earlier I really like the old style custom knives. This knife was made by Ed Stokes. He has been dead a long time. According to the original owner this knife was made somewhere around 1982. Mesquite handle. Sheath was also made by Stokes. I have only carried it a couple of times and it hasn't jerked anything guts out yet.

Keep them coming fellas. Ugly, old, and truly one of a kind are my favorite.
 
A couple more custom's of mine...folder was made by a friend of my Uncle's. I think he quit making knives some time ago, this one was made in the mid-80s. Solid work, nothing fancy.

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Growing up in the Missoula Montana area...everyone that started hunting in the 70's and 80's had a Ruana. The early knives were crude as hell, but fetch big money from what I'm told.

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I suspect it is from some african antelope or similar....it was made in South Africa.......
 

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