My Old Hickory Bushcraft Knives

Old Hickory Knives for Bushcraft

   

      Hey guys, I just wanted to show you a couple of my Old Hickory brand knives that I use in the field, along with the sheaths that I made for them.

     

     The larger of the two started out as an Old Hickory butcher's knife with an 8 inch blade length. I wanted a slightly shorter blade, so I took a hacksaw and file to it. The blade measures 4 inches long now, which I feel is just about right for a general purpose bushcraft knife. It has an overall length of 8.5 inches. I also filed the tip down a bit, creating a profile similar to a tanto blade. I like it, but I wish I would have went with a drop point profile.

    

      I removed the wooden scales, and replaced them with a jute twine wrap. I soaked the jute twine in epoxy prior to wrapping, and once it was fully dry, I sanded it down to make it smoother. The result is one of the most comfortable knife handles I have used.

    

      Overall, even though I am a bit disappointed by the tanto point, this modified Old Hickory knife remains one of my favorite bushcraft knives. The carbon steel is easy to sharpen to a shaving sharp edge, even in the field. The size and comfortable handle make camp chores less of a, well, chore.  I would definitely recommend an Old Hickory knife for bushcraft use.

Both of my Old Hickory Knives, in the homemade sheaths. Victorinox Classic for scale.

     The next knife, is an Old Hickory brand paring knife, similar to the one pictured below. It has a 3.75 inch blade length, and an overall length of 7 inches. I did nothing to this knife, other than sharpening it to a hair splitting convex grind. It fits perfect in my hand, and has proved most useful for cleaning fish and small game.

Old Hickory knives unsheathed. Victorinox Classic for scale.

     Now on to the sheaths. This was my first attempt at leather working, so while it may not be the prettiest, I like it. The leather came from an old boot, which had decorative studs which I incorporated into the sheath design. I used 15 pound test fishing line as thread, and both sheaths have held up quite well.

     All in all, I'm quite satisfied with how everything turned out. Both of these knives are very useful in the field, and the carbon steel used can take quite an edge. I am now eyeballing Old Hickory sets to have some more knives to modify.

      If you would like to try these Old Hickory knives out for yourself, Amazon sells them for a pretty reasonable price. Links are below.