Trad Gang

This year we got some purrty good hunters & skinners coming to the 1st Annual All Traditional Quebec Bear Quest.  Little do they know that they have been drafted into my R&D Dept...got some new designs, thickness variations ,and different tempers.  All I needed was a Wild Bunch to determine if any are worthy blades. Hope to have some pictures of these in action      ;)       No sense finishing them til the verdict is in.  They are all scary sharp to start with...Good thing Vance & Norb aren't coming      :scared:      Doc

    (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/BearCampRDKnives001.jpg)

Of course there will be a few proven ones in camp for those who need a little better grip if they celebrated over their trophy too much!  I'll bring sutures & staples just in case  :eek:  

     (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/BearCampRDKnives003.jpg)

Hunting with this group and a Tippit knife to play with too. Not fair! I am so jealous!

Doc, those look great.  I like the looks of the blade that is 3rd from the top in the top pic.  If I had to guess based on your reputation I am sure they will all perform flawlessly!!

:readit:

Second from the bottom in the top photo.  If that one doesn't make the grade, just send it down to me.  I'll take care of getting it to the dump -- in about fifty years.

are these knives going to be for sale afterwards!

Wow! What an arteeeeest!! Them's sure purty Doc!
IF I grow up, I wanna be like Doc!!  :bigsmyl:

What an arsenal of weapons!   :eek:   Sure hope there's enough bears to go around so none of them get neglected.  :D

Kenny,
That's the problem when you grow up...you Will be just like me  :eek:  Old!

I'll take the 4th one from the top and test it out for ya!  ;)   Kind of looks like   this one (http://home.earthlink.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.earthlink.net/~jsteflik1306/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/hoal1.jpg&target=tlx_new)  I did for one of the HOAL guides.  It felt real good in the hand and I was sorry I wasn't able to test it out first!

Oh, and I almost forgot    :thumbsup:

Jeremy,
Your knives just look too good to scratch up  :banghead:    I didn't finish any of these til I can see if they are worth finishing...But they will never look as good as yours when I do finish 'em!  Doc

Whip,
I think we might need a Shin'in Cop if we get 4 guys working on a Barr at once  :scared:

Doc,

Nice Blades! If I knew that hunt came with a knife I'd signed up for sure (just kiddin, could'nt get away at that time). No dang wonder your pack weighs so much! It would be much easier on your knees if you only had one knife in that pack! Those survival style blades are awesome,just work on some kydex sheaths and your all set. You should look for someone in your area that could bead blast and coat them in a parkerized or satin finish. I have had some stuff done this way and cost was minimal. You guys have a great hunt and I will see you at Denton.

hunt it,  
Wish you were comin'...could use some help with that darn pack   :knothead:

Jeff,

I really like the looks of the second from the top.  It reminds me of my Grohmann Canadia Belt Knife or the recent copy by Knives of Alaska (Yukon).  Let me know if you have any "scrap" you want to get rid of   ;)

OOOOOOHHHHH I's in LOVE! You mean I get to actually play with those   :goldtooth:

QuoteOriginally posted by tippit:
 They are all scary sharp to start with...Good thing Vance & Norb aren't coming       :scared:       Doc  

Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are!!  :biglaugh:    :biglaugh:

Look at that, he even made some left handed ones!!!!

JC,
They are meant to be punished.  If they can stand up to this bunch then maybe I'm on to something  :bigsmyl:  I added para cord to most just so there is some type of grip.  Course I still want to see everyone's personal favorites...not that I'd ever think of coping it  

BobW,
I actually make Left Hand knives with palm swell on left side.  I don't know how you guys can stand it though...sure feels funny    :confused:  Doc

Doc, fine looking knives  :thumbsup:    :notworthy:

Beautiful as always!!!!  :readit:  

Now what about those who already have one?  ;)

Shell,  
I never looked at it that way...but good point.  For those that already have one of my knives, invite me to hunt so I can watch and critique how you use it for skin'n   :biglaugh:

Some day Doc, we will se if we can do that.

Sweet Jeff! I'm partial to #3 & #5 myself. I like a blade with a good bit of belly. Kinda reminds me of the Randall style blades. One of those puppys witha 5" blade would float my boat.Let us know how they work out. You going to Denton this year? If so, bring some sharp fondling stuff with you.

Jerry

Jerry, I'll be there.  Looking forward to another TG Shoot...Jeff

Those are some sweet blade designs.  Especially the third from the top.

It's hard to compare these knives from a picture.  Most are just rough finished so looks don't mean much.  The big difference is the thickness of the blades.  I'll be very interested to get opinions on what the desired thickness for a working blade turns out to be.  Plus see how the edge holds up cause of different tempering temperatures...Doc

Well, it's a tough job testing out fine, hand made custom knives...but I'm always willing to suffer for the pursuit of knowledge...and purdy steel   :readit:

Don't forget about the bears with all this pretty steel around now guys.

Jeff,

If you could, bring those blades to Denton with you. Like to get my grippers on them and give you an opinion. Here's a sweet little drop point I picked up from Bryan Baker from Boise;

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/Rugerfan/DSC00067.jpg)

This little gem has a pretty thick blade made of hard S30V steel. I put it to the camp test at Baltimore by slicing up some tomato and disecting my ribeye. Did a fine job but the thicker blade makes slicing 'maters a bit "different". I think a 5" blade is about prefect for a good all around knife, in my opinion.

Jerry

Dave, what do you think we are gonna be testing on?  :saywhat:  I have high hopes of lots of skinning going on.

QuoteOriginally posted by Bob Walker:
 

QuoteOriginally posted by tippit:
 They are all scary sharp to start with...Good thing Vance & Norb aren't coming        :scared:        Doc  

Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are!!   :biglaugh:      :biglaugh:  [/b]

Vance, are you feeling the love from these guys?  

wish you were coming, Beachie.

Doc- I used my Tippit sheep scaled knife you gave me to skin my hog this past weekend- best edge-retention I've ever seen in any knife at any price..and when I was through I had to hand it to Squirrel Bait so he could finish HIS hog up with it...and we didn't even touch up the edge once!

I like the profile on that second from the top in first photo very much..but I'm bringing my sheep scaled Tippit with me.

I'm more than fond of the middle one and the two flanking it....  :D

Ray:
I want to see that knife/edge so don't sharpen it.  I can put a razor edge back on it but I'm very curious to see how sharp it really is after 1 1/2 hogs.

JC, Bob, and Curveman:
We may have a special guest riding out with us...just a little tease.  No it ain't Tilly the Trackin' dog    Doc

Like Ray, I can attest for the blade retention too, been using my sweet tippit knife for everything, never had to sharpen it yet and the blade is just as razorsharp and untouched as day one!  :help: