This set up was made for me by a friend and
has served me well for over a decade.
The handles are made from giraffe leg bone.
It is interesting to watch the evolution of an outdoor person through their progression of knives. The first knife is not included in this list. The first knife is usually awarded to the kid at around 8 years of age, with the famous statement, “don’t cut yourself.”
The kid will immediately take the knife and sharpen it, thereby reducing the thickness of the blade to about half its original thickness. Next, he will whittle everything in sight, from firewood to furniture. Lastly, he will cut himself and be ceremoniously stripped of the knife to be given back to him at a “later date,” meaning sometime when he had kids of his own.
My first real knife came when I was about 17 and needed a knife that I could use for hunting and fishing, while in the mountains. I selected a Bowie knife, one made by Puma with stag handles and a blade you could shave with.
Most people have a Bowie knife somewhere in their past, and I bet many still carry one. The original Bowie (pronounced BOO-ee) was named after the famous pioneer, and soldier James Bowie. Stories abound about this man, and even a few of them are true.
Bowie once killed the sheriff of Rapides Parish with a very large knife. This story, plus a few about a fight on a sandbar, in which Bowie killed several people with his big knife, led to the widespread popularity of the Bowie knife. If old Jim was alive today, he probably would not recognize what we now call a “Bowie knife.”
The original Bowie knife was built by Rezin Bowie in 1830. It was a large knife, possibly 18 inches long, with a clip point, and meant as a fighting knife and not a blade for hunting and fishing. The Bowie knives of today, including my Puma, look nothing like the original design.
Another phase that changed the style of knife we carried around came from the Rambo movies, played by Sylvester Stallone, where he carried a large survival knife, called a Rambo knife. This knife was usually a foot long, with a 6-to-8-inch blade, that had a hidden compartment in the handle where you could carry survival equipment.
In the movie, Rambo carried everything from explosive, machine guns and ammo, snowshoes, fishing tackle, and more in his Hollywood version of the knife. Mine only held about 3 feet of paracord and 2 aspirin. The aspirin was for the headache I got trying to open the thing and get the paracord out.
I did jump into a large knife again, when I discovered Randall Knives of Orlando, Florida. Bo Randall founded the company in 1938, building very high-quality knives of many different styles and designs, for everything from survival, fighting, fishing, and hunting, to just plain beautiful custom knives to look at.
I was 50 when I finally could afford one of his knives. I thought it would make the ultimate outdoor knife for all my chosen activities. The blade I selected, the Model 14, came with a 7 ½ inch blade, and cost more than my first car.
So beautiful is this expensive knife, that I never carried it afield. The blade is just as pristine as the day I bought it. I never used it because I was afraid, I might scratch it, and the insurance policy does not cover wear and tear, so it sits in the bank deposit box.
That left me without a suitable knife for woodcraft, hunting, and fishing. I met up with Don Bolton, of Grand Junction, and explained my knifeless plight. Don explained that I don’t need a huge knife to lug around in the woods. Something small, handy, properly shaped, and well-made would fill the bill.
A decade ago, Don made me a knife that is 7 inches overall, three-inch blade, has a great handle and a blade of the highest quality steel. This knife handles all my woodcraft and camping needs, has cut steaks for me afield, skinned and process countless game animals, cleaned plenty of fish for countless shore lunches, and weighs very little, so it is always with me.
The Don Bolton knife was expensive, but well south of the Randall. I have carried this little knife on 4 continents, soon to be 5, and it will serve me well, lest I lose it somewhere accidently.
I learned that I don’t need a huge knife, just one big enough to handle the task efficiently, safely, and properly. It is also nice not to have to lug around a knife that weighs more than a Buick and is as handy on your belt as a pair of water skis. The moral of the story is to carry just enough knife.
Mark Rackay
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Mark Rackay is a columnist for the Montrose Daily Press, Delta County Independent, and several other newspapers, as well as a feature writer for The Nautical Mile, and several other saltwater fishing magazines. He is an avid hunter and world class saltwater angler, who travels around the world in search of adventure and serves as a Director and Public Information Officer for the Montrose County Sheriff’s Posse.
