Homespun riflemen’s knife

[A Wyatt]

Here is a blade I finished this weekend. It’s forged from 1095 with a mild steel guard. The handle is curly maple stained with aqua fortis. Now to get a sheath sewn. Also in one of the pictures I forged a butt plate for an up and coming rifle build.

 

[Brazos John]

The knife is a beauty!

 

[rusty]

very nice

 

[TDM]

Both are very nice.

 

[SOLANCO]

That is a good piece of work. But.......just for discussion's sake? What makes a rifleman's knife? As opposed to any other sort?

I can torture a target pretty well with a rifle. Flint or suppository. But is my knife a handy tool? A self defense fall back? Both? Entry level knife fighting sounds like a pass/fail kind of course.

 

[TDM]

That is a good piece of work. But.......just for discussion's sake? What makes a rifleman's knife? As opposed to any other sort?

I can torture a target pretty well with a rifle. Flint or suppository. But is my knife a handy tool? A self defense fall back? Both? Entry level knife fighting sounds like a pass/fail kind of course.

The “rifleman’s knife” was usually an 8” to 12” narrow blade with the sheath carried on the waist belt. It was considered a self defense backup if a 2nd shot couldn’t be loaded in time. And used generally for other cutting duties. The narrow blades were the norm through the 1700’s to early 1800’s until the Bowie style became popular.

 

[Packrat]

 

[Wncman]

Awesome Job

 

[GriscomRun]

I need one like that .

 

[fubar22]

That's a dandy. Great work.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Epic workmanship, @A Wyatt ! I hope to see the rifle that will go with that buttplate some day, too.

The “rifleman’s knife” was usually an 8” to 12” narrow blade with the sheath carried on the waist belt. It was considered a self defense backup if a 2nd shot couldn’t be loaded in time. And used generally for other cutting duties. The narrow blades were the norm through the 1700’s to early 1800’s until the Bowie style became popular.

I think that’s about the best summary definition of a rifleman’s knife you’re likely to find.

Notchy Bob

 

[LRB]

A very nice knife Mr. Wyatt! Very nice. Most all period style knifemakers, including myself, make/made and offer/offered "rifleman's knives", from crude or simple, to fancy and or decorated. Just bear in mind, in reality, that the designated rifleman's knife is pure fantasy, as are designated patch knives. These are modern fantasy entities that simply never intentionally were, although I, and most all of us all love and admire such knives. Look over surviving blade weaponry of early 18th c/19th c that have even speculative provenance and note the lack of single edge knives with guards. Daggers, yes. Single edge belt types, no with few exceptions. The lack of brass, unless a repurposed sword, and especially a lack of brass rivets/pins, and any lead solder you may find is a recent addition. Also, you will see few, if any early knives with a ricasso grind. You may find a sword with a ricasso, but it would not be the norm if not military, as far as I know. You also will not find many curly maple grips, or antler. The common most prolific knives of early America were the cheap trade knives. Cheap, easy to find, even when at war with the countries that made them. They were imported in the tens of thousands. Just saying, reality is often less fun than fantasy. It depends on how PC one wants.

Here is a blade I finished this weekend. It’s forged from 1095 with a mild steel guard. The handle is curly maple stained with aqua fortis. Now to get a sheath sewn. Also in one of the pictures I forged a butt plate for an up and coming rifle build. View attachment 319482View attachment 319481View attachment 319483View attachment 319484

 

[TDM]

Thank you @Notchy Bob!

 

[J.D.]

A very nice knife Mr. Wyatt! Very nice. Most all period style knifemakers, including myself, make/made and offer/offered "rifleman's knives", from crude or simple, to fancy and or decorated. Just bear in mind, in reality, that the designated rifleman's knife is pure fantasy, as are designated patch knives. These are modern fantasy entities that simply never intentionally were, although I, and most all of us all love and admire such knives. Look over surviving blade weaponry of early 18th c/19th c that have even speculative provenance and note the lack of single edge knives with guards. Daggers, yes. Single edge belt types, no with few exceptions. The lack of brass, unless a repurposed sword, and especially a lack of brass rivets/pins, and any lead solder you may find is a recent addition. Also, you will see few, if any early knives with a ricasso grind. You may find a sword with a ricasso, but it would not be the norm if not military, as far as I know. You also will not find many curly maple grips, or antler. The common most prolific knives of early America were the cheap trade knives. Cheap, easy to find, even when at war with the countries that made them. They were imported in the tens of thousands. Just saying, reality is often less fun than fantasy. It depends on how PC one wants.

Dang Wick, you almost gave me a heart attack with that blast of actual history. LOL In addition to your explanation, the long blade "rifleman's knife" does not appear in archeological excavations of 18th century sites, however, cheap trade knives, aka butcher knives, you described, abound.

IMHO, the style of the "rifleman's knife" commonly seen today are creations of the House brothers, who did not copy original pieces. Not bashing the House brothers. Their work stands for itself. Their style of knives are just not recreations of common historical artifacts.

And, Mr. Wyatt, that is very nice work. Nice work on the buttpiece too. I look forward to seeing what you do with that.

 

[BillinOregon]

Mr. Wyatt, yours is a beautiful interpretation of the type, no matter its provenance in the historical record.
And Wick, thanks for bringing that record into the conversation. Always great to see you posting.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Meshach Browning in Forty-Four Years of The Life of a Hunter, he uses his knife all the time, and mostly on bears. He is hunting with dogs, and the bears are fighting with the dogs and so he cannot shoot the bear.

"I had lost my gun in the weeds, and I had no means of defending my dogs, except with a large knife in my belt, which I drew,..."

"Still, he fought on, though my stroke released the dog, who rose and went at him again; but as the bear attempted to go under a log that was raised a little off the ground, the sound dog caught him by the nose, while the other seized him by the ham. Both held fast; and he being tightly wedged between the log and the ground, I ran upon him with my knife and dealt him two or three severe blows, which finished him."

"..., therefore I let fly at him, when down he went, and dogs and bear were at once in close quarters. I ran up quickly, and made two or three blows at him with my knife, and killed him in two minutes from the time I first fired my gun."

"The bear seized one of the dogs by the shoulder; but the instant I saw that I sent my knife into his side, through the lights [lungs], and stretched him lifeless at my feet."

He does not really describe his knife, although he does mention that his brother-in-law was carrying a "hawkbill knife" which he borrows once to use on an animal.

LD

 

[fubar22]

I love Mr. Wyatt's knife design and the fine craftsmanship he put into it. Is this style of knife an accurate representation of what a real frontier rifleman would have carried in the late 18th or early 19th centuries? It's hard to say for sure. Part of me says yes. What man of any era wouldn't want to carry tasteful and finely crafted tools with him in the field? And since surviving documentation of that gear isn't all that detailed, and archeological evidence isn't all that conclusive, who's to say that something like this couldn't have been carried? Part of me, on the other hand, says that rough and ready outdoorsmen of any era will focus on economy and utility rather than fashionability. Aesthetics aside, a rugged but cheap trade knife works just about as well as a finely crafted blade for camp chores and as a weapon of last resort. I suspect that most men of modest means in any era would pick the tool they can afford. Again, great work Mr. Wyatt. I'd love to see more pictures of your work.

 

[J.D.]

Loyalist Dave, It's interesting Browning specifically mentions his large knife. IMHO, large knives did exist, but were they often carried? Narrators of the time usually mention things that are unusual, rather than the mundane, so I have to wonder if that is the case, in this instance, as well?

I also suspect that Fubar22 might be on to something discussed among some of my friends. I, and others, have noticed that, especially among many serious reenactors, the apparent penchant for acquiring, fashionable, high dollar gear from name makers, as opposed to more mundane gear. Which begs the question, is fashion replacing historical accuracy in some aspects of our hobby?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Loyalist Dave, It's interesting that Browning specifically mentions his large knife. IMHO, large knives did exist, but were they often carried. Narrators of the time mention things that are unusual, rather than the mundane. I wonder if that is the case, in this instance, as well?

Naw, I doubt it, as he mentions others carrying knives. Not all are huge, and he has to borrow one from time to time. PLUS I'm not sure how "large" it really is. Is it an inexpensive butcher knife? We really don't know. Browning is making multiple stabs to dispatch the animal in more than one of his encounters. You see large knives carried by hunters in George Morgan's store in the inventories and accounts for the 1760's in "Sons of a Trackless Forest" by Mark Baker, which is a the generation prior to Browning's. You find flintlock riflemen in Europe carrying hunting swords which ran the gamut of actually being swords to rather long knives, and as history progressed into the 19th century by 1849 the United States was issuing Army Riflemen a large knife (at least in theory) , which is actually a fighting dagger.

I think most riflemen in North America in the flint era carried a good butcher knife, (that's what I carry as my "rifleman's knife") since they were not only butchering deer, but we often forget that Elk and Bison roamed as far east as the Shenandoah Valley. Not to mention close encounters with the Eastern Mountain Lion.

LD

 

[J.D.]

Dave, I think we do agree, in general. IMHO, "large" is relative, and without a dimension, or a direct reference to another knife, in this case, we don't know how large is "large."