Period correct knife for fur trade in western Canada 1800-1815

[foxm1754]

For inspiration Mr. Ellerbe's homepage is still up on the 'Net (Thank you Mr. Ellerbe for leaving this up, it is appreciated very much).

Try Museum of the Fur Trade, Chadron Nebraska. Of particular interest may be the Fur Trade Cutlery Sketchbook.

Cutting with a period correct folder is the same a cutting with a modern folder. It is a purposeful act. If done in the opposite direction "issues will arise".....

Knives are great tools. All the best on your search, selection, and trekking

 

[Dale Lilly]

Knife shapes that work haven’t changed much since Roman times. A folding pocketknife and an English trade knife would be my go-to. Here’s my English pattern View attachment 195774trade knife. Our dog chewed the handle a bit when he was little.

Gives it character. Dale

 

[LRB]

Wick does the blade stay open just from friction or is there a lock of some sort?

Yes, it is friction only and this one has never needed to be retightened. I only carried it when hunting, and seldom used it for anything more than working a deer or minor cutting choirs. I used my belt knife around camp and such. The antler is a tip from Sambar stag. I recently rescued it from my flooded, once again, home. It was not under water, but the increased humidity made it hard to open.

 

[Bushfire]

Yes, it is friction only and this one has never needed to be retightened. I only carried it when hunting, and seldom used it for anything more than working a deer or minor cutting choirs. I used my belt knife around camp and such. The antler is a tip from Sambar stag. I recently rescued it from my flooded, once again, home. It was not under water, but the increased humidity made it hard to open.

If you ever get sick of it I'd happily buy it from you!

Regarding sambar, what is the allure to that over native species such as elk? I've read online with modern knife makers that they have an affinity for sambar.
We hunt them here and I hadn't considered using them for knives over a red stag say.

 

[LRB]

Not sure, but it is my understanding Sambar antler has less marrow. When I started out it was relatively cheap. My first knife in 1971 had a generous piece of sambar I bought from Randall Knives for $3.00. There was a large cardboard shipping drum in the showroom, full of pieces they thought not good enough. You dig and pick, $3.00 a piece. The red stag I have used was also great, and I liked it as well or better. Seems it was rougher and gave a more positive grip.

 

[Artificer]

Regarding sambar, what is the allure to that over native species such as elk? I've read online with modern knife makers that they have an affinity for sambar.
We hunt them here and I hadn't considered using them for knives over a red stag say.

In the1970's in Friendship, IN at the Spring and Fall National shoots, it was readily available for sale at the sutlers. Not so much on elk antlers/tips, though some were available. A lot of folks liked the reddish outside colours compared to Elk antlers as well. I saw loads of Sambar stag antlers/tips for sale and Wick is right, it doesn't have as much pith as elk.

My memory may be mistaken, but it seems I recall Sambar stag antlers/tips were either banned from importation or the suppliers ran out in the 1980's?

Gus

 

[Red Owl]

Same, I use elk but sambar is considered better. On the friction folder, you keep your thumb on the button or tab to prevent accidental closing. If you just have to have a locking blade, such are apparently pc with a flat spring on top of the handle with a ring to pull it up and unlock the blade.

 

[Snydly]

Attended a seminar where the gentleman giving said seminar, showed us an actual list of all the trade goods that were brought to the rendezvous. On it were the list of knives that he brought. The trappers did not have a lot of different knives to choose from. If you were in need of a knife you either bought what he had or traveled back to St. Louis. Indeed there is a lot of misinformation about the knives of the trappers.

 

[LRB]

In the1970's in Friendship, IN at the Spring and Fall National shoots, it was readily available for sale at the sutlers. Not so much on elk antlers/tips, though some were available. A lot of folks liked the reddish outside colours compared to Elk antlers as well. I saw loads of Sambar stag antlers/tips for sale and Wick is right, it doesn't have as much pith as elk.

My memory may be mistaken, but it seems I recall Sambar stag antlers/tips were either banned from importation or the suppliers ran out in the 1980's?

Gus

The sambar antlers from India were shed pickups only. When the time was right, villagers would gather them and they would be paid for them by a government agent middleman. The government then paid the agents a share, sold them to eager buyers, and supposedly used the proceeds to aid the villages. Only government agents were allowed direct purchase. As commonly seen in many government agencies, not ours of course, corruption, control, and mismanagement ran rampant. The Indian government tired of trying to control the problem and finally gave up by stopping the export of the antlers thus killing the major source. This is what I recall being accepted as the cause. As a result, everybody suffered, from the villages on up to the government itself and now if you can find a good suitable piece, it is quite expensive. As I said, this is only what I was told by a source in the business. Someone else may know more.

 

[Rudyard]

Ime not sure re Samber Indian pick ups ect but this was true of Chital Or Axis deer which was by Sheffield cutlers considered the best stag as it shed bi annually and the pithy interior such a normal on Red Deer was absent . So you could take both ends down to the bolster and not see the pithy stuff since there was just a small vain hole to consider , I bought lots of stag for my cutlers to use from Scarlet & Whiteing on Rockingham street .When they packed up I was offered the firm but didn't suit my travelling life style so declined Mr Whitting was 90 & still cutting horn & stag . I asked him once did he mind the dust? he replied "No, it just made soup". There are bowies in the States with my name inc 'crooked /canoe'knives (As Factor)or J E Middleton & sons . there packed up now same as me
Rudyard