Russell Green River Knives

[Muskrat]

I used to like the Mora stainless companions for canoe camping, but in the last year I've made the switch to Green River knives and I can't be happier. They're on par with Moras at about $20 a piece. If you just buy blanks and make your own scales they can be had for $8-15. It's become somewhat of an obsession lately. I just made a whole kitchen knife set. They are 1095 carbon steel so they have to be cared for, but they develop an awesome patina. In the kitchen they get oiled after use, and in the woods I usually just rub them down with a waxed cottonball I use for fire starting. The thing I like best is that they're patterned after frontier and trade knives so they have a flat grind with a small secondary bevel. They process food and rope way better than a scandi grind which is what I mainly use the knife for, and they're not to shabby for woodwork either. The 1095 takes an edge easily and holds it well. Fillets a fish and reaches deep down in the peanut butter jar. If I lose it to the river, no big deal. Pictured is a hunter with the factory scales and a cartouche blank which I wrapped in jute and then epoxied. Also pictured is the task my Mora is now relegated to. Anyone else use Green Rivers? Edit: Made in America by America's oldest knife maker for those who like that.

 

[Alan Gage]

Never heard of them before, thanks for the heads up. I like the idea of buying a blank and making your own handle. Might have to give that a try.

Alan

 

[Jatfomike]

I have a skinner that my uncle gave me 40 years ago......I still carry it for all the reasons you mentioned.....I've field dressed all manner of game, cleaned fish, and all around camp knife. I'll dig it out of my kit and post a picture of it later.

Mike

 

[Boreal Birch]

I made a few of those Green River blades into knives. I made the big Buffalo Skinner, actually used it to skin a buffalo (really a plains bison). They don't hold a very long edge, but just a couple of wacks on a stone or steel and they are sharp again. I have the short 4.5 inch (114 mm) butcher knife blade or as they are called in some catalogs as a 4 1/2 inch sheath knife, that travels in my cook box for preparing food. A fun, cheap and easy way to get into making knives that have have a long history of getting the job done in the new world.

 

[Jatfomike]

No Title

 

[Boreal Birch]

That one looks like the sheep skinner blade, possibly the closest thing that we have today to Nessmuk's knife that affordable.

 

[Muskrat]

I've got a sheep skinner blank too. I haven't decided what to do for the handle yet. It's probably the best all around knife for the field as it's blade is thicker than the rest. I've batoned small stuff with the hunter, but I would feel more comfortable bashing on the skinner. I usually have an axe though, so the thinner blades do me just fine. For reference the cartouche is the thinnest Green River I have at .065", the hunter is .095" and the sheep skinner is .120" on the blade and .140" on the tang.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

That one looks like the sheep skinner blade, possibly the closest thing that we have today to Nessmuk's knife that affordable.

Condor knives also make a "Muk" (top) at a very affordable price. Bottom is a bushlore that is my usual winter camping knife. I tend to take stainless in the summer as I often end up getting soaked one way or another and the sheath gets soaked.

They also have a kephart knife. If you look around you find them as blade blanks as well.

Bit more expensive but still a good deal are the LTWright knives' versions of the Muk and their very Kephart styled Bushcrafter and Genesis.

 

[Boreal Birch]

From what I remember reading in Nessmuks book, his blade was very thin. Because he had his double bladed hatchet he wasn't pounding on his skinning knife trying to split wood with it. Most of the modern Nessmuk blades look pretty thick to me and not very appealing to my eye. I just bought a Victornoix Forschner (the folks that make Swiss Army Knives) 5" Lamb Skinner knife. I have cut off the black fiber/plastic handle, so I can add my own antler crown handle much like Nessmuks, but haven't found the perfect hand fitting shaped antler crown yet. Cutting off the handle prior to getting the right crown wasn't to bright on my part. The stainless steel that Victornoix uses on their knives should be great for a skinning knife, I have a couple of their big Cimeter/Butcher knives for salmon filleting that work really well in wet slimy conditions.

 

[Canotrouge]

I have this one...The 7 inch, it lives in our wannigan and I use it on hunting trip as well!! Great knife for the money!
http://www.cutleryandmore.com/victorinox-forschner-fibrox/butcher-knife-p15310

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

This one may be more to your liking.

http://chudzinski.tripod.com/id6.html

Blade is 3/32" thick so more of a slicer.

 

[Muskrat]

That's probably one of the best Nessmuk knife recreations I've seen based on the illustration and text. We'll never know exactly what he was using. At $150 that's more than I'd want to spend on a tripping knife, but I'd love to own one. Funny how that works, but I try to think of my canoe gear as semi expendable. For example, I don't take anything along anymore that can't get wet, unless I won't be upset if it's ruined. Everything gets wet eventually. If I flipped in a rapid and lost that knife somehow, I would not be a happy camper. My passed down Puma White Hunter does not go canoeing.

 

[Boreal Birch]

I googled Chudzinski made Nessmuck knives, seems he made the best one. No recent records of him, and according to some of the posts I found he maybe not the best guy to order a knife from, as in you may not get a knife and you may not get your money back either.

 

[snapper]

Muskrat mentioned in his original post the patina the carbon steel blades can get over time and I have to agree that the blades do look very nice. As for how to "oil" them, I just cut a lot of pepperoni and sausage. Seems to do the job by keeping the rust away and it gives the knife something to do!

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Nodrama43]

I have used the same Gerber Shorty since 1979. I am not sure I want to wear it on my waist in the canoe. I am probably going to switch to a folder in a nylon case for when I fall out of the canoe.

 

[Muskrat]

The last sheath I made has a cord to hang around my neck (pictured in the first post). Dangerous in a canoe I know, but I plan to tuck it into my shirt while moving. We'll see how it works.

 

[Canotrouge]

Wile in the canoe on moving water, I have a dedicated PFD fix blade knife that is only to be use for rescue or emergency... I have different knifes for other task around camp the I either carry on my person or in my bag or in the wannigan!

 

[Doc.]

I had a Russell Green River knife a few years ago. 2nd time out the blade just broke in half while notching wood. It didn't fit me well anyway so I gave it a "hmmph!" and went to the knife drawer. Interestingly I've been using my 23 year-old Buck Mini Mentor a whole lot lately. The blade is only 3.5" long but maybe the longer = better myth is beginning to fray at the edges. Doc.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Doc.......
I don't know what kind of Doctor you are, but I do believe (maybe science will back this up) that those guys with big knives and large caliber rifles are just compensating for something. Maybe you or others in the medical community that are on this forum can enlighten us.
I do know a guy that does not carry a knife and hunts bears with a willow switch.

 

[Canotrouge]

Doc.......
I don't know what kind of Doctor you are, but I do believe (maybe science will back this up) that those guys with big knives and large caliber rifles are just compensating for something. Maybe you or others in the medical community that are on this forum can enlighten us.
I do know a guy that does not carry a knife and hunts bears with a willow switch.

LOL.... I carry small knife and a small riffle, Ruger #1 30-06.....