James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
Buck Hunter Knife, Gut Hook Full Tang Blade | Fixed Alpha 693BK w/ Sheath
1 min read
Suppose you ignored the standard logic about what makes a good hunting knife and started out with fresh ideas — if you looked at what materials are available today and what the typical hunter’s needs really are, you could come up with the Buck 693BK Alpha Hunter Gut Hook.
This 8-1/2-inch full tang knife, cut and ground from one piece of 420HC high carbon stainless steel, leaves part of the spine exposed above the black rubber handle slabs. Ridges ground into the back of the 3-3/4 inch blade and the butt of the knife’s tang increase the user’s grip by providing a non-slip surface for thumb pressure. The deeply hollow ground plain edge sharpens easily and cuts like a razor. The gut hook tip opens the abdominal cavity of animals without damaging the internal organs and tainting the meat. This is a fully functional and very practical modern knife, and the design even looks good.
The reason you didn’t see a knife like this on the frontier may only be that the processes, materials, and needs weren’t the same then. Smiths made excellent practical knives in those days, and many makers today still copy what they did. Made from today’s materials for hunters who don’t hunt for a living and do need the built-in skill of a gut hook, the Alpha Hunter doesn’t just repeat what was best two hundred years ago. This is a fresh look at what makes a good hunting knife.
A well-made heavy black nylon belt sheath comes with the Alpha Hunter — you might want to add a lanyard to the hole in the tang, and you’ll need a honing slip to fit the gut hook notch.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
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Suppose you ignored the standard logic about what makes a good hunting knife and started out with fresh ideas — if you looked at what materials are available today and what the typical hunter’s needs really are, you could come up with the Buck 693BK Alpha Hunter Gut Hook.
