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.
Puma IP White Hunter Skinning Knife | Full Tang Leather Handle
1 min read
Nowhere in the Puma lineup is the difference between the International Puma (IP) brand and the original quite so obvious as in this knife. This stripped down version of the famous Puma White Hunter — the Puma IP White Hunter with stacked leather handle — is clearly a very good knife. Solid polished brass hand guard and pommel offset the buffed leather full length rat tail tang handle, with a look that brings to mind the classic K-Bar fighting knife. The 5-1/8-inch 440C stainless steel blade certainly has the White Hunter style, the weight of the blade forward and shaped with a double edge hollow grind. Knife enthusiasts will like this knife.
Put the White Hunter IP beside the current model of the one made in Solingen, and it’s suddenly clear how the company lowered prices by shipping work out to Spain. The IP is a good knife; the original is a great knife. In other styles, the difference isn’t so glaring, but the White Hunter has been Puma’s flagship knife for decades. The IP White Hunter costs less than half what the original White Hunter currently does. As a working hunting and skinning knife, it’s a good value. As a collector’s piece it makes me understand again how much personal pride and individual craftsmanship comes out of the Solingen factory. The art didn’t cross over to the Spanish branch as yet.
The purpose of the IP division was to bring Solingen quality and design down to a price level the more average buyer could afford, and the savings are certainly appreciated. Quality is high in the IP line. Buyers should judge this 1.1-pound fixed blade on its own merits, because there’s this knife — the Puma IP White Hunter — and then there’s the real thing. Puma should call the IP version by another name.
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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Nowhere in the Puma lineup is the difference between the International Puma (IP) brand and the original quite so obvious as in this knife. This stripped down version of the famous Puma White Hunter — the Puma IP White Hunter with stacked leather handle — is clearly a very good knife. Solid polished brass hand guard and pommel offset the buffed leather full length rat tail tang handle, with a look that brings to mind the classic K-Bar fighting knife. The 5-1/8-inch 440C stainless steel blade certainly has the White Hunter style, the weight of the blade forward and shaped with a double edge hollow grind. Knife enthusiasts will like this knife.
