Bmk-UL-18 Sloth Bear High End Handmade Steel Hunting Knife 3.5 Inches Blade Made in USA

Description

Burl wood scales, a polished 3.5 inch drop point and a mirror-bright steel butt cap. The Sloth Bear is the compact fixed blade in the Ultra Line.

Intended use: hunting and general outdoor cutting where you want a fixed blade but not a big one. Eight inches overall is short enough to carry horizontally on a belt or vertically without the handle digging into your ribs when you sit down.

440C, in plain terms

440C is a true stainless with enough carbon to harden properly, which puts it in a useful middle ground. It takes a keen edge, it resists rust in wet field conditions, and it gives up a little edge retention next to the high-carbide tool steels. For a hunting knife that gets wiped on a trouser leg and put away, that trade is the right way round. There is more detail in our guide to 440C steel.

The blade profile

The drop point has a slight upsweep and a fairly deep belly, which is what you want for skinning: the curve does the cutting and the dropped point is far less likely to nick a gut than a clip point. The trade-off shows up in fine detail work, where a lower, straighter tip would give you more control. It is a general-purpose shape that does most things well and nothing brilliantly.

Burl and how it moves

Burl is wood grown from a growth deformity, which is why the figure swirls rather than running straight. Every set of scales is unique and none of it will match a catalogue photograph exactly. Figured wood of this kind is more prone to moving with humidity than straight-grained stock, so store it well away from heat sources and out of any damp shed, and give it a wipe of wax once a year to keep the surface sealed. Any grain that rises can be knocked back with a green scouring pad and re-waxed.

Care: stainless steel means no oiling schedule and nothing to worry about after a rainy day beyond wiping it dry. Sharpen on a stone rather than a pull-through, which tears a hard edge instead of cutting it; the method is in sharpening on a whetstone. The hand-stitched leather sheath should be conditioned occasionally and should not be the knife’s permanent home.

Questions from buyers

Does the handle have a guard? There is a swell and a finger relief rather than a formal guard, so keep your grip dry on thrusting cuts.

What if I want more blade? The Black Bird with a stag handle runs 5.5 inches in the same series.

Where is it made? Finished and sharpened at our Memphis bench and shipped from Tennessee.

Model: BMK-846