Description
Black finish, olive drab scales, no shine anywhere. Nightfall is the tactical reading of a hunting knife — a D2 blade in a black oxide finish, contoured olive drab canvas Micarta on stainless screw hardware, and an integral gut hook that keeps it firmly a working tool rather than a costume piece.
Black oxide is a conversion, not a paint
This is worth being precise about. Black oxide is a chemical conversion coating: the surface of the steel is converted into magnetite in a hot alkaline bath, so the black is part of the blade rather than a layer sitting on top of it. It adds no measurable thickness, it will not chip or peel the way a sprayed coating does, it cuts reflection to nearly nothing, and it gives a modest amount of corrosion resistance on top of what the steel already has. It will wear bright along the cutting bevel with use, which is normal and, to most owners, the best thing about it.
| Overall Length | 9 inches |
|---|---|
| Blade Length | 4.5 inches |
| Handle Length | 4.5 inches |
| Blade Steel | D2 tool steel |
| Blade Finish | Black oxide, non-reflective |
| Blade Style | Drop point with integral gut hook |
| Handle Material | Olive drab canvas Micarta, contoured |
| Fittings | Stainless screw hardware, lanyard hole |
| Tang | Full tang |
| Sheath | Handmade tan leather belt sheath with stud closure (included) |
The steel underneath
D2 is a high carbon tool steel with a heavy chromium load, and it holds an edge far longer than the stainless most factory hunting knives use, thanks to a dense population of chromium carbides. Hardened into the high fifties, it will take a whole animal without a touch-up. It is semi-stainless rather than stainless — the chromium is bound into carbides rather than free to protect the surface — so a dry blade and an occasional film of oil are not optional extras. Left damp, it will spot; treated sensibly, it is close to permanent. If it ever does mark, our rust removal guide handles it without drama.
Handle and hardware
Olive drab canvas Micarta, contoured with a palm swell and a slight rear flare, mounted on stainless screws through a full tang, with a lanyard hole drilled at the tail. Micarta is layered cloth in cured resin: waterproof, dimensionally stable, chemically indifferent, and grippier when wet than when dry. The screw construction means the scales come off for a proper clean at season’s end. There is jimping on the spine at the ricasso for thumb control.
The hook
Sunk into the spine and opened up with files, then polished along the inside of its curve. Pushed under the hide and drawn back, it opens the belly in one motion with the tip riding clear of the stomach — the single riskiest cut in field dressing, made repeatable. It is equally at home cutting a stuck seatbelt or a bundle of cordage, which is why this pattern turns up outside hunting as often as in it. Our guide to hard-use fixed blades covers where that overlap sits.
Made in Memphis
Profiled, heat treated, ground, coated, assembled and hand finished in Memphis, Tennessee, and shipped with a tan leather belt sheath that is cut to this blade, formed wet, stitched, burnished, and fastened by a stud strap across the mouth. The contrast between the natural leather and the blacked-out knife is deliberate.
Care
Dry it fully, hook included, after every use, and put a light oil on it before storage. Wash the Micarta with soap and water. Keep it out of the scabbard while it is in storage, and well away from dishwashers and abrasive cleaners, which will scour the oxide. Sharpen the main edge on diamond or ceramic and use a tapered rod inside the hook. For a satin-finished sibling with brass pins, see Redvein.
Carry notes
The sheath rides on a belt up to about two inches wide and sits high enough that the handle clears a pack strap. Because the blade is a fixed four and a half inches, check your state and local carry rules before it leaves the truck; a knife that is perfectly legal on private land at home is not automatically legal in a city park two states away.
Model: BMK-1180
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