Bobcat Hand Forged Damascus Skinner Knife with Walnut Wood Handle & Leather Sheath | Full Tang Hunting and Skinning Gift | RK-331

The Bobcat was forged, ground and fitted by one pair of hands. The blade is folded Damascus, the handle is walnut, and the knife comes out of the shop with the edge already set. It runs 9.7 inches overall with a 4.70 inch blade and a 5.00 inch handle, weighs 6.3 oz and is full tang from the bolster to the butt. For the actual technique in the field, see the field method.

Walnut is the wood that gunmakers have used for stocks for something like four hundred years, and the reason is worth borrowing. It is stiff and stable, it holds its dimensions through changes in humidity better than most timbers, and it absorbs shock without splitting along the grain. A rifle stock and a knife handle are asked to do a similar job: stay put, stay comfortable, and not crack when the thing they are attached to takes a sudden load. Walnut also finishes to a warm mid brown that darkens with handling rather than fading, and it takes an oil finish that can be refreshed at a kitchen table.

This knife is forged, ground, handled and sheathed in the Czech Republic. It ships with a fitted leather sheath, free within the United States, sharp on arrival.

Specifications

The one continuous cut, and why full tang matters here

A skinner is built around a single motion. You open the hide, get a purchase on the edge of it, then pull the hide away with your free hand while the blade rides in the pocket between hide and carcass, releasing the connective tissue that holds. The blade should be moving almost continuously, the edge angled slightly into the fascia and away from the hide, and the whole thing works best when you never stop to reposition.

The shape supports that in three ways. The belly is one continuous sweep with no straight section, so there is no flat spot for the edge to catch on and stall. The point trails upwards, which keeps it clear of the hide you are trying not to hole. And the blade is ground thin behind the edge, because in a soft cut like this the thing that slows you down is not a dull edge, it is a thick blade wedging its way through and dragging.

The full tang matters more on a skinner than on almost any other knife, and here is why. Skinning does not load a blade the way chopping does, straight down the spine. It loads it sideways. You are pulling hide with one hand and levering the edge against tissue with the other, and much of that force arrives at an angle to the blade. A partial tang, a stub of steel glued or pinned into a block of wood, is weakest in exactly that direction. A full tang runs the entire length and width of the handle with the walnut scales pinned to either side, so the sideways load is carried by steel rather than by adhesive. It is also why the knife balances where it does, just ahead of the hand.

At 4.70 inches the blade is a general purpose length for the type. Long enough to sweep a deer sized animal efficiently, short enough to work around legs and shoulders without fighting you.

Why Damascus and not stainless

This is real pattern welded Damascus, not an etched print. Layers of high carbon steel and 15N20 nickel steel are forge welded, folded and drawn out, so the pattern runs through the blade rather than sitting on the surface. The two steels harden together and take an acid etch differently, which is what makes the light and dark bands appear when the finished blade is etched. Take a file to a printed blade and the pattern disappears. Take a file to this one and it does not.

Skinning is abrasive work, because you are cutting through hair and grit as well as tissue, and it dulls a blade faster than most jobs a knife gets. Hardened to 58 to 60 HRC, this steel holds a working edge through more of an animal than soft stainless will, and it comes back on a stone in minutes rather than taking a session. What you accept in exchange is that carbon steel rusts if you put it away wet. Dry it and oil it and that is the end of the problem. The full argument, including where a stainless blade is genuinely the better tool, is in Damascus versus stainless, and the reasoning behind pairing a carbon steel with 15N20 is in our guide to the pairing.

The walnut handle

Walnut was picked for density and for how it takes a finish. It is oiled rather than lacquered, and that is a deliberate choice rather than a cost saving. A lacquered handle looks perfect in a photograph and then chips at the edges, lifts, and traps moisture underneath where you cannot get at it. An oiled handle can be refreshed at home in five minutes with a cloth and a bottle of mineral or tung oil, and it keeps a slightly grippy surface that a sealed finish loses the moment your hands are wet.

Feed it once or twice a year, more if the knife is used hard or washed often. Work a light coat in with a cloth, leave it twenty minutes, buff the excess back off. Keep it out of a dishwasher and out of standing water, both of which will lift the scales over time. The method is written up in wooden handle care, and the sheath has its own routine in leather sheath care.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. Walnut is one of the better woods for handle engraving, because the mid brown takes a cut line with real contrast, so on this knife you have a genuine choice between blade and handle rather than a default. Placement and lettering sizes are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Two rules cover almost all of it. Dry it, and oil it. Do those and the pattern stays crisp and the edge comes back in minutes on a stone. Wash after use, dry properly including where the scales meet the tang, and put a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on the blade before it goes away. Do not store the knife in its sheath for months, because leather holds moisture against steel.

For the edge, remember that a curved belly cannot be sharpened by dragging the blade straight down a stone, because only one point will touch. Sweep the handle upwards as you draw the blade back so the contact point travels around the curve to the tip, keeping the angle constant. A medium stone to set it, a fine stone to refine, and a strop if you want the last of it. Detail in sharpening with a whetstone and in steel care.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Memphis, Tennessee. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

This knife is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so the knife that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. Every billet folds and draws out differently, so the density and the swirl of the layers on your blade belong to it alone. Walnut is a natural timber cut from a natural board, so one pair of scales may be a light even brown and the next may carry dark streaking and figure, and each takes the oil at its own rate. The grind lines and the exact sweep of the belly move by a fraction because they are cut by eye against the shape rather than by a machine against a stop.

The dimensions are the same on every one, the steel is the same, the heat treat is the same and the build is the same. What changes is the character, and that is the reason to buy from a forge instead of a factory.

Frequently asked questions

Is it really full tang?

Yes. The tang runs the full length and width of the handle with the walnut scales pinned to either side. You can see the steel running around the perimeter of the grip. That matters on a skinner because the loads are sideways rather than straight down the spine.

Is the blade sharp when it arrives?

Yes, sharpened on a stone before boxing. It will skin the day it lands.

Can I put it in the dishwasher?

No. The detergent will pit carbon Damascus and the heat and moisture will lift the walnut scales. Wash it by hand, dry it, and oil the blade.

How often does the handle need oiling?

Once or twice a year for normal use, more if it is washed often. A light coat of mineral or tung oil worked in with a cloth and buffed back is all it takes.

Will the Damascus pattern be the same as the photograph?

No. The pattern is a property of the individual billet and no two draw out alike. The dimensions, the steel and the build are what stay constant.

Is it legal to carry?

It is a fixed blade hunting knife and carry rules vary by state and by city, so check your local law before carrying it anywhere other than while hunting or at camp. It ships with a belt sheath and is sold as a field tool.

What is in the box

• One Bobcat Damascus skinner knife, 9.7 inches overall
• Fitted leather sheath
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Comparable knives sit in Damascus skinner knives, hunting knives, folding pocket knives and Viking knives. The steel, the tang and the handle care are covered in the guides.