A Damascus fixed blade is the simplest thing you can buy that is still interesting to look at. There is no mechanism. The steel runs from the tip to the butt of the handle, the scales are pinned to it, and the pattern in the blade is the only decoration the knife needs.
What is in this group
Skinners, drop point hunters, bowies, camp knives and a tanto. Blade lengths run from 3 inches on a compact skinner to 8.75 on a bowie, with overall lengths from about 7.75 to 14 inches. Nearly all are Damascus of 1095 and 15N20, forge welded and acid etched, at 58 to 60 HRC, with one in plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC. Handles are stag horn, buffalo horn, walnut, rosewood, white bone and pakka wood, several with hardwood bolsters or brass and fiber spacers. Every one ships in a stitched cowhide sheath cut for that blade.
Why the tang matters more than the pattern
A full tang means the steel is continuous from tip to butt, visible as a line of metal between the scales all the way around the handle. It is what lets you baton a blade through a piece of wood, lever a joint apart, or drive the knife into a stump and lift a load with it, none of which a partial tang enjoys. A pretty blade on a stick tang will still snap where the steel narrows. The tang comparison shows where and why they fail, which is worth two minutes before you spend anything.
Choosing a shape
Drop points are the general purpose answer and the shape most people should own first. Skinners trade tip strength for belly and are better at one job. Bowies chop and look the part and are heavier on a belt than anyone expects. A tanto has a very strong point and almost no belly, which suits piercing and suits nothing else, and the blade shapes guide is blunt about that. If a tanto is what you want, the tanto knives are a small category. Everything else is in the Damascus knives.
Sheath and carry
Every sheath here is cut for the blade it ships with, stitched rather than riveted, and sized for a normal belt. Leather stretches to the knife over the first few weeks and then settles. Do not store a carbon steel blade in a damp sheath, because vegetable tanned leather holds acid and will mark the steel within a season.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.


















