Bonecarry Hand Forged Damascus Folding Pocket Knife with Natural Bone Handle and Stag Bolsters & Cowhide Leather Sheath | Gentlemans Everyday Carry Gift | RK-373

The Bonecarry is a hand forged Damascus folding pocket knife with a natural bone handle set between two stag horn bolsters. It is made one at a time, so the grind, the pattern and the fit belong to this knife and no other. Open, it measures 6.5 inches with a 2.75 inch blade, which is enough edge for cord, tape, packaging, fruit and the hundred small jobs a day puts in front of you, and small enough that it never pulls on a front pocket. Carry rules vary a great deal by state, and knife laws by state lists them.

Folding knives are older than most people assume. Roman folders with iron blades and carved bronze handles have been pulled out of the ground from Britain to the Danube, and they held open on friction alone: the tang ran long enough that your grip on the handle trapped the blade in place. The backspring and the slip joint, the parts that give a pocket knife its snap and its click, did not arrive until the cutlery towns of Sheffield and Thiers took the design up in the seventeenth century. What has not changed in two thousand years is the reason people carry one, which is that the knife you have on you beats the better knife you left at home.

This one is forged and finished in the Czech Republic. It ships with a cowhide leather sheath, protective packaging and an edge that is already cutting, so there is nothing to do on arrival but put it in your pocket.

Specifications

How a folding knife earns its size

A folder is a compromise, and the whole craft is in where you put the compromise. Everything hangs on the pivot. A pivot that is too loose lets the blade rattle and wander off the centre line when it closes, and a pivot that is too tight makes the knife a two handed job. Fitted properly, the blade should fall shut under its own weight when you release the lock and sit dead centre between the liners with no contact on either side.

The second thing to look at is the ratio. This knife is 3.75 inches of handle carrying 2.75 inches of blade, which is close to the practical limit for a folder before the handle stops filling an adult hand. Push the blade any longer on a frame this size and you lose grip; shorten the handle to match a short blade and the knife becomes fiddly to hold under load. The nail nick on the blade lets you open it with a thumbnail, and the textured stag bolster at the pivot end gives your thumb a firm stop when you push down through something tough.

Why Damascus and not stainless

Damascus here means two real steels, not a surface effect. Layers of 1095 high carbon and 15N20 nickel alloy are forge welded into one billet, folded, drawn out and etched, which is when the light and dark bands appear. The 1095 gives hardness and edge holding, the 15N20 gives toughness and the bright line in the pattern. Taken to 58 to 60 HRC, that combination takes a finer edge than the stainless in a supermarket folder and keeps it far longer.

The trade is honest. Carbon steel rusts if you leave it wet, and it will develop a patina with use, which is a grey or blue film that actually slows further corrosion rather than causing it. Stainless will forgive neglect but it will not take the same edge, and it will not carry a pattern that runs through the steel instead of sitting on it. We set both sides out in Damascus versus stainless.

The bone handle and the stag bolsters

The scales are natural bone, cut, shaped and polished by hand, with a stag horn bolster at each end. Bone is dense, it does not get slippery the way a polished synthetic does when your hands are damp, and it takes on a warmth in the hand within a few seconds of picking it up that no plastic manages. Because it is a natural material, colour, streaking and depth of grain shift from one piece to the next, so the handle on yours will not be an exact match for the photograph.

Bone and stag both want the same care as timber. Keep them out of long soaks and away from radiators and direct sun, and once or twice a year give them a light wipe of mineral oil or a soft wax to stop them drying and shrinking away from the pins. The method is the same one we use on timber and it is written up in wooden handle 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. Engraving is cut in the United States after the knife arrives and before it is packed, and the options and lettering are shown on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

The routine takes a minute. Wipe the blade dry after use, especially after anything acidic like fruit or onion, and put a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on it before it goes away for any length of time. Put a drop of light oil on the pivot every few months and work the blade open and closed to spread it, which keeps the action smooth and stops grit building up in the joint.

Sharpening is ordinary work. A 1000 grit stone will bring the edge back and a 3000 will polish it; there is no need for diamond plates or powered wheels on 1095 at this hardness. Hold the angle you were given rather than inventing a new one and the edge comes back in a few minutes. Leather holds moisture against steel, so store the knife out of the sheath for long spells rather than in it. Both jobs are covered in steel care and sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

This is a handmade piece from the Czech Republic, made in a workshop that still forges, grinds and finishes by hand instead of stamping parts out. The smiths there have kept the older way of working, and the wood, horn and leather are shaped and fitted by hand as well. Two pieces of the same design will never be identical, and that is part of what you are buying.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We handle the import ourselves, look over every piece when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Chicago, Illinois. Engraving is done in the United States after the piece arrives, so your design goes on before we send it out.

A note on handmade variation

This knife is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The Damascus pattern comes out of the billet differently every time, the bone carries its own colour and streaking, the stag has its own texture, and the exact profile of the grind shifts a little from one piece to the next because a person put it there.

The dimensions, the steel, the hardness and the build are the same every time. The character is not. If you want two identical objects, a factory will serve you better; if you want a knife that is recognisably yours, this is how that happens.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Bonecarry sharp when it arrives

Yes. It is sharpened by hand on stones before it is packed and it will cut paper out of the box. It is a working edge rather than a razor polish, which is what you want on a carry knife.

Does the blade lock open

The blade is held open by the backspring in the classic slip joint manner rather than by a positive lock. It will not close under normal cutting pressure, but it is not a lockback, so use it as a slicing knife and keep your fingers clear of the closing path.

Will the bone handle crack or yellow over time

Natural bone deepens in tone over years, which most owners like. It will only crack if it is left to dry out completely or stored in direct sun or next to a heat source. A light oil once or twice a year prevents it.

Can I have a name and a date cut into it

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page for Elder Futhark, or pick the engraving option above the add to cart button for plain lettering or a Viking design, and say whether it goes on the blade or the handle.

Is a 2.75 inch blade legal to carry

Blade length limits are set locally rather than nationally, and 2.75 inches sits under the common thresholds in most US cities. Check your own state and city rules before you carry it, since we cannot advise on the law where you live.

How long will it take to reach me

Processing is one to two weeks because each piece is made and finished by hand, then US shipping is free. Engraving does not usually add to that window.

What is in the box

• One Bonecarry Damascus folding pocket knife
• Cowhide leather sheath
• Protective packaging
• Care notes for carbon steel and natural handles
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

If you are still choosing, look through the rest of the folding pocket knives, the Viking knives and the hunting knives, then read the guides for the reasoning behind the steel, the leather and the handle materials.

Also in this part of the catalogue

Next along the rack is the Ramfold folding pocket knife, pattern welded Damascus. For a straight comparison, see the Walnutfold folding pocket knife, pattern welded Damascus. Worth putting side by side with this is the Hornedge folding pocket knife, pattern welded Damascus.

If you are putting a set together, the Mosaicsax Viking seax sits alongside it. Or start from a blank sheet on the custom Damascus knife page.