Replica Fred Bear Bowhunter Knife & File Set Review

Great Set Fred Bear's Personal kit

This set is an exact copy of Fred Bear's knife set. I have seen the personal set in the Fred Bear Museum in Gainesville Florida. Johnny Morris the owner of Bass Pro Shop purchase the contents of the museum when it closed. The Fred's knife was a German made Puma Pal. the Chinese knife is a excellent copy ( I have three ). Fred's knife had a broken handle and it was repaired in… read more Alaska with some type ivory ( maybe walrus ? ). There are later set that have a Western USA made knife.

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Classic utility

Got the leaves off the roof and tuned up the snow thrower for winter. It is a nasty, raw, misty, cold day in Vermont. What better time on a Sunday afternoon to opine on this fine piece of craftsmanship. From tip to belt loop it is about 10 inches. The belt loop can accommodate a belt up to 1¾ inches wide. A 2 inch belt would be a bit of a squeeze. It hangs too low on the… read more belt to sit comfortable on a bench or a living room chair. A stump, stool, or rustic armless kitchen chair are fine. It is about 3 inches wide at the widest point. There is a radiused metal insert in the knife part of the sheath; which encloses the entire blade and does not rattle at all and helps hold the knife.. The chocolate stained lower part of the kit is crafted from very high quality leather and the belt loop is left natural. After a week around the house and 2 scouts in the woods it has loosened up just a little. There is a pocket in the back of the kit that could hold a broad head or a flat piece of wood if the leather loosens up enough to require something to tighten up the front pockets.The can opener is good standard issue and can be eased out with a thumb nail. I used water on the Norton stone which took off the roughness on both sides. Before that the roughness of the stone abraided the leather a little; however, I preferred to leave it alone rather than clog the stone with oil or a leather treatment. Ease the stone out by removing the can opener first and wiggling it side to side, it could easily break if forced. I'm guessing the grit fine at about 2000 to 4000. Have a set of Norton water stones 200 to 8000 grit and prefer using water to oil. Does a good job smoothing Zwickey 2 blade broad heads after taking the roughness off with the file. The osage orange file handle is a perfect match for the knife handle and solidly epoxied in place. In about 10 hours of woods scouting and more than a week of casual wear around the house after work, haven't lost or broken anything yet. Was wary of the Chinese made knife; however, my apprehension was unfounded. For reference I wear an extra large glove, but a large damaskus or bear shooting glove. The hadle is 3 ¾ inches long and almost disappears in my fisted hand. The fit and finish of the full tang blade is very good with no roughness or step off in transition from brass bolster to rivets and lanyard hole. There is just one rough spot where the Klass shield is inlaid into the handle. The blade is about 3 7/8 inches from bolster to tip and has good tactile jimping from opposite the beginning of the sharpened edge to 1 ¼ inch from the tip. It is of 440 knife stainless and holds a good edge using the Norton stone with a lot of water and a gentle touch. Knife is numbered. By the way, the same knife is available from a place in [*] on the web. This is an excellent and functional kit, not just a museum piece. The sheath shows fine craftsmanship.

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Useful fine craftsmanship

Good kit for broad head sharpening in the field. Can't comment on field dressing yet, but does a good job on chicken skin and joints around the house Got the leaves off the roof and tuned up the snow thrower for winter. It is a nasty, raw, misty, cold day in Vermont. What better time on a Sunday afternoon to opine on this fine piece of craftsmanship. From tip to belt loop… read more it is about 10 inches. The belt loop can accommodate a belt up to 1¾ inches wide. A 2 inch belt would be a bit of a squeeze. It hangs too low on the belt to sit comfortable on a bench or a living room chair. A stump, stool, or rustic armless kitchen chair are fine. It is about 3 inches wide at the widest point. There is a radiused metal insert in the knife part of the sheath; which encloses the entire blade and does not rattle at all and helps hold the knife.. The chocolate stained lower part of the kit is crafted from very high quality leather and the belt loop is left natural. After a week around the house and 2 scouts in the woods it has loosened up just a little. There is a pocket in the back of the kit that could hold a broad head or a flat piece of wood if the leather loosens up enough to require something to tighten up the front pockets. The can opener is good standard issue and can be eased out with a thumb nail. I used water on the Norton stone which took off the roughness on both sides. Before that the roughness of the stone abraided the leather a little; however, I preferred to leave it alone rather than clog the stone with oil or a leather treatment. Ease the stone out by removing the can opener first and wiggling it side to side, it could easily break if forced. I'm guessing the grit fine at about 2000 to 4000. Have a set of Norton water stones 200 to 8000 grit and prefer using water to oil. Does a good job smoothing Zwickey 2 blade broad heads after taking the roughness off with the file. The osage orange file handle is a perfect match for the knife handle and solidly epoxied in place. In about 10 hours of woods scouting and more than a week of casual wear around the house after work, haven't lost or broken anything yet. Was wary of the Chinese made knife; however, my apprehension was unfounded. For reference I wear an extra large glove, but a large damaskus or bear shooting glove. The hadle is 3 ¾ inches long and almost disappears in my fisted hand. The fit and finish of the full tang blade is very good with no roughness or step off in transition from brass bolster to rivets and lanyard hole. There is just one rough spot where the Klass shield is inlaid into the handle. The blade is about 3 7/8 inches from bolster to tip and has good tactile jimping from opposite the beginning of the sharpened edge to 1 ¼ inch from the tip. It is of 440 knife stainless and holds a good edge using the Norton stone with a lot of water and a gentle touch. Knife is numbered. By the way, the same knife is available from a place in tennessee on the web. This is an excellent and functional kit, not just a museum piece. The sheath shows fine craftsmanship.

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