U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- I recently grabbed an Elk Ridge Outskirt Fixed Blade knife that sports a leather handle and has a 4 ¼-inch clip point blade. Three days later me and my new knife were on a plane to do a Texas hog hunt with the Umarex Air Saber along with Bill Olson, the publisher of Texas Outdoors Journal. I’ll write about the hunt in a later article but today I want to cover one of the great-looking knives that we used to skin a hog and a Nilgai while hunting on the 2Morrow Ranch.
Ok, a little history. I guess I didn’t have a lot of luxuries as a kid. I had the big stuff. The best mom and dad in the world and a great family but not much loose change to buy a lot. With that said, I remember as a kid how cool I thought the old leather-handled knives were. Since those days I’ve always wanted one.
Fast forward 55 years. I have a real job now but for whatever reason never have bought a leather-handled knife yet. I must have been whining some because a buddy finally gave me an old one that he must of picked up at a garage sale or somewhere. But now, I have my own new one! Big moment for little Tommie.
To begin, it is a good looking medium sized clip point hunting knife. I think it looks nice or maybe I should say classy. As stated above, I love leather-handled knives. It also comes with a leather sheath which I favor. Why not carry a good-looking knife if it is also functional?
If I can only carry one knife, then it will be a clip point knife. I can do all of my skinning needs with that design if necessary. You need a clip point to perform all of your stabbing jobs like the initial cut into the hide, stabbing one in the neck (or heart) if it isn’t dead and so forth.
I like that it has a concaved dip on the spine for your thumb that helps stabilize my grip. I wish that the bolster on the heel of the knife protruded further out to ensure that my pointer finger doesn’t slide down on the knife when I have my thumb out on the spine.
Like I say, I like the Elk Ridge Outskirt Fixed Blade Knife but while hunting I had Weston Morrow, the 2Morrow Ranch manager test it out while skinning a hog and Nilgai so I could take some pictures and get his opinion on the knife. After skinning the hog, he said he really liked it. And this comes from a guy that makes his living guiding and skinning animals 7 days/week.
One last little tip. To help your knife and sheath last longer I’d recommend periodically oiling the leather handle and the sheath with either Neatsfoot oil or Lexol. Just put some of either these two oils on a rag and rub on liberally. This will keep them from drying out and cracking. If they get wet while out hunting let them dry off and then re-oil before storing.
I could not find the MSRP but I did find it online for $39.99 and as is usual, we will close with the specs.
- WEIGHT: .8 lbs.
- RETAIL PACKAGING: Box
- TYPE: Fixed Blade
- STYLE: Game Knife
- THEME: Hunting
About Tom Claycomb
Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoor writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and freelances for numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening #ad for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”
Nice article. But I am too much pro American and usually buy as much American made items as I can. So my question is, where are these knives made?
China
I have an old Case hunting knife with a leather handle. While I agree they look nice and I’ve skinned a lot of deer with mine, the leather is less than ideal when gutting. When your hands get tallow or blood on the leather, the knife will slip around in your hand. Not a good thing with a sharp blade, especially when you have to cut the windpipe and can’t see what you are doing. The leather rings on the handle on mine shrunk over time and I had to send the knife back to Case for new leather. Now… Read more »
There are hundreds of American knife makers, so how about focusing on domestic knives instead of those made out of Chitanium? On behalf of the American cutlery industry, I thank you.
What kind of steel is it Tom?
Searching the interweb, this particular knife is hard to find, a couple similar to this but shorter are made from 8Cr13MoV, one with 6.75″ blade is listed as 440 stainless. I’ve seen other Elk Ridge knives listed as ‘8Cr13MoV’ and ‘440 stainless’ and ‘3Cr13 stainless’ or just ‘stainless.’ And all I’ve seen are made in China.
And, according to CA Prop65, some of them can cause cancer if you’re from California. 😉
Happy Everafter-try Googling Elk Ridge Outskirt Knife
LOL, And regarding the California comment, according to them everything causes cancer!
Autsin-I didn’t see the type of steel listed anywhere so sorry, can’t tell you.
Ok, Thanks, I prefer carbon but some of the newer stainless are pretty good at holding an edge. Nice looking knife.
What is clip point? Why is that preferable to other designer? What is a bolster? Sorry to have to ask, but knives are not my area of expertise.
Short story: https://www.offgridweb.com/gear/knife-anatomy-101-infographic-terms/amp/
Long story: https://www.jayfisher.com/Knife_Anatomy_Parts_Names_Definitions.htm
Oh, thanks. I’m going to look at it.
Hey Wild Bill-a clip point is one that has the upswept blade that comes to a definite point. Which is good for stabbing jobs like sticking the point into the hide to start skinning your animal.
Bolster, see that gold ring under the thumb? If it extended down a 1/4-inch more it’d keep your pointer finger from sliding down on the blade.
All make sense?
Oh, thanks, Tom. Sorry I missed you at the DSC.
Yea dang it. Maybe we can meet up next year.
I just love the DSC conventions. I met J. Turnbull, and got speed shooting tips from Jessie Harrison and K. C. Eusebio. Terrific venue!