Bird and Trout Knife, Damascus Steel with Olive Wood Handle
Bird and Trout Knife, Damascus Steel with Olive Wood Handle
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- Engraving adds 3 to 5 business days.
- We engrave your text exactly as typed, so double check the spelling.
- We send a proof image before we engrave.
- Engraved blades cannot be returned or exchanged unless the blade itself is defective.
A bird and trout knife is the small blade you pick up when the work gets fiddly: dressing birds, cleaning fish, getting into tight joints where a big hunter is clumsy. This one has a slim Damascus blade with a fine point, light enough to steer with your fingertips. The handle is slender olive wood in pale gold and brown, with a brass pin and a brass lanyard tube. Full tang, no guard, brown leather sheath.
Specification
| Detail | This knife |
|---|---|
| Blade steel | Damascus over a high carbon core |
| Blade finish | Etched pattern, narrow profile, fine point |
| Tang | Full tang, unbroken from tip to butt |
| Handle material | Olive wood, brass pin and lanyard tube |
| Bolster or guard | None |
| Sheath | Brown leather, hand stitched |
| Engraving | 20 dollars per blade |
| Made in | Forged and finished by hand in High Point, North Carolina. |
| Warranty | Lifetime warranty against defects, free sharpening for life. |
The blade
The Damascus is pattern welded over a high carbon core, so carbon steel does the cutting and the pattern is what you see on the flats. On a blade this narrow the pattern runs tight and close, and no two come out alike because the billet never moves the same way twice under the hammer. It takes a keen edge and comes back on a stone easily. The trade off is the same as any carbon steel. It will darken, and it will spot if you put it away wet or sheath it damp.
The handle
Olive wood is dense and slightly oily, which is why it wears well on a knife that spends time around water and fish. The grain runs pale gold and brown with darker figure through it, and no two blanks are alike. With no guard in the way you can choke right up to the blade and pinch the tang for close cuts, which is how most people hold a knife this size. A brass pin and a brass lanyard tube finish it.
Who it suits
This is a specialist, and a good second knife rather than the only one you carry. It suits anyone who spends more time on small game and fish than on big animals, and anyone who likes a light knife they barely notice.
- Bird hunters dressing quail, dove and pheasant
- Anglers cleaning trout and panfish
- Hunters carrying a larger skinner too
- Collectors of Damascus in a slim shape
What comes in the box
- The bird and trout knife
- The leather sheath
- A care card
- A free engraving quote on request
Every piece is different
Each blade is forged and etched by hand, so the Damascus pattern belongs to that piece alone and never repeats. Olive wood varies the same way, in color and grain. The photographs show one knife. Yours is the same shape and steel with its own figure.
Looking after it
Wash by hand and dry it straight away, especially after fish. Never the dishwasher, never left soaking, and dishwasher damage voids the warranty. Carbon steel wants dry storage and a light coat of oil. Do not leave the knife sitting in the sheath, and let leather dry slowly, away from heat. Sharpen on a whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side, then strop, and skip pull through sharpeners. More on our knife care and sharpening page.
Put a name on it
Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits on a blade, and a longer message sits better on the sheath. We send a proof image before the laser runs, so you see the layout first, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. Clean line art engraves well, photographs and gradients do not. Details on the engraving page.
Questions buyers ask
What is this shape actually for? Small, close work. Dressing birds, cleaning fish and getting into joints where a wide hunting blade is too much knife.
Why does it have no guard? So you can grip right against the blade and control the point with your fingers.
Will olive wood hold up around water? It does well. Olive wood is dense and naturally oily, so it takes damp work better than most woods.
Will my knife look exactly like the photo? No. The Damascus pattern and the olive wood grain differ on every piece.
How sharp is it out of the box? Sharpened by hand and ready to work. Free sharpening for life is included, and you cover shipping to the shop.
Can you engrave it? Yes, 20 dollars per blade, and free on orders of ten pieces or more. You approve a proof image before the laser runs.
For a bigger blade in the same wood, the gut hook knife in D2 with olive wood is the natural partner, and the Damascus skinning knife with a bone handle rides well on the same belt. The rest of the season is in hunting knives, every pattern welded blade is in Damascus steel, and this wood shows up again in olive wood handle knives.