Damascus Camp Knife with Green Micarta Handle and Leather Sheath

A camp knife is the blade you reach for once the tent is up. It cuts cord, shapes feather sticks, splits kindling small enough to catch and then works beside the stove. This one is a 5 inch drop point on a 10 inch overall length, hand forged in Damascus over a high carbon core, with green canvas micarta scales on a full tang and a hand tooled leather belt sheath.

Specification

The blade

The steel is Damascus, pattern welded over a high carbon core and etched so the light and dark layers show, with the bevel polished mirror bright. At 5 inches the spine falls toward the belly and the point sits low, in line with your hand. A bowie reaches a low point the other way, by cutting a concave clip from the top of a much longer blade. This one gets there by staying short and plain, so it works as a general tool. The core is carbon, so it darkens and rusts if left wet.

The handle

Green canvas micarta is layers of canvas set in resin and then sanded, and the sanding leaves a fine tooth your palm holds onto when your hands are wet or greasy. It will not swell or shrink with the weather the way a natural scale can. The scales are pinned in brass to a full tang, steel unbroken from tip to butt. There is no guard here, since your hand already sits close to the work on a blade this short.

The leather sheath

The sheath is cut to this exact knife, so the blade seats with some friction rather than rattling. It is vegetable tanned leather with a wide belt loop stitched to the back and a strap over the handle with a snap. A welt is sewn into the edge to hold the thread clear of the sharpened side. Every stitch goes in by hand. The face is hand tooled with a carved wheat and leaf pattern inside a stamped border, cut and shaded into damp leather rather than printed on top.

Who it suits

Buyers usually come to this one after finding a folder too small for firewood and too fiddly for food.

• Campers who want one fixed blade for the whole trip
• Anyone stepping up from a folding knife
• Cooks who prep over a fire
• Buyers who want Damascus in a size they will carry
• Someone shopping for a gift that gets noticed

What comes in the box

• The Damascus camp knife
• The tooled leather belt sheath
• A care card
• A free laser engraving quote on request

Every piece is different

Runs stay small because the forging, grinding and finishing are done by hand. The layer pattern never repeats, the green in the micarta shifts from sheet to sheet, and the tooling sits deeper on some sheaths. Yours will not match the photograph.

Looking after it

Hand wash and dry it, then put it away dry. Never the dishwasher, since that damage voids the warranty, and never leave it damp in the sheath. The gray patina that comes with use is normal and protects the steel. Oil it before storage and let the leather dry away from heat. Sharpen on a whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade and you add it on this page. Around 30 characters fits along a blade, and anything longer reads better on the sheath. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. It is free on orders of 10 pieces or more. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

How is a camp knife different from a bowie? A camp knife is shorter and plainer, with no guard and a flat grind.

Why is the blade only 5 inches? Five inches handles kindling and cord and still works for food.

Does it have a guard? No, it is full tang with pinned scales.

Will this steel rust? It can, so dry it after use and oil before storage.

Will it look like the photo? No, the pattern and tooling differ on every piece.

How soon does it ship? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

For the same size in wood, see the Damascus camp knife with a rosewood handle, and in plain carbon steel the hand forged camp knife with a stacked leather handle. More sits in bowie and camp knives, in Damascus steel, and in all knives.