Damascus Gut Hook Skinner, Ram Horn Handle and Carved Sheath

The belly is long and deep, so the edge stays in the cut through a pull instead of running out. Set back from the tip there is a hooked notch. The blade is 4.5 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core and the handle is ram horn. Everything sharpens on a flat stone except that notch, and knowing what to use instead matters.

Specification

The blade

The bar is twisted hot, then ground back and etched, so the layers come up as a rope pattern down the flat. The core under it is high carbon and holds the edge. The notch is cut into the spine a short way back from the tip, and only the inside of the curve carries an edge, the outer face left dull on purpose. It opens a hide from the inside and the point stays out of it. Carbon steel darkens to grey with use and spots if it is left wet.

The handle

Ram horn comes warm amber in places and grey in others, with deep ridges running along it that you can feel through a glove. It is not sanded flat and smooth, since those ridges are most of the reason people want horn. The tang is full and three brass pins go through, with a lanyard hole at the butt. At 4.75 inches a cold hand can shift back and forward on the grip and still find the ridges to hold.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather, carved by hand in acanthus leaf. It is the only leather that takes a carving and holds it. The pattern is cut and shaded while the hide is damp so it stands up once dry. The sheath is built around this blade's outline, with a welt down the seam holding the stitching clear of the edge, and it is stitched by hand. A belt loop on the back carries it.

Who it suits

This one is for the owner who means to maintain it. The notch wants a round file, and people who own one already buy the hook without thinking.

• Owners who sharpen their own knives and enjoy it
• Anyone who wants a hook on a longer belly
• Buyers who like carved leather more than stamped
• People who would rather have horn than wood

What comes in the box

• The gut hook skinner, sharpened
• The hand carved belt sheath
• A care card
• Engraving details

Every piece is different

Horn is grown, not made, so the amber and grey fall differently on every set of scales and the ridges never line up twice. The twist pattern moves with the bar too, so no two flats read alike. Carving is freehand, so the leaves on your sheath sit where the knife took them.

Looking after it

The main bevel is simple, any flat stone and a strop. The notch is the one job a flat stone cannot do, because a flat surface only touches the corners of a curve. Use a small round file, or a round stone close to the size of the hook, along the inside curve only, and stop before you widen the mouth. Dry the blade, oil it lightly, and the horn needs nothing but a wipe. The knife care and sharpening page goes further.

Put a name on it

Names go on the flat by laser, 20 dollars per blade, added before you check out. Room for roughly 30 characters, so a name and a date fit. Nothing is engraved until we send a proof image and you say yes. It puts 3 to 5 business days on the order, and orders of 10 or more are free. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What do I sharpen the notch with? A round file, or a small round stone about the size of the hook. Inside curve only.

Can a flat stone do the notch? No. It touches the corners of the curve and rounds the mouth off. Keep it on the main bevel.

Does the notch need it often? Less than the main edge, since it does less work. Most owners see to it when the knife goes away for the season.

What steel is it? Damascus over a high carbon core, twisted before grinding. The etch makes the pattern show.

Will it rust? Carbon steel always can. Keep it dry and oiled, and the patina works in your favour.

How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

The same hook in a lighter handle is the Damascus gut hook skinner in camel bone and turquoise, and for a plainer steel there is the hand forged gut hook skinner on stacked leather. More of the curve in skinner knives, the pattern welded blades in Damascus steel, and the belt knives in hunting knives.