Damascus Skinner Knife, Black Micarta Handle

The belly runs in one long curve to a rounded tip, and that curve is the point of the knife. A curved edge keeps contact through a pulling stroke where a straight one runs out early. This is 3.5 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core on a black canvas micarta handle. Not what most people picture on a skinner. That is deliberate.

Specification

The blade

Under the pattern is high carbon steel, and that is what takes the edge. The Damascus around it is layer on layer, forge welded then etched so the light and dark bands separate out. This billet is a ladder, straight rungs across the flat. The grind drops into a wide belly that sweeps up to a rounded tip, so no fine point sits out front to catch during a long pull. Carbon steel goes grey with use. That is patina, not damage. Water left standing on it leaves dark spots instead.

The handle

Canvas micarta is cloth soaked in resin and pressed hard, then ground to shape. It will not swell in a downpour or shrink in a dry garage, and the ground surface keeps a slight tooth for a wet palm to hold. The tang is full, the whole length between the scales, with three brass pins through it and a lanyard hole at the back. The handle is 4.5 inches, enough that a cold hand gets a full grip rather than three fingers and some optimism.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather, stitched by hand, with a welt between the two faces so the thread never rides against the edge. The pocket is cut to this blade's own outline, because a wide bellied skinner will not settle into a pattern drawn for a straight blade. The face is stamped basket weave, worked square by square into damp hide. A belt loop on the back takes an ordinary belt and carries the knife high.

Who it suits

For the buyer who wants a grip that behaves in bad weather rather than one that photographs well dry.

• People who work in the wet and expect the handle to keep up
• Buyers who want the Damascus without natural scales
• Anyone tired of wood moving with the weather
• Owners who like a short blade and a long curve

What comes in the box

• The Damascus skinner on black canvas micarta
• The stamped basket weave belt sheath
• A care leaflet
• Free sharpening for as long as you own it

Every piece is different

Every billet etches its own way, so the ladder rungs sit tight on one blade and open on the next. Micarta is layered cloth, and where the grinder cut it the layers surface as faint lines that never land twice. You get the shape in the photograph. The markings are their own business.

Looking after it

Dry it. That is most of the job. A wet blade shut in a sheath overnight is how carbon steel gets spotted, because leather holds damp. Put a light film of oil over the flat before it goes in a drawer. Micarta needs nothing beyond soap and warm water. Sharpen on a stone, following the curve rather than fighting it, then strop. More sits on our care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

We laser a name or a date into the blade for 20 dollars, and about 30 characters fits before the letters shrink past reading. On an etched pattern short wording reads best. Nothing is cut until you approve a proof image, which adds 3 to 5 business days. Ten blades or more and it is free. The engraving page covers the rest.

Questions buyers ask

Why micarta on a hunting knife? Because it ignores rain and a hot truck cab. Looks are taste. Grip in the wet is not.

Does micarta go slippery when it is wet? Not that we have found. It holds some texture and will not polish itself glassy the way horn does.

Is Damascus stronger than plain steel? No. It is high carbon steel folded and welded so the layers show once etched. The pattern is decoration and the core does the cutting.

Will it rust? It can, left wet. Dry it, keep oil on it, and the grey it picks up is doing you a favour.

Why is the tip rounded? A skinner works along the curve, not off the point, so nothing sharp sits out front.

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

For this outline in a longer lasting steel, take the D2 skinner on green micarta. If you want the pattern but a natural handle, there is the ebony skinner with a brass bolster. The other curved blades sit in skinner knives, the patterned billets in Damascus steel, and the field range in hunting knives.