Cracker Knife

In keeping with my theme ( I hate to say it rises to the level of persona)of early 19th century Cracker cowboy in Florida and South GA I asked Lonehunter to make me a knife in keeping with what would have been carried then. Considering the amount of relative lawlessness there was in that area and that group we settled on a nice knife that was "battlefield" trophy (IEulled of a Spanish guy that strayed too far away from the settlement) but rehandled in the field. So, nice O1 blade, deer bone handle wrapped in rawhide. Cow and deer parts would have been fairly easy to obtain. He knocked it out of the park!!! It is really first rate. :thumbsup:

Also in keeping with the theme I spent the day making a suitable sheath using only what I would have had at hand. Cow parts, lard/oil, leather, gator parts, the knife and an awl. Here's what I came up with.





Turned out kinda nice. At first, I was going to make it fancy, but when I started to do the Spanish braid down the seam it just didn't look right. Too "bench made" and not quite rustic enough. So I unlaced it, took the rivets out and finished it up this afternoon using only the things I would have available to me if I were in a semi permanent cattle camp in the swamp. Hole punched with an awl, eyeballed hole locations, cut the thong by hand. It's still lined with thick leather, because I want to last, but I really tried to not make that obvious.

I haven't done any real leather work in a while. This was nice.

That Lonehunter has become one heckuva knifemaker ain't he? Ya know, that grip looks really familiar. Hmmm, I know I've seen that done before somwhere. Nice outfit Cracker. I'm sure you will enjoy using it. :thumbsup:

Thanks. Somewhere in Kissimmee there is a pig with my name on it just waitin for this knife.

Wick Ellerbe said:

Ya know, that grip looks really familiar. Hmmm, I know I've seen that done before somwhere.

Click to expand...

Some old guy showed me how to do that!

Thanks Supercracker, I hope it serves you well.
Your sheath looks outstanding!

They look like they were made for each other, :thumbsup: Great work Guys on everyones part. Including the ol' Guy. :bow: :bow: :bow:

Guys, THAT'S what I call teamwork ! !

:bow: :thumbsup: :bow: :thumbsup: :bow: :thumbsup: :bow: :thumbsup: :bow: :thumbsup: :bow:



.

Sweet!!!!!

That looks like a great combo, knife and sheath. Very nice job. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Your sheath is a good match to that knife. I really like the bone handle. Guess you Florida guys are all on the same page. :thumbsup: GW

Man! That thing sure is nice. Kudos to you and Lonehunter.

Sweet combo!

nice!

Nice looking work Gentlemen... :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Just gorgeous! The knife itself is a wonderful blend of blade shape and handle treatment. The gator hide sheath makes the whole thing pop! Supercracker, did you harvest that gator yourself?

Very nice looking knife. :thumbsup:
Hay cracker, Do ya have a whip? :grin:

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I used to do a lot of stuff like this, but it hurts my hands too bad to do much of it anymore.

That hide is the from the thigh of a 7' or so gator I bagged with a longbow back before I messed up my shoulders. Good eatin!!!

Woods Dweller said:

Very nice looking knife. :thumbsup:
Hay cracker, Do ya have a whip? :grin:

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You know it. Been using one to direct and move cows since I was a little kid helping my Grandfather work cattle. :thumbsup:


I was raised by my Grandfather who was a Cattleman and was doing back when they used to drive the steers through downtown Jacksonville onto barges.

His Father did it back when parts of Florida were still wild and you still had to worry about bandits stealing your cows.

His father did it when they were still rounding up the remnants of the Spanish cattle.

And so on and so on from the time they were booted from Ireland and ended up in SE Ga. Then, presumably, were very successful making extended forays into Florida to hunt cattle and drive back to Ga to take to Market.

The whole Cracker Cowboy thing is my direct lineage.
:hatsoff:

More info.

"Those white intruders were “no­madic like Arabs,” wrote the Spanish governor in the 1780s, and were “distinguished from savages only in their color, language, and superiority of their depraved cunning and untrustworthiness.”

LOL, one of my favorite quotes.

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...ost/1060360/hl/tropical/fromsearch/1/#1060360

Florida was WILD 100 years before out west was and stayed that way well into the 20th century.

Those came out awesome! :thumbsup: Really loving that gator skin sheath!

Thats a good looking knife, especially the handle :hatsoff:

Looks great, Shane!

Can't wait to hit the river in January! We need to put a hurting on some hogs.