I know that we have all discussed our favorite knives for Africa on AR, but I just had to show everyone a knife that renowned knifemaker Carlton Evans just completed for me. I am going to take it to Africa this year as my personal knife for the various small chores that I use a knife for. The handle is out of some very rare blue/silver mammoth ivory that I picked up at the SCI Convention. When I showed it to Carlton at the Convention, he went over and immediately purchased the rest of it from the vendor. If you have any unusual knives or just the knife that you really enjoy taking to Africa please share them with us.

UEG:

An amazing piece of craftsmanship!

To me it's like a fine gun. Carlton is really a craftsman.

Beautiful knife...Like the back resembles and snake...

Mike

18 days till the Selous

I would love a knife like that. Does that knife maker have a website. That was gorgeous!

/

Particularly attractive. As mentioned above, and it holds true for fine guns as well, who wants to hand over anything to the airlines care?

I'm planning on it being in the Tuffpak with the rifles and not in the other checked baggage. And yes Carlton does have a website. He lives in Texas and I think that he also does the Dallas Safari Club show and maybe the Houston Show, as well as many others. His website is: www.evanshandmadeknives.com

Super knife and more classic handle like that is difficult to get. who knows perhaps that tooth was collected by a hunter many thousands of years ago?

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
My weak spot !

The only fear I have for you is where do you put that knife when you travel ? if you go through South African aiports and it's in your baggage there is a very good chance it may get lifted.

Air travel really has become an evil necessity for sportsmen and the new safety and security rules put us at risk of losing our most valuable equipment to criminals who work in the system !

Put the knife in your gun case.

Hopefully the security is better and the chance of theft less.

PS Use your "mammoth" handled knife to cut off the tail of your elephant (if hunting them!).

Kind of appropriate, even if several hundreds of thousands of years, apart!

quote:

The only fear I have for you is where do you put that knife when you travel ?

As others have said...in the tuff pak....

I traded a gent in RSA 4 giraffe legs for 3 knives. He gave me one kudu horn knife he had laying around that was so so quality. I was fine with that as he was going to make me a couple knives out of the leg bones and I had seen his work. I can tell you I was not dissapointed when I got them. Bossie does absolutely first rate work. I was originally going to bring the leg bones home and use them myself but this worked out much better.

Second as I just turned 50 recently. God I hate to admit that. I have a 18 year old mind in a 50 year old body. My father who lives in Florida surprised me with a beutiful custom knife from a maker down by where he lives. He saw this guys work and knew right then what I was getting this year. Right on pop! I will have to see if can post pictures of these for you guys. I collect knives but all of my pieces are used just like my guns.

Carlton also uses giraffe bone as handle material as well. I believe that he has some in the photo gallery on his website. NitroX: Thanks for the suggestion. I will use it to help take off the tail of my elephant in 2007.

beautiful knife - just don't let a tracker sharpen it for you!

Beautiful knife...a great place to shop for knives both custom and semi-custom is www.knifeart.com Try it and see what you think!

quote:

beautiful knife - just don't let a tracker sharpen it for you!

Come on new_guy, they always pick out a good rock!!!!

Well this one is utilitarian but how can you go wrong with this knife!



It's a Tim Wegner design he made as a special for members here earlier this year.

This Knife handle design is made from the bone of a White rhino. Mike Clerc made them for me. He owns Javilina Knives in Phoenix. He made me quite a few which I gave some away to friends. Not only is the handle material unique but the knifes are the sharpest I've ever used in my life. They are sticky sharp and scare me just to take them out and show people!

Good Lord, that's a gorgeous knife!

Believe I'd leave that one at home and take a "loseable" knife in it's stead ...

Very nice. Carlton does wonderful work, he built a folder for me a couple of years back and he is building a fixed blade for me as we speak.

If that blade pattern is what I think it is, you will be very pleased with the way it performs in the field.

regards,

Mario

quote:

Believe I'd leave that one at home and take a "loseable" knife in it's stead ...

Stagman, I agree, I had two custom knives made, both handles out of Arizona iron wood, matching pair. South African Airways, had one stolen out of my bag in Jo'Burg! Now knife goes with gun or stays home!

You don't need a knife in Africa. Sounds absurd but it's true. At least not a gutting/skinning knife. Your PH will have a tracker to do it for you. The most you'll need is an all-purpose folder, like a Swiss Army Camper.

Besides, if you take a handful of cheap ones, you can leave them behind as gifts.

By the way, the knife, lanyard and sheath in the top photos are all as beautiful as each other. Really fine.

Very nice knife.

I, too, have a mammoth bark-ivory handled custom knife, made by Lloyd Pendleton, of Volcano, California. It's a fixed blade, sheath knife.

The mammoth ivory is pretty amazing, when you consider how many thousands of years old it is. I have no idea how it is preserved. It must be fossilized somehow, but it is still supposedly easy to work and mine retains its "warmth," in that it does not seem to be "rock-" or "mineral-" like in texture.

I always put my knives in with my ammo in a separately locked case in my luggage. The gun case would obviously be a good choice, too.

UEG - why have you not been over to my place to show me the knife?

Because I don't have the knife yet. It will be here in two days' time. The pics are from Carlton's wife, Pauline. After seeing them I am considering having him make me a fixed blade knife as well.

What was the price on that beauty?

Carlton's prices are all different depending on what you and he decides to build and/or use in regards to handle material, style, design, blade material (ie. stainless vs. damascus), body material, etc. etc. His knives are custom designed and each is handmade by him only. If you look carefully at the pictures you can see the exacting detail and fit that goes into his knives. It usually takes about 6 months from your order to get your knife. He has a website (as posted previously) and I would suggest that if you are serious that you take a look, see what you might like and ask him for a quotation. I had provided him with the handle material for my knife, so it was not as expensive as if I had ordered the knife and he had supplied everything. Just to put it into perspective the handle material alone was valued at $400 because of its rarity. That should begin to give you some idea of the cost. You could pay as much for one of his knives as you might pay for a nice rifle, again depending on your order. I can also tell you this much; he is kept busy full-time building custom knives and does not lack for customers or orders. For some, his knives are fine art, very functional and well worth the price; for others they may be too expensive or simply not what they are looking for.

Use Enough Gun,

That is as beautiful a knife as your Cindy.

But, put in your guncase, might make it that way!

Have a look at carlsonknives.com

Yes, Cindy was on ESPN this morning and she hunted and killed a very big Banteng in Australia and a man-killing crocodile in Tanzania. She is on twice every Sunday morning on ESPN, along with Under Wild Skies Africa. Boy that shot on the Banteng with her .470 double rifle was a shot to behold. When hit it jumped straight into the air! Her second shot appeared to be a misfire.

UEG

I will inform your favorite tracker of the latest aquisition you have made for his private collection. I have no doubt the he will be well pleased with your choice.

Brad

Beautiful ,knife ,but its a pitty to use it as a tool in Africa .Ihave some customs but i daily carry a cold steel master hunter .Juan

Juanpozzi: I too, have plenty of work knives, but this one with mammoth ivory has a special mission to perform in that it will eventually be used for the removal of a BIG bull elephant's tail. Brad: Maybe January would be willing to trade me straight across for his prized panga.

Excuse me for double posting but some of you guys don't get over to the knives forum too often.

This is a photograph of my new knife from Cartlon. The handle is Giraffe bone closely matching the handle of the folder he made me last year.

I will be taking this with me on my upcomming hunts.

For anyone interested in a custom knife, I can not recommend Carlton highly enough.

Enjoy.

Mario

Beautiful pieces of art and useful tools also. COOL!

I met, visited the shop, and purchased a custom knife from Andre Thornburn about one hour outside of Johannesburg. He had best of show with an ivory handle in Europe 2005 and was the best knew member of the American guild at the Orlando, Fl show also in 2005. (No ivory in the US)

Visiting the shop is great and if you have the time, he will take you through the steps with his equipment in his shop where you can make your own custom knife.

I did a search and found lots of info on Andre but could not locate a web sight. If you need some time to kill in Johannesburg and can track him down he claims it would take about two days to make your personal knive. My PH said next time he would go with me and furnish some Warthog tusks for the handles.

Fred

Bring a knife on the hunt and some cheap Mora or others as gifts for the staff.

i wouldnt have gone on a hunt without a knife . The most important item besides rifle, ammo and so on.