R Murphy knife

[MikaelMazz]

I was looking around on Ben's Backwoods site and saw this knife. I was thinking of getting one.
Does anyone have one of these knives. I do want a carbon steel knife so how is the steel.
And what is that hump on the back for?

http://www.bensbackwoods.com/servlet/Detail?no=473

 

[nolightweight]

Can only think that the 'hump' on the back acts as a thumb rest or assist during certain cutting movements. More control to cuts maybe? I've not seen it on a blade over here as yet.

 

[British Red]

Wow - that looks like a sweety - scandy ground, wood handled full tang with a leather sheath for twenty bucks?

What on earth are you waiting for?

Red

 

[markheolddu]

What Red said.

 

[Asa Samuel]

What markheolddu said.

 

[caliban]

These knives are reviewed here.

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?fid/28/tid/766697/

 

[Hoodoo]

I have a bunch of those knives. Murphy was one of the last knifemakers that made Herter's knives. That one was called the improved bowie, although Herter used that term for a lot of different versions of his knife.

 

[sam_acw]

Ben's a good guy and tends to sell quality kit. If BR and Hoodoo are interested too then it's probably worth a go!

 

[Hoodoo]

I'd say the steel is equal to AUS6. I think in might be 440A. If you don't like the hump, you can grind it off. I was never partial to it myself and prefer the earlier Herter's designs. Eventually his "Improved Bowie" morphed into this (the bottom 3 are Herter's):

This is the Murphy version of that knife, no longer in production, although you could still get them directly from Murphy, who found some old stock lying around.

 

[sam_acw]

I ordered on of the russell/grohmann style ones. That's a great price for that pattern of knife.

 

[tombear]

Hoodoo, roughly how long ago did Murphys have the Russell type knives please? I've a real weakness for that style of knife (if I could afford a custom job I'd get one but these look like affordable varriaions on the theme ;-{D.) but I couldn't find them on their website

http://www.rmurphyknives.com/index.html

Cheers!

Tom

Pease ignore the above, they are on the bensbackwoods site, D'oh!

 

[MikaelMazz]

Thanks every one for the information. I think I am going to by one. I have been using a stainless steel knife with a secondary bevel for a long time and it does the job, but I had a carbon steel mocotaugan(crooked knife) made for me by Orien M from Paleoplanet and have been wanting a carbon steel knife ever sinse.
I will see how that sheath is but I might make a different one or stain the one that comes with it.
I probably will grind off that hump. It seems like it will be annoying.

Thanks,
Mikael

 

[Hoodoo]

Hoodoo, roughly how long ago did Murphys have the Russell type knives please? I've a real weakness for that style of knife (if I could afford a custom job I'd get one but these look like affordable varriaions on the theme ;-{D.) but I couldn't find them on their website

http://www.rmurphyknives.com/index.html

Cheers!

Tom

Pease ignore the above, they are on the bensbackwoods site, D'oh!

That is great! You can't beat that price either. Just an amazing knife for the price. The handle is wider and more comfy than the Grohmann, imo.

 

[tombear]

And Bens a great guy to order from, he got straight back to me and herself has ordererd one (and some other bits as they were far cheaper than in the UK). Nominally it is hers but but when the noveltys worn off I can claim it as my own....;-{D)

ATB

Tom

 

[sargey]

Wow - that looks like a sweety - scandy ground, wood handled full tang with a leather sheath for twenty bucks?

What on earth are you waiting for?

Red

well they're not quite full tangs, but they are big'n'burly bits of wood, so there's plenty of room for sanding and modding to just how you like 'em.

the next question i ask myself is, where on earth are my murphy/herter knives? haven't seen 'em in a wee while?

cheers, and.

 

[tombear]

and 6 days later the parcel from Bens Backwoods arrived! Now that's service!

Herself likes the chunky grip but would like a nicer sheath. It doesn't quite fit in my Grohmanns jobs (the blades deeper mainly), phew!.

Does anyone know of a commercial leather scandi type sheath thats a good fit?

I also got a Opinel Jardin in stainless off him and a titanium LMF spork as the stories of the plastic ones breaking elsewhere put me off the non metal jobs.

We also got a couple of the magnifying cards off of him, suprisingly thin and flexible. Ones going on the first aid kit for splinter hunting etc.

ATB

Tom