Knives Illustrated – August 2019

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Designed as an

all-around tool, the

Hambone is a very

capable addition to

anyone’s kit.

Here, the Hambone

easily slices through

green wood when using

a technique known as

snap cutting (bending

the sapling to stress the

fibers, then working the

blade through).

demoing some of the process, I had a

couple of students use the Hambone

to clean and quarter up a chicken. The

edge was still extremely sharp after

two days of hard use and it handled

tasks flawlessly.

Normally in a survival scenario, you

would pluck the feathers of any bird you

were lucky enough to get, singe o™ any

that remained and cook it, skin and all.

Since we were pressed for time, I had

them skin the bird and then process it.

As a result, the Hambone was needed

several times to cut the tougher areas

where the feathers meet the wings,

as well as cutting through joints, and

quartering it up.

To see how the steel would stand up

to potential rust, I decided not to clean

it and left the blood on it overnight.

The next day I scrubbed the blade with

soap and water and wiped it down with

some hand sanitizer. I was pleasantly

surprised to find it as good as new.

The Caswell finish on the blade is a

semi-permanent coating that helps

protect it against corrosion. Natural

wear will occur through use, which adds

to the rugged appearance of the knife

and tells its story. While I have nothing

against people who buy knives only to

put them in a drawer or on display, I love

the look of a well-used blade.

The next day the students had earned

some more food to keep them going,

and squirrels were the meal of the day.

The 4.875-inch blade may seem a little

large for cleaning small game, but it

didn’t raise any issues when batoning

o™ the feet and head of the squirrels

before skinning. The narrow tip was

then used to make a small incision

on the back, which allowed the skin

to be pulled o™ like a pair of socks.

Once again, inspection of the blade,

after going through bone, revealed no

damage whatsoever.

Kitchen use

After the class, I was able to use the

Hambone for some common kitchen

chores. Although it may seem a little

mundane for a knife of this sort, I used it

to slice vegetables, mushrooms, and yes

70 KNIVES ILLUSTRATED • JULY/AUGUST 2019 knivesillustrated.com