“Classic” Deerstalker Knife
The Classic Freedom with its 3.5 inch blade is perfect for deerstalkers/game use. You can shroud the tip with your forefinger for working inside a carcass and the belly of the knife enables you to skin and joint the meat perfectly. This is very much helped by the shorter blade. Removing the back straps from the carcass near the spine with the smaller blade gets you much closer to the spine to curve/carve away the meat. Better precision and less waste. This is how the knife excels. It is light and precise but still strong. The atlas joint cut for head/trophy removal needs a strong tip without being too thick. This knife is perfect. The factory edge is razor sharp. My Bess Tester is the least expensive version. It measures in 25g increments. This scored 75g but is very close to 50g. I have my own sharpened edges which can do 50g and this is very much the same. The M390 steel also holds an edge superbly. An excellent choice for this type of knife. Stainless and food safe and the linen micarta scales are none porous and it passes all DSC requirements. The kydex sheath qualifies the same and has a drainage hole for easy washing. Fit and finish are at a custom knife level. The red liners with black micarta give it a custom “spec”. Incredibly beautiful. It can carve and feather stick and baton no problem and is, subject to blade length, a great bushcraft- hunting allrounder. It has a rounded spine but hold the knife at the right angle and the edge where it meets the flat ground blade works great with a ferro rod. I would firmly recommend this knife. It’s the cheapest TRC but is the best at what it does. The smaller blade works better than the Polheim for gralloching. I am going to buy an Ulti Clip attachment for the sheath as used on the Polheim. The belt horizontal carry snap is not as versatile as the clip by quite a margin. The knife does have a leather sheath option as an accessory from TRC. I have one on order but it fits perfectly in the Polheim anniversary model leather sheath if you have this model. The Polheim is more robust and batons wood better with the high sabre grind. The classic is way better at game prep as the finger shroud using the handle means you quickly can change grip without holding the knife differently in the palm of your hand. I do have big hands though. YMMV here. There is no separate lanyard hole. The hollow rivet holes are shrouded when gripping the knife. For comfort a lanyard is not a good idea. You wouldn’t use this knife though in that way unless in a boat/canoe and then I would attach an elastic knife safety line which actually works well if you size a retention knot in the rear rivet hole so it is wedged in tight but out the way of your palm. I use this knife a lot this way on my flotation jacket. Great size for this use. It also makes excellent use of the clip fastener. It gives you an inverted carry ability. The kydex “snap” is really secure and this also works on a bino harness for deer stalking. Really versatile knife!
