Classic Early American Rifleman's Knife

Authentic Reproductions of 18th & 19th Century American Rifleman's Knives

Riflemen Knives are a longer version of a blade knife often reaching 12 inches or more in length. It is thought that they got their name 'riflemen knife' as they were the basic equipment of the rifleman, along with his rifle and tomahawk. The blade was often a foot in length. Basically it is a butcher's knife, having a single edge and 'choil' creating an off-center appearance to the blade. The choil is the notch between the cutting edge and the blade tang or ricasso (unsharpened length of blade just above the guard or handle) lets you know where to stop sharpening the blade.

Popular throughout the settling of the frontier, they were typically worn in a sheath at the belt and were an essential tool of Eastern Longhunters, Mountain Men and Plainsmen for well over 100 years. These knives functioned as working, utility blades as well as for personal protection, and styles varied from long tapered blades to the popular clip point Bowie form. Handles were made of antler, bone, horn and wood, and overall length typically varied from 12" to 15".

Glossary of Common Knife Making Terms

Glossary of Common Knife Making Terms

To help you in your understanding as you browse through all the knives, accessories and gift items on crazycrow.com, we offer this glossary of common knife making terms. If there is a particular word, phrase or anything that you don’t understand here, please feel free to contact us and we’ll try to explain what we can.
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Sharpening Your Knife

Sharpening Your Knife

The most difficult knife care task is said to be sharpening a blade. Modern stainless steel is very hard and when sharpened properly, will hold a good edge for a very long time.When sharpening a knife, you must have a high quality sharpener that features a rough stock removal surface of diamond abrasive and a finishing surface of hard stone or ceramic abrasive.
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