A.G. Russell Gentleman’s Damascus Hunter

Got this knife for a friends birthday a few years ago. He’s a big fan of the trippy patterns of Damascus steel.  

There are several incredible bladesmiths offering custom knives in a variety of damascus patterns. 

A very small selection:

William Henry

Kaj Embretsen

Gaétan Beauchamp

As gorgeous as some of their creations are, in many cases, prices run into the many hundreds, often many thousands of dollars. I’m not saying those prices aren’t reasonable for the amount of work and talent that goes into the creation of these one of a kind knives. It’s just that I can’t afford them.

Browsing through knife choices online, I came across the A.G. Russell Gentleman’s Damascus Hunter. 

Coming in at a much more reasonable price, it was still a very nice knife. While others are works of art that are only meant to be safe queens, this is a beautiful knife that will actually be used.

It has a 10 cm (4") Chinese quince burl wood handle, with a hilt/guard made of nickel/silver.

The blade is made from Daryl Meier damascus steel, and is a 7.5 cm (3") drop point, hollow ground blade.  

Coming in at about 17.5 cm (6.875") overall, and with a full tang, it’s a nicely sized knife. As the name implies, a gentleman’s knife. A very functional outdoorsy knife, but considerably more attractive than a run of the mill offering. Figured it would be perfect when he took his son on camping trips and out fishing.

With a blade about as wide as the hand, it’s an ideal size for most tasks. Cleaning fish, peeling fruit, preparing food, doing a bit of carving around the fire, etc.

It’s complemented by a wet formed leather sheath.

It’s no longer offered by A.G. Russell, not because people didn’t want to buy it any more, but because the maker in Japan was a small family affair. Like so many traditional crafts in Japan that used to be handed down from generation to generation, the kids of today have little interest. When the father died or retired, his son(s) were off in the big city. So, unless A.G. Russell is able to find another maker, this particular knife may well be a collectors item now.