Loving knives

by Patrick Kerin
Hunter 10

I normally carry two knives when I hunt, one being a Swiss Army locking-blade folder, while the other is a Puma 'Hunter's Pal'.

I can't recollect when or where I bought my original Swiss Army knife, but I do know when and where I lost it - on a station in western New South Wales after gutting some rabbits on a spotlighting trip. Its replacement now features a lanyard that I use to secure it to my wrist while in use or my belt when it's not.

Typical of the Swiss Army range, it has a selection of handy tools, including the ubiquitous toothpick and tweezers.

The 'Picnicker' model was my choice from the extensive range. Its blade locks open for safety when in use, while the extra features are limited to a can-opener and bottle-cap remover, two different-sized, straight, screwdriver blades, and a corkscrew. This leaves the knife both slim and lighten and carries comfortably in my pocket, without the need to add a belt pouch to carry it.

For general camping, cooking, repairing and emergency use, it's handled everything I've ever been able to throw at it - including tidying tight rifle-action screws at the range on one occasion.

A few times when I've been without my Puma, the Swiss Army knife has handled the job of opening up culled goats (to facilitate decomposition) and removing 'roo legs without fuss.

My Puma is the knife I use for the pleasure of owning it. I found it by chance in a custom knife-maker’s shop in a little town in the Adelaide Hills and I suspect it had been there for a long time because when I saw the price, I didn't hesitate, I pounced.

I had coveted this knife for more than 20 years, but I was never quite able to justify its purchase.

Having reached an age when the finer things in life can be better appreciated, I realised that some things are worth more than just their price in dollars. Featuring a fixed-blade no bigger than my Swiss Army folder and genuine staghorn grip scales, the 'Hunter's Pal' is a work of art, a masterpiece-in-steel.

A general hunting knife really only has one function - to cut - and the shaving-sharp, hard blade of the Puma does this with consummate ease. It features a short, serrated section just ahead of the brass guard for sawing through sinews and a handsome hide scabbard with a double safety retention system to ensure that the only way I will ever be permanently separated from this knife will be by death.