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Hood Hunter

The Hood Hunter by Hood/Fehrman

Well folks, I think we did it. Eric Fehrman (Fehrman  Knives) and I have been working with this design for nearly a year. After  testing a number of prototypes I think we are where I wanted to be.

It’s a stunning piece of work. Light weight yet it boasts the blade speed to do  some serious chopping.

Recently I took the final design blade out to the willow patch  and … Snick… The willow just fell off it’s base. No argument just simple  performance. Wider blades have contact with the wood for just a millisecond too  much time and you can feel the willow grip the steel… Just a touch. This baby  is through the wood before gravity even knows there’s a change.

After the willow I looked for a bit more of a challenge to the  “snick” powers of the blade. Not far away I found a nice patch of Hawthorn.  Hawthorn is very dense and springy and the bane of hunters hereabouts. It’s in  the rose family. I’ve whacked on this stuff many times and hated the way it  whacked me back. With some concern I hauled back for a slash on the bush and let  ‘er rip. Snick! off came a 1 inch thick piece of Hawthorn! That was amazing.  Ultimately I was able to snick through a 1 1/2 inch piece of the stuff.

The blade then did double duty in the kitchen and by the  fireplace. I split wood and sliced tomatoes. The blade held it’s edge as if was  re-growing itself. As most folks know kitchen duty is tough on a knife. This  baby did it all without breaking a sweat.

Some  Specs:

  • OAL 16″
  • Blade length 10″: (cutting edge to tip from front of choil) 9.75″
  • Blade width: 1.4″
  • Blade thickness: 1/4″
  • Weight: 17.1 oz !!!
  • Steel: CPM-F3V – RC 58-60
  • Handle slabs: Linen Micarta
  • Finish: Black  (standard) or Satin ($50)

Pricing for Hood  Hunter 10 inch

Blade numbers 1-9 Blade numbers 10 up
Black w/o Sheath $435 Black w/o Sheath $365
Satin W/o Sheath $475 Satin W/o Sheath $400
Sold Out Sold Out

More info:

Remove the handle scales  and you’ll find a chamber. The chamber will hold survival items or… fill it  1/2 full of number 4 steel shot…. then go chop. You’ll understand the concept  of a shock absorber for a blade. Even without the shot the chamber is calculated  to reduce the vibration harmonics induced when you hit hard wood, knots or bone. It’s  a smooth chopper, an angry slicer and because of the “Guards” , it is a fine carver on man or meat.

Some thoughts:

What we learned with many fixed blade knives is that a large grip is  potentially fatiguing for folks with small hands. For years I used my Randall  #1-9 exclusively and the grip on it is small compared to most blades it’s size.  For some reason that grip has stood the test of time, not many people complain  about the size of the Randall grip after working with it. I wondered why. The  first Hood Hunter had a grip identical in size to our Anaconda but it still felt  … off… compared to where I wanted to be. After working with several blades that I thought were easy to control I  realized the smaller grip was part of the reason.

I looked at how I chopped and with a larger grip it is hard to maintain  control and still have a loose grip for a “snap”. There’s just too much material  to get a secure circumference control and maintain a grip loose enough for a  snap chop. When we reduced the grip size I got the chopping control and the  comfort back. The smaller grip is also much better with gloves.

We are also working through some handle slab alternatives. In one set, the  inside of the slabs has been routed out so you can see clear through the handle  section (photo below). This allows the addition of 550 cord or a secure leather wrapping that  will enlarge the handle. We can also have slabs cut from thicker Micarta for  folks with larger hands. This will retain the relatively narrow grip yet  increase the “beam” for a more solid platform if needed.

A little about the Steel:

Our CPM-3V blades are custom treated to RC 58/59. This steel has proven to  have more than twice the toughness of A2 steel.

From the steel maker at: http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/prodbyapp/plastics/cpm3vp.html

CPM 3V is a high toughness, wear-resistant tool steel made by the Crucible  Particle Metallurgy process. It is designed to provide maximum resistance to  breakage and chipping in a high wear-resistance steel. It offers impact  resistance greater than A2, D2, Cru-Wear, or CPM M4, approaching the levels  provided by S7 and other shock resistant grades. CPM 3V is intended to be used  at 58/60 HRC in applications where chronic breakage and chipping are encountered  in other tool steels, but where the wear properties of a high alloy steel are  required.

The wear and toughness properties of CPM 3V make it an excellent  alternative to shock-resistant steels such as S7 or A9, where they typically  wear out too quickly, but where grades such as A2, CruWear, or CPM M4 tend to  fail by breaking or chipping. CPM 3V offers the highest impact toughness of any  tool steel with this range of wear resistance.

How does it perform in the real world… I’ve never found a steel that is tougher, more resilient and holds a better edge. Fehrman’s proprietary heat  treatment process improves the steel even more… Check out these photos of a  Fehrman 3V blade under going destruction tests.

Finally…the Blades:

As we use the knives we will add more photos to this section.

Just click on the photos below for a larger view and some info!

When you are done viewing a photo full size just click on the photo to close the viewer.

January 7, 2010Karen Hood