Joe Demko
Member
Saturday afternoon, my father called me on the phone and asked me to come over and help him butcher 2 deer he had bagged that morning. If there is one thing I know about my parents' house, it's that the knives there are dull. So, I tossed my spyderco sharpener and a couple knives into a satchel and headed out.
The two knives I chose were a Cold Steel Scalping Knife and a Muela Commando. Both are, of course, discontinued models. I purchased the Muela back in the early '80s, it doesn't have much in common with their present model that bears the name. Mine has a brass pommel and guard, brown phenolic resin handle and a stainless blade shaped like the bolo bayonets that one sees on Spanish Mausers, though not so thick.
The Scalping Knife was part of Cold Steel's short-lived Hudson Bay line. In construction, it bears a lot in common with Old Hickory knives. A carbon steel blade with plain wood handles riveted in place.
Dad used the Cold Steel, I used the Muela. We butchered two deer, butterflied the back straps, steaked the hind quarters, and cut the meat away from the rib sections for grinding using just these two knives. Although I brought the sharpener, it didn't prove necessary. When we were finished, both knives were still very sharp. The Scalping Knife was a bit better suited to slicing steaks, but the Commando was superior for cutting through joints and separating the spine between vertebrae.
Both are, as I said, discontinued models. If you should see either one turn up at auction, at a flea market/gunshow, or sitting on a dusty shelf at a store, my recommendation is to purchase. Neither was an exceptionally expensive knife in their day. I think I paid somewhere around $12 for the Cold Steel brand new with sheath. Don't remember what the Muela costed, but it doesn't stand out in memory as having been dear.
The two knives I chose were a Cold Steel Scalping Knife and a Muela Commando. Both are, of course, discontinued models. I purchased the Muela back in the early '80s, it doesn't have much in common with their present model that bears the name. Mine has a brass pommel and guard, brown phenolic resin handle and a stainless blade shaped like the bolo bayonets that one sees on Spanish Mausers, though not so thick.
The Scalping Knife was part of Cold Steel's short-lived Hudson Bay line. In construction, it bears a lot in common with Old Hickory knives. A carbon steel blade with plain wood handles riveted in place.
Dad used the Cold Steel, I used the Muela. We butchered two deer, butterflied the back straps, steaked the hind quarters, and cut the meat away from the rib sections for grinding using just these two knives. Although I brought the sharpener, it didn't prove necessary. When we were finished, both knives were still very sharp. The Scalping Knife was a bit better suited to slicing steaks, but the Commando was superior for cutting through joints and separating the spine between vertebrae.
Both are, as I said, discontinued models. If you should see either one turn up at auction, at a flea market/gunshow, or sitting on a dusty shelf at a store, my recommendation is to purchase. Neither was an exceptionally expensive knife in their day. I think I paid somewhere around $12 for the Cold Steel brand new with sheath. Don't remember what the Muela costed, but it doesn't stand out in memory as having been dear.
