Should I drill a hole through my Puma Hunter's Pal?

[Mick Smith]

I used to own an older Puma Hunter's Pal. It was stolen from me years ago when my house was burgled. I have since replaced my stolen knife with the current model of the same knife.

My new Hunter's Pal is slightly different from my old Hunter's Pal. It appears that Puma have made of few cost cutting measures over the years. The new model has only two rivets holding the scales on instead of the old 3. The new model doesn't have the "lanyard" hole through the handle which used to hold the knife very securely to the sheath. The sheath itself has been redesigned to incorporate the use of velco to hold the knife in the sheath.

I liked the old knife and sheath. I liked the total security of having the leather thong on the sheath threaded through the lanyard hole in the handle of the knife and then looped over the handle. The new model relies totally on two strips of velco to hold the knife in place. I've used then knife in the field and each time I have discovered the velco has caught on shrubery and has pulled apart. It's got to the stage now where I carry this knife in my pack, just so I don't lose it.

I have been toying with the idea of drilling a hole through the handle of my new knife between the uppermost rivet and the end of the handle. This position for the hole on the handle lines up with the top velco strap on the sheath. I could remove this strap completely and replace it with a loop of leather that would work in the same manner as my older Hunter's Pal. This would provide the security of my old original arrangement.

The trouble is, this knife cost me nearly $200 and I don't want to wreck it. I thought it prudent to seek some advice before making the attempt. The only drill I own is an electric hand drill. The hole needs to be around 3/8ths of an inch in diameter. Before I completely stuff my knife, would it be logical to attempt this feat? Would my hand drill go through the hardened steel of the shank? Any advice and/or suggestions will be appreciated.

Mick

[piggy]

Mate I recon Jindy would be your man to ask, personally I would drill it but only in a pedestal type drill which can hold the knife securley just incase the drill bit grabs the knife and gives it a bit of a spin bye bye fingies

[aussiehunter]

personally id keep it in ur pack as i do with mine..

i carry a alrounder on my belt and save the good one for skinning etc only..

as for tech info on drilling,illleave that to the knife experts..

pat

[Stickbow Hunter]

Mick I would not try to drill. I doubt you could with it being hardened anyway.

My suggestion would be to either make a new sheath or modify the one you have. The velcro straps face forward so they will tend to come apart as they will catch on everything. Refit them the popposite way perhaps or make a similar pair of straps but use good size button type clips as they wouldn't come apart easily - have them open from the rear also - opposite to those on your present sheath.

Jeff

[jindydiver]

Don’t even try Mick, you would stuff a good looking handle guaranteed.
The steel in the handle of those knives is the same hardness as the blade and you might (a very small might too) have some success drilling it with carbide bits in a drill press, but with HSS bits and a hand drill you wont go near putting a hole in the steel. You might be able to drill it if you took the scales off (you would still need a drill press), but then you would need to put them back on in the same way.
Your sheath is easier to fix.
Make 2 pieces of leather strap that look just look the straps that are on there but only half as long. Sew and glue some Velcro to the back of the top straps on the sheath (you already know where to stitch because the stitching is there already. Stitch the other half of your new Velcro onto the inside of the end of the new strips and then rivet (or stitch) your new straps onto the bottom straps on your sheath so that when you close the straps you close what you already have and then another layer that closes over in the opposite direction. I hope it makes sense? The strap will look like a triple deck of leather with the centre being your strap with Velcro on both sides.

A pic to explain my dribble…



You could even remove those straps and replace them altogether as Jeff suggests

[Stewart Townsend]

Mick Smith, and all,

I infrequently sometimes look in on this forum, more often I am visiting the knife making forums.

I thought I should get off my bum and give an answer to Mick's question.

By the time I had registered jindydriver had a given an answer.

What he said - maybe with carbide bits and slow drill press it might work.

The only answer would be modify as he suggests or get a sheath made.

I have made a sheath for a knife with problems similar for myself. Using a crossover strap over the guard, clipping onto the sheath face. It then requires another thin layer of leather inside over the stud piece to stop scratching the blade.

Stewart

[Mick Smith]

Thanks fellas. I knew I could rely on the wealth of experience and common sense of fellow members.

I won't try to drill the handle of my knife, instead I will look into either modifying my existing sheath, or making a new one. I've got to say, I've never been all that excited about this sheath, I mean to say, it's uses velcro.

Jindy your idea is sound, with that extra velco strap it would never come undone, but the fact is, I just don't particularly like that sheath. I don't think I'll ever be happy with it. In retrospect, I'd be much happier with a new sheath. Your's was a good idea though, thanks mate.

I might go and see my saddler mate down the road and get him to make up a simple sheath, maybe one of those ones that comes up high on the knife's handle and leaves only enough handle sticking out to be able to grab it. They rely on a tight friction fit. It would look like Steely's sheath that he had made for his Hunter's Pal, except it would be dead plain.

Mick

[jindydiver]

You are dead right mate, a moulded friction sheath would be the way to go. They just don't make them like that to begin with because of cost.

I am sure you could have a go yourself

[timbo]

Hi Mick,
Would the velco straps rotate on there rivets? That would allow you have them face to the rear without to much effort.

Justa thought.

tim

[aussiehunter]

mick if u decide on a new sheath ,ill take the other off ur hands,as my old one is buggered..throw some dollars towards ur other...

up to u

pat the vulture

[Mick Smith]

Tim

Yes mate, with a bit of effort they do turn around, but they still come unstuck all the time. You only have to brush it with your hand when you're walking along.

Pat

You've got a deal, but you'll have to wait until I get the new sheath as I won't be able to carry the knife in the meantime otherwise.

Mick

[tony]

Mick, I have a couple of old Puma skinners, I think they`re about 58 to 60 on the Rockwell scale, so you should be able to drill through with dead slow speed using cutting oil, ...just. However, Ive also discarded my lanyards years ago , and have`nt lost one yet, they just seem to sit in the sheath and not come out .... Cheers...

[jindydiver]

I have been thinking about your handle Mick.
It seems odd that the hole isn’t there when it was on the old model, especially because the old model was the same in other respects. It is possible that the manufacturing of the blanks is just the same and there is already a hole in the steel, just not in the scales. If you remember where the hole was on the old one, you could make a very small hole from the back end, between the scale and the tang and insert a piece of very thin wire with a burr on the end to see if the hole is still there. If it isn’t then you could just fill the small hole with epoxy and you would never know it was there, but if the hole is still there you could easily drill the scales and have your lanyard hole.

[Mick Smith]

Jindy

Yeah you may be right. The hole might have been there in the tang all along.

I might even be able to contact Puma and ask them if it's there under the scales and if it is, I could easily locate it with a small hole and then enlarge the hole in the scales to line up with the hole in the tang.

I did like the look of my old knife better than my new one. The extra rivet and the lanyard hole made it look better somehow. I noticed an old Hunter's Pal was on sale on Aussie ebay a couple of weeks ago. It was in almost new condition and it ended up selling for more than a new one. There's a lot of Puma collectors out there apparently. I thought about putting a bid on it and then putting mine up for sale afterwards, but it sold for a lot more than I thought it would.

I like Puma knives. I've owned them and used them for all my life. They have never let me down. I realise they have dropped in quality lately and you pay a lot for the name, but I'll still keep using them. I've just decided that I need a Puma Duke folding knife. These are a good general purpose folding knife with sambar antler scales and a 3.25 inch blade. They sell for around AU$120.00 or so.

You're lucky Jindy, if you want a new knife, you can just go out a make whatever you want.

Mick

[kodiak]

G'day mick, I've got an old carbon steel hunters pal, it has a lanyard hole and the sheath is a work of art compared to the new ones, bit of a shame really as Puma used to be the brand all other knives were judged by! I got mine when I was about 14(I'm 39 now) I think it cost me $48 from Mick Smiths sports store in Sydney, I saved all my pocket money for about 6 months, it's still the best knife I've ever owned although it looks a bit worse for ware now , the leather retainer strap is broken so the loop of leather through the lanyard hole is all that's holding it in, I'd be a bit scared to drill a hole though it if I was you (only cause I've tried to do things like that myself and made a mess of it) but if you have the right tools and yo're game enough give it a go, good luck, kodiak

[Mick Smith]

Kodiak, like you, I saved my pennies when I was about 14 and bought my first Puma Hunter's Pal. It was the first "expensive" thing I bought. I cherised it for about 30 years. I hope the mongrel who stole it ended up cutting himself with it.

You're right too when you say the new ones just aren't as good. The steel is different too. My original one had carbon steel and the new one has stainless.

I may even look around for a nice custom knife one day.

Mick

[kodiak]

yeh Mick the new ones dont have the serations on the blade near the guard or the sort of scalloping on the back of the blade, I dont use mine much these days but every time I pick it up the memories come flooding back, like skinning my first fox and my first goat, or hunting bunnies with my old single shot 22(am I aloud to say that on the forum? hehe) I might go and dig it out now and get all warm and fuzzy, I too would be devastated if I lost mine.

[Nalajr]

BEAUTIFUL knife! I would love to have one just like it! Can't find 'em anymore as people that do have them want a fortune for them.

You might or might not know that the exact knife you have is the one Fred Bear packed for most of his hunting career.

Nalajr

[swami]

Hi,

Generally an original non modified knife retains it's value better than if it has been changed. A lanyard really is valuable if you are using the knife in watery situations and is not normally needed on land.

All knives are good particullarly ones you own.

Hand made knives are like paintings and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Swami