Hunter's

Specs:

Blade Length: 7" Weight: 9.7 oz.

Blade Thickness: .215" (7/32") Sheath: Leather

Overall Length: 12" Blade Steel: 0170-6, 1095, 52-100

Rc: 57-59

The Standard handle materials were:

    Classic (Leather), Dymar, Chestnut, Sambar Stag, and Micarta (though it was not listed in the 1995 catalog). Production first started on this particular model in 1993.

     As you can see in the specs listed above there are three different types of steels listed. That is because over the years the steel type that was used did change. Though factory literature always stated that the steel type was 0170-6 this was not always true. Since the Hunter model came on line in about 1993 it is my opinion that 0170-6 was not actually used on this model. At some point early on the company was forced to switch to 1095 since 0170-6 (which really is just a modified version of 1095) was no longer available as the only company that made that material was no longer in business, and supplies had dried up. This probably occurred in 1992 or 1993.  In the final few years once again the steel type switched to 52-100. According to Mike Stewart this final change started in about 1994. By the time the company ceased operations 52-100 was used in all of the classic models with the exception of the TrailGuide and Chukker.

     Below is the Hunter section from the 1995 catalog. Prior to 1994 the butt caps did not have thong holes. The blades also sported a higher polish.

Here is an example of one of the standard versions of this model. The Classic leather handled Hunter. The leather handle variation is the most common handle for this particular model.

    Next we have this example in chestnut. chestnut was a standard offering, though it was not shown in the '95 catalog. The knife was available in this material in 1995.

Below is a nice stag handled example.

    Here is an example with a flat butt cap which is rather rare. I suspect these were offered as an exclusive, but I do not know who they were done for if this is the case. 

    Here is an example of a Dymar handled Hunter. Dymar is the rarest material used in the standard catalog offerings. At this time I don't have a production figure for these, though they are rarely encountered.

    This has to be one of the best looking BlackJack's I have ever seen. The handle is maple with  coco bolo. Jason Stewart worked at BlackJack and recently told me the story behind this beauty. The knife was a one of a kind " The reason I know this is because I made it . It was to be my personal knife....I walked up to the offices at Blackjack with it, after it was finished and a guy offered money for it, right on the spot." Thank you for the information Mr. Stewart. It's sad that there's only one of these. 

    This is an exclusive that was made for Grand Prairie Knives. This is one of those happy mistakes for us collector types. This was supposed to be a double guard 1-7. The first two knives that were made for the order were Hunters. This is one of those.

    Here we have an example of a red stag Hunter. The butt caps on these were grooved to follow the contour in the stag. This is a nice old school custom touch which can be seen on knives made by custom makers who have been around for quite some time such as Gil Hibben, and the folks at Lile knives. It seems to have started some time in the 1960's.

    Here is another example of a red stag Hunter. The interesting thing about this one is the pouch style sheath. The sheath is an original factory sheath. This is the first time I have encountered one of these. According to former BlackJack CEO Mike Stewart these were offered with the Hunter model only. I am not sure at this time when these were offered or how many might be out there. Though red stag was something that was offered late in the companies history.

photo courtesy of Dick Gustafson

photo courtesy of Dick Gustafson