Stalker's

Spec's:

Blade Length: 4.5"

Overall Length: 8.75"

Blade Steel: 52-100

Blade Thickness: .215 (7/32")

Rc: 57-59

Weight: 9.7 oz.

Sheath: Leather

The Standard handle materials were: Classic (Leather), Chestnut, Sambar Stag, and Micarta

   These were one of the new models that came out near the time of BlackJack's demise. Because of this there are not a whole lot of them out there. Especially when you start breaking it down by the handle variations and such. The Stalkers upswept blade design is based on 18th century butcher style knives. In the past I had stated that the blade steel which was used on these was 1095. However according to former BlackJack CEO Mike Stewart the steel which was used on these was in fact 52-100. Mike went on to state that from about 1994 all the classics used 52-100 with exceptions being the TrailGuides which were done in A2, and the Chukkers which were done in 1095.

Here is an example of the Stalker in Micarta.

    Next up is the Micarta handled variation with what I believe is an Aluminum guard. This particular example has no markings. It's my belief that this particular knife may have left the factory in someone's lunch box.

photos courtesy of  Tom Carey

photos courtesy of  Tom Carey

First up is the Classic (leather) offering. This one has a nice non standard nickel silver guard.

Here we have an example with the Chestnut handle and nickel silver guard.

    This is a standard Stag handled variation with an interesting twist. This  Stalker is a hand ground pre-production prototype. The knife is not marked Stalker, just classic blades as the template was not yet completed. This knife was a hand ground photo sample for a major Blackjack distributor. This information comes from Anthony Lombardo who had it in his collection.


 

Next up is this non standard cocobolo knife. This was an Exclusive that I think was made for the North American Hunting Assoc.

    Here is another nice piece from the collection of former CEO of BlackJack Mike Stewart. The handle is reconstituted ivory, and the duck is scrimshawed with a matching head embossed onto the sheath. There was also a TrailGuide like this.

    This particular example is handled in red stag. Notice this knife has some problems with cracking on the handle. This seems to be a bit of an issue with the red stag handled knives as they age. I am sure that is at least partly due to that fact that stag will expand and contract just like ivory. Generally it seems to contract. So whenever you are looking at buying any knife with a stag handle you will want to look for shrinkage and cracking.

photos courtesy of  Tom Carey

photos courtesy of  Tom Carey

photos courtesy of  Tom Carey

photos courtesy of  Tom Carey