I got it yesterday and am hopefully going to get some time tomorrow to take it and the FF Duke from @Southern Gent out and play around.
So I had some time to get out and play with this, and wow what a blade. I compared it directly with my Tramontina 14" Bolo, which proved to be a poor comparison. They are completely different blades, meant for completely different purposes. The TM Hunt is more akin to a large knife such as a BK9 or Junglas, and less like a true machete. The Tramontina was obviously better at machete tasks, such as cutting light vegetation, and chopping through thin green limbs. The TM Hunt is absolutely unrivaled as a chopper. Its weight forward design combined with the large birds head on the end of the grip make for hard, heavy blows. The sweet spot for chopping is just behind the recurve of the blade, where it will bite deep and throw good chunks of wood. I was most impressed by how balanced and nimble it felt in hand. It handles like a much smaller knife, which is an excellent benefit for tasks that are more small knife oriented such as notch carving. I use my machete quite often as a draw knife for thinning material or smoothing it out for camp craft. I was amazed by the TM Hunt knife in this regard because it greatly outperformed my Tramontina that I use often for this task. I found that if you wrap your fingers around the spine towards the end of the blade, and let your thumb rest in the fuller, it makes a very comfortable and controllable off-hand hold for using as a draw knife. The sheath is also a work of art. The knife fits perfectly and securely, and comes out with ease. This is especially difficult with a bolo style blade because it gets larger towards the tip. Typically you end up with a knife that gets hung up on the way in and out, or a loose sheath that the blade moves around in. The Machete Specialists sheath I have for my Tramontina fixes this issue with a zipper on the back of the sheath, which is slow and clumsy but works. The TM Hunt sheath, however, is executed perfectly. There seems to be an obvious influence with names in their lineup like Magua, Tradewater, and Yuma. I thought for quite a while about a name for the knife, and my first choice was the Lenape word for snake, "xkuk." I thought this would be a difficult name to market unfortunately, as most people wouldn't know how to pronounce it or what it meant. The blade definitely has a snakelike shape to it, especially with the hole in the "head" that looks like an eye. Well it turns out that James Fenimore Cooper got the name for Chingachgook from the Lenape "xinkwi xkuk" which means...you guessed it...big snake. I still didn't feel Chingachgook was quite the right name for the knife though, so I kept thinking. My entry for the name is Hawkeye, the Americanized foster brother of Chingachgook. Hawkeye also gives reference to the hole in the blade, and the precision of the blade. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures before my phone died, and a couple are blurry, but here they are. A big thanks again to @Murphnuge for getting this together and letting us try out this amazing piece of craftsmanship.
Not a lot more to add from the first two reviews. Both were excellent. I'll say Thai it is typical TM Hunt quality. The feel and the balance is perfect for chopping. The added weight near the end really helps out. The grips are perfection. The blade thickness and weight are perfect. The sheath is excellent. The only negative thing I have to say is it is not mine to keep. This is a bad ass knife. I'm shipping it out Friday. Thank you very much for the opportunity. If Todd makes more, I want one!
I got to play with this at the Becker Gathering in Sept. Murph, Todd, and DJ all heard my opinion of it there. for the record, it was not a good one. yes, it's beautiful. yes, it's very well made. Yes, that bird's beak handle hurts even more than it looks like it will when you bear down and go to chopping -- at least in my "larger than average" hand. to add insult to injury I had a non-ESEE production knife there I had reprofiled the day before and it was a more efficient chopper. Fortunately, I also already have a perfectly good M-18, so finding I have no desire to own a TM Hunt Bolo (Moccasin) was a good thing, because I can save up for a trailmate and/or a Camp Chief.
Definitely going to be following this. Great vid. Nice guest appearance by that Fletcher in the pics Dysphoric. Great reading and pics all around everybody.
I received this sweet knife yesterday. I spent a couple hours using it today. Ive got several task to complete using this knife before sending it on. Once finished I will post my review along with pics. SPOLIER ALERT: This thing is awesome!
I want to thank TM Hunt for allowing me to review this knife. In a market that is flooded with great knife makers, its humbling to see a knife maker send out his creation for others to critique. This says a lot about TM Hunt knives and a desire to always be better. The craftsmanship in this knife is a reflection of that attitude. I’ll start by saying, Im not a “large” knife guy. I typically like 3-4” blades. However, this knife may have changed my opinion. This knife excels as a chopper, but can be used for more detailed task. The forward weight in the blade creates a sweet spot for chopping. The only improvement I would like to see is more choil. A few times as I repositioned my grip, my index finger slipped up to the edge. I know some of you #neverchoil guys are cringing, just my personal preference. This happened mainly during extended chopping sessions. This knife is surprisingly nimble. The thin portion of the blade works great for bark removal, or general cutting task. The scales were perfect, allowing the user to get a rearward grip for heavy duty chopping. You also can choke up on the scales for finer work. I'm not fond of handling copperheads, so I opted for a turtle shell. When life gives you river birch limbs, make a river birch basket! Pot Hanger and the tools of the trade Split some sycamore for a fire board and spoon. This knife was made to baton! My bodyguard! She'll be getting one of these before she starts dating. A little fishing break at the wisdom retreat. This bolo came in handy every time I hung a limb brim or tree bass. This is DEFINITLY a knife I would buy. The functionality, quality, and size is where it needs to be. After using this knife for a couple of weeks, its going to be tough to send it on. Hopefully, I will have my own version soon. Thanks again TM Hunt.
Looking forward to taking it for a spin. I'll be moving in a couple of weeks, though, so I'll need to update my shipping info.
Damn, all these posts are super exciting. I'd love to get my hands on one of these. After handling the M-18, my interest has certainly been piqued. Great posts all.
The Eagle, er, Bolo has landed and I have to say I'm pretty excited! I literally opened the package 2 minutes ago so I wanted to throw out some of the first initial thoughts that came to mind... - Great design of the sheath. many times overlooked or an afterthought the open spine and the button clasp work together perfectly to give both good retention and ease of sheathing and unsheathing. - Balance is excellent, pretty much at the end of the fuller closest to the handle. Can't really swing this around in my office now, but I can tell it will feel more like and extension of the arm rather than some accessory I am holding - After reading Wisdom's comments I can see where there could be a little work done in the guard area, however I do belong in the #neverchoil group and would rather see Todd artistically incorporate some sort of "enhanced" guard rather than grind in a half circle. I'll hold this comment in reserve until I get some use under my belt. - The most comfortable portion of the handle for me is at the top, while it feels much more secure closer to the "hook' portion of the handle. For my medium sized hand the overall handle seems a bit of a tweener. When I put my hand in the sweet spot I have about a finger's width of handle in either direction leaving me with the feeling that I'm not getting the most secure purchase. Undoubtedly this knife needs a big handle to balance the blade, so again I will reserve further comments until some work is done. - I really like that the cutting edge virtually extends the entire length of the blade into the choil. - Fit and finish is as awesome as the 50 or so knives of Todd's I've handled, so no surprises there. Really looking forward to putting this knife to work and give ya'll some meaningful feedback over the next few days. Overall, my first impression is that I want one...pretty bad.