"Frisco" Skinner

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At the height of the California gold rush in the 1850's San Francisco was a boom town.  It was full of gold seekers, gamblers, prostitutes, merchant men, mountain men, high society types and all sorts of others looking to strike it rich in all kinds of different ways.  Anything you wanted was for sale in the shops, stores, bars and brothels in the area, and fancy knives were available as well.  Makers such as Will and Finck and Michael Price offered ‘art knives’ of extraordinary styling and quality for those with the necessary discretionary funds.  Those were shining times for certain sure!

Today such knives will cost well in the five figure range, and if a man was to purchase one it’s a safe bet that he doesn’t intend to use it for anything other than display.  Our “Frisco Skinner” is inspired by some of those knives.  It’s a skinner with the customary up-curved cutting edge and drop point style.  It has a coffin shaped handle which was popular in that era and has polished bone handle scales stained to  resemble ivory. The scales are held in place with 5 brass rivets which give it a hint of the San Francisco look.  The four inch long blade is made from 1095 razor sharpened simple carbon steel, edge tempered to give the user years of service.  It has a two inch long false edge and comes with a simple leather sheath to be worn on the belt in an upright fashion for quick drawing use.

It’s a hefty knife and feels good in the hand.  There is a filed thumb stop to keep your hand from sliding up the blade.  Like all good knives, it begs to be used.  It conjures up a time of fancy gamblers and card sharks ready to draw and slash at a moments notice either to defend their honor or to escape on the fly, but it will also skin a buck or slice up vegetables with equal facility. It won’t help you win at the poker or faro tables, but in true Frisco fashion, it will help you feel safer on the streets... or in the forests, hills and prairies.