Beargrass Ranch

LARCH KNIFE WORKS

North Fork Hunter Knife

The knife that has dressed out more elk in this valley than I can count. Marta forges each North Fork Hunter by hand — high-carbon steel drawn out under the hammer, ground and finished by eye, fitted with a handle of antler her brother packs out or stabilized birch. It holds an edge like nothing you've used and balances so true it feels made for your hand, because in a way it was.

Marta Lindgren works a coal forge off the North Fork road, past where the pavement quits, where the only neighbors are larch and the occasional grizzly. Every North Fork Hunter starts as a bar of high-carbon steel that she heats, hammers, and draws out by hand, then grinds, heat-treats, and finishes one at a time. No two are alike. The handle comes from what the country gives her — antler, stabilized birch, sometimes a piece of weathered larch — and she signs the spine with a small forged "L."

This is a knife you buy for your grandkids. The drop-point blade takes a shaving edge and keeps it through a season of hard use, and the balance sits right where your hand wants it. Pair it with one of Dale's molded sheaths from Two Rivers and you've got a rig that'll outlast everything else in your pack.

  • MaterialHand-forged high-carbon steel; antler or stabilized birch handle
  • Made byMarta Lindgren, Larch Knife Works, North Fork, MT
  • Dimensions4.5 in. drop-point blade; 9.25 in. overall
  • CareDry after use, oil the blade; high-carbon steel will patina