All About Pocket Knives

does anyone have any input on promar knives? I've never heard of them and theres not much about them on the internet. My buddy bought one at the beach for shuckin oysters and i sharpened it for him when he got back and i couldnt believe the edge i got on that sucker.

Frank -- Uh, I don't think Oyster knives are supposed to be sharp. I've only seen oysters shucked on TV but it looks to me like the blade is more for prying than cutting. Someone will come along who has experience in that area and will set the record straight.

Frank,
Jerry is right. I've never seen a sharp oyster knife. People who use that tool (restaurant ind.) will not want a sharp one. It needn't be.
I've opened many an oyster with a sharp opinel because that's what I had on the Wellfleet flats. But I had to be delicate.

I've shucked many many oysters but never with a "sharp" oyster knife I like my palm and fingers to much.

Tell me Cutty. Would you say you're "in love" with your palm and fingers?

Jerry, are you quoting from jimmy stewart?

No Jody. Jimmy Swaggart.

jerryd6818 wrote:Frank -- Uh, I don't think Oyster knives are supposed to be sharp. I've only seen oysters shucked on TV but it looks to me like the blade is more for prying than cutting. Someone will come along who has experience in that area and will set the record straight.

I've only tried it once myself but I've seen it done by others thousands of times.
And the blade is sharp enough to cut you.
That is why you wear a special leather glove on the hand holding the oyster.
The palm of the glove has extra thick leather on it so you don't poke the blade through you hand.

Here is a French "ROWOCO" made shucking knife I picked up down the Jersey shore a few years ago at a flea market.
The little nick in the blade is used to chip the edge of the oyster to create a starting point and then you stick the point in and pry it open.
There is an edge on both sides of the blade.

JW~

jerryd6818 wrote:Tell me Cutty. Would you say you're "in love" with your palm and fingers?

Well the love story began around the age.................................................................uhhhhhhh hhm hhm!

Yes, I am fond of cut free hands.

Did you ever see the episode of Dirty Jobs with the lady shucking oysters? She was amazing at it and probably wasn't using much of a knife, at least not to us.

One of my great loves in life is a plate full or freshly shucked oysters on the half shell. I've learned the delicate art of shucking out of necessity. (My brother brings them back by the cooler full when he visits Fla. each year.) I would not want a sharpened edge on an oyster knife. I see no advantage in having it sharp. The basic function of the knife blade is to pry open the two halves of the oyster shell and then remove the 'meat' from the shell by scraping the blade under the oyster. None of this process requires anything close to a sharp blade. Furthermore, when prying oyster shells open, there's the inevitable slip from time to time that you just can't avoid. It's at that moment that you are most grateful for a thick glove on the hand holding the shell and for a DULL blade poking your gloved hand.

i just wanted to know if anyone had heard of these knives before. I had no clue it was for shucking oysters. It looks exactly like the mora, which led me to believe it was a camp knife. I only sharpened it because the guy asked me too. I dont think he knew it was an oyster knife and i dont believe another oyster will ever be shucked by that knife again. So can anyone answer my original question, without all the oyster talk? No offense to anyone, but i really couldnt care any less about oysters.

My apologies for getting all that started. It sounded like you wanted to know everything you could find out about the knife and that was all I knew. Maybe someday I'll learn to keep my tater trap shut. Sorry.

Tater Trap? Go figure, a knife that's not supposed to be very sharp takes a Keen edge...

franknittti79 wrote:i just wanted to know if anyone had heard of these knives before. I had no clue it was for shucking oysters. It looks exactly like the mora, which led me to believe it was a camp knife. I only sharpened it because the guy asked me too. I dont think he knew it was an oyster knife and i dont believe another oyster will ever be shucked by that knife again. So can anyone answer my original question, without all the oyster talk? No offense to anyone, but i really couldnt care any less about oysters.

Does the knife look like this???
If it does it is not an oyster knife but a bait knife....
Your buddy might just be using this type knife for shucking.
Looks like a Mora knife to me.
Just google Promar bait knives.

JW~

thats the one! And no worries, i was just excited to see so many people replied, and then instantly bummed at the posts about oysters. Its cool though. What exactly is a bait knife? I was thinking of ordering one, but the sites that have them arent that reputable, so i declined.

I'M THINKIN THAT ONLY A MASTER BAITER SHOULD TRY SHUCKING AN OYSTER WITH THAT IT LOOKS LIKE A DANGEROUS CHOICE FOR SHUCKING

franknittti79 wrote:thats the one! And no worries, i was just excited to see so many people replied, and then instantly bummed at the posts about oysters. Its cool though. What exactly is a bait knife? I was thinking of ordering one, but the sites that have them arent that reputable, so i declined.

It is pretty much self explanatory.
It's for cutting up bait for sea fishing or crabbing.

JW~

i havent been near the sea since i was in the navy. Though i still refer to the sides of my car as port and starboard, as well as other nautical terms. Haha!

Dredging up an ancient one here, but just had to after reading it LOL!

First, on the Promar knives...I use my hounds to track wounded big game for other hunters and always carry one of these for the hunter that isn't prepared. I don't even have to ask for it back. Handy to stash in the glove box of anything and everything that moves, as well.

And now on the oysters....last time I had them my wife and I planned a backyard date night for New Years eve. We "steamed" them on roofing tin with a wet towel. Between the two of us we ate a whole bushel of oysters and drank a fifth and a half of rum. Haven't had oysters (or rum) in 5 years now