Jack Pyke of England "Poacher" Knife

Jack Pyke of England are very well known and respected in the shooting and hunting markets, and are making a push into the angling scene in the coming months. A lot of their existing product range is perfect for the specimen angler and are items that anglers have been purchasing without realising that the company were not actually targetting the angling market.

UKMA were recently invited down to the Jack Pyke headquarters in rural Bedfordshire to take a look at some of their products, as well as take some away for review.

The first of these items is the "Poacher" knife.

All anglers will require the use of a decent knife at one point or other in their angling lives, but a lot of the time the anglers put up with tools that are sub-standard to say the least, and put themselves at danger of personal injury by using some of these products. For a start, everyone should know that a blunt blade on a knife is simply asking for problems as the user will be putting more pressure on the blade to do the task in hand - this usually leads to slippage and at very least a cut. With the Jack Pyke "Poacher" knife you have no such worries at all as the blades with the sharpened edges are razor sharp straight out of the box (it goes without saying that a decent oilstone should be kept at home and dull blades should be sharpened upon return).

The three blades that are included on the knife are; Standard knife blade, gutting blade (which will not be of normal usage to the coarse angler but is perfect as a replacement should the normal knife blade go dull) and a saw blade. The two sharpened blades are like razors and the serrated blade cuts through branches like a hot knife through butter.

Each of the three blades have a secure locking mechanism which has an individual button for each blade, that the correct button is required to be depressed before the blade has any chance of folding back in on itself. Each of the blades is 3" in length with the serrated section on the saw blade being 2.5".

What will appeal to the angler is the unique Jack Pyke "English Oak" design pattern that adorns the handle and the included belt sheath (which is to be found under the foam lining of the presentation tin that all the Jack Pyke "Platinum" knife range are supplied in.

The presentation tin makes the Platinum range of Jack Pyke knives perfect gifts for any outdoors person.

Caution

Although the knife blades on the "Poacher" are within the legal limit to carry sheathed in public, UKMA have to stress that hunting knives should NEVER be carried as weapons or away from outdoor activities. As already stated, ALWAYS keep the blades sharp so you alleviate most of the risk of slippage.

Final Thoughts

I have had similar knives to the "Poacher" before and although they performed well for a few occassions but the blades on the others had never lasted as long as I had expected. I have used the "Poacher" for several jobs such as cutting wood up to use with the Kelly Kettle or to clear bankside vegetation to poke rod tops through. I have even used it in the garden for jobs that would normally require different tools to perform, and only requiring the one tool to be taken up step ladders and easily stored in the sheath instead of trying to balance a saw or other bladed instrument on a rung!

The "Platinum" range of knives all come with a lifetime warranty which Jack Pyke will honour as long as the care instructions have been followed which are supplied in the presentation tin.