Can anyone speak to the virtues of the old Pumaster carbon steel blades? Is it all that much better than the 440c they're using in their top shelf line today? Had been wanting a Puma skinner fixed blade as the shape is what I consider perfect for my purposes. Saw the new, top end, made in Germany line with 440c going for around 150. Looking on-line I can find old 1960's era lightly used ones with the Pumaster carbon steel for the same money, or even less. Or in some cases much much more, if the knife is mint with box and papers etc. but I'm not looking for a knife to collect, i'm going to be using it and want EXCELLENT sharpness & retention. In the bit of research I have done, many seem to recommend going for the older knives. But not much substantiated reasoning for doing so. Could anyone comment?

Just bought myself a Puma.......

As I understand it there are 3 grades of Puma knifes..........German made,the Spanish/IP line and China.......... big $$s for the German....... $100-200ish for the Spanish and <80ish for the Chinese made.............

I got the Catamount IP with 440C /Rockwell 58-60 (Amazon $117/MSRP ??) after returning a Puma "Outdoor Hunter" (MSRP $170/ Amazon $91) w/ "Puma steel" but only a 53-55 rockwell rating.

Edit: IIRC the same "name" can be found in different grades.......


Good luck!

I have my dads Puma, bought in 1958 from Stoger. My brother
has bought 2 in the last couple years from the knife books. The
first was not made in Germany, he was not satisfied, said it was
to soft and wouldn't hold an edge. Then he paid around $125
for a German model and said it was no better. We are not into
collecting knives, we use them. I have been disappointed with
SS pocket knife from Case, myself. We are done with SS knives.
We are in the process of getting knives for upcoming nephews
and grandsons. We will be buying the old carbon steel / Soligen
steel knives. To many of the new knives are nothing more than
a shiney blade with a fancy handle. I know there are good SS
blades, but it seems like a **** shoot to get one. I have a custom
skinner made in 60s, SS, that will take a razor edge and hold it.
I did knock a chip out of it while splitting a pelvis. This leads me
to believe that the advertised SS is indeed what you are getting,
but the heat treating from knife to knife, or maker to maker is
not up to par.

Lot easier and far less confusing when just made with Pumaster carbon steel in Germany years back. Bought my Puma Skinner back in 67 and I notice the carbon blade does seem to hold an edge very well compared to a couple SS knives I have used. If you can find one of the 60s made models like the Skinner on line in good shape for the same price as a new one I would grab it. Have seen vintage ones like mine often going for $250 or more.

There's two parts to the answer.

In terms of the steel, Pumaster was Puma's proprietary name for what, at least in the opinion of collectors on some of the German knife forums I occasionally visit, was a very good, if unexceptional, non-stainless carbon steel with excellent edge-holding properties. Apparently, many knife-making companies in Solingen, including Puma, got their steel from the same steel mill into the 1990s. The stainless steels that came later, including the 440C, represent the usual compromises, so "better" is a matter of definition.

In terms of craftsmanship of the knives, there appears to be a definite downward curve. As already mentioned, the three lines, Solingen/Germany, Spain, and Asia, represent different levels of quality and price, and while I have not owned any made less than 30 years ago, even the German ones come in for criticism nowadays. For hunting, I retired my 1980s Puma Stainless in favor of a utilitarian Linder-Solingen with an ATS-34 blade over a decade ago and have been very happy with that.

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You're not supposedto cut a pelvis or other bone with a knife.


Use a hatchet, or you'll damge more blades.


Every time I've seen a damaged Buck knife, some idiot had used it to hammer though bone.



Even Randall knives can suffer such damage. I know of one guy who had to whack at the head of a deer trying to kill him. THe heavy Randall blade went through an antler and into the brain. He had to send the knfe back to Randall to have a small chip ground out of the edge.

I had an old (1971) Puma White Hunter and a Puma Skinner. Got rid of them both as they not only didn't hold an edge, they just didn't work. While sharpening both the stone would drag and float on different parts of the blade indicating soft and hard spots. I have handled the newer Pumas and quality just isn't there. Go look at Fallkniven knives instead. You will find a much better quality blade.