Hi, I am Jamie
Hey, my name is Jamie Smith, a hunter by hobby and firefighter by profession. I created Knifehelper to clear the doubts, from selecting the right knife, to how to use and maintain it.
A little bit about my background…
My father has been in the military since I was born and being from Sitka, Alaska, my dad loved wildlife and has been hunting since he was 18 years of age. Whenever used to come back from the military for a break, which is usually in the spring, he used to go hunting twice a week. His favorite things are big games like black/ brown bears.
When I was 10, my father asked If I wanted to come hunting with him and I said YES. This was the beginning of my hunting journey. When he hunts down big names, he asks me to help him do things like field dressing and skinning that obviously requires a good knife and that’s how my interest in knives began.
For hunting, my father usually kept a fixed-blade knife, to be specific, a bowie knife because he hunts down big games usually. Occasionally, he uses his folding knife to teach me how to hunt small game such as rabbits and squirrels.
When I was 11 years, I hunted my first small game, a rabbit and it changed the course of my hunting journey. As I was born in 1996 (after 1986), the state of Alaska requires us to complete hunter education and I completed the course after hunting my first game to enhance my knowledge and get the license easily in future.
As my father comes for a month or two for a year, I convinced my younger brother to come hunting with him during school holidays, usually on the weekends and I slowly moved to other games such as waterfowl, Wolf and Wolverine in the next 3 years.
When I turned 15, I wanted to try big games but Alaska law states that we need a supervisor with a valid licence for that. Luckily, my father came back from the military and he helped me try a big game for the very first time and it was a Brown Bear. With my fixed blade knife, I did field dressing, skinning and quartering. All by myself.
When I turned 17, I wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to spend my time outdoors hunting so I opted for a Certificate in Fire Science after completing a high school diploma to become a firefighter.
At 18, I got the Certificate in Fire Science and got the job in the same city in the fire department. Whenever I get a leave during my weekly schedule, I go hunting with my brother who is studying to be a nurse. The same year, I applied for a hunting license and got it easily.
For a decade, I used to go hunting with my brother whenever I got the chance. One fine day, my brother suggested that I join a hunting club because he was about to leave the city for a job in another city. In the next few days, I looked up for a good club and joined one. Most people were similar to my age but they are just starting out their hunting journey. I helped many people in the group clear their doubts and they were impressed with my hunting and blade skills.
One club member, Alex, recommended sharing this knowledge online and creating a blog around it and that’s how Knifehelper was born.
With 17 years in the woods and playing with different knife types such as bowie, boning, dagger, bushcraft, I’m here to share my knowledge to help others choose the right knife, how to use and maintain properly to last it longer.
