Every once in a while, a movie will make an unusual gun or knife suddenly become wildly popular. Dirty Harry, First Blood, Crocodile Dundee are just a few examples of movies that did this.
In The Hunted, Tommy Lee Jones plays a wilderness expert who trains Aaron Hallam (Benecio Del Toro) in hand-to-hand combat and survival skills. That meant that the knife Hallam used had to be memorable and badass — something audiences hadn’t seen before.
Tom Brown Jr.’s Knife
America’s most acclaimed outdoorsman, renowned tracker, teacher, and author, Tom Brown Jr. spent the first seven years of his life coyote teaching him the skills of tracking, wilderness survival, and awareness from his Grandfather Stalking Wolf (Apache elder, shaman, and scout).
When Stalking Wolf’s final walk was over, Tom continued to wander the wilderness throughout the Americas with no manufactured tools-in most cases not even a knife-perfecting these Grandfathers skills and teachings.
To date, he has taught thousands of people from all walks of life how to become successful trackers and wilderness survivalists through his Tracker School located in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
Tom also designed the knife that was featured in the movie “The Hunted.” It is a full tang design and can be used for chopping, skinning, carving, gutting, scoring, cutting, slashing, slicing, and all the other wilderness/survival tasks you might need. It has a black canvas micarta handle with a heavy duty kydex sheath.
The Hunted’s Knife
There are certain movies where a gun or knife is so popular that it becomes an iconic piece of the movie. Dirty Harry, First Blood, Crocodile Dundee all made guns and knives famous.
William Friedkin’s The Hunted is no exception to this rule. It’s a potboiler of an action thriller that features Tommy Lee Jones tracking rogue assassin Benicio Del Toro.
What makes this movie so special is the intense, visceral fight scenes that make it stand out among other macho movies of its time. There are some excellent hand-to-hand encounters throughout the film, including one where Del Toro dispatches two heavily armed agents with nothing but his trusty knife.
The Hunted is also home to a knife that was made famous by the film. It’s called the Tracker Knife, and it was designed by Tom Brown Jr. It is now sold by TOPS Knives and can be found on their website.
The Tracker’s Knife
Every so often a knife or gun becomes a celebrity & makes its way into the movie industry. Dirty Harry spawned the Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, First Blood made sawback knives with hollow handles famous, Crocodile Dundee resurrected the popularity of giant, impractical bowie knives.
In the early 2000s, a different kind of knife was made famous by the film The Hunted. That knife is called The Tracker’s Knife.
A Tracker’s knife is a fixed blade knife designed for outdoor activities. It has a large blade that is perfect for chopping wood, skinning animals, and clearing brush.
The knife was originally designed by Robb Russon 40 years ago, but it wasn’t until The Hunted that it became a recognizable name in the world of knives. Since then, many companies and brands have designed and manufactured tracker knives. These knives are popular for outdoor activities and are a great addition to anyone’s gear. They are also helpful for self-defense if needed.
The Tracker’s History
Every so often a knife gets made astonishingly and surprisingly famous. Dirty Harry did it for the Smith & Wesson Model 29.44 Magnum revolver, First Blood did it for sawback knives with hollow handles, and Crocodile Dundee caused a resurgence in the popularity of giant, impractical bowie knives.
But one of the most interesting and underappreciated heroes in the history of survival isn’t a knife at all, but a group of Aboriginal trackers from New South Wales. Through their work on native title claims, historian Michael Bennett has discovered that these men and women traced people across vast swathes of country with skills passed down from generations.
They were celebrated as saviours of lost children and disoriented adults, and finders of missing livestock. But they were also cursed by robbers on the run and could easily become their own worst enemy.