Stag Horn has been a standard knife handle material for several centuries.  It's rarely a bad choice.  It's sturdy, handsome, and it feels great in your hand.  The outside cut of a stag horn is called the bark.  The bark is naturally rough and prevents the knife from slipping out of your hand.

     Stag Horn is sometimes sliced to create flat pieces called scales.  Another way to use stag is to use the butt of the antler where it flares.  This is called crown stag.  In order to use more of the available antler, some makers assemble handles using short pieces of stag separated by spacers. Today, the whole antlers are generally used only in art knives meant for display.

 Stag Horn is taken from antlers of almost every kind of deer.  The difference between stag types is minor, but the difference, nonetheless, is there. Stag from India is called Sam Bar, and it has a dark reddish color, usually smooth in texture.  Wapiti is Elk horn.  Its color is gray-brown with a naturally rough texture.  Whitetail and Mule Deer antlers are not as solid as other stag horns, and you will see a lot of smaller points or tips of the horn used.

 Stag was originally obtained from Hungary, Bohemia, Ceylon and India.  The best stag comes from India.  Stag imported from India is called Sam Bar Stag.  It has a dark reddish-brown color, and it's naturally smooth.  India, however, often puts a ban on stag exportation.  That's what's happening today.  Because of this embargo, the price of stag has sky-rocketed, and many knife companies are using certain types of stag only on special knives, in limited number, and in small amounts.  Imported stag may eventually go the way of Ivory.

     Because Sam Bar Stag has become a precious commodity, and because it's not always available, many knife companies have designed a stag look-alike called Bone Stag.  Bone Stag is a mechanically gouged out piece of bone or a piece of second-cut stag (the inside slice of a stag horn).  After Bone Stag has been gouged out to resemble a stag horn, it's dyed with potassium permanganate to make it more closely resemble the look of rough stag.  (Permanganate is a dark purplish salt derived from permangante acid, a powerful oxidizer.)

     When shopping for stag-handled knives, keep in mind the various types of stag used as well as stag look-alikes.  Ask questions if you're not sure about the genuineness of the material.  Knife sellers who value the integrity of knife construction will be happy to explain all the materials used in the manufacturing or crafting of the knives they sell.

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