Hunting knife for big hands

Thanks for the suggestions. I really like the benchmade saddleback mountain hunter, but I've never handled one to check the grip. Maybe the cold steel master hunter with the American blade steel (although assembled in Taiwan). The bark river knives are nice but probably out of my budget.
 
Last edited:
I believe they are Scandinavian, but I suggest you look at Helle. Definitely feature larger grips on several of their knives, and they make top-rate knives out of high quality steel.
 
another

I mentioned one of my favorites, guess I'll mention another. I've skinned and quartered most all of my whitetails with a Buck Mini-Mentor.

This is not a large knife by any means, more like a "bird/trout" model w/ a 3-1/2 in blade +/-. Because of that, it carries easily in a pouch type sheath, despite the fact it is a fixed blade. I like the tacky rubber handle, a good grip, wet or bloody. I like the hole in the butt that allows attaching a lanyard. Very handy when skinning, or gutting. You're knife is attached to your wrist by the lanyard, and if you have to release the knife to pull at hide or entrails, the lanyard retains the knife, you don't have to search for a place to put it. A roll of the wrist returns the knife to your hand, very quick and handy. The only catch with a lanyard is that if the cord is dangling from the sheath or pocket, a limb can snatch it as you walk, and you'll be knifeless. I'll normally untie the lanyard ( a looped piece of para cord) if I'm going to hike/walk with the knife on my belt to avoid that possibility.

Of course, the MiniMentor is discontinued. Buck also made a larger "Mentor", which would likely work well for critters bigger than a typical whitetail. I think it may be gone too.
 
Trying to not sound like a Cold Steel fan boy as I only own a few CS knives. If you are interested in a folder the Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter I believe has a very large handle for a 3 to 4 inch drop point blade. I think mine is the Japanese Aus8a steel. Definitely not a superb steel but does sharpen well and the handle is non slip. Be sure of what you are getting in Cold Steel as there are several different steels they use or have used. The original Carbon V may be one of the best but would be an Ebay option only as they no longer list it.
 
Buck and Gerber make good, durable, reliable knives. So do many several other makers. Care for the blade and proper sharpening are very important to pleasing knife performance. I have small hands and standard grips are fine, though some may be a slightly too large to allow a firm, reliable grip. I agree that tightly wrapping a grip with paracord may be a very good option to enlarge the grip to fit large hands.

Edit: typo
 
Last edited:
Take a look at the Knives Of Alaska products. Good steel, good construction, although the prices are a bit high.

Buck knives are made in China now, as are a lot of entry-level goods.
 
I'll throw Zvord out there again, this their Peasant Knife, one of the smaller ones. The handle is big, but this is not my point.
My 4'8" daughter decapitated a 250lb boar with it.

They look like crud, but probably the best carbon steel blade out there.

454b197aa9ca5b7e708ddd783d629623.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That appears to be a folding knife, but not a locking folding knife. A fixed blade or a locking folding knife is MUCH safer for a hunting knife, especially when used for gutting and even skinning.
 
I saw the extension of the blade back into the grip. Gripping a folding knife even with a blade extension into the grip does not make it impossible for the knife to fold while being used. A locking blade is not impossible to close if, for example, the lock breaks or fails in some way. Nevertheless, a locking folding hunting knife is far safer than a non-locking folding knife that relies on a firm, stable grip on the blade extension to avoid an unintended closing of the knife. I don't mean to argue about this, but I would not want to be field dressing a deer late on a cold December day with a folding knife that doesn't lock open and closed. Although I have always carried a locking folding knife while hunting I also carry a non-folding knife which I prefer for its stability (and also its strength.)
 
Sorry again, I didn't mean to show the knife as a skinning knife, only an example of the blade, and handle.

I do trust the knife I showed more than the standard locking mechanisms.

I really wanted to demonstrate the large size of the handle compared to the smaller size of the blade.
The other version I posted is a legitimate skinning knife, and should exceed many others in performance.

Svord, is well known among frontier types, bush crafters and off-the-grid types. I've seen people split logs with them with the aid of a ball-peen.
They are not pretty knives, not meant to be, they are meant to be extraordinarily durable, sharp, low cost and effective.
 
I can palm a basketball as well but haven't had issues with knives being too small.

Benchmade, while a little over priced are nice knives and their Hunt series is well made.

As far as price, the should be close to your budget and additionally, there is a secondary market where you can buy gently used knives at good prices.

PM me and I'll fill you in on a knife forumn that I spend too much time on if you are interested.
 
Benchmade are at least one class above the most commonly used hunting knives. If I was much younger and could afford it, I would have at least a couple of them.
 
Benchmade is good stuff. After having a succession of decent but not great pocket knives, I paid up for a Benchmade Griptilian. Great knife.

I'd still get a knife maker to whip me up a fancy KaBar type knife with a Damascus blade. Saw one once. Beautiful. If you don't like the shape of the basic KaBar blade, a custom guy can build to whatever you want.

Somebody said earlier that the KaBar wasn't great for skinning. That has not been my experience in skinning and gutting hundreds of deer with one.
 
Krezyhorse is correct, I can't remember the seller, but I've bought a number of gently used knives at great prices.

I'll have to add that the first 30years of my life I was a knife collector. I had all of the quality makers that I could afford. I've made a few amateur blades over the years. I was further into knives than I am guns, shooting, hunting and so on.

If I was to buy a knife and want the absolute best carbon steel blade, it'd be a svord. If I wanted an attractive knife that performs just as well, I'd have to spend a lot more money.

Really depends on exactly what 'you' want, I'm only telling you what 'I'want.

Cannot dispute a Damascus blade, they are fabulous.
So many to choose from.
You do want a blade that can hold an edge.

There's plenty of good knives out there that haven't been talked about yet.
 
Bubba Blade, really? Those knives suck. I have one of their fillet knives along with a whole bunch of Dexter Russell knives. My DR's stay sharp 3X as long, are easier and quicker to get an edge on and more comfortable to use. The new guy at the cleaning table always gets the Bubba, after a few fish, they opt to clean the boat or empty the gut buckets.
 
CUTCO

Cutco came out with a hunting series a few years ago. I've been using their kitchen knives for 17 years and they have the best warranty of anything I've ever encountered. I damaged a couple over the years and they repair or replace at no cost. If they have someone selling in the area, they will come to your house and sharpen them, free of charge. Or, you can mail them in for sharpening, just paying for postage.
 
Damascus steel is no better than any modern high carbon steel, and sometimes MUCH worse.
Many damascus knives for sale now use inferior Pakistani damascus steel.
Be very careful if choosing this type of steel. If it isn't from a known maker or entity, it's Pakistani or Indian cheap stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top