Hunting knives

Still using my old KBar. Fairly worn 7 inch blade. Holds a good edge and is also good for chopping bones (or small tree limbs) if necessary. I can't even guess how many deer and pigs I've skinned with a KBar. I use a 25 year old 'newer' one and gave the one that my Grandfather gave me (it came back from the Pacific campaign) to my grandson.

Is a KBar the best skinning knife? No, certainly not, but I like the all purpose qualities of the knife. And, being an old Jarhead, a KBar just feels right. I have other knives (Buck 110, for instance) but when I use them it feels like I'm cheating on my old KBar.
 
This

I like a carbon steel Mora or Puukko style knife.

Large, comfortable handles and short, narrow blades without a guard is worthy of serious consideration.
 
My brother gave me a wood handled folding knife with a short but broad drop point blade he bought in Sweden that I've field dressed at least a half dozen deer with....nothing fancy just holds a great edge and is easy to use ! The brand is Eka made in Sweden...use it for cleaning stream trout and small game as well ! Another Knife I like is the Alpha Wolf by knives of Alaska.....ultra sharp blade right out the box and made of D2 tool steel !
 
Along about junior high, I had a Camillus like Kraigwy's of Post #33.

"A sharp knife is the sign of a lazy man." Well, I kept mine razor-sharp. Bare spots on my arm, to prove it. :D
 
I realize that fixed blade knives are better for use and easier to clean, but we didn't have as good sheaths in the old days and I've seen several car seats punctured by belted hunting knives and worried about falling on mine and having it go through a kidney, etc.

I've used both the Buck folder with brass bolsters and the Buck Lite folder. I prefer the lightness of the latter and have used it to gut many deer over 30 years or so.
 
I use a short wide blade knife with a hook on it from LLBean in combination with a Western 4 in blade knife given to me by my Dad in 1954,great steel.
 
I refuse to concede that a fixed blade is "better", unless perhaps you're working in an abbatoir.

The cleaning is handled with a cold water soak & a couple toothpicks.

Safety issues-you can hurt yourself with either.

I strike out from the tent for a full days hunt loaded with just a large fanny pack, no carrying saws, axes etc.

The knife that I've settled on is a $49 Cabellas folding blade, blunt point and saw blade of 440C steel.

I don't like whacking a moose or elk pelvis with an axe to split it-the bladder is close. Sure, the saw blade is slow but I split the elk all the way up the ribcage. This makes for easy removal of the complete esopagus & larynx (cut a small slit for traction).
You can do a much cleaner job with the sternum split. When done, prop open for cooling & lightly cover with brush. Drag the gutpile off a ways.
 
I am not even sure how many different knives I own, from fixed to folders, cheap to Benchmades, different steel to good steel. Each and every one has their strong points and weak points. I have cleaned more than one deer sort of impromtu with a case or uncle henry pocket knife because that is what I had at the time. Some of my favorites are my Cold Steel Master Hunter in Carbon V for a fixed blade, Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter VG-1 Steel in a drop point folder, Old Timer Buzz Saw (if only one knife I generally carry it, but who wants to carry only one knife), the most recent addition is a Outdoor Edge Swing Blade, haven't used it yet but like the feel and design of it, blade quality seems to be on par with AUS-8A. Sometimes just for luck I will rotate knives, but there always seems to be the Beretta bright orange handle folder in my fanny pack, easy to not lose, and does the job, also like to have a cheap folding utility blade knife with either a carpet hook or regular blade. Those thin carbon steel blades sharpen like you wouldn't believe. And I am a sharp knife snob, regardless of design or steel sharper is better.
 
I have a shooting bud, who over lunch, calculated based on the number of decades he has been hunting, and the limit for deer, that he has taken over 200 deer.

This is his 1964 Case Canoe, a knife he bought new, in 1964. When I asked him what knife he had been carrying, he pulled this out, said he had field dressed a deer with it the weekend before, and he had not cleaned it! While this is a small knife, it sort of proves you don’t need a scimitar to field dress a deer.





Later I gave him a couple of knives to try out, I gave him a high carbon steel version of the bottom knife, a Grohmann “Survival” knife. This by the standards of 1970 was a big, thick, knife. I also gave him the Cold Steel version of the top knife, the original Grohmann belt knife. The Grohmann belt knife is not much thicker or heavier than a paring knife, which was perfectly fine when it came out in the 1950’s.



Anyway my bud preferred the smaller belt knife over the big survival knife, for field dressing deer.

I think either of the top two Grohmann knives would be excellent choices for a deer knife. I prefer fixed blade knives over folding as blood and fur get inside knife joints and it takes time and effort to clear the stuff out. I field dressed one deer with a Camillus trapper, an uncommon model as it had a locking mechanism. Next one, I went back to a 4” sheath knife.
 
Most often a Case yellow handle, with CV blades, such as Slimline Trapper or Sodbuster Jr.

While I do have some custom fixed blades, I most often will use a Mora No.1 Classic, or Mora Clipper with carbon steel blades.
 
My main knife is a Muela Rhino. Steel is 14C28N Sandvick. Takes a razor edge, holds it pretty well and is easy to sharpen. I mostly hunt hogs and that hair can play hell with a cheap blade. Prior to buying the Muela I ised some Wal Mart Gerber for years. Always had to hit it with the steel a time or two mid-hog. The Muela skinned a whole decent sized boar and never showed any sign of dulling. Didn't hunt much last year so didn't get to do any extensive testing so that's all I can say for now. I also carry a White River Knife and Tool Knucklehead. It's S30V and is quite a value. Haven't got to skin anything with it yet though.

The Muela
 
+ 1 Water-Man. I've been using a Cold Steel Master Hunter since 1996. Works well on elk, mule deer, pronghorns, Blue Grouse, bunnies and trout.
 
Blood washes out easy, its the fat that is more difficult to get. But a minute or so under running hot tap water and it disappears. Wipe it down, maybe a drop of oil on the hinge and good for another hunt.
 
Longer size Swiss Army Knife with the saw.

The stainless blades don’t hold a super good edge, but they get through an elk. I carry an E_Z Lap diamond sharpener in my pack for it.

I have used these knives for everything from small game to buffalo and moose. The saw will cut through the lower part of an elk pelvis in about 90 seconds so I can "core them" and let the legs lay out flat.
 
To those who use folders, how does one clean all the blood out of them? Short of dishwasher on "pots and pans" ....
Click to expand...
Rinse in cold water. Real simple.
Click to expand...
Blood washes out easy, its the fat that is more difficult to get. But a minute or so under running hot tap water and it disappears. Wipe it down, maybe a drop of oil on the hinge and good for another hunt.
Click to expand...

That is the reason I use the Gerber Paraframe knives. Run them under some warm water and then use a toothpick to clean out any fat that is left in them. Really easy to clean the way they are made.
 
Longer size Swiss Army Knife with the saw.

The stainless blades don’t hold a super good edge, but they get through an elk. I carry an E_Z Lap diamond sharpener in my pack for it.
Click to expand...

X2
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top