Ideal hunting knife?

I used my spyderco delica 2 to gut my doe yesterday. Bought a cheap Browning survival knife that works well for me. Drop point is all you need to skin. Don't really need anything fancy. Cavemen used to do it with flintknap knives.

I prefer the Wal-Mart $10 specials, fixed 3" blade. Most of them will hold up fine for the intended purpose, but are easy enough to replace if worn down, nicked, or left in a gut pile. I carry (at least) 2 knives while hunting; a gut hook to start, and a standard drop point for skinning and inside work.

Get a nice knife and commit to using it, you won't regret it. Having a knife that holds an edge, fits your hand, and makes a job easier is so much more rewarding than having something fancy sitting in the safe.

I make my own knives, but before I got good at it I carried an expensive knife (benchmade or spyderco level quality, nothing crazy) and I enjoyed it every time I took it out.

I like a knife with a sharp point, that still has a good bit of belly/sweep to the blade. Drop points and clip points mostly. For deer I usually have something with about a 4 inch blade, but 3 is enough. I look for handles that don't have a lot of finger grooves are crazy shapes, as those dictate how you hold the knife. Something with a more organic shape that you can grip multiple ways comfortably is better for outdoor stuff.

Don't skimp on the sheath either. That can be the deciding factor between 2 knives. If you can't carry it comfortably and securely its not going to help you. Having it at hand and not worrying about losing it goes a long way towards using it more and getting your moneys worth out of it.

One of my brothers made Green river knives for each of us. It's a 3.5" drop point. Anything longer than that is unnecessary. The better the steel, the easier it is to do a good job.

I never bothered with a gut hook, but do like a partial serrated edge to cut through the sternum with. I have a folding Schrade assisted opener says "aus-8" on the blade. I think that's the metal the blade is made of. It is open in the back of the handle and when open I can wash through it to get the gunk out, easy as cleaning up a fixed blade and easier to carry. I like it a lot, holds a good edge. It has a partial serrated edge like I like in a gutting/field knife.

I use a fixed blade skinner for skinning. This Schrade would make a decent skinner, too, though.

Here's my skinner. Don't got a pic of the schrade. The skinner was cheap and is a nice knife, holds an edge a lot better than my Gerber skinner. It's an "M Tech Extreme". Got it on sale in a spam ad. I'm a sucker for knife sales. LOL The pic is my M Tech and my Gerber pictured with it.

I got on to the Havalon craze a few years ago, but I use the same knife for deer and fish. The replaceable blades are really sweet, and having a scalpel edge for every job makes work easier.

Take a look at Bark river knives. Really top quality.
www.knivesshipfree.com/bark-river-knives/

I like the "Gameskeeper."

These are my deer/hog hunting knives



I carry the case pocket knife and the one with the stag handle in the woods. Everything else goes in my meat cooler for use after I hopefully kill something. The smaller sheath knife with the brown handle is one of those knives made from a file, and its easy to make razor sharp- I made a mistake a couple years ago with it on a deer I had hanging and ended up crazy gluing my finger shut. That cold steel knife was quite a bargain at $15- also holds an excellent edge but the case is a POS- which is why there is a retainer on it made out of a piece of bicycle tire inner tube. The gerber gut hook is nice because I need all the help I can get not botching that job and making a bigger mess out of what is already a mess. Those folders that use the scalpel blades are nice for dressing critters though- I used a friend's on a huge turkey I killed a couple years ago and I almost bought one. The only reason I didn't is I have these and they are working. Also those scalpel folders are useless for anything except dressing critters, but one sure would save me some time messing with whetstones and diamond files.

cheygriz said:

Take a look at Bark river knives. Really top quality.
www.knivesshipfree.com/bark-river-knives/

I like the "Gameskeeper."

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Good lord. I can get a firearm for that price. I'm not exactly a knife snob and haven't found that huge amounts of money necessarily translate into a knife so superior I think it's worth the cost. I've done just fine all of my life with Bucks and Schrades and such.

MCgunner said:

Good lord. I can get a firearm for that price. I'm not exactly a knife snob and haven't found that huge amounts of money necessarily translate into a knife so superior I think it's worth the cost. I've done just fine all of my life with Bucks and Schrades and such.

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Old Italian proverb:
"Cheapa U buy, cheapa U get."

cheygriz said:

Old Italian proverb:
"Cheapa U buy, cheapa U get."

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I've done just fine with "cheap", though I never thought of a Buck as necessarily cheap. Frost cutlery is cheap. I have a 190 dollar Case Kodiak my old man gave me one Christmas. It's real pretty (at least), but it dulls faster on a pig's hide than my Gerber, let alone the new M Tech. But, I think it's more for show. Oh, I can get it sharp enough to shave my face with, have done it, but it's a delicate edge. It's more for show than for use.

Besides, I'm of Scottish/German heritage. We're supposed to be cheap.

The Case...

most of my favorite knives cost less than 5$ some as much as 15$

my fav is a old STEWARTS HAND MADE KNIFE. I think it is a old boning knife. I got it at a yard sale and dipped the handle in bedliner.

its been my fav for years. id say it was made in the 1950's. the steel is incredible, holds a edge well and sharpens easily with almost any type of sharpener. I also find old hickory small boning knives very usefull. russel knives can also be found cheap.

none of these knives are pretty or modern but they work well for me as they did for my grandfather.

For the money, these Mora knives are hard to beat:

Laminated carbon steel, very sharp, comes with a cheap leather sheath, but it works. I put varnish on the handle, so it is shiner than factory. Ebay has these new for $49.00




A real deal 12C27 stainless steel, and a plastic sheath. A version of this is going for $17 delivered on Ebay.




You can get the five inch Green River knife off Amazon for $23.00 shipped, you will have to buy your own cheap scabbard. I have each of these in $5.00 scabbards.



These Russell Green River knives have been skinning animals and gutting fish since the 1830's. The patterns are outstanding, the steels have always been very good.

I love the Grohmann patterns, but they are all above $60.00



I consider this an excellent knife. In VG-1, with sheath, on ebay, going for $48.00 delivered.



VG-1 is a good steel.

Scattylobo sent me a 3inch Pukko a few years back and I carry and use it daily.

I'll second those Mora knifes, for sure!!! I give them as gifts to kids and fellow Hunters, a good spare in the bag for me.
If I had to use something else, it would be a small old hickory kitchen ''paring knife'' they hold a good edge, cost about 5$ and are quite handy, though the handle is a bit small, its great for gutting Caribou.

I'm going to try one of the Moras sometime. I've heard a lot of good about 'em.

MCgunner said:

Good lord. I can get a firearm for that price. I'm not exactly a knife snob and haven't found that huge amounts of money necessarily translate into a knife so superior I think it's worth the cost. I've done just fine all of my life with Bucks and Schrades and such.

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If you aren't into knives you aren't into knives, but it would be just to easy to say you don't need anything better than a high point for a pistol, or an old single shot 12 gauge to hunt with. Whether its guns, knives, cars, or anything in between there's loads of people out there that want to shame anybody with something nice, and claim that their $5 version is "JUST AS GOOD!" .
I use my knives more often than my guns and I enjoy them. Schrade and Buck are solid, and get the job done but there is a lot better out there, most people just aren't willing to use it like a schrade or a buck to find out. Its kind of like buying a sports car and then driving it like an old lady or leaving it locked in the garage.

It always astounds me that folks will pay $1,000 or more for a rifle, $200 or more for a pair of hunting boots, over $1000 for a fly rod, but they refuse to pay even as little as $250 for a quality knife, or $750 for a decent scope.

Here are a couple knives I use all the time and really like. The tan handled one has a 3 inch blade. The black handle is a 4 inch blade. I really like a basic handle shape that I can grip several different ways, rather than aggressive finger grooves and what not. Both have enough belly for skinning but still have a good fine point on them. Everybody has different tastes, just have to handle a bunch of knives until you find the one for you.

ohihunter2014 said:

I was recently put onto the outdoor edge swing blade knives with the gut hook but too poor to pay $60 for a knife so I paid $10 for just the gut hook. I currently have several of the cheapo Walmart Remington fixed blade gut hook knives and a buck 110 hunter 100th anniversary I'm afraid of losing and don't much like a folder for field dressing deer cause junk gets inside of them. The Remington knives don't hold an edge and are kind of large. My best friend makes custom knives mainly out of old files because the steel is so hard and they hold a good edge and using Japanese water stones he shaves his beard with them. He keeps hinting that i need to buy one but I'm not really sure what to have him make. He says he can do skinners, puko's i think they are, or anything. I'm also open to factory suggestions other than the replaceable blade knives. Will be used to clean deer, rabbits, etc.

What do you prefer and why?

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Fat belly, handle it and you'll see

redneck said:

If you aren't into knives you aren't into knives, but it would be just to easy to say you don't need anything better than a high point for a pistol, or an old single shot 12 gauge to hunt with. Whether its guns, knives, cars, or anything in between there's loads of people out there that want to shame anybody with something nice, and claim that their $5 version is "JUST AS GOOD!" .
I use my knives more often than my guns and I enjoy them. Schrade and Buck are solid, and get the job done but there is a lot better out there, most people just aren't willing to use it like a schrade or a buck to find out. Its kind of like buying a sports car and then driving it like an old lady or leaving it locked in the garage.

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Well, I gave up performance cars in college for motorcycles. Faster and better gas mileage. Of course, I also had an old Chevy truck. If I win a lotto, I might go throwing my money around, but I don't have that much to throw around, so I make do with my junk.

MCgunner said:

I'm going to try one of the Moras sometime. I've heard a lot of good about 'em.

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I have one of the $15 Moras with the rubber/plastic handle and plastic sheath like the blue one posted above, except mine is OD green. its a good cheap knife and sharpens quickly to a good edge. Mine is kept in my jeep. I used it recently to do a very quick and efficient backstrap-ectomy on the side of the road on a small deer I accidentally hit with my jeep. A great piece of gear for the price.

cheygriz said:

Take a look at Bark river knives. Really top quality.
www.knivesshipfree.com/bark-river-knives/

I like the "Gameskeeper."

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Jeez I'm liking a lot of their lines. I've never heard of these guys. I don't think the prices are too insane.

Mn Fats said:

Jeez I'm liking a lot of their lines. I've never heard of these guys. I don't think the prices are too insane.

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They aren't too well know since they're semi-custom. They only sell about 100K knives annually. But workmanship is superior, and they use high grade tool steels.
My only criticism is they use leather sheaths instead of kydex.

The $15 Mora's are a lot of knife for the money. But I like the handle,blade shape, and sheath a lot better on this Mora. And at around $30 it is still an inexpensive knife. But I'm not a fan of most of the sub $50 knives. Most of them have steel that is hard to sharpen or won't hold an edge well. The Mora's are the best thing I've found under $50.

https://www.amazon.com/Morakniv-Kan...1541276386&sr=8-1&keywords=mora+kansbol+knife.

Basically the same blade profile, but a little heavier duty and with full tang construction. Not necessary for skinning and cleaning game. But one of the best values in a bushcrafting knife.

https://www.amazon.com/Morakniv-M-1...76386&sr=8-2&keywords=mora+kansbol+knife&th=1

Really, anything with a decent blade from about 3"-5" will work. You can spend as much as you want. I have some $200+ knives. I use what suits me at the moment, but the 2 Mora's above are certainly 2 of my favorites regardless of price.