Hunting knife

[Jay Murray]

Hi all

I am looking for a new knife, i work in the game industry mainly as a PH and general farm maintenance and having a good knife is an essential tool. I currently have a CRKT free range hunter fixed blade. After using this blade to do what i need to do to a downed animal, i might as well turn the knife into a butter knife it gets so blunt. I am now looking for a new knife that will be able to stay sharp for a full days work with out having to sharpen it every 5 seconds. I have no idea what to look at, however i hear BUCK knifes are very good. If anyone could help with suggestions and where i could finded good blades.
I am looking for the following:

• Gut hook
• Fixed blade (I am not interested in a folding blade)
• Comfortable to the hand
• Strength
• Holds its edge
• Good sheath
• Easy to clean

Thanks all
Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

[Bowhunter]

I would suggest a dedicated gut hook. One that uses a Stanley blade, I have a Gerber one but I know there are a few others around. worth it's weight in gold.

http://www.gerbergear.com/Activity/Hunt/E-Z-Zip_45924

[pdh]

There are many many options for what you want

I feel it depends on your budget.

You have knives in brackets starting from R500 and going up in R500 increments till over R4k

Give us an idea of what your budget is and guys will be able to give you their opinions.

Also be prepared to get 100 options from people who swear by their choice

[Ds J]

Agree on the dedicated gut hook.

[ravingDIODE]

And I would also look hard at getting a locally handmade hunting knife. Some of them tend to have very good edge retention and heat treatment. So maybe spend some time and google for local knife makers who make hunting knives (and not the cheapy stuff either)

[Jay Murray]

Thanks for the advise, ill have a look around and see what comes u.

[Jay Murray]

Im not wanting to spend more than 1k on a knife, im based in Kimberley.

[Ds J]

Jay, a few things are important: blade shape and length, material types and your intended purpose. You will probably have to sacrifice somewhere. The ideal knife is almost impossible to find.

Do not fall for some fancy design which looks good. Go for something along the proven classic lines. There is a reason that bowies, parangs, kukris etc look the way they do: it is because their designs have proven themselves. In some cases they have literally proven themselves over thousands of years under certain circumstances. You have to get a design which will work for you. Example: a large kukri is nice to look at but very tiring to work with when butchering; generally we cut a carcass apart, we don't chop it apart. It's lopsided design does not always work for delicate needs.

Get a relatively heavy knife. For basically the same reason that a slow and heavy bullet works better when hunting, a heavier knife also works better because it has momentum. You need to force a light knife through anything by pure muscle power, with a heavy knife you rather steer it and the weight does the work. A solid tang and heavy handle feels akward at first but one gets to appreciate it. A good knife needs balance.

The blade shape plays an enormous role in the usability of the knife. For butchering you will need something with a rounded belly. For general farm work you probably need something with a pointed blade. The only shapes which really get both of these together are the drop point hunter and a clipped bowie, or something similar. I have removed the tips of two regular butcher knives and it simply works very well for me. There is an elegant curved cutting edge as well as a sharp tip.

Get yourself a proper long blade - the CRKT has 4.25" which can do the work but a longer blade gives more workable cutting surface. Controlled brutal force works best when cutting the veins on an animals neck; a single slash with a long blade does much more damage than a few cuts where the blade cuts into the hair and doesn't get much done. A large knife can do the job of a smaller one, but a small knife battles with big jobs.

Stay away from the hollow ground or partially hollow ground knives if you intend to cut a lot of meat. The upper part of the hollw ground curve catches on the meat and is tiresome. Gently tapered or flat ground or even double convex (japanese cut) works better in my opinion.

Steel type (and a good heat treatment) makes the difference between resharpening every now and again, or working without bothering. I have a nostalgic streak, so virgin leaf spring tempered to an almost brittle edge but with a differentially tempered spine makes me drool. Stainless tool steel (N690, L4528 etc) is more user friendly because it does not rust that fast. Get something with at least 3mm spine thickness. My current hunting knife goes in a wooden sheath in the small of my back so that it is out of the way. It is an oooold Crown Mills butcher knife with the tip removed. The blade was probably 9" but it was worked down severely; it is now 22cm 8.5" long and a tad under 3mm thick with original wooden grip.

A few more thoughts:
- Learn to sharpen properly. A properly kept knife will sharpen easily whereas an abused knive will needs extra care.
- Take care of your knife - don't lend it out. It will come back with a broken point, a chipped handle and after being sharpened on a rough stone or a grinder.
- Get a kydex sheath or something similar. It is hardy, takes the punishment and leaves room for different carrying options.

Suggestion: since you will be "mistreating" your knife on a daily base, why don't you look at a cheap butcher's knife, cut away the rounded top of the tip and give it a try, just to clear what you need?

[Stefan.Bothma]

Jay, a few things are important: blade shape and length, material types and your intended purpose. You will probably have to sacrifice somewhere. The ideal knife is almost impossible to find.

Do not fall for some fancy design which looks good. Go for something along the proven classic lines. There is a reason that bowies, parangs, kukris etc look the way they do: it is because their designs have proven themselves. In some cases they have literally proven themselves over thousands of years under certain circumstances. You have to get a design which will work for you. Example: a large kukri is nice to look at but very tiring to work with when butchering; generally we cut a carcass apart, we don't chop it apart. It's lopsided design does not always work for delicate needs.

Get a relatively heavy knife. For basically the same reason that a slow and heavy bullet works better when hunting, a heavier knife also works better because it has momentum. You need to force a light knife through anything by pure muscle power, with a heavy knife you rather steer it and the weight does the work. A solid tang and heavy handle feels akward at first but one gets to appreciate it. A good knife needs balance.

The blade shape plays an enormous role in the usability of the knife. For butchering you will need something with a rounded belly. For general farm work you probably need something with a pointed blade. The only shapes which really get both of these together are the drop point hunter and a clipped bowie, or something similar. I have removed the tips of two regular butcher knives and it simply works very well for me. There is an elegant curved cutting edge as well as a sharp tip.

Get yourself a proper long blade - the CRKT has 4.25" which can do the work but a longer blade gives more workable cutting surface. Controlled brutal force works best when cutting the veins on an animals neck; a single slash with a long blade does much more damage than a few cuts where the blade cuts into the hair and doesn't get much done. A large knife can do the job of a smaller one, but a small knife battles with big jobs.

Stay away from the hollow ground or partially hollow ground knives if you intend to cut a lot of meat. The upper part of the hollw ground curve catches on the meat and is tiresome. Gently tapered or flat ground or even double convex (japanese cut) works better in my opinion.

Steel type (and a good heat treatment) makes the difference between resharpening every now and again, or working without bothering. I have a nostalgic streak, so virgin leaf spring tempered to an almost brittle edge but with a differentially tempered spine makes me drool. Stainless tool steel (N690, L4528 etc) is more user friendly because it does not rust that fast. Get something with at least 3mm spine thickness. My current hunting knife goes in a wooden sheath in the small of my back so that it is out of the way. It is an oooold Crown Mills butcher knife with the tip removed. The blade was probably 9" but it was worked down severely; it is now 22cm 8.5" long and a tad under 3mm thick with original wooden grip.

A few more thoughts:
- Learn to sharpen properly. A properly kept knife will sharpen easily whereas an abused knive will needs extra care.
- Take care of your knife - don't lend it out. It will come back with a broken point, a chipped handle and after being sharpened on a rough stone or a grinder.
- Get a kydex sheath or something similar. It is hardy, takes the punishment and leaves room for different carrying options.

Suggestion: since you will be "mistreating" your knife on a daily base, why don't you look at a cheap butcher's knife, cut away the rounded top of the tip and give it a try, just to clear what you need?

Please share a picture of your knife

Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

[Ds J]

Favourite everyday knives. Every one of them is there due to a particular quality. I do not like buying ready made knives because I sometimes feel cheated - it could have been better in this or that manner. Some day I will make a few knives for my personal use - as perfect as possible.

Attachment 22240

From left to right:

Hunting knife: a Crown Mills chopped butcher knife. 8.5" carbon steel blade, almost 3mm thick. Very handy form for general meat work. The belly is not rounded enough for the removing skin in tight areas and the handle is too light and not thick enough - my hand gets tired during longer hours but the blade shape is really good. It is basically the only knife I use for working meat.

Chef's knife. This particular knife is almost 40 years old, was thrown out of a restaurant kitchen because "it couldn't be sharpened any more" and the cook saw to it that it became mine. The marks on the blade is from my belt sander when I first started redoing the knife - I left it there on purpose as a marking. This knife does not have a cutting edge - the bevel runs japanese style into a shaving sharp edge. The handle is not suited for long hours of work, it is tiresome to the hand and becomes slippery with fat or fluids. A pleasure for kitchen work like dicing and slicing, preparing meat etc. The brand of the knife is unknown - someone once said it might be a Wuesthoff but I do not know. The steel is superb.

Zwilling "Vier Sterne" Schinkenmesser 10" (ham slicing knife 10") - this is the best slicing knife in the arsenal. The blade is 1.8mm thin and extra hard with scallops. It is a bastard to sharpen but does not stick to anything and slices really thin - we use it for everything from bread to ham to cheese to leg of lamb. And no, you cannot lend or borrow it . This particular knife is actually a "B" grade knife which had a nick on the blade. I bought it almost twenty years ago as a student, stoned out the nick and it still goes strong.

Mundial Chef's knife - seriously reshaped. I bought it second hand from a restaurant closing sale and reshaped it. Three centimeters of the tip was broken off and the cutting edge resembled a saw blade. I traced the outlines of a sintoku knife onto the existing broken blade and recut it completely. This is my wife's go-to knife for big chores. The cutting edge should be japanese style - that would make for superb cutting but it is traditional with a distinct cutting edge. On this particular knife it hems cutting of harder objects (raw pumpkin, fresh carrots etc) for some reason. The steel is good enough for everyday abuse and seldom requires sharpening.

Own design. I got another broken knife from a kind old oom - it broke during a farm attack when robbers tried to force his safe open with it. I called my brother who is a trained chef and asked him about a blade design. He described several knives which are excellent allrounders in the kitchen, and from the collection of suggestions this came about. The blade design works flawless - 14cm long, 4cm deep and 3mm thick. The steel is a disaster - it needs resharpening every ten minutes. The handle is kiaat riveted with copper and works ok.

My personal preference is for a handle with large circumference. I learned that from the japanese swords. A big roundish handle gives the hand ample grip. The other design which works astonishingly well is a thinner but high grip - 15mm wide but almost 30mm high. For some reason this fits my hand like a glove.

Hope it helps.