Advice hunting knife steel and design.

[Vaal]

It is easy to clean, but you just need to remember to dry it after washing and lightly oil it thereafter, otherwise it starts rusting

I haven't oiled my Opinel knife blades but I stabbed both of them into a orange and left them in there for a day. It came out with a very nice patina. Neither of then has ever shown any rust. What I don't like about a Opinel's is the round handles (I still want to put the handles on a belt sander for a very short time), the locking mechanism is not one-handed and I got a tendency to cut myself a bit on the corner of the blade, closest to the locking mechanism. But the steel hold its edge quite well.

[top dog]

if you want carbon steel fixed blade knife for outdoor have a look at Esee knives
they are great, built like tanks
unfortunately not cheap but below the fancy knives bracket

[Socrates]

if you want carbon steel fixed blade knife for outdoor have a look at Esee knives
they are great, built like tanks
unfortunately not cheap but below the fancy knives bracket

Thanks for the tip. I just looked at them, they are priced competively. I'll see how the Mora Carbon blades work out. If they don't meet my expectations, I'll look at something a bit more expensive.

[DS]

You are close to Italy - check out LionSteel.

They make excellent knives with excellent steel.

The Niolox steel M3 is good value for money imo.

https://www.lionsteel.it/n/en/produc...var1/t6_3v_cvb

[DS]

For a gut hook this makes the most sense to me because it has grip and you do not have to worry about getting it sharp and sharp enough again.

https://www.theoldtimer.com/replacea...k/1123119.html

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Timer-Rep.../dp/B0B1SF2M8B

[WAP]

Or you could get a cutom made one.

IMG_4231.jpg

[gary-t]

I'm in the market for a new hunting knife. (I've used a Mora, but it's absolute crap. I've had spoons with better edge retention )

The main application is gutting. I won't be using it for skinning.

I'm quite fond of carbon steel. The rusting element doesn't bother me. I like the fact that I can sharpen it easily. I have two carbon steel kitchen knives, and absolutely love it that I can keep them razor sharp with little effort.

So I'm looking for a carbon steel hunting knife, but almost everything I can find is stainless steel with good edge retention. Which I understand means they are also more difficult to sharpen.

My only other requirement is that it should not be too expensive. I don't need anything fancy or nice to look at. I need it to be sharp & functional, and easy to replace.

Any recommendations?

D2 is a good cheap high carbon tool steel. There are good knives at reasonable prices that use D2 steel.

[oafpatroll]

D2 is a good cheap high carbon tool steel. There are good knives at reasonable prices that use D2 steel.

With this I agree many times over. There is a reason that the likes of Chris Reeves and Bauchop etc used it for the their serious use knives. Takes an edge without too much fuss and keeps it for long enough to be really practical.

[oafpatroll]

Or you could get a cutom made one.

IMG_4231.jpg

I love beautiful knives but have never been able to use one of my customs for real work. Guess it's 'shiny 4x4 syndrome' and i should probably get over it.

[Socrates]

Thank for the tip. I already ordered the Gerber Zip.