Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Steel question- CPM154 v S45VN

So, I'm contemplating a Meatcrafter knife for deer processing.

Not really looking to debate Rinella or Benchmade or that.

What I'm curious about is the expected differences in the same knife made with the same geometry but these two different steels....?

Thanks!

S45VN!!!

Ive got the base model with cpm154.

I like it, use it for cutting up deer meat.

Some say they dont like the santoprene handle with the exposed tang,
Works fine for me.


Is the s45vn model $200 better?? Not IMHO.

👆👆👆

Thanks.

The interest for me in the Meat Crafter is that it looks to be able to do what I use several knives for currently. I use a Victorinox straight boning knife for most of my work parting out the hind quarters into muscle groups. I have a curved version of that, but found quickly that I wasn't a fan of that big curve they use on that blade.

I have an old Sharp brand fillet knife that's roughly the same as the straight Vic boning knife that I use as a "New York reload" when cutting.... if the Victorinox starts losing its edge I'll just go to the Sharp and keep working.

I know many will touch blades up on a stick or steel mid-job, but I dislike using a knife I've been cutting venison with on a steel or stick. I know many do, but I don't like to do that. I'll stop, clean the knives, sharpen/touch up, and then go back to work. Since that's a pain, I just keep an extra sharp knife if I need it.

I use a Rapala fillet knife for the flex and thin blade that can get really really sharp to fillet off silver skin from the backstraps. That's about all I use it for unless I'm in a bind and need a sharp blade to finish something, but the flex in the Rapala is much too much for most other work, at least for my taste.

Given all that, what I've read so far with the Meat Crafter is that it's capable for all the above tasks and, if you don't bang it into bone a lot (which I avoid as much as I can when cutting), it'll hold that edge for the entire job (1 deer) nicely.

That's convenient at home, but when on a hunt where I've traveled to hunt and I'm processing while at the location, being able to condense things to one knife would be nice.

Also, next fall's trip to Texas with several other hunters will likely see me processing for the other hunters as well (long story, but something I've offered to do). So, I'll be looking at hunting in the morning, cutting deer mid-day, clean up my table/tools, and back out to hunt for the evening. Having a knife that can get me through the whole animal (I'll get them from the outfitter skinned and quartered, which helps) and then just need some soap/water and an edge touch-up to be ready for the next day's work would be a great help.

I'm open to other ideas besides the Meat Crafter, but that particular knife seems to have the geometry I'd prefer and the dimensions. I am not a fan of the big breaking style knives, but when it comes to slicing cuts, I like a longer/more broad blade. This seems like it would check all the boxes for me.......just wasn't sure what the differences in actual work performance would be between 154 and S45VN.

For that task, I think you be pleased with the meatcrafter.


My thought is for the money for the higher end meat rafter.. you’re getting into the custom knife price range.

And could get exactly what you have in mind, both pattern and steel.

Thank you!

How much flex do you feel the -154 blade has? Compared to, if you've used them, the Victorinox semi-stiff blades, or conversely the Rapala fillet knives (opposite ends of the spectrum, I know).

I’ll check this evening…

I wanna say it’s .100” at the spine ? Without googling it.


Postimg was being cantankerous earlier..


J_elky on here makes a heck of boning knife.

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if you like that style, there is nothing wrong with using it. For your use, I'd bet the CPM 154 will do everything you need doing, and save you some bucks.

That is a nice lookin’ knife… I’ll have to look more into them on here when I get a minute.

If you like the meatcrafter pattern,

Ken Honeycutt has a similar model ( been around longer the the meatcrafter)

Not mine, i grabbed this from his web site..

Believe he calls it the Dorado

Dang… lots to look at!

I'd be knocking on SKane's door......

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...rlie-may-skipjack-knife-new#Post19033190

JFC…. Why did you have to post that pic?!
I’m trying not to spend $$ but I think I need one of those.

I'll have to email Ken Honeycutt and/or contact J_elky when I'm closer to a purchase.

The listing for the Charles May knife is cool, but a lot pricier than the specific knife I was asking about on here (the CPM-154 Meat Crafter is about $130-$160). I know the S45VN version of the Meat Crafter is in that same ballpark for cost, but I was looking to avoid that and was asking about the steels to see if I was losing anything of significance from one to the other, given the geometry of the blade is the same.

You are not going to beat the cpm154 meatcrafter for the money. I have one and like it.

the s45vn will surely hold an edge a bit longer but will also be tougher to sharpen. It wouldn't be worth the big price increase to me.

Great looking blade. Looks very similar to Gene Ingram's Kingfisher.

Digging around the interwebs and looking at what pricing is for the various makers' offerings...and let's be clear that I don't begrudge any knife maker what they charge.... it's looking like the CPM-154 Meatcrafter likely will best fit my intended uses.

👍👍👍


I like mine.. no doubt youll like it.

I have a hard time believing people would spend that kind of money for a production knife when they could buy custom knives for less or equal money that are way better made and cut better. It is your money.

The version I’m looking at is about $130.



I’m open to options in that price range.

Here’s your opportunity to share 3 makers from your collection…

That’ll make a 6” blade with sheath for $180 ( msrp of the meat crafter)

180 bucks doesn’t go as far as it once did..

Bidenomics is putting the fugging to everyone….

I've sold all my customs and skinned/cut up deer this year with an $18 Morakniv.

I'm sorry.....

For reference, I saw one of those Ken Honeycutt knives as pictured earlier in this thread was sold 6 years ago for $295.

More in line with higher $$ meatcradter.

Correct.

Don't be, a cut is a cut is a cut.

Different strokes for different folks.

I've been happily using a Victorinox straight boning blade. My only complaint is that I can get almost an entire deer, but not an entire deer, before the edge needs attention.

I could buy more of the same knife and just have a pile of spares ready to go. That's definitely the lower cost route.

The lower cost Meat Crafter version seems, from reading here and other places, that it would serve my uses well. I think it would fit my wants in a knife fairly well without hitting the wallet for the cost of a custom/handmade knife.

Hmmmmm.....

I just discovered through a pro deal I have access to that I can get the Meatcrafter Hybrid with the S45VN blade for $200.


The CPM-154 version isn't available through the pro deal, or that would probably be very attractive pricing.

I've seen the lower cost version from $130-$150 where the others are 300+ or more. For 200 I might be convinced to lean toward the "Hybrid".

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Bah, read it wrong. The version I saw is still 154....no reason to pay more for a fancier grip I don't think.

Can't get S45 without going to $260-ish. At that point, I think I would be talking to one of the custom knife makers instead.

Oh well. 154 should do fine. It looks like they're releasing the santoprene version in OD green, which might be why I'm seeing the orange version cheaper lately.

Which also means I may need to move on this sooner than I had planned if I wanna catch the sales I'm seeing. I figured I had time till next fall and didn't need to worry too much till mid summer, but maybe sooner is better in this case. I'm fine with the orange handle and if it saves some cash, so much the better.

Bucks 420HC is barely adequate?

Good to know!😂

You're not going to get a custom for that. So you might as well put that out of your mind.

That was kind of my point.

There was a post saying "can't believe people will pay custom prices for a production knife."

The base model isn't priced at custom prices. Their Carbon Fiber model is, at just over 400 for that model. I don't see much point to that model, but someone must.

Unless S45 was a giant performance leap forward from 154, there's not a lot of reason for me to go past the basic model. I do like the colors and handle contours of the next one up a bit better, but when the dust settles, the difference is around 80 bucks and that's just not worth it to me for my pick of colors and a bit different handle contour.

With a gift card I got, I can even get that base model out of Cabela's for about $110 out of pocket. That's likely going to be a hard knife to beat for performance per dollar spent for what I want to do with it.

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Lots of great production knives out there. F. Dick, Dexter Russell, Victorinox. Not one thing wrong with them. Especiallty the F. Dick and Dexter Russell knives. I have several and use them often.

However, Bought 2 of these from J_elky. One for me and one for my son. Worth every penny. Great quality. Great feel in the hand. Razor sharp. Get a F. Dick for $15-20 and a Dexter for $20-25. But hit up J_elky and get one of his for those times when you want something really nice.