Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Gerber vs Havalon

I like the Outdoor Edge a LOT better than the Havalon. Although I will say that I own an Outdoor Edge but do NOT own a Havalon, and this is the reason why: One of my hunting buddies and I were gutting a ~175lb whitetail in the dark and cold and he was using his Havalon and got a terrible cut from a piece of the blade that had broken off and neither of us had noticed it.

I was holding the ribcage open and he was cutting around the diaphragm and was laid open to the bone across the index and middle fingers, and gashed on the ring finger, all on his right hand. He ended up with 4 stitches in the index and two in the middle finger. It was a relatively small piece of the blade that broke/splintered off. I had a heck of a time finding the broken off piece before I finished the job with my old Cold Steel Master Hunter. After that "adventure" I won't have anything to do with the Havalon when a stronger, safer knife like the OE is available.

I keep my old Master Hunter hair flingin' sharp and I really can't see much difference in field dressing speed, except when cutting loose the genitals and cutting around the a-hole. I'll give the advantage to the OE there, but when opening up the belly and especially the ribcage, I'll take the old Master Hunter.

I love the OE for caping, but for me, again, I can't see a huge difference in the speed of skinning vs. the MH, although I'll give a slight advantage to the OE there.

Great.

Just what you want to be concerned about is a broken box-cutter blade inside a blind (hands in deep, no visual to cavity) field dressing chore!

I won't say it can't happen, but I"m still amazed that folks can snap blades and not know it. Much less how to avoid it.

of course maybe I'm just a bit anal paying attention since I have a sharp blade in my hand.

Maybe it was the 10-12 hour days of taxidermy with sharp blades in my hands and how easy it was to cut yourself if you quit paying attention.

And yes I've had my hands blindly in guts with one... even up to moose size gut piles.

The blade can potentially snap with some lateral motion.

Might consider in a controlled environment (back at camp, heated enclosure, caping, etc.) but in the field, under conditions that might incur a potential need for first aide for the user?

No way.

I have used the havalon with the 60A (thicker) blades for the past two years with no complaints. Antelope and deer use one blade, elk need two. Have had no issues and it works great.

Maybe I'm just lucky.

Havalon are simply brilliant - elk, moose, deer, fish - everything done really easy - if you you use to the job it was built for and don't use to try and pry bones apart or something similarly stupid!

Cool. I've used it in the field so many times so many years now and never snapped a blade in the guts... but if you choose to not, tahts cool.
Folks do need to know their limitations.

Lateral has beeen know before it ever came out for those dealing with scalpels. so you simply don't do the lateral moves or if need to you be careful.

Upon further review, I was hasty making a public, blanket condemnation of Havalon's products. I have NOT used or seen used one of their knives with the newer, thicker 60A blades. The accident that happened to my friend occurred 6 or 7 years ago. At that time, his was the first Havalon knife that I, or any of our other hunting buddies, had ever seen or heard of.

Talking to my friend, he reminded me that his accident occurred the very first time he ever used the knife to field dress a deer (I didn't know or had forgotten this). His previous use of that knife was just for caping and skinning. He still uses Havalon knives, but has learned to be careful to not twist or side-load the blade or cut hard against bone.

He said that at the time of his accident, he was in a hurry (which I can vouch for, since I was there) and he was unknowingly putting a side load on the blade plus jerking it against the rib bones, moving his hand and knife in quick, jerky motions (which I can also attest to). He says he is now much more careful and smooth in the use of his Havalon knife and rarely breaks a blade. He uses a regular hunting knife to open up the ribcage and separate joints.

However, I still like the Outdoor Edge knife better because of the thicker blades, the fact that the knife is designed to support and reinforce the blade better, and that it's easy to change blades without using a tool.

I picked up the Havalon Bolt Knife with the thicker 60A blades and, while I haven't used it yet, it seems like a quality product with pretty thick blades. I'll still be carrying my old-timey Whitetail Skinner for doing the heavy lifting.

I've a collection of various custom knives, but always have at least on Havalon along for the ride. I've used the 60XT blades and the 60A blades and wouldn't turn my hand over for the difference in performance. My original Piranta has skinned or help skin at least a dozen moose, twice that many brown bears, several caribou and a host of furbearers. Probably been through 200+ blades and have broken exactly one and that was while trying to remove it. I've used them at 20 below zero without an issue. They are not my favorite knife, but they work as advertised and for caping they are excellent.

I broke a Havalon blade on elk hide last November, but only because I tried to roughly cut through a big hunk of skin. It is a fragile blade, but if used properly, no problem. That said, I'd never go out on a hunt with a Havalon as my only knife.

Expat

Being in the medical field I have seen quite a few sharp objects used inside live organisms (aka humans in the OR). There is abunch of different kind of blades depending the type of cut one wants to do. What is common to all of them is that they are used for cutting tissues with the edge. Any thin blade that is good for cutting won't be good for prying and torquing. I am sure there are other better tools for the job.
If you look into a orthopedic surgeon's instruments it looks like he went to medschool at Lowe's and got his degree at the Home Depot. Those are tools for prying and working on joints.
With good knowledge of the anatomy one can separate the joints just by cutting on the tendons.
In general, if you get in between muscle groups you can dissect with your fingers and cut at the insertion points. That's how I get the tenderloins and backstraps

Skinned two large WT doe this weekend with my new Outdoor Edge. It was still super sharp after all that. When I got home, I popped the blade out, cleaned the knife per instructions, stroked the blade a few times on a hard Arkansas stone and it shaves as good as ever. I don't know when I'll need those extra blades.

I also have a Havalon and there is no comparison. The Havalon is flimsy in comparison and won't hold an edge nearly as well. Sometimes it takes two blade to skin a big hog, that hide being hard on knife edges.

I really like the Edge, not so much the Havalon. Haven't used the Gerber, but it doesn't look nearly as robust as the Edge, maybe better than the Havalon, just not sure.

DF

I use havalon. It's good. If you like to hack, it ain't the blade for you, but if you know which cuts to make, stuff just falls apart when you make the correct cuts, particularly when quartering a deer. Wish I had used them earlier.

If you get the chance, try the Edge. I think you'll like it better than the Havalon. Both are super sharp and take little effort to cut something.

DF

That Gerber Vital knife looks like a weak toy.

I much prefer a folder with a serrated blade. Two blades or a partial serrated both work well and will buzz thru a brisket on a buck with ease.

These Winchester folders work fine and are strong yet not expensive.

Could you choose a bigger POS?

Regale us with your use of that actual bit of Chinese garbage on game over the last season.

If you can find one the Coleman Western (Winchester) two bladed folder is my favorite.



"Old Coleman Western Knife "Black Double Lock Back Hunter" Proudly made in the U.S.A 1989"

Another Chinese POS.

And still no field test stories?

I guess even Chinese junk is good enough when you only cut a sandwich during the season.

Hard to beat, cutting bread and Bologna.

Not so good with baloney...

DF