Do you guys prefer stainless steel or carbon steel for your Mora knives?
With Mora I have found their stainless to be second to none, not so keen on the Mora carbon blades.
While I find the carbon blades to be excellent quality and keep a great edge, from a practical purpose, they rust quite easily and using them in the field on a regular basis tends to be one of those things where the stainless ones are a bit more practical. I can bring an edge back to a stainless blade in about 2 minutes with a $5 mini set of ceramic sticks that I keep in my hunting pack and I am back to processing an elk or whatever, or even just using in the kitchen. As much as I think the carbon blades are good, from this point forward, I will only buy stainless Moras. I have processed more than a couple elk with an $8 Mora utility knife and a $5 mini sharpener.
The Havalon scalpel knives are truly excellent for getting the hide off, and when I can manage not to misplace mine during the off season, I use mine as it makes short work of that task. The only thing I add there is that I take a very small set of pliers along to swap the blades out on it as a safety precaution. Usually the Havalon blade and knife is gooey with stuff and since I hunt late season (December) it is often below freezing and sometimes below zero and it is way too easy to slice a hand or finger wide open with the scalpel when you cannot feel your fingers. Many hours from a hospital is not the place to open up your hand, which can happen in an instant.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/MD7iChV.jpg)
Sidebar:
The havalon is sitting on a piece of VS-17 panel.
I carry half a piece of VS-17 panel, which is an aircraft marking/signal cloth. A few reasons. When I get an animal down, I tend to put my tools on it, so I can keep track of them. I also use it to mark the location by putting the panel in a tree or bush or on a rock high enough to be visible at a distance so I can find the spot for return trips when hauling out meat. I also use it when I am hunting with my elderly father or my kids, and I have my daughter carry a piece as well. I can easily locate them and vice versa. Fairly practical piece of lightweight little cloth.
