Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Production knives

OK, here's the deal. You have to purchase either a commercially produced knife or semi-commercial. What would you go with and why? (Glad this isn't for real, I love my Dozier).

Wait, wait, wait. This is your hunting knife. Be it deer, elk, etc. You'll use it for skinning, gutting, splitting rib cages, quartering, etc.

S30V Buck Vanguard

Good steel, USA made, a handle that fits my hand pretty decently, capable of the game duties you mention as well as a few camp chores I have been known to use my hunting style knives for. On sale, you can buy one for a Benjamin.

works for me!


ya!


GWB

My old Spyderco Bill Moran Skinner. Was a limited run over 20 years ago.

I've got several of the Spyderco Moran drop points. Those, IMO, are close to perfect factory knives.

I've got several Bark Rivers, while they are nice knives. They tend to be on the thicker side.

Try to find some old Gerbers from the 1960's-70's with the tool steel blades.

Years ago, maybe 15 or so. Gerber made the Gator with a drop point in 154cm, IIRC. I liked it, but lost it....

I tend toward the Scandinavian knives. Either a cheap Mora, a Helle, or possibly a Roselli.

Almost any sharp knife will do, but a Sagan Saw is nice to have for splitting a sternum and a pelvic bone if you're field dressing a deer in a place you can't take a vehicle to.

Buck 119 Special works just fine for me.

Of my knives today .. meaning knives I'm have some experience with already ... I think the rubber handled Buck Vanguard is my favorite. Mine sharpens up pretty well, holds and edge pretty well, and isn't slick when my hands are covered in blood.

I may have a replacement favorite but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. It's a Benchmade "Steep Country". It does not seem to be slick, either, and it is lighter yet.

In the past, my first favorite was a Buck General. If you've got the wrist strength to use it deftly, it is a great knife. The handle is slick when you get blood or fat on it. Very few people have the wrist strength to handle that much blade with precision and fatigue is dangerous.

The next / most recent past favorite before the Vanguard was a first generation Gerber LMF. It looks somewhat like what they market as the "Steadfast" now. The current LMF is a very different knife. 6 inch blade, pretty heavy. It sharpened nicely, held an edge fairly well, and the grip was not slick when bloody. I still use it in the kitchen "processing" meat and carry it in my bag in the truck at times. Oddly enough, it has taken to corroding .. deep etching of the steel and an odd rust. I've never had a stainless knife do that. It's not blood in the sheath, I've sunk it underwater for days, then run it through the washer twice.

Among folding knives, my favorite is the Gerber Magnum LST. It is pretty light, locks up reliably. I'm a fan of the Buck 110 but the regular one is too heavy for what it is. They once offered a version with a skeletonized titanium handle ... wish I had one.

I used to carry a saw some ... Wyoming Saw III, I think. The little one. I don't do that anymore deer hunting. Any parts I would have sawed loose, today I just peel the meat off of them and leave the bone in the field. It goes in my truck pack / bag when I'm elk hunting, however. I also carry a gerber pack-axe in that pack/bag.

Tom

Aw Jesus!

I would take a Japanese VG-10 paring knife, any manufacturer. Slicing the rib cartilage is easy and quick like cutting belly muscle, 2nd choice would be a KOA Jaeger Hunter in D2. I have done the gutting, skinning, quartering and stripping the carcass of a lot of deer with both. Very quick and easy.

I cannot for the life of me understand people using loppers, reciprocating saws, hatchets, axes, etc. for this work! I can and have many times taken a deer from just killed to stripped carcass in a little better than an hour with just a little knife like that. A Buck 110 will work about as well, but the steel is crappy and after one deer it's time to sharpen it again. I do use a reciprocating saw to cut up the bones to fit in the garbage. What the hell do you use a loppers, hatchet, saw gizmos and cleaver for? I sometimes use a big Santoku I had Dale Atkerson make for me out of very thick D2 as a cleaver for chicken parts, but I wouldn't have a clue what to do to a deer with a hatchet or a cleaver. I did watch my dad kill a deer once with an axe, but I got well clear of that rodeo and watched while I tried not to pee myself laughing. I have done almost all of it with a little bitty pocket knife with a 2 inch blade, and i have done more than a couple with a Gerber LST.

Had a guy in camp last year that liked to process his own deer instead of the guides doing it. We watched him zip along gutting, skinning, etc. This guy is wealthy and has killed more whitetail than most guys have ever laid eyes on. I assumed he used a custom knife of some type and was impressed by watching him, so I asked what knife he was using. He had a Victorinox paring knife that cost about $5! Said they were easy to sharpen, worked for what he needed, and no big deal if he lost it.

The Victorinox paring knives with serrated blades have worked well for me, one of the many good tips that Big Stick used to pass along, but the handles are a little too small to fit my hand well, so I've moved over to the Cold Steel Pendleton Lite Hunter style.

I like to split the sternum and cut a 1" piece out of the pelvis bone to facilitate removal of all of the internal organs as a single unit. I use a Sagan Saw to do this in the field or a limb lopper if we haul the intact carcass to a place with running water, so that we can eviscerate, rinse, and hang them in a cool place.

I thought you supposed to use only expensive custom knives in super steels for processing dead critters. Oh my!

I very much enjoy making "hill country wind chimes"




However I don't always just take the quarters and the the loins! LOL



I do like pork chops, or even putting a 1/2 pig split long-ways on the pit.



I find a sawzall very convenient for cutting the animal lengthways along either side of the backbone when it comes to making chops.



ever see a butcher use a saw?


Compound loppers work well for cutting off feet, head.





I hunt out of a camp, don't field dress

the time of day,




and how many I have to skin also are part of the equation as to whether its a "social thing" with my buds, or whether I'm on the production line!




Works for me,

YMMV.

ya!

GWB

Benchcraft 162 S30V or the Bark River Fox River LT Elmax

The small knife in the 2nd pic will do it all except for sawing one in half lengthwise. That's about what I use. I might be hard put to keep on buying the small racks of full meat chops to smoke did I live where I had pigs to shoot regular. I could make an exception for little piggies and saw them out I suppose. We have no feral pigs up here though, so when pork chops are on the menu I buy whole boneless loins. Lately, Sams Club has been selling Smithfield racks of ribs with the backstraps in place and off of maybe 60-80lb piggies. I just buy them, rub 'em up and into the smoker they go.

I've also got a Cold Steel Mini Pendleton Hunter I like to use quite a bit. Good steel, easy to sharpen, and holds its edge well. The small rubber handle is easy for me to hang on to, when my hands are good and bloody. I think they run about $43 bucks.

I've given all of my nephews one when they shot their first deer at the Ranch. I'd always gut their first deer with it for them. Then I'd hand them the knife and tell them they get to do the next one they shoot.