Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Knife question for the honest amongst us.

Something I find interesting is the hunting knives people use, not so much the knives we treasure or lust after...more the blades we actually use when the need arises, the hunting blades we judge all others by.

For instance I have a bit of a liking for various Randalls...but when I am after meat I resort to this one.







Not sexy or cute by any means...but it is the knife I trust most for working carcases in the paddock.

As an afterthought I am adding pictures of what I carry for sharpening when walking about. I tend to use it as a steel but it works fine when used as a stone.

It is a 12" length of oval ceramic that has shewn itself to be surprisingly tough...I have been using it for some 10 years and in the next few weeks I intend to make up a heavy sheath that will allow me to use the sheath as a handle, and will feature a built in guard.

I agree. I have Winston’s, Marbles, Ingram and others that I like and are prettier but a Cold Steel USA made Carbon V Hunter with rubber scales and a nylon sheets is my no hassle do anything knife that I use most.

Pretty much ditto..

I also have knives I lusted after a few Fallknivens and others. The one I always use is a Swedish Sandvic blade blank handled with an antler cut off at the skull with nickel silver guard and butt décoration. I harvested the buck with a recurve bow and handled the knife myself. I've used it for 30 years. Made one for my son off the other side. Seems like I'd be cheating on it if I used another knife.

Somewhere out there someone is scratching their head trying to figure out how you can possibly get along without a blade made of at least S30V.

These are my working knives I've had over the years and actually use. I have other vintage ones I've picked up here and there in boxes for the grandkids. These are my users.

The Case stockman goes in my pants pocket, the big Case stays in the truck, the Old Timer is the spare or loaner, the sheep skinner I'll throw in the pack elk hunting, it does a bit better boning meat on bigger animals than the little folder, the paring knife is a great skinner...

That leaves the little Buck protege folder, rubber handled, light weight and cheap, it has broken down a chit ton of animals, stays sharp and is just a workhorse. My daughter when she was about 10, picked it out as my christmas present from Kmart, probably 15 bucks. At first I was like... meh... comparing it to the old timer. Used it the next year on a deer and then the year after on a couple elk and deer, I changed my mind.

The cheapest knife is the most valuable to me and it flat out works.

Kent

Dad and I both have Buck Protégés. My first hunting knife. They work.

I've always had very good use with my Schrade, Buck, and Browning knives. No need to go expensive.

Some imports that have also been very good knives include Rough Rider, Boker, Elk Ridge, and Steel Warrior. Chinese steel is not bad compared to Pakistan junk.

Sherwood

My rule is very simple, Only spend enough on a hunting knife that is decent but will allow you to replace it with another in the blink of an eye. Hence why Moras knife are my favorite. I have lost one in the last ten years but replaced it right away. I have given them a x-mas presents twice and both friends use them to this day. A knife is tool, and tools are meant to be used.

Buck 110
Buck 112
Moore Maker mini-trapper lives in my pocket
A cheapie Kershaw that even I can't seem to destroy the edge on!
That one lives in the truck console, and has cut the twine off a jillion round bales when feeding - with minimal sharpening.

My go to knife is an AG Russell One-hand folder in AUS-8 steel. Other steels may hold an edge longer, but some are more finicky to sharpen. Not costly, easy to get a wicked sharp edge, and holds it quite well.

There’s no stink on those Mora knives. Everyone should own a couple. That said I like my Buck 116 and a cheap Western knock off I’ve had for 40 years. That knock off I swear was made by a samurai armorer. I haven’t touched that blade with anything more than a ceramic rod in 20 years and it will still shave hair after 3-4 deer.

I use the Buck 110 that was a birthday present in 1977. Can't even begin to tell you how much game and fish it has seen.

Since I like folders, an Opinel #10. Carbon steel takes a decent edge, not expensive to replace and works. Locking mechanism is simple. Takes a bit more cleanup than fixed blades but all folders do.

These are the field tools I've been using sense the late 90s, before that I was using Russell Green River knives.

Yeah, I'm same way, I collect knives, Gerbers, Pumas, a Randall, old Buck & SpyderCo, but the knives in my hunting pack are a pair of Moras and a Wyoming Knife and a pair of pruning shears and a diamond rod.

My favorite deer skinner is an Opinel My First Knife. I now have a handmade sort of copy fixed blade version. I've been using that and a Sawk handmade lately. So, yes I actually do use custom knives on game, at least currently.

If the maker had copied the Opinel more closely it would work better. It seems difficult to get a "custom" maker to produce as thin a blade as factory.

That's cleaning one at the rack. Much less often when I do field dress it's a Swiss army Hunter or Spyderco Bill Moran. The Swiss army hunter lives in a pack. The Spyderco is almost always on my belt every day. So, factory knives in the field, then.

I have Bark Rivers, Benchmades, ZTs, etc, but my most used EDC is my Spyderco Delica. I know this thread is about hunting knives, but...

People vary in their needs and wants.

Examples of a using knife, deer club where you are skinning and butchering multiple deer where you need for the knife to stay extremely sharp for not only the skinning but the butchering also 4 or more deer.

Elk is on the ground, you have one, and your buddy also...the party is over, you need an incredible knife to not only skin but quarter with no hatchet or saw.


McCrosky Custom Knives in Stillwater, Ok

Mccroskeyknives.com

Guys, you just have to see it to believe it.

I told a good friend in Mn about these knives, he is a trapper. He bought the trapper set and he skinned 300 beaver with the two knives before they needed sharpening.

I sold a boat load of knives I had collected over the years and now have every knife that McCrosky makes. Obviously, I used the knives, and my knives stay in the gun safe till I need them! There are a lot of really Schitt knives out there when it comes to a guy that uses knives for a big job.

My uncle was a taxidermist, and I grew up skinning deer heads, fish, and birds....I know what a good knife is, and when you start using a really good knife, you just shake your head at the thought of all the crap you have had your hands on in your life. I don't give a crap how the knife looks, bragg'en rights, name brand....I need the knife to perform ...sharp as a surgeon's knife and stay sharp.

McCrosky's Elk Skinner will just blow your mind in cutting....not many knives do this.