Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Blade length

About 3 inches.

I have completely taken apart several elk and two moose with blades that size with zero issue. Anything bigger just gets in the way, kind of like my dong but in a bad way.

Around 3", folder.

Always heard the BS brag about using some tiny pocket knife.

One night I gutted a roadkill, in a ditch, with a little 2" Buck folder.
It was razor sharp, but I really missed having a bit more blade.

I am in the 3-4" camp. I prefer fixed blades. Have used some folders, but always go back to fixed.

Ingram, Buck, Gerber, Helle, Schrade to name a few.

~3” is good for me.

Yep, a long blade and a long dong can result in terrible mishaps ...........

I was thinking about this thread on Saturday field dressing my buck with my left arm buried up to the elbow with a handful of heart and lungs and my right arm up there with a sharp 3" folder and I didn't want any more blade length than what I had. Opening that belly skin, I was using only the first quarter of an inch of that drop point blade. Scalpels aren't very long for a reason. It's knowing how and where to cut, not how deep.

Exactly!

For my knife I like 3.5-4" but have started using Havalon Scalpels and have had good luck. I still carry my knife, but those scalpels make it much easier for me.

About 3" is my ideal.

Whatever a havalon blade measures.

I like 3-4 inch blades with most that I've used being closer to 3 inches than 4. I've processed many animals with folders, but have been enjoying fixed blades more recently. Folders work fine, but fixed blades are a lot easier to clean up after use.

I’ve used those Victornox pairing knives for years…. The hardware store here sells them dirt cheap…. I have them laying around everywhere. Also carry a case medium trapper in my pocket everyday. I’ve done elk, deer, hogs, turkeys, whatever….. only time I go larger is when I’m actually cutting steaks and butchering at home, then I’ll go to something like a 8” boning knife.

This, as well as a shorter blade is just easier for me to steer. The longest I’ve use on big game was a 4 1/2” blade and it felt like I was using a machete.

This is a 60's era Randall 3-6 held in my right hand and I have no issues at all when using it inside a carcase cavity, and depending on the intended work I find the extra edge length useful. But I should also mention that I tend to use all the blade when working.

Is this size the do all and end all...no, but it is useful on occasion.




Added...besides which, eating mangoes with a havalon would seriously suck.

I’ll second jstuart except I use a Randall 3-5. Blade shape and length work amazingly well. To date I have gutted 7 or 8 deer with it on the factory edge. Found dad an old 7-4 that works nearly as well.

3-4 inch blades, but the Best knife was posted by Hunts a Gerber, lite razor knife with the hooked carpet blade in it makes. Great guy hook, iv made up several and have given them to hunting buddy's. Ad gifts!

Seeing TSTUART's posted pictures above I know makes cutting toward one's own body parts look worse than it was from the photo op especially for a guy familiar enough with knives to own a Randall. I know, we all do it.

My favorite cutting story was when I was up in Canada in the fish cleaning house with another guy from another camp cleaning our fish. The camp owner happened to walk in for something and saw the guy cutting toward himself and proceeded to dress the guy up and down about safety proper cutting procedures. When he was done the guy said that how he did it seemed to work well enough at work. Oh, yeah the camp owner said, what do you do? "I'm the pathologist for the city of Denver."
"Oh", quick exit for the camp owner. He must have figured that the guy was qualified to fillet a walleye.

I also have two of those 422's and a smaller version[402?] for birds and trout. One other is a A.G. Russel lockback with 2.75" droppoint with some great Japanese steel. All I've ever really needed.

Edit: Had to look at my Russel; it's 2-3/8th" blade and says Rogers, Ark, USA. Whew!

I like about 3", length of forefinger. A longer blade when boning to pack out would make a neater faster job, but it's not worth packing more 'stuff'. My breaking knife for beef is a full foot of blade, it's like training wheels for the amateur home butcher. Nice uniformity.

The Puma folder is what I use for field dressing since 1992, the Marttiini belt knife also goes with me for field dressing moose as well.
The main blade on the Puma is 3 1/4", the Marttiini is 5"
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