Good hunting knives

[Ry151]

A few nights ago, we were skinning and quartering a moose and the knives I have (outdoor edge kodiak set) started going dull about half way through the job and by the end I was quite frustrated, to say the least. Trying to sharpen knives in the dark in the August heat is not ideal. After a few nights of reading up on knives, I ordered a puma elk hunter and hope this will be a better fit for what I need.

Ive always been focused on the rifle, optics and such for the hunt so this got me wondering what the more experienced guys are using for their knives or the quality/kind/rockwell spec of steel you look for in a good knife that will hold an edge for the longest time. Any advice would be appreciated but I'm not interested in the havalon knives, already have one and don't care for it.

[dakoda62]

Try the Havalon knlves. 1 blade 1 moose

[Ry151]

i have a havalon and dont like dealing with the blades once dull and im not going to leave them behind in the bush. I want a good quality strong blade hunting knife. Thanks

[Ron.C]

I bought a Fallkniven F1 last year. Unlike most knives, this one has a convex edge. It is more difficult to sharpen a convex then a bevelled edge knife " cant use the simple tools most of us use like to use such as gatco, and lanskys " but once sharp its impressive how long the edge lasts. Did an elk, and three deer with it last fall as a trial to see how the edge held up. I was amazed.

[REMINGTON JIM]

i have a havalon and dont like dealing with the blades once dull and im not going to leave them behind in the bush. I want a good quality strong blade hunting knife. Thanks

I Agree ! :) jmho RJ

[adriaticum]

I think the best knife the is the one you can sharpen when the going is rough.

[digger dogger]

I have a puma, and it will not go through a moose/elk without shapening it once or twice...

[Useyourfeet]

Look into a Helle knife with the laminate steel.

["No Choke"Lord Walsingham]

Knives going dull is to be expected when processing an animal the size of a Moose. I recommend bringing multiple knives along if you're not interested in sharpening while processing the animal. Bring a few and switch them out as they get dull.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Anyone ever use a CERAMIC knife ? Any success or Junk ? :confused: :) RJ

[Apolonius]

I have to agree ,having more than one knife is the best and also have them sharpened before the season.Handheld sharpeners are not the best but would do.I carry at least four knives.Gerber,buck,havalon and kershaw which surprised me for the price.Maybe my best knife for the price 20$ on sale in the states.

[Legi0n]

Anyone ever use a CERAMIC knife ? Any success or Junk ? :confused: :) RJ

Ceramics don't do well on bones. Also you can't twist them in a joint. Pretty useless I'd say.

[604redneck]

Don't use ur havalon to open gut and skin if u are.....

[anotherone]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NMa44W5jNDA
thats a sharp knife

[Call of the Wild]

If you don't care about the cape use a construction knife, once dull pop a blade section and you're good to go again.

- when skinning or boning make sure to not cut hair, touch bones it self with the sharp edge and hard tissues will all dull a knife. Moose hair is famous to dull a knife.
- I have outdoor edge knives and a good friend has one of the big Puma knife, they are all good but the key is to maintain the proper angle on the blade
- do yourself a favour and buy a Lansky sharpening kit, first use the extra coarse stone to eat the knife's metal to the angle you want which can take a very long time at first. Once your knife has the desired angle work the other stones and you'll have knives that are extremely sharp and it take no time to re sharpen them
- I prefer the 25 degree on my knives, sharp and the right angle to maintain the sharpness fairly long, 20 degree is much sharper but it doesn't last as long especially when working on some game

There I hope this helps and the beauty with that Lansky kit is you can sharpen your kitchen knives too

[Darksith]

rather that attempt to find the knife that won't dull (won't happen) find the solution. There are many tools out there to quickly rehone your knife in the field. This will keep you going longer, safer. Lots of them are really small and light too, so perfect for what we do rather than bring multiple knives, although you should always have 2 IMO.

[Trekker]

I like the mora knives, they are fairly cheap, great quality and have scandi grind. very easy to sharpen.

[Amphibious]

Fallkniven H1z3G is next on my list. Played with one this summer, simply amazing. It's rather big for what I normally use, but should be an excellent moose/elk/bushcraft knife.

Been using a CRKT Brow Tine for a little while. Decent steel and about the perfect size

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/brianlgriffin/Brow%20Tine/DSC_4135.jpg

[brutus]

i worked as a butcher for a few years in my late teens early twentys,high end knives of all makes and model they all go dull after a while period,learn to sharpen your knives quickly and effectively in the field is the best knive out there,i pack two knives one in my pack one on my belt,cary a sharpening stone in my pack and it takes me all of 2min to bring back the edge if needed.btw my knives are $55 buck knives from CT.have a set of victorinox butcher knives at home to finish the job all sharpenned by hand with a stone

[brutus]

DARKSITH it the nail on the head on that one

[longstonec]

I carry a Dunn, and a Havalon.

The Dunn knives are made from S30V steel with a RC hardness around 59-60

[Darksith]

you don't need a stone, there are lots of good pull through honing devices. Use it before the knife starts to struggle too much and you will be amazed. Every 5 minutes or so, a couple strokes through the honer and you will never have the issue your having. Once you get in the habit of it, you won't even realize your doing it, and it doesn't slow you down at all. Stones are for sharpening, honing is to keep the edge.

[brutus]

Stone is my preference,what ever sharpening device u use is up to you just learn to use it

[brutus]

I think most honing device are Pos,that why I don't use one

[Clint_S]

Just bought a Buck Vanguard with the S30V steel.
Scary sharp out of the box and a decent price at $109.
I also think the vanguard is almost the perfect size/style for a good hunting skinning knife.
Can't wait to see if it makes trough a skinning job without a touch up.

I carry a small ceramic stick for touch ups.

[f350ps]

A good knife is probably one of the best investments a hunter will ever make and when you find a good one it'll last you a lifetime! I bought a Schrade Oldtimer fixed blade more than 30 yrs ago and it's still going strong and holds a wicked edge. As soon as I bought it I took it to Quality Knife and had them take the hollow ground out of it for ease of field sharpening. Don't even consider a Schrade nowadays, they're made offshore like most everything else.. Good luck. K

[Manitoba_Redneck]

In the pre season I'll check my knives and if they need to be sharpened I try and find a custom knife maker to sharpen them. Pay the money, from my experience once they've sharpened the knife it seems to hold an edge longer than when I sharpen them myself. During the season, I agree with Darksith, find a good pull through to touch the edge up as needed, I usually check the edge after each quarter while stretching my back and touch up as needed.

[weiss]

ceramic is too brittle. Not even good for kitchen, let alone rough field service. Good sharp kitchen knife will outcut them any day. Their only selling point is that they never need sharpening, and this is very questionable to start with, especially since they are not very sharp from the beginning.

As to origianl question - I carry knives I make. More then one, two skinners and folders pretty much in every pocket. Being razor sharp, pocket knives do ok for skinning. The best steel is D2 in my opinion, corrosion resistant and very hard. Keep in mind that even the best knife lose its sweetest edge by the time you finish deer size animal, it will still cut, but I prefer touching up.

[SHACK]

Ditto tl darksiths comment. I own some nice custom knives, and they will all still dull under use, a deer, maybe two, then its time to sharpen. Even some of the best modern steel like S30V at 61RC will dull after 3/4 of a moose. So learn to sharpen in the field, and fix em perfect at home.

[Singleshotneeded]

I have a Buck Alaskan Guide knife in S30V steel that I bought at Cabelas.com. It holds an edge very well and has a zipper for opening up a deer...I carry a Buck knife with a nice rounded tip for quickly skinning large areas, and between the two I'm good!

[Fox]

Check out knives ship free. Bark river knives, fiddle back forge are carried by them. They have sharpening videos as well. Blind horse knives are nice too and reasonably priced. Initially I had a hard time putting an edge on them, but now I can get them hair popping sharp.

[wlbc]

As another posted mentioned I generally carry two good quality knives. I don't care for honing chores when I'm in the middle of it.

I've had good experience with these knives. The D2 steel holds an edge well while not being particularly difficult to sharpen. If I don't get sloppy on the knees I can do a moose or an elk with one knife, but sometimes you slip hence carrying two knives.

http://www.knivesofalaska.com/item.asp?id=110

I use an Edgepro to put a very consistent edge on my knives. A hunting partner has a Lansky, it also does a good job.

[Ry151]

I picked up a lansky kit today and after a few minutes of filing seen the edges on the knives were vary inconsistent and not even close to the 25* recommend for hunting knifes. I'm pretty excited to try these baby's out now after filing them up nice. Should have done this years ago. Thanks for all the advice guys!

[rcar]

Hey Ry

I went through the very same thing over the past year. I doubt there is a decent knife out there that can handle a moose single handed. I have gone with this:

1 - Main knife - Helle Alden - main hard work
2 - Havalon - Fine work and a lot of caping

I have read your dislike reasons for the Havalon but I don't agree. You are under no obligation to leave the used blades in the forest. Just put them back in the sheath the new one came from then discard them when you get home.

The Helle is awesome. It holds an edge for a long time and is solid. I suspect the Puma you ordered is much the same.

The tungsten type draw through sharpeners are really good but make sure the angle they sharpen are the same as you are using at home with the stone.

I've used the Edge knives before and they were Ok (barely) if sharpened with the draw through sharpener every 10 mins. Your Puma will be great if sharpened before your hunt but you will need a second knife to do a moose...I would use the Puma for the big work and a Havalon for a lot of the lesser and fine work....just my .02

Remember with a good knife the edge doesn't really get worn out but gets folded over. Using a butchers oval diamond sharpening tool can bring your Puma or like knife back to super sharp in seconds.

[rcar]

I picked up a lansky kit today and after a few minutes of filing seen the edges on the knives were vary inconsistent and not even close to the 25* recommend for hunting knifes. I'm pretty excited to try these baby's out now after filing them up nice. Should have done this years ago. Thanks for all the advice guys!

I use this too but at the 20 degree. If you are in the field and really need a quick sharpen, make sure what you are using matches the angle you have set for the knife.

[KnifeGuy]

For what it's worth, the steel is the most important factor. Look for 154CM, 1095, 440C (not super common any more, but not bad when done well), K390, S30V, CPM D2, VG10, BG 42, ELMAX etc. Better steels can hold a finer edge for a longer time, for example I have S30V blades that can hold 15 degrees (with a 20 degree microbevel) forever. However, I wouldnt dream of putting that fine of an edge on my cheap 420HC knives. On that note stay far far away from steels such as 420J2, 440A, `Surgical Stainless`(generally, but not always, crap steel), AUS4A and 6A etc. Long story short, better steels tend to cost more. If I could afford it, I'd look heavily into Fallkniven and Bark River!

As far as sharpening devices this one by worksharp is far and away the best I've ever used: http://www.worksharptools.com/guided-field-sharpener-221.html