Interesting Article about Hunting Knives

[memphismason]

Article from Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine. I thought you guys might like to read.

Editor's Note: Eric Fromm and Al Cambronne are the authors of Gut It. Cut It. Cook It.: The Deer Hunter’s Guide to Processing and Preparing Venison. In their chapter on “Gearing Up and Getting Ready,†they write about choosing the right knife for deer hunting. They don’t write about choosing a knife that makes just the right statement when it’s seen on your belt. Instead, they write about choosing a practical tool that gets the job done. In the same chapter, they describe the knives you’ll need back home when it’s time to finish the job.

For this guest article, we asked Al to sum up the practical knife-shopping advice he and Eric offer in Gut It. Cut It. Cook It. See if you agree with their conclusions.

Why Bigger Isn’t Better

For deer hunting, bigger isn’t better. You don’t need a giant, 10-inch bowie knife to quarter an elk or moose, and you definitely don’t need one to field-dress a 100-pound whitetail. The truth is, even Jim Bowie wouldn’t have used a bowie knife to field-dress a deer. Back then, frontiersmen carried a small sheath knife for everyday use. That smaller knife would have been the right tool for the job.

And by the way… The only reason those guys didn’t just carry folding knives is that sturdy, reliable ones didn’t yet exist. If they had, one would have been in every pocket.

If hunters carried a larger knife (and most of them didn’t), it was as a weapon—sort of an emergency back-up they could use after they’d fired their one shot from a muzzleloader. For more utilitarian purposes, they may have also carried a hatchet or a small axe.

Your situation, fortunately, is a little different. Even if you’re hunting with a muzzleloader, and even if you’re bowhunting and almost out of arrows, you’ll probably have time to climb a tree if you’re simultaneously charged by an entire herd of enraged deer.

You don’t need a 10-inch blade; even a five-inch blade is far larger than you’ll need for field-dressing a deer. In fact, you’ll do much better with a blade that’s between 2½†and 3¾†in length. Maybe you’re a little dubious about a 2½†blade like the one on, say, a Buck Mini Alpha. If so, we hope we can at least convince you to stay under 4â€.

A smaller blade gives you much more control and precision; that’s one reason why surgeons generally use scalpels rather than bowie knives. Using a larger blade only increases the chance that you’ll cut something you don’t want to cut. Potentially, that includes your own fingers.

A larger blade is also much more difficult to maneuver inside the deer’s body cavity when you’re reaching in to trim the diaphragm free. After that step, you’ll then be reaching even farther up inside the deer to sever its trachea and esophagus. When you do, you won’t be able to see what you’re doing; you’ll be working entirely by feel.

You’ll be working blind, and you’ll probably be completing these steps under less-than-ideal conditions. You could be cold and exhausted, with hands that are numb and slippery. Or, if you’re out hunting when it’s warmer, you could be field-dressing your deer when you’re hot, tired, and thirsty. You may even have a few mosquitoes or deer flies buzzing around your head. (Please… Remember to put down your knife before you swat them away.) Either way, you’ll want all the control and precision you can get.

The advantages to a smaller, lighter knife don’t stop there. When you’re not using your knife, you’ll be carrying it. A small folding knife can fit in your pocket, and a larger one can ride in a belt sheath. Even if you prefer fixed-blade knives, a shorter knife on your belt is less likely to catch on the brush or get in the way when you sit down.

Beauty is as Beauty Does

Knives made from quality steel just seem to take and hold an edge better. They’re easier to sharpen, and easier to keep sharp. They’re worth every penny.

Currently, the best knife steels include S30V, D2, 154CM, ATS-34, and a few others that are even more exotic and expensive. Steels in the next tier down include AUS-8A, 440C, and CR17. If a knife doesn’t say anywhere on the blade what it’s made from, then it’s probably made from a lesser steel that its maker didn’t want to brag about.

And those Rockwell hardness numbers? They only tell part of the story; different steels can be heat-treated to the same hardness number.

Paradoxically, a lesser knife can seem difficult to sharpen but easy to dull. You’re especially likely to encounter this situation with cheap stainless knives of recent vintage. Older knives with low-carbon steel may rust more easily, and they’re generally made from softer steel that won’t retain an edge quite as well. The good news? They’ll take a great edge that’s easy to restore when it does get dull.

A fine custom knife can be a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Even if you’re not wealthy, you can rationalize it as a lifetime purchase. But beware of expensive, elegantly crafted knives with cheap blades made from the most ordinary steel possible. When it’s time to actually use them, you’d be better off with a less expensive knife that’s made of better steel.

We suggest you invest in a quality knife—not necessarily the same thing as an expensive knife—and learn how to keep it sharp. When you consider the money you’ve spent on all your other hunting gear, it doesn’t make sense to rely on a cheap knife—or far worse, an expensive dull knife.

[KahrMan]

Nice write up. I agree that bigger isn't better when it comes to field dressing knives. it is hard to beat a 3" drop point blade for field dressing and processing a deer.

[ShaunM]

I used to skin my deer with a cheap apex knife from WalMart. Best skinning knife for under 10 bucks. I think it was a 4 inch blade.

[gregintenn]

How do you split the rib cage and pelvis with a small folding knife? I like a heavy knife...not extremely long, just heavy. I've broken several lockback knives field dressing deer, so I prefer a fixed blade. I also prefer the skinner type blade to the drop point. They are less likely to puncture the intestines.....an unpleasant experience.

Either of these would make a good field dressing knife.

[Guest FlyntG]

I usually use the buck 110 like in the picture. Not the flashiest or most expensive, but I gut, skin, remove backstraps, and quarter with it.

[gregintenn]

Here's the one I use. The blade is d-2 tool steel, and measures 0.1625 thick and 4.5 inches long. It is heavy enough to chop through the pelvis without much effort. It also works well for skinning.

Edited November 7, 2009 by gregintenn

[gregintenn]

Forschner Knives - Fibrox Butcher Knives

These are some really good butcher knives for the price.

[memphismason]

This is what I use. It was cheap at Wal-Mart, but it does the job. It is heavy enough to split the rib cage.

Description

Winchester Knives - Guthook Fixed Blade Knife with Wood Handles: Model G-1374. 9 3/4" overall. 4 3/4" surgical stainless guthook blade. Wood handles with brushed stainless bolster. Lanyard hole. Black nylon belt sheath included. Made in China.

[Guest walkingdeadman]

Good article. I used a knife just like yours memphismason to gut that deer of mine.

[gregintenn]

This is what I use. It was cheap at Wal-Mart, but it does the job. It is heavy enough to split the rib cage.

Description

Winchester Knives - Guthook Fixed Blade Knife with Wood Handles: Model G-1374. 9 3/4" overall. 4 3/4" surgical stainless guthook blade. Wood handles with brushed stainless bolster. Lanyard hole. Black nylon belt sheath included. Made in China.

I like the looks of some of those knives at WalMart. How well do they hold an edge?

[memphismason]

I like the looks of some of those knives at WalMart. How well do they hold an edge?

Mine has done ok so-far. Since I have owned it, I haven't had as many opportunities to use it as I would like, but so far, so good.

[whiskey]

I like the looks of some of those knives at WalMart. How well do they hold an edge?

I own one of the winchester knives. It will take an edge, but will not hold it long enough for my liking. I bought one on sale cheap and used it to skin and quarter a hog, which a test to any knife. It would probably be ok for 1 deer, but would need sharpening past that.

I have one of these and have been extreamly happy with it. It's a Boker 520HH. Size is small enough to work inside and big enough to feel right in my hand. They can be bought for less than 60.00 and well worth it. I carry a small folding saw, so I have quit hacking pelvis bones into. You can buy a small folding saw at Home Depot that takes standard reciprocating saw blades (sawzall). Then just get a fine tooth blade for bone sawing. You can also carry some wood blades and quickly convert it to a limb saw. They have blade storage in the handle.

Boker Knives 520HH Arbolito Fixed Blade Hunter Knife with Genuine Stag Handles - Knife Country USA

Amazon.com: Stanley 15-333 8-Inch Folding Pocket Saw: Home Improvement

[gregintenn]

It doesn't seem comfortable to me to carry a saw every time I go hunting. Could be I just haven't ran across the right saw.

[Guest grimel]

Why are you breaking the pelvis and ribcage?

I use a Old Timer Sharp Finger and am considering really hard swapping to a Cold Steel Mini-Pendleton Hunter. Don't like folding knives for field dressing; too easy to not get it all cleaned out.

[memphismason]

Why are you breaking the pelvis and ribcage?.

When I field dress a deer I split the ribs. I like doing it this way better than reaching into the chest cavity blind. I guess that was the way I was taught, so that is how I started doing it.

Now I don't split the pelvis until after skinning and I start "working up" the deer meat.

[gregintenn]

Why are you breaking the pelvis and ribcage?

To remove the poopie pipe and the lungs, heart, etc. Without splitting the pelvis, I've had a lot of frustration removing the bowels. Without splitting the ribcage, I have trouble removing the heart, lungs, and other assorted stuff.

[inspecting1]

I have used a CaseXX yellow handle trapper on more deer and hogs than I can remember. It is also the one thing you can count on me having in my pocket any day of the year. Oh yea you don't have to split the pelvis you just cut to the ball and socket and your hind quarter is off.

[Guest FlyntG]

I got a real education yesterday.

One of my hunting buddies used to work at a deer processing place. There were 3 does shot yesterday, and he gutted, skinned, and took them all the way to the cooler with my buck 110. By the last deer you could tell the knife was getting pretty dull.

Takes him less than 10 minutes per deer with nothing but gambrel, rope, knife, and a hacksaw that got minimal use. The last deer was done without benefit of the saw.