Blade Length for Hunting Knife?

[Swifty Morgan]

Buck's site says 420HC provides "medium edge retention," which is exactly what I complain about RE my Gerbers. Buck claims RC 58. The Gerbers are basically drugstore-quality knives.

 

[d2wing]

For deer I like a 4 inch or so Mora, But I also carry a 6 inch Bowie just in case I want to break the hip bone or fight a bear or some silly reason because I just like a big knife. For bird I have an old folder with a gut hook.

 

[Armored farmer]

Another Buck that is worth a look is the Vangaurd......

Shown here with its hunting partner.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Personally, I prefer carbon steel for a knife blade, and I like a small blade. I've dressed out several deer and many a squirrel with a Real McCoy 3-bladed stockman's knife.

Ditto on small, carbon steel

LD

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

My Dad's old Case XX 3 Finn is a good knife but a bit longer than I like.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

some silly reason because I just like a big knife.

Ain't silly. Nothing wrong with carrying what you simply like. I lost a couple of expensive, hand built knives, over the years, and I found the Mora's or other carbon steel knives, very sharp and not expensive to replace if they get lost. Funny how the inexpensive ones don't seem to disappear.

LD

 

[bearcreek]

I found people on the web saying 420HC couldn't be hardened past 55. Who says it can be hardened to 59?

The 420HC in my Gerbers is total crap, but I have not tried a Buck.

You can find people on the web who say the earth is flat and socialism works. Sorry, first thing that came to mind. I don't know anything about hardening steel. My hunting knife is an Esee 4. 1095 Carbon steel. Works great for deer. I've gutted and cut up probably 20 or so with it. I don't do much squirrel hunting but I think it'd be a bit big for that. I've gutted a few deer with my Leatherman Skeletool but I wouldn't call that ideal.

 

[Choctaw]

Yeah, for big game hunting, in the field I prefer about a 4" fixed, drop point blade too. But I can see this thread going in the same direction as the thread about budget versus expensive hunting rifles. That is, I anticipate a few "reverse snobbery" posts like, "I use a smaller knife than you, therefore I'm a better and more experienced hunter than you."

I use a three inch blade and you shouldn't be so sensitive.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Given the crummy experience I've had with 420HC, I am very surprised to see all the positive info on Buck's 420HC knives. I thought the claims of special heat treating and so on were a load of marketing BS, but I Googled around and found confirmation that they are getting decent hardness on these knives. I'm so used to being lied to, I just assumed Buck was making junk and blowing smoke up people's butts.

My Entrek Beaver finally arrived. Very nice knife. I think I'll be very happy with it. Now if I can just figure out what to do for a sheath. I wear suspenders, so I have no belt to attach the Entrek sheath to.

I'm going to look into getting a scalpel and some blades.

Lots of good info on this thread. Thanks, all.

 

[MCgunner]

Was at Rainoseks True Value in Hallettsville, Texas today because the wife wanted something. So, while she was finding her item, some kind of hand crank nut grinder thing, I was looking at knives. They had these Schrade 2.5" blades, just right for skinning, and not too expensive at 35 bucks. Add 10 bucks because it was Rainoseks. But, then, I happened to think, the thing's probably Chinese steel, most all recent Schrades I've seen are made in China. So, I was able to pass it up. I've got an old Schrade Uncle Henry I bought 40 years ago, "made in USA" stamped on it. I don't carry it. It looks like a Buck 110 and weighs at least as much on the belt. But, the edge it keeps is nice. I've had a couple of Buck 110s and they were no better than the Schrade Uncle Henry.

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

Was at Rainoseks True Value in Hallettsville, Texas today because the wife wanted something. So, while she was finding her item, some kind of hand crank nut grinder thing, I was looking at knives.

Has she tried it on you yet?

 

[LoonWulf]

I carry 2 or 3 knives while hunting, sometimes a larger one straped to my pack, or left in the truck.
I have my folding pocket knife with a 3" blade, a gerber of some sort with a fixed 3.75, a decent chinese made fixed with a 4" blade, and a Buck 105. I find blades much longer than 4" get in the way unless you really do need them. I use a 7"-14" heavy fixed blade (or machete) for days where i KNOW im going to be processing more than 2 med game animals. It makes taking ribs, quartering, halfing, and lopping legs and heads faster and easier than using my smaller knives.

Ive processed my fair share of game animals with knives as small as 1.75"s, but thats difficult to use for more than just gutting.

 

[MCgunner]

I'm going to try something my pastor suggested. He uses these big bolt cutters to cut through ribs and cut off legs and such. I've been sawing them off for years and it's a pain. I figure to just get a cheap, but large pair of bolt cutters, probably from Harbor Freight. It sounded like a good idea.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Bolt cutters work great.

Something that also works great, especially for squirrel hunting, is needle nose pliers. You can use the pliers to pull skin off, and the wire cutter to snip the ankles.

 

[MCgunner]

Bolt cutters work great.

Something that also works great, especially for squirrel hunting, is needle nose pliers. You can use the pliers to pull skin off, and the wire cutter to snip the ankles.

I always have my Leatherman Wingman with me.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I have been using pruning shears and lopping shears on squirrels.

 

[MCgunner]

When we get together for dove season, my buddy's kid has a pair of Craftsman cutters for cutting off the wings. I can do it with a serrated edge of a knife, but the cutters seem a bit more sanitary.

 

[MCgunner]

Buck's site says 420HC provides "medium edge retention," which is exactly what I complain about RE my Gerbers. Buck claims RC 58. The Gerbers are basically drugstore-quality knives.

Well, I like the little Bantam 285 I picked up at Academy. Of course, I didn't buy it for you, so no problem there. Same goes for my Gerbers, though.

Here's what Buck says about 420HC in the Bantam.....

420HC STEEL
This is Buck's standard blade material because it approaches the wear resistance of high carbon alloys while delivering the corrosion resistance of chromium stainless steels. Add our exclusive heat-treat process and you have a very user-friendly combination of superior corrosion resistance with excellent strength for wear resistance and durability. You also have a blade that is easy to resharpen. For best performance we harden to a Rockwell hardness of Rc 58.

https://www.buckknives.com/product/bantam-blw-knife/0285FAM01/

 

[Slamfire]

For squirrels, the spay blade on a stockman, or a trapper, will work very well on separating the tail from the back bone. I follow this procedure in skinning the little varmints:

How to Skin a Squirrel
https://www.wikihow.com/Skin-a-Squirrel




I have used both of these on squirrels, they both have enough belly and enough point, with a thin enough blade, to lift the tail and open the abdomen.



The most important tool is a poultry shear:





A poultry shear will snip, snip, the hands, the head, of a squirrel. This device is the fastest for splitting breast bones and disassembling squirrels and chickens.

Now for something larger, Grohmann makes a nice skinner, it has enough sweep to remove limbs. About a four inch blade.



This one is a classic, about a four inch blade.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I particularly like a 3-bladed stockman's knife for squirrels (five cents to anyone who can tell us what the spey blade is for).

Mine is a Real McCoy, made in Mount Ida, Arkansas. It has a carbon steel blade and holds an edge like there is no tomorrow.

Added later: I do it slightly differently from the instructions in the above post. Once I cut the tail, I continue the cut around until I have a "V"on the squirrel's belly. I hang the squirrel by the root of the tail with a piece of cord. Grab the hind legs and upend the squirrel and pull down. This will strip the skin off like pulling off a sweater.

The squirrel is now hanging hind feet down with it's front paws and head inside the skin. Use the needle nose pliers to start the "V" on the belly and pull down, and finally pull the squirrel's "pants" off.

Holding the squirrel by his "pants" cut off the front paws and head. Cut the carcass from pelvis to throat and empty out the innards.

Hold the squirrel carcass over a Kraft sandwich bag and cut the hind paws with the wire cutter.

 

[Slamfire]

I particularly like a 3-bladed stockman's knife for squirrels (five cents to anyone who can tell us what the spey blade is for).

Its how they turn a bull into a steer. I used to visit El Paso Saddle Blanket and the store had all the tourist junk you could find in Juarez without having to cross the border. I remember a display full of dried ball sacks on strings. Just looking at them made me hurt.

The Turks and the Chinese did that to the high level men who worked in the Royal Palace. Kept the officials from having a family and messing in the harem.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Its how they turn a bull into a steer. I used to visit El Paso Saddle Blanket and the store had all the tourist junk you could find in Juarez without having to cross the border. I remember a display full of dried ball sacks on strings. Just looking at them made me hurt.

The Turks and the Chinese did that to the high level men who worked in the Royal Palace. Kept the officials from having a family and messing in the harem.

Give that young man a nickle!

You slit the scrotum from the side, and also slit the inner liner. Pull out the testicle and clamp the cord attaching it to the body with pliers. Count to 60, and cut the cord below the pliers. Then go to the other side and repeat.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

When I was a kid, I used to hang out with my grandfather when I was on vacation, and I helped work on his farms. One day a bunch of hired hands showed up, and we went to the hog lot. They grabbed the pigs and started castrating them with unsterilized pocket knives. The screaming was beyond description.

I was about 12. I could not believe such things happened on earth. I went to the house and lay down on the couch.

When it was over, there was a big pile of testicles, and the pigs were eating them.

Good times.

 

[Skoghund]

In 1978 i visited the US for a holiday. Somewhere in Maine i bought a Frontier Double Eagle knife. There were 2 models of the knife and i bought the skinner model because i liked the narrow slightly curved blade that is a tad over 3" long. $9 Dollars it cost i think?. That little knife, i sharpen to a 30 degree edge, has gutted hundreds upon hundreds of deer. I can even open up a large fallow deers chest with it without any problem. After using the knife for about 15 years the sheath fell apart so i had a new and better sheath made.
Even though i don't kill the large numbers of deer that i used too that knife still go's with me on all hunting trips.
I do have some much better quality knives because I'm a bit of a knife tart. Still the Frontier Double Eagle is my first choice for deer hunting.

PS, and because i live in Sweden, don't forget Mora Knives are great knives and good value

 

[Slamfire]

Somewhere in Maine i bought a Frontier Double Eagle knife. There were 2 models of the knife and i bought the skinner model because i liked the narrow slightly curved blade that is a tad over 3" long. $9 Dollars it cost i think?. That little knife, i sharpen to a 30 degree edge, has gutted hundreds upon hundreds of deer. I can even open up a large fallow deers chest with it without any problem. After using the knife for about 15 years the sheath fell apart so i had a new and better sheath made.

Did your Frontier skinner look like this?



It was made by Imperial.

PS, and because i live in Sweden, don't forget Mora Knives are great knives and good value

Absolutely! Things change over the decades, it used to be that stainless knives were harder to find, now, Mora is one of the few that make a laminated carbon steel blade.



This one has a 12C27 stainless blade, and when you factor in that and the plastic sheath, Mora knives are a real value.