Knife Recom. for Elk field dressing??

[sgagnard]

I'm looking to start elk hunting with my son this year and wanted some advice on a good knife or set to buy. I know some brands/sets hold an edge longer. I would rather pay more and have a set that stays sharp and will last longer.

Scott

 

[ForkWest]

Cheap 3-4" blade lightweigh knife, and a half dozed Stanely flat razors is whats in my pack. All I've ever needed. I use the razors for most everything, gets dull, get a new one. I only use the knife for cutting through hip and knee joints.

 

[nochawk]

Knife choices are a lot like "Ford or Chevy" or "Best Elk rifle"...lots of arguments around the camp fire...

My advice is to carry 2 different knifes, 1 (3-4in)for skinning and 1 (4-6in)for cutting/boning and have a wet stone/steel to resharpen.

My last elk was done with 2 Buck Vanguards...skinning went fine but I wished I had a longer blade for removing the back strap..

Before that I used a Schrade X-Timer..worked great except for the skinning. ( needed to be more rounded instead of pointed at the tip)

So this year I'm going with the X-Timer(for cutting/boning) and a Vanguard( for skinning).

I'm slow compared to some on here...takes me about 3 hours to bone out a elk...

 

[littlejoe]

I use the Cub Bear from Knives of Alaska and a Piranta scalpel from Havels on everything. The scalpel is the only way to go on caping any animal in my opinion. It gets dull, put on another blade and go to work.

 

[Runningwater]

I like the mora's with the red wooden handle. Take a nice edge, the red handle helps you find it when its lying on the ground when your done, and since it costs about $12 if you do loss it you just buy a couple more. I basically keep one in each vehicle and each backpack/daypack so I always have a sharp knife around when I need it.

 

[RELH]

you have several choices, you can go the cheap way as others have reccommended or you can pay more and get a better knife that will hold it's edge longer.
For all around field dressing and skinning, your best bet is a drop point hunter with a 3-1/2 to 4 inch blade. It has ehought "belly" in the cutting edge to work well at skinning and a fine enought point to open the animal up to start the field dressing. As for steel, stay away from knives marked "400 series" "440 steel". They are cheaper 440A and 440B steel and will not hold up to field dressing and skinning a animal out with out stopping to sharpen several times. If you are going to confine yourself to factory knife, I would recommend a Buck knife with the S30V steel heat treated to a 58-60RC. It is one of the best factory knives on the market and will complete with some of the custom knives for hard field use.
There are good carbon steel knives on the market, but they will rust very fast if you do not take care of them. S30V steel is a stainless steel with high carbon content and will give better protection against stains and rust on the blade. It is hard and you do need to know how to sharpen. I recommend a good diamond stone of about 600 grit that is small enought to take in the field with you. I have used S30V steel knives to field dress and skin out three deer, including cutting the rib cage open, before I had to touch up the edge.

RELH

 

[Hardway]

RELH, What about "440c"? I have a benchmade that I carry as my everyday pocket knife. Just wondering, I don't use it for field work because the blade is so thick it does'nt sharpen up like a thinner blade will.

 

[RELH]

Hardway;

Of the 400 series of steel, 440C is the top of that line. It is used very much in kitchen knives due to it's content of chrome,17%, and very rust resistant. If a knife maker uses 440C, it will be listed as 440C on the blade. Other makers using 440A & 440B stamp 400 series, or 440 on the blades trying to fool the buyer into thinking he is getting 440C. Because of this, 440C has gotten a bad rep because of the 440A&B being passed off as 440C.
If heat treated properly, 440C will be around 57-58RC and that is hard enought to hold a good edge. Several knife experts, including one who is a Material Engineer will tell you that S30v is the best stainless steel on the market today for knife blades. surpasses other SS in edge holding, toughness, and abrasion resistance and has 14% chrome for rust resistance. It is also one of the most expensive steels to buy. That is the reason you will never see it in cheap knives.
Another good steel is D-2. Has been around for many years and can be heat treated to 60RC. It has only 11-12% chrome and can not be called a stainless steel which starts at 13% chrome.
Another one to stay away from is AUS6, a Japanese steel that is in the ballpark with 440B. AUS8 is better, similar to 440C and is used by Coldsteel in some of their knives.
RELH

 

[Rifleguy]

My new favorite knife by far is the Havalon Piranta Stainless Steel Pro Hunting Knife. It uses #60 replaceable scalpel blades. It was recommended by a buddy of mine that is a Taxidermist/Guide. Awesome knife and under $40. I would honestly say I would pay $100 for this knife.

http://www.havalon.com/pirantafolder.html

 

[Flatlandr]

>My new favorite knife by far
>is the Havalon Piranta Stainless
>Steel Pro Hunting Knife. It
>uses #60 replaceable scalpel blades.
> It was recommended by
>a buddy of mine that
>is a Taxidermist/Guide. Awesome
>knife and under $40. I
>would honestly say I would
>pay $100 for this knife.
>
>
>http://www.havalon.com/pirantafolder.html


+1 a great knife for skinning.

 

[Packout]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-17-08 AT 05:41PM (MST)[p]I use a small Browning Wasatch Caper knife and it is a great knife that is stiff enough to work boning an elk and long enough to get thru the muscle easily. It sharpens easily and is very light to carry. (It also comes in a set which is very slick, if you don't mind carrying the weight.)

www.wilderness-hunter.com/322250d.htm

I also carry razor blades and use them often while working an animal. BUT, be very careful. While a sharp knife will cut you bad, a razor cut will be horrible. Pirantas are sure slick around the shop, but if you have an accident with one in the back country it could get ugly.

-------------------------
www.sagebasin.com
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[ktc]

sgagnard,

I would highly recommend an email to RELH. He can provide some very good advice. I had the same questions you had a year or so ago and he has me and my daughter set up perfectly!

 

[doityourself]

I used a $1.50 retractable exacto knife you can get at any paint or hardware store, on my buddys elk this year and it un-zipped it like nothing I have ever seen. I have some high dollar knives but I went and bought maybe half a dozen of these and am set for years to come. If the tip gets dull the blade is segmented so you just snap it off and got to town with a razor sharp tip.

They are great for caping out heads too, the really pointy tips get in around the eyes balls and other detail areas really well. Plus when you're done, no messy cleanup at a couple bucks each I either toss 'em or use them in my shop.

I am a fan of having high quality stuff, the only thing I don't like about knives in general is you gotta keep 'em sharp, and that takes some skill. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I have a hard time doing it. So that's my two bits.

 

[out4elk]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-04-08 AT 08:02AM (MST)[p]My wife bought me the Alaskan blade trader made by Kershaw a couple years back for my B-Day. I finally got to put it to work last year on 4 different elk and was pleasantly surprised to its versatility.

I don't know what steel it is made from but I did notice I had to sharpen the blades a few times on each elk, I figured it was normal though, I have a good compact sharpener in my pack so this wasn't a biggie.

My only complaint...The LATCH that holds the blades on the handle will flex if you put HEAVY side to side motion to the knife, you will have to release the latch and bend the latch back to the normal width to hold the blade really tight. Kershaw needs to address this issue. Overall though, like I said in the first paragraph I was impressed with how well it worked.

After posting originally I looked up what steel was used in this knife and it is the AUS6A so according to others this steel is not the best, that would explain the sharpening I was doing.

?Here?s to the hero's that Git-R-Done!!?

 

[HardcoreOutdoor]

Here is a list of cutting tools I like but my favorite for elk are the Randall model #5 Camp and Trail Knife, the Havalon Piranta Pro Trophy Skinner, and my trusty Buck Ranger model 112.

http://hardcoreoutdoor.com/2007/12/20/the-cutting-edge--best-cutting-tools--knife-saw-axe.aspx

And Dodge 6.7 Diesel of course.

Wade Nelson
Editor
HardcoreOutdoor.com