Yes but Sportsmans Warehouse is still independent from Cabelas and Bass Pro as far as purchasing goes. They still have their own buyers and I hope it stays that way.Bess Sportsman Warehouse and Cabela's are both owned by Bass pro. The knives are the same for all three stores.
RELH
It’s true. I think I did my entire deer and my wife’s entire elk with a Havalon. I always have a bit bigger knife in my kit, but rarely use it.Havalon is all you need!
Agreed! Another great knife are the cheap boning knives you get at a butcher supply store. Those are great for bigger animals like elk and moose.It’s true. I think I did my entire deer and my wife’s entire elk with a Havalon. I always have a bit bigger knife in my kit, but rarely use it.
Well said. A post of yours I actually agree with ?.I spend everyday with a knife in my hand. I use a ton of #60 and #22 scalpels. I can take apart an entire mule deer buck with one #60 blade. No saw needed. They are great for weight and space in a pack.
However I have been changing lately. I pulled out some of my old knives and got them sharpened up. I realized I hadn't taught my son how to sharpen a knife because we always used scalpel blades. I have some really good handmade knives and they have just sat in the safe for years. Now I take them out carry them on my hip and use them. I am getting older and more patient so its nice after using one to sit at the house in front of the TV drinking a mixed drink and finishing an edge on a well made knife.
I have reached a conclusion. A great handmade well sharpened knife is culture. A scalpel is business. The older I get the more I am valuing culture. Its not as common as it used to be.
That's why I carry an 8 oz folding saw. Should have one of those anyway to make a crutch when my clumsy self trips and twists an ankle...A good custom knife of the proper steel will get you though 2-5 game animals before you have to touch it up or change blades.
I do not use a Havalon for the simple reason I do not like to work blind in the chest cavity and I use my knife to rip open the front bone of the chest cavity and prop it open to remove lungs, heart. A Havalon is worthless for cutting the chest cavity open and you run the risk of a broken blade.
The Havalon is great for skinning and cutting soft tissue and anyone that complains about a 8 ounce knife being too heavy needs to get into shape.
RELH
No doubt custom knives are great for gutting and quartering an animal. But there’s no way you’re going to break down two animals and cape them without touching up the blade. No way. So your 8 oz knife turns into 12 oz and just the liability of having a dull blade is enough reason to leave that custom knife where it belongs, in the truck. Use it for those day hike hunts. But try lifesize caping a mountain goat or dall sheep without touching up a knife. You will hate life. I’ve done enough Alaskan moose to know there isn’t a custom knife out there that can do it without needing touched up.A good custom knife of the proper steel will get you though 2-5 game animals before you have to touch it up or change blades.
I do not use a Havalon for the simple reason I do not like to work blind in the chest cavity and I use my knife to rip open the front bone of the chest cavity and prop it open to remove lungs, heart. A Havalon is worthless for cutting the chest cavity open and you run the risk of a broken blade.
The Havalon is great for skinning and cutting soft tissue and anyone that complains about a 8 ounce knife being too heavy needs to get into shape.
RELH
Do you pick up your lead from your missed shots? Don’t be a hypocriteHow Many of You HAVALON PACKIN JUNKIES Are Just Tossing Broken Scrap metal in to the Woods For Animals to Get Wounded?
You'd Best Be Picking Your TRASH Up!
Yeah!How Many of You HAVALON PACKIN JUNKIES Are Just Tossing Broken Scrap metal in to the Woods For Animals to Get Wounded?
You'd Best Be Picking Your TRASH Up!
Do you pick up your lead from your missed shots? Don’t be a hypocrite
I have knives with disposable blades that I won at banquets. I realize they're sharp as hell, but my dad was a butcher and I just like regular pocket knives and game knives.
The Havalon-type knives just sit with my hunting stuff, unopened. Does that make me racist?
It makes you a knifist. Or, maybe a bladist?I have knives with disposable blades that I won at banquets. I realize they're sharp as hell, but my dad was a butcher and I just like regular pocket knives and game knives.
The Havalon-type knives just sit with my hunting stuff, unopened. Does that make me racist?
No doubt a havalon with disposable blades is ideal for fine detail work like capeing a skull.
I hate to give away all my secrets but I have a Hatfield knife and for the most part I don't let it get dull. I keep a small honing steel handy and I give it a few licks now and again. It keeps it sharp and avoids the sometimes tedious work of letting a knife get too dull and bringing it back to full sharpness. If you watch a butcher work, he cuts for awhile and then hits it with a steel to keep the edge, especially if he's working around bone. Of course a 3 ounce steel is extra weight to pack. I get that. No wonder my back hurts.
We don't have a dishwasher. It died about 5 years ago and we never replaced it.But have you run it through the dishwasher? ?
Meh hearsay. Your facts are questionable to say the least. Your metal you use for your knives is nothing special. same as all the others.Slightlysober said:
No doubt custom knives are great for gutting and quartering an animal. But there’s no way you’re going to break down two animals and cape them without touching up the blade. No way. So your 8 oz knife turns into 12 oz and just the liability of having a dull blade is enough reason to leave that custom knife where it belongs, in the truck.
___________________________________________________________________
You should get your facts before you spout off on a subject you think you know about.
There is a gentleman who is with "Ireviewgear" and bought one of my knives based on several members of this forum telling him how great they were. He tested the knife for a year and sent me a email telling me that he field dressed and skinned out 2 elk and 2 mule deer and my knife still shaved hair on his arm.
Another hunter who belonged to a deer camp back East used my knife to field dress and skin out his deer, and then skinned out 4 deer belonging to his hunting buddies and stated the knife was sharp enough that he could do 1-2 deer more.
A local woman, who is a better hunter then her husband used my knife to field dress, skin out 2 deer and 1 bear and debone all three animals and cut the meat up to package for the freezer. She bought the knife back to me to re-sharpen as it was just starting to drag a little on slicing the raw meat.
When S30V stainless steel came out, a lot of knife experts referred to it as "Super steel" based on it's toughness and ability to hold a very sharp edge. It has 4.00% vanadium and 2.00% molybenium added to the steel that makes it highly abrasive resistance. In other words it will hold a sharp edge over other steels and can be a bear to resharpen because of that abrasive resistance.
As for me I only get 2 deer before I have to touch it up due to me using the knife to rip open the chest plate.
Some people like a Ferrari and others like a ford pinto, you sound like the Pinto guy.
RELH
You would of been one of those guys still riding horses while everyone was using those dang automobiles.
trueAt least his feet won't get tired when the net zero carbon nuts screw everything up after the battery car push bellyflops...
Blah blah blah. I've heard it time and time again with you old guys and your knives. Those are really touching knife stories though.slightlysober you are so full of hot wind and it is very apparent you know nothing about knife steel. The 2 deer I was talking about were Wyoming mule deer.
So all that cheap China made knife metal is the same as top grade American or German and Japanese steel. Gee! you just proved how ignorant you are concerning this subject.
You probably do not even know that S30V steel is only made by one steel mill, CPM, that has the patent on it and was made at the request of some well known custom knife makers that wanted a better stainless steel then what was on the market at that time, and you say it is same as all others. Stick with your Ford pinto.
Go sit in the corner of the room and find a subject where you can hold a intelligent conversation. It is no fun arguing with a person that is handicap.
RELH
I didn't know you died when did that happen, Your wife told me you were the dishwasher in the family.. Are you lying Eel?We don't have a dishwasher. It died about 5 years ago and we never replaced it.
Don't you have a toilet to unplug?Hey ss!
Seems You Have to be reminded by the Day!
DON'T BE A F'N PRICK!
I wonder if flintknappers look down on custom knife makers. Psssh SV30? We running obsidian over here thats 2 million years old...
Careful. If you ever get out of your truck and go for a hike there’s chips laying around form thousands of years of flintknapping. Lazy Indians didn’t respect the land. They are sharp so be careful.I'D Bet You've Never Skinned a Buck with Obsidian!
F'N ROOKIE!
Ooops. You definitely lost some credibility with that remark!Careful. If you ever get out of your truck and go for a hike there’s chips laying around form thousands of years of flintknapping. Lazy Indians didn’t respect the land. They are sharp so be careful.
On second thought you better stick to road hunting.
dang, time to pack it up.Ooops. You definitely lost some credibility with that remark!
This isn't a ferrari vs pinto. Its a classic car vs brand new. I shouldn't have to explain it but your boring heavy custom knife that needs sharpen is the classic car. Yeah it looks good. But its going to break down on ya. The havalon is like a brand new off the line car that's going to keep going.
Good point. I have started carrying leftover urine drug testing bottles to hold fresh/dirty blades. They weigh next to nothing and keep me from getting poked or cut. I didn't think this through the first time I used the disposable blades and ended up burying the used blades at the kill site since I didn't have a safe place to carry them back to the truck.How Many of You HAVALON PACKIN JUNKIES Are Just Tossing Broken Scrap metal in to the Woods For Animals to Get Wounded?
You'd Best Be Picking Your TRASH Up!
Damn how many drug testing bottles you got laying around? hahahaGood point. I have started carrying leftover urine drug testing bottles to hold fresh/dirty blades. They weigh next to nothing and keep me from getting poked or cut. I didn't think this through the first time I used the disposable blades and ended up burying the used blades at the kill site since I didn't have a safe place to carry them back to the truck.
When you replace a Havalon blade you're left with the packaging that the new blade came in. I've always just slipped the used one in that packaging during exchange and it goes back with the other garbage like rubber gloves. I often use the used blades later for hacking away on a skull for boiling.Good point. I have started carrying leftover urine drug testing bottles to hold fresh/dirty blades. They weigh next to nothing and keep me from getting poked or cut. I didn't think this through the first time I used the disposable blades and ended up burying the used blades at the kill site since I didn't have a safe place to carry them back to the truck.
I can only assume the guys who sharpen knives do so while reading their AARP magazineWhen you replace a Havalon blade you're left with the packaging that the new blade came in. I've always just slipped the used one in that packaging during exchange and it goes back with the other garbage like rubber gloves. I often use the used blades later for hacking away on a skull for boiling.
I sure don't want to ever go back to sharpening knife blades! I have much better things to do, like play on Monster Muleys.
I do a lot of DOT physicals and drug screens at work so we have a ton of them. The drug screen bottles are pretty durable and waterproof. Except when they are cracked. One of my assistants forgot to check for damage to the container the other day and it leaked urine all over her when she filled it up to send to the lab. She was not pleased.Damn how many drug testing bottles you got laying around? hahaha
An even easier way is the wrapper the new blade comes in fits the old blade....
Ha Ha, I highly doubt you'd keep up with this Havalon packing sissy. You just sit in the truck and sharpen that huge, dull knife. Some of us have big bucks to kill.I've never hunted with anyone who used a Havalon knife, but I imagine they all wear rubber gloves too. How embarrassing. I'd have to walk away.
Maybe you should read how to quote a post. Or ask the nearest 5 year old ??I can only assume the guys who sharpen knives do so while reading their AARP magazine
Only a tree hugging liberal would read that magazine. Did you get your copy this month?
RELH
Dang! Founder is fired up todayHa Ha, I highly doubt you'd keep up with this Havalon packing sissy. You just sit in the truck and sharpen that huge, dull knife. Some of us have big bucks to kill.
Ha Ha, I highly doubt you'd keep up with this Havalon packing sissy. You just sit in the truck and sharpen that huge, dull knife. Some of us have big bucks to kill.
That's my point flimsy blades and dangerous.....I can. And yes they are good for caping except for the whole flimsy blade thing. Snapped one doing antler bases. A little dangerous I would say.
Use a flathead screw driver to pop the hide off around the antler bases next time. Much easier and cleaner.I can. And yes they are good for caping except for the whole flimsy blade thing. Snapped one doing antler bases. A little dangerous I would say.