Blades.

[Jbmagill79]

That’s awesome!

I can’t get over Winkler. I have a Chris Reeve Backpacker and a Carothers I love, but always love checking out smaller bladesmiths. I’ll look for the other threads on it!

How do you like the Chris Reeve backpacker? I’ve been going back and forth between it and a MKC super cub.

 

[Mully]

Dan makes a great knife and that semi skinner is sweet! Mammoth? You should try his Brend skinner pattern, it's one of my favorites.

For a hunting knife I prefer the Crotts semi skinner design but the Dozier Yukon pro is a pretty handy design as well.

Both have more than enough edge retention to never need a touchup in field. I processed eight deer and a few goats on that last trip in August and it was still shaving sharp when we got home. That said, the deboning was mostly done with the meatcrafter

 

[willtim]

I prefer a 2 1/2 inch drop point.

 

[coiloil37]

Dan makes a great knife and that semi skinner is sweet! Mammoth? You should try his Brend skinner pattern, it's one of my favorites.

The Brend doesn’t work for me. To much tip, wrong blade shape and wrong angle between the blade and handle. I’ve been through 50+ customs and god knows how many production knives and the two I posted are by far my favourites. The little semi skinner is the pick of the litter though. That one’s in S90v and has a tapered tang as well.
The first one I had him build me was just green micarta and that’s when I realised how good that design was.


That little fella in the middle.

 

[FLswamper]

I pack a Spyderco Edela 3.4" K390 blade folding lockback and carry a Spyderco Street Bowie 5" VG-10 fixed blade or Sypderco 3.5" Street Beat fixed blade. I purchased 4 Spyderco knives at different times and all arrived perfectly super sharp. All I do is touch them up with the ceramic stone (also on a Spyderco sharpener) after each use to keep the edges perfect. I ended up buying aftermarket Kydex sheaths because the glass reinforced plastic OEM sheaths dull the blades. That's not just gossip - I noticed the sheath dulling effect on my own knives. Some people say the OEM sheaths can be sanded or grooved avoid blade dulling, but it seems a whole lot simpler just to buy aftermarket Kydex.

I spent a bit of time searching for a lightweight, thin 5" fixed blade. Hard to find. Most of the 5" knives on the market are heavy with thick blades. I finally stumbled upon the Street Bowie. The dimensions seemed too good to be true, but in use, it is almost perfect for me. The slim rubbery handle is easy to grip. The finger choil provides the security of a guard with no added weight. The knife is perfectly balanced. And it is so easy to maintain a sharp edge on that thin blade - you just need Kydex (or leather) to drop it into.

The little brother Street Beat is configured the same and the shorter blade provides increased carry options and I use the shorter blade with more confidence. I like the 3.5" for general purpose carry and 5" for defense. The 5" is pictured below.




The Edela has a thinner blade and is just as easy to keep sharp.

 

[FLswamper]

For a compact fixed blade/sheath combo that I could conceal or boot carry, I was swayed by the reputation of SOG knives and I ignored warnings on the blade forums about their poor factory edges. So I bought an SOG Pentagon FX Covert with a 3-3/8" blade in Cryo S35VN steel. Unpleasant surprise: It arrived from the factory actually DULL. Also the factory edge angle did not match a standard 20-degree sharpener. My attempts ot hone an edge with my Spyderco triangle sharpner had no effect. The blade is quite resistant to sharpening, so I was stuck. I tried buying (cheap) coarse stones to reset the edge at 20-degrees, but the knife just eroded away the junk stones. Most recently, I bought a Sharpal BuddyGuard and to see if I can set an edge with 325 grit diamond coated sharpening steel.

 

[Trr15]

I’ve been giving my Bark River classic drop point hunter a workout this season (3 elk, 1 moose and 2 antelope) . Really enjoy this knife. S45V steel is becoming a favorite of mine. Holds a great edge, and just takes some stropping to bring it back to shaving sharp after breaking down an animal.