Knife... custom or no and what size?

[amp713]

So I have decided I want a fixed blade knife to accompany my havalon while hunting and to he on my person while hiking. I had been looking at benchmade but siggma custom knives are built not 30 miles from my house...

The custom knives are built with L6 steel. I'm not a knife conisseur but some googling says it's nice steel but is it as nice as what benchmade is making?

I also was looking at the hidden canyon knife from.benchmade as I've heard good things but I even looked at one smaller than that from siggma.

What would you consider a too small of knife for elk and mule deer skinning and such? I plan to use the havalon for more precise cuts and possibly gutting.

Anyone have great success with other custom knife companies? I want to stay in a reasonable price range but want a knife that I can pass down which is why I've been debating the custom knife idea more than just an engraved benchmade or similar.

 

[N2TRKYS]

The Hidden Canyon was my first Benchmade knife. The blade is a little too short for me and that's skinning whitetails. I'm looking at getting a Saddle Mountain Hunter. I think that would be the perfect size and shape for me.

 

[Jbehredt]

Love my saddle mountain skinner. Ordered a custom kydex sheath with a nice 1.5” belt clip. Cut up a bull solo last year and never once thought of touching it up.

 

[MTSabo]

I carry a havalon and a benchmade bushcrafter. Although I also use it for splitting wood for the stove or other abusive tasks.

 

[wesfromky]

I have the benchmade hidden canyon and it is a nice knife, though as mentioned, kinda small. I just ordered a jackal pup from southern grind, so will see how that works this fall, hopefully. The jackal pup is still pretty small, but just slightly bigger than the hidden canyon. Kinda cool company as well. I also have an esee 4 that is pretty nice, and the izula would also be a solid choice for a smaller blade.

Blades - Southern Grind

 

[ShakeDown]

Check out Bradford Knives. Semi-custom and really quality work. I have a Gaurdian 3 and love it. Did work on a couple bulls this year.

 

[huntsman22]

Customs. Good steels, blades no thicker than 1/8th inch and no wider than 1 inch. 3 to 5 inch length. Like these.....

 

[boom]

3/32 thickness. Full flat grind. 3.5” blade length, handle big enough for four finger grip, made of non slippery stuff, easy to find in bloody grass. I like carbon styles.

 

[Lawnboi]

I wouldn't compare a quality custom to a production knife. Not saying the benchmade isn't a good knife.

Iv never heard of l6 steel

I'd get a custom, if you know what you want. Red rock tool in SD makes a hell of a knife, and is who I have used for custom work. Another to check out, great to work with.

 

[mtnrunner260]

Do the siggma class and make your own

 

[colersu22]

Love my saddle mountain skinner. Ordered a custom kydex sheath with a nice 1.5” belt clip. Cut up a bull solo last year and never once thought of touching it up.

Where did you order the kydex sheath? I have a benchmade steep country and not a fan of the fit n the sheath that comes with it.

 

[amp713]

Do the siggma class and make your own

That was a thought. But I already have far too many commitments and hobbies that I don't get around to and I've vowed to stop trying to do everything. I've picked my favorites and that's where I dedicate my time.

Family, hunting, horses, fishing, jeeps. In that order. And I don't have enough time for those as it is.



My cousin did do a blacksmith class in Wyoming so I'm debating going through him but he is a lawyer and is pretty busy so idk if he would have the time.

 

[mcseal2]

I have a bunch. My favorites are the Blackwater by Battle Horse Knives in O1 steel and the Personal in D2 steel by Harvey King Knives. Both weigh between 6 and 6.5oz with sheath. For my AK hunt I bought the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner with the Kydex sheath. I didn't want to have to deal with leather and carbon steel in the wet, or drop one and lose it if I end up processing a moose in the water. The Benchmade looks to be a nice knife but I haven't had it long. I'm using it on the ranch now dulling it to see how hard it is to re-sharpen and what I need to return it to a great edge before the trip.

 

[Beendare]

L6- never heard of it.

FWIW, I've seen Custom knives that were Purdy....but they didn't hold an edge as well as the S30V steel in my buck Alpa or my Benchmade Steep country. Then there are customs with some crazy good blades.

First and foremost; The key to any processing knife is the blade steel. I have gravitated to the fixed blade over a folder as they are just all around easier to clean and use.

Lots of great steels out there that will really hold an edge- so many great ones to chose from 'I will take one of each!" I wish.

. I have a folder in BG42 that holds an edge even better than the S30v.

 

[Lawnboi]

A2 is my personal favorite if done right. If you go the custom route. Just one to look at

 

[Kevin Dill]

I've got a number of really fine customs I've collected over the years. All are a beautiful and functional. None of them are better than any number of very high quality production knives I also own. My very favorite knives for general camp use and for butchering the biggest animals in North America....can all be bought online in ten minutes and delivered in 3 days.

I'll go so far as to say a good many of the 'custom' knives I've seen would be easily bettered by knives from makers like Al Mar, ESEE, Buck, Benchmade, Spyderco, Cutco, KOA and many other high quality production knife makers. A lot of custom knife work is centered around the art, but not function of a knife. The best customs are built to fit a specific hand and use grip and blade materials selected to produce the best performance for that hunter. Obviously the blade design has to be perfect.

 

[SharpDog]

Hard to beat this one for $90 ... Knives of Alaska D2 steel (I have several, light, sharp and great for skinning):

Knives of Alaska: Xtreme Yukon #1 Suregrip

If you want to step up from there, pick a semi-custom in S30V from Bark River (these run thicker and beefier) (I have several as well):

Search

 

[land cruiser]

L6 is used for axes if I remember correctly. Hardly a steel I would pick for hunting knife. As far as price to quality ratio I would highly recommend Bob Dozier knives. For edge retention I would go to Phil Wilson

 

[gudspelr]

I haven’t used it personally, but from what I know of it, L6 can be a great knife steel. There are a whole lot of steels that CAN be very good for cutting things up. But they’re only as good as the heat treatment they receive. A maker of company can have the holy grail of all steels, but if it isn’t heat treated the best it can be for edge geometry of that given knife’s purpose, it’ll suck. Period. A knife’s ability to cut well largely depends upon the edge geometry (how it was ground). How long it will continue to cut well is where the right heat treat (hardening of the steel followed by tempering it back to the desired end hardness) shows up. Yes, there are steels that have more or less wear resostence based upon the chemical makeup. But everything’s a trade off-more resistant to wear, but harder to sharpen, etc.

I’ve made several knives, all out of carbon steel. If the custom outfit knows what it’s doing, and you like their knives, I wouldn’t hesitate to go that route. ANY good maker (in my opinion) puts the functionality of the cutting tool at the top of the priority list. Making it look really good while performing really well is the whole point. If it’s meant to look good but not be good at its job, then the maker missed big time. Just my $.02.

Jeremy

 

[Beendare]

As far as price to quality ratio I would highly recommend Bob Dozier knives. For edge retention I would go to Phil Wilson

^Good call. Both masters for sure.

Phil s doing a collaboration with Spyderco....might be worth a look for an S90v blade
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