Knives: money money or not

[Coopsdaddy]

Are you a knife guy?
You dont need a 3-5000 rifle when a 600 doller rifle works but if your a gun guy than it makes sense.

 

[Maverick1]

With knives I go cheap. No sense in paying more than you need to in order to cut something up. To each their own. (If you are a knife person, I respect that, it’s just not for me!)

A case could be made that spending more $ on expensive _______ is worth it, as it could increase your chances of filling a tag. (GPS, boots, bow, gun, scope, ultralight whatever.). I find no correlation between the knife I carry and my success in filling a tag. I had to quarter a bull elk with a Leatherman multi tool once. It worked fine, just had to be sharpened quite a bit! I wouldn’t recommend it though.

Enjoy your hunt!

 

[Ishisube]

Do you just want a knife to do the job? $50 is more than enough.

Do you like knives? Or nice things? Then the sky is the limit.

I'm not really a "knife guy", but although not rich, I am in a position to buy nicer stuff than "good enough", so I do buy nicer knives. Mostly Benchmade, because I like their design/quality/price balance.

This is what I was intending on posting when I saw the thread title. No need to spend lots, but nothing wrong with it either as long as one knows what they want.

I'd also suggest going to at least a couple of stores that have a good selection of knives you can check out. I've lost interest in knives once I actually got to handle them, and also bought others on the spot that I hadn't cared for when looking only at pictures of them.

Benchmade is the only brand that I've been carrying for years now and one of the only brands that I have lots and lots of. Present favorite is my older 580 with the opening spring removed.

 

[Obsessed1]

I'll bite.. I'm a knife nut as well as a gun nut... for me it's about finding something that doesnt just work but that works WELL.. I have AO in my hands and chronic tendonitis in my forearms from my career.. a poorly designed knife is so much harder to use as it requires different hand / wrist angles as well as just not being designed to utilize the full length of the blade... the more though put into grip ergos, blade ergos, grip to blade ergos, grind ect the better the knife will perform. Look at a mora for instance...great knife that will do the job, but its ergos are designed for bush craft not skinning. Most of the blade isn't even used while gutting or skinning because its designed for a different task. Other things like heat treat, steel type, play a big roll in higher priced knives as well.. I have no interest in wasting time sharpening when I should be disassembling a downed elk. Nor do I want to carry two knives if I can only cay one..
I liken it to axes. A cheap department store axe will chop a tree down. But a well designed properly built axe with detail taken to the overall design of what makes an axe chop well does the same job in way less time with way less effort. Until you use top notch gear it's hard to understand why a guy would spend $200 dollars on an axe when a $50 dollar axe will cut too unless your only ever going to cut one tree down...same as a knife until you use a well though out design made by a skilled craftsman built specifically for the task your trying to do, you'll be more than satisfied with a bargain knife especially if you dont use it a ton or often.. at the end of the day a broken bottle will gut, skin, and part out any deer ever born...most guys would rather use a knife.
As I 90% of the time do gutless for my use a knife has to "unzip" a hide, skin, and part out/ debone as well as not wear my hands arms out in the process as well as hold an edge for the whole duration of the job. I've never found a "cheap" knife meet those parameters.

 

[Jskaanland]

I've bounced around from Buck(50ish), Spyderco(120ish), CRKT(gift) and Havalon. I switched to using the gutless method 4 years ago and I really liked using the havalon over the the other knives I've used. Just gutting the other knives did fine. I felt like the skinning process left me wanting more from the Buck, Spyder co and CRKT.

I did recently splurge on the Argali Serac(200) but unfortunately I haven't needed it since the purchase. I was drawn to it with the S35VN being advertised to stay sharp through an entire animal.

 

[Axlrod]

Outdoor edge for me- always a sharp blade in the field. And a fixed blade in my pack that I haven't had out of the sheath in 20 years. I have always carried it, envisioning lashing it to a tree limb using it like a spear- it's the Rambo effect!

 

[rclouse79]

I am sure there are knives that are prettier than a Havalon, but it is hard to imagine something being more effective.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have a few pricey (for me) knives. They definitely aren’t necessary IMO.

mass market Gerber, Buck and tons of others brands are fairly cheap and work just fine.

I use a havalon for the most of my field work on animals. $30 victoronix knives do most of my butchering.

my primary general purpose knives are a zero tolerance folder ($130) and a Winkler fixed blade ($300). Both are very functional but I can’t say they work better than knives that cost 1/3 to 1/2 as much.

there are lots of options, but I tend to think some of the best deals in knives are mora (scary sharp) and ESEE.

 

[long hunter]

I have a handmade knife it was bought when my son was 1 year old (he is heading for 45 now) It has a custom fit caribou handle for a left hand as I am left-handed, the only thing the knife has ever seen for sharpening is a good Arkansas stone, been through I don't remember how many whitetails, one bear and an Antelope. 4in. drop point blade. I am a firm believer in buy quality, treat it well and use it forever. It's my go to hunting knife along with my father's pocketknife. Sure, the big commercial knife makers have a place, but for me a one-of-a-kind item has those beat hands down.

 

[Gwchem]

I edc a $250 pocket knife. But every animal I've ever field dressed and skinned has been done with one of two knives. A $20 Gerber or a $9 mora. They work fine, just need the blade touched up every few deer.

 

[Marbles]

I have been researching what knife to buy for a backcountry elk hunt. Some guys say a cheaper knife works for them. Why spend $250 or more when I can spend $50? What are the differences in the knives? What should a guy do?


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I like nice knives. However, if you can sharpen a Victorinox or Mora will get the job done. Lots of people like the replaceable blade knives, which are cheap.

Spending more gets you better steel, so you will not need to touch up the edge as often. It will also get you more durable handle material and design, so the knife will last longer.

Get much past $150 and you start paying a lot for minor improvements, or just for cool factor.

Personally, I like nice knives and spend money on them.

 

[Dwight2180]

This is a fascinating topic and one which I have wanted to see discussed for quite some time. If only there was some way to determine if it's been explored on this site - especially in the past few months days...

do you stalk all the knife threads with this comment? Not saying you're wrong tho.

 

[*zap*]

just keep it sharp...

 

[Dwight2180]

I have a couple of custom knives and rarely use them out of fear of loss or damage. Walmart had some Mora Companion knock offs the last few years stupid cheap...I abuse the crap out of those. I bent pocket clips on several more expensive edc knives and now just buy whatever walmart has that has a decent profile. I bend about a clip a month.

 

[Dented]

I really enjoy using the different knives that I have, whether it's caping with one that has lots of belly in it or dismantling an animal with a small knife. Quartering, gutless or deboning, for me, the joy of working with a well made knife is worth the price of admission, whether it's $40 or $400. But you've got to choose your own path, we all do.

 

[Beaverdog]

I find myself always going back to my morakniv companion. $20 Amazon. Use it abuse it lose it no worries.

 

[Chuckybmd]

I am somewhat of a knife, guy myself. I could understand an argument to use a cheap, disposable knife, but I like to be proud of my gear.

I have field dressed a cow elk with my Spyderco paramilitary 2. S30 V holds an edge quite well, and there’s even better blade steels now.

 

[Chuckybmd]

I am somewhat of a knife, guy myself. I could understand an argument to use a cheap, disposable knife, but I like to be proud of my gear.

I have field dressed a cow elk with my Spyderco paramilitary 2. S30 V holds an edge quite well, and there’s even better blade steels now.

 

[displacedtexan]

I'd also suggest going to at least a couple of stores that have a good selection of knives you can check out. I've lost interest in knives once I actually got to handle them, and also bought others on the spot that I hadn't cared for when looking only at pictures of them.

Ain't this the truth...

I fondled a Benchmade 940 auto to demonstrate how much I wasn't in love with it. Bought it that day, have carried it daily since. For years.

 

[Ishisube]

Ain't this the truth...

I fondled a Benchmade 940 auto to demonstrate how much I wasn't in love with it. Bought it that day, have carried it daily since. For years.

It was the original 705 and 710 for me, then deja vu all over again when I got to actually pick up both sizes of the Presidio models. Didn't like any of the four from the pictures, but ended up buying all of them.
For most of us, Benchmade just hits it out of the ball park time and again.