light weight hunting knives

[Rut52]

guys looking for some opinions and options for light weight hunting knives. looking for something to take out west I currently use a buck knife being an east coast hunter and I can usually get through a whole white tail before sharpening. looking for something that can get me through an entire Elk with out sharpening and light weight. I was looking at Bench made, Argali, and Mora knives. any input?

 

[Cameron.25]

Check out the goat knives too. The benchmade altitude is very nice, i have one as well. Just got the skeleton tur from goat knives and i have the capra ti from them too. All 3 are sweet knives

 

[Cameron.25]

Tyto, montana knife company and kestrel are other brands people seem to like as well

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I just got an iron will which seems really cool.

 

[mtwarden]

The BM Altitude has some really good steel (S90V) that if fully sharpened before a hunt won't be needed to be sharpened until you get home. I wish the blade was a 1/2 to 3/4" longer for elk sized game.

It is very light for sure- under 2 oz

 

[Rut52]

Thanks guys I will check out some of these. Knives

 

[4BarN]

Argali


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[mlgc20]

I’ve traditionally been an ESEE and Benchmade guy. But, I recently got the Argali Serac. I really like it.

 

[old_coyote]

Victorinox paring knife; I made/make kydex sheaths for them and they are awesome little knives for boning out deer/elk.
And they weigh nothing

 

[WyoKid]

Spyderco Stretch. 3 inch blade and 3.7oz (105g). Been using one for 10 seasons. Used to carry fixed blades but with a good folder, I have never missed the heavier fixed blade or felt lacking even splitting wood. Handle is textured and works well with bloody hands.

 

[Jdw901]

I’ve tried a lot of different lightweight knives, fixed blades, folders, replaceable blade. My favorite is the havalon piranta. Great size, feel, weight, and control. I’ve broken down blacktail, mule deer, elk, and pronghorn with it over the past two years. I do also carry a light benchmade (bug out) clipped on my pocket but don’t really need it.

 

[Ravenk]

Havalon piranta is the best knife ever!!! The size, feel, weight and control is perfect.

 

[Mudd Foot]

White River Backpacker Pro. S35VN. Its a necker for me.


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[SkunkCabbage]

........

 

[Rut52]

The more I look into all these the tougher it gets. Some really nice knives out their.

 

[Manakh]

Benchmade altitude for me. S90v is a harder steel and holds it's edge longer. Flip side is its a tad harder to sharpen then say s35vn which is a popular choice because it sharpens well, sharpens moderately easy, and holds an edge pretty good. I happen to own extremely high end wet stones and diamond stones and can sharpen any steel at any rockwell so I do not shy away from harder steel to work with.

I would love to find a hunting knife made from bd1n with a rockwell of about 63. I have a boning knife made from bd1n and I would love to see if I could bone out 2 or 3 elk with it before it needs touched up... Cause it laughs at just 1 elk.

 

[TheGDog]

Havalon also makes Dual folders so you can have a regular blade AND the scalpel. And I've been impressed with the regular blade. It really really holds an edge well. Like even doing things like cutting up several large cardboard boxes to fit in the recycle container. And the cuts never pulled/ripped/wadded-up either!

I got their Bone Collector Dual Folder because they had a sale going on whenever that was. I just bring that... two more scalpel blades... and a lil mini Pliers and small screwdriver.

With just a Piranta it takes about 2 scalpel blades for a tougher Mule Deer. Gotta learn to finesse around the knee joints and vertebrae... and not scrape it against the ribs soo much on the back-straps. Rubbing against bone and cutting thru hairs is what dulls em fast.

So I started using a regular blade for cutting around and popping joints, and for sliding along the ribs for the back-straps. And when separating the head from spine. Significantly improves how long a scalpel blade lasts. Plus takes a bit less time since you don't have to be soo cautious like you do when trying to do those tasks with the scalpel blade.

For me it's a great help when trying to disconnect the spine from the Atlas bone at the skull to use the regular blade.

And Havalon also makes a Multi-Tool, the Evolve. Which has Pliers, Screw-Bit driver, and the scalpel. But I didn't like not having a regular blade ready for quick deploy, so I scrapped that idea.

The lightest weight options is definitely the Piranta though. You can do it with just that. But just to be sure, make sure you have at least 3 blades total with you.

When it comes to your knife you choose, I highly recommend getting one that's BRIGHTLY colored. It's surprising how nicely that helps your eyes re-locate it on the ground when you have to set it down for a sec to do something else like go drink some water, or fetch another meat bag. Especially in the dark under headlamp.

 

[Jeff_Gibbons]

Following to learn.

I am curious to see how ergonomics come into the discussion. Those skeleton knives look light. But how do they feel in the hand? I use a BM Snody Activator and like the handle's feel for extended use.

 

[Themic86]

Following along as well. Was thinking of the havalon as the replaceable blades are appealing.


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[Kevin_t]

The BM Altitude has some really good steel (S90V) that if fully sharpened before a hunt won't be needed to be sharpened until you get home. I wish the blade was a 1/2 to 3/4" longer for elk sized game.

It is very light for sure- under 2 oz

Yes nice knife , and I wish it was longer as well as breaking down an older bull last year. I took the weight penalty and bought an S90 saddle mountain skinner, and a friend made me another S90 knife that is sizable and sub 4 ounces I think.

You can do it with the BM Altitude, BUT it takes more time double cutting in areas that it just isn't long enough. Dont get me wrong, its a great knife for backpack elk hunting, but the bigger knife can also do more work around camp as well