Modern Hunting Knife Shootout, By Dioni Amuchastegui

[Justin Crossley]

In this review, Dioni puts five top hunting knives to the test in a head-to-head shootout. He tested the knives side by side on the mountain while breaking down mule deer and gives his unfiltered opinions.

Modern Hunting Knife Shootout

 

[robby denning]

Good work Dioni

 

[Dioni A]

Good work Dioni

Thanks Robby!

 

[Jaden Bales]

Man this review couldn’t have had a better author in @dioni.a.312

Do you ever reach for the old Havalon anymore?

I’ve got the Argali and a New West Knife (not light but good steel) and I cannot get myself to take them with me into the backcountry over my havalon.

 

[Dioni A]

Man this review couldn’t have had a better author in @dioni.a.312

Do you ever reach for the old Havalon anymore?

I’ve got the Argali and a New West Knife (not light but good steel) and I cannot get myself to take them with me into the backcountry over my havalon.

I will still use a havalon. To me the perfect system is to have both. I've always packed a spare knife because I am really good at losing one. After trying so many back to back I realized how much better a good fixed blade can work than a havalon. What I plan to do now is use a havalon for cuts through hair where most of the dulling happens then do the main body of work with a fixed blade then finish boning out with a fresh havalon blade to keep everything clean.

 

[Jaden Bales]

I will still use a havalon. To me the perfect system is to have both. I've always packed a spare knife because I am really good at losing one. After trying so many back to back I realized how much better a good fixed blade can work than a havalon. What I plan to do now is use a havalon for cuts through hair where most of the dulling happens then do the main body of work with a fixed blade then finish boning out with a fresh havalon blade to keep everything clean.

That's a great point. I should do that! And if they're just a couple of ounces, the weight penalty of two knives is really not a factor. I dig it.

 

[ReefJones]

This was timely for me; thank you, sir. Nice review.
Reef

 

[doverpack12]

Thanks for the write up. I typically don't put much thought into blade shape but you had some interesting points there. It's hard for me to use anything other than a Havalon/Tyto but I do carry a lightweight fixed blade for backup or to get the nerves off if I'm amped up and snapping blades with side pressure.

 

[Beendare]

Great write up!

I ran that Steep country S30v for a few years and really liked it Though its a tad small for big hands. I had to buff out the back of the handle so it didn’t snag my nitrile gloves.

I went to the Benchmade Altitude for a couple of seasons and love the S90v steel but with my big hands the skeletonized handle was a little bit difficult.

I recently went to the bench made Saddle mtn with S90v and it is probably the perfect knife for me.

If you run a knife with the super steels, you really need a diamond system to sharpen them as some of the older sharpening systems have stones that are not as hard as the steel. My favorite system for this is the Edge Pro with diamond stones.

I snicker every time i see a hunting knife handle with para cord- must be a tactical crowd thing. My guess is they soon learn their mistake on the next day after a kill- grin

-

 

[Trogon]

The argali was my favorite in the review.

 

[ktowncamo]

I snicker every time i see a hunting knife handle with para cord- must be a tactical crowd thing. My guess is they soon learn their mistake on the next day after a kill- grin

No joke. It only took me once before the "cool" look of the paracord became a bloody foul smelly mess of a "handle". Never again.

As for the review, solid write up. I'm a big fan of the Argali Carbon but now that I have the Serac it's been a toss up between the two. If I really wanted to be "that gear guy" then I'd take the Carbon for deer/antelope and the Serac for elk as the larger blade shape is nice to have for the larger bodied animals. At least that's been my experience last year.

 

[CO-AJ]

I carry an Esee, sort of surprised their 4" offerings didn't make this lineup.

 

[Dioni A]

No joke. It only took me once before the "cool" look of the paracord became a bloody foul smelly mess of a "handle". Never again.

As for the review, solid write up. I'm a big fan of the Argali Carbon but now that I have the Serac it's been a toss up between the two. If I really wanted to be "that gear guy" then I'd take the Carbon for deer/antelope and the Serac for elk as the larger blade shape is nice to have for the larger bodied animals. At least that's been my experience last year.

It's crazy how popular they're getting and I hadn't heard anyone complain about that. It was a giant negative for me.

Thanks for the kind words.
I think the serac is a winner. I'm planning on getting one and could easily see it be my go to fixed blade.

 

[Dioni A]

I carry an Esee, sort of surprised their 4" offerings didn't make this lineup.

I had considered adding them but at some point there gets to be too many to make the review palatable. They look very practical. I really like their Ashley game knife.

 

[CO-AJ]

I had considered adding them but at some point there gets to be too many to make the review palatable. They look very practical. I really like their Ashley game knife.

yep, it is like every other shootout. Packs, boots, knives, bags, tents, etc... there are so many offerings you have to cut the list at some point. Mostly the reason I brought up Esee is they are pretty pricey and quite heavy, so I wanted to validate that they are a good product.

 

[WyoHuntr]

Great review. That Aragali is going to find its way into my hand at some point. I wish they had an option of a green handle, though. I would definitely do another sheath for it more like a Kestrel. Sounds like you subscribe to the same line of thought I do, in regards to taking an ultralight knife AND a scalpel knife.

If you have a wild hair, (and need another one to play with down the line), the Rainier Fastpak is an interesting candidate. I haven't taken it up the mountain yet, but I am loving its potential. A bit small, but the profile is well thought out. Elmax for $99 had me scratching my head, but it's the real deal! I was trying to dull it out before I redo the edge.... but that little sucker just keeps going strong! 3.25" cutting edge is my sweet spot for an ultralight, but I have high hopes for this little 2.75" knife.

The Kestrel Skeleton Short Ovis Hunter in S35VN was my goldilocks knife. But, it fell out during a scree scramble. (I was too focused on not dying to notice my favorite knife popped out of the sheath). I haven't received any replies from Kestrel as to whether it will ever be offered again.

Paracord wraps are messy, but I use it to avoid bare metal in cold weather. I pull the core out, because I don't like the hand feel of round cord. I simply cut it off at the end of the season, then rewrap it.

This fall I'm going to switch between my Fastpak and a Benchmade Bugout in 20CV (with stiffer G10 scales), to see which I prefer.

 

[HunterMcWaters]

nice! i love my Argali Serac knife. super well balanced and light!

 

[Tunsei]

Great review, thanks for the details!

 

[Colorado Kid]

Great review thanks for the info.

 

[Behall]

Great job!