New hunting knife recommendations

[Jardo]

Be careful with buying a bark river... after buying one, you'll end up buying 2 or 3 and then you're broke. My favorite knives are bark river. I prefer my fox river and Canadian special with ironwood handles. The 3v steel holds an edge longer and is slightly more corrosion resistant than a2 but I prefer a2 because it is easy to get scary sharp.

If you need something stainless, the fallkniven F1 in vg10 is nearly indestructible and is easily sharpened. It's just not as purty as a bark river.

I have esse 4 in 1095 and it's not agile enough for skinning and deboning imho. It's more of a tactical/survival knife than a true hunting knife.

I have a bunch of moras and you can buy 30 moras for the price of 1 barky. Easy to sharpen but they lose thei edge quickly. I got 1/2 way through an elk with one and had to borrow my brothers knife to finish. It got dull quickly.

I haven't spent money on a custom yet. Maybe someday. I am very happy wit my barkys.

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[gdpolk]

I use knives that I make almost exclusively in the home and field. I've done tons more but just opened an instagram account because I realized that I have no photos of the majority of my work. That's what happens when your a hobbyist I guess. Garrett Polk (@g_polk_knives) • Instagram photos and videos

 

[Akaboomer]

Jeremy Lindley, gudspelr on here, makes a fine knife.

So does ^ gdpolk, Garrett.

I know they both put in a lot of effort to make them.

I make some myself, when I have time. I will try to figure out how to post an image.

Damascus Bird And Trout Damascus Bird And Trout - Album on Imgur
Another one from the same bullet of steel I made.

Damascus hunter Damascus hunter - Album on Imgur

Although I make knives I usually use one made by Tony Bose. A quick Google search will show you why I do. He is considered a knife making great for a reason.

Chris

 

[SamShooter]

The 2 main knives that I use are Buck 124 Frontiersman and Gerber Mark II. I mainly use Gerber Mark II for hog hunting and the other one for almost anything else.

Just like you AGPank, I have the desire to get the knife that I've always wanted. There was one knife that my buddy showed me, I forgot the brand (its was quite expensive) - used it once and fell in love with it. That's the one I might be going for in the future.

 

[boom]

i'm done.

i got my holy grail knife. bought it unused off the classifieds from some random website. i took it elk hunting, but DAMN!! elk are smart!! we didnt get one. but i was ready to wack it apart with this:



It's an Aaron Gough Resolute MKII..

now i just hope the kidney i sold will grow back...

 

[Wilderlife]

I have too many knives. This isn't all of them and I'm still buying different ones to try out.



I can highly recommend the Bark River Huntsmen. For a small knife it's capable of a lot, but it's very thick.

The Dexter Russell butcher knife on the bottom left is one of my absolute favourite knives. I like a long knife sometimes, depending on what I'm doing. They're also fairly lightweight, but the custom leather sheath makes it a bit heavier.

The Martinni scandi knife is one of my favourites. The tip is nice and pointy for delicate cuts but it holds an edge nicely and fits the hand great.

 

[Korak]

80's Survival Knife is The Only Knife!

Wait... am I the only one with an awesome "survival knife" from the 80's county fair with fishing line and 2 waterproof matches in the hollow handle? C'mon dudes! It had a compass on it and everything! I can cut probably at least 3 (maybe 4) times with it before it can only cut jello.

 

[mcseal2]

After reading all these I bought a Bark River classic clip point hunter that has become my favorite hunting knife. I wanted one with a little more blade length than the 3 or 3.5" blades I'd used and picked that model. It worked great on the two moose we took. The 3V steel held an edge really well through both moose. I always pack a little ceramic steel on trips that I'd touch it up on quick every 15 minutes or so through the butchering and it never needed more than that. It probably didn't need touched up that often, but I'm in the habit of doing it from using lesser steels and figure it doesn't hurt.

My buddy that went didn't have a larger fixed blade knife so he borrowed my other Bark River. It's an Aurora LT in Elmax steel. It held an edge great but I noticed one time I went to sharpen it that the last 1/4" or so of the point broke off. I need to send it back in, they can probably re-grind the blade a little and put a new point on. I was pretty disappointed that it broke though, I didn't feel like we did anything to rough with it. That one is supposed to be in their bushcraft line and I figured it would be tougher than my other one. I may end up selling that knife when I get it back.

The other knife I took along was my ZT 452 CF folding knife. Since I was wearing waders the whole trip I didn't want to carry a fixed blade, I kept the Bark River in the dry bag inside my pack. I carried the folder in the pocket of my rain coat and used it quite a bit around camp and some on the moose. It also held an edge very well and stayed razor sharp with just the ceramic steel. When I don't want to carry a fixed blade that knife will get a lot of use.

 

[Lawnboi]

After reading all these I bought a Bark River classic clip point hunter that has become my favorite hunting knife. I wanted one with a little more blade length than the 3 or 3.5" blades I'd used and picked that model. It worked great on the two moose we took. The 3V steel held an edge really well through both moose. I always pack a little ceramic steel on trips that I'd touch it up on quick every 15 minutes or so through the butchering and it never needed more than that. It probably didn't need touched up that often, but I'm in the habit of doing it from using lesser steels and figure it doesn't hurt.

My buddy that went didn't have a larger fixed blade knife so he borrowed my other Bark River. It's an Aurora LT in Elmax steel. It held an edge great but I noticed one time I went to sharpen it that the last 1/4" or so of the point broke off. I need to send it back in, they can probably re-grind the blade a little and put a new point on. I was pretty disappointed that it broke though, I didn't feel like we did anything to rough with it. That one is supposed to be in their bushcraft line and I figured it would be tougher than my other one. I may end up selling that knife when I get it back.

The other knife I took along was my ZT 452 CF folding knife. Since I was wearing waders the whole trip I didn't want to carry a fixed blade, I kept the Bark River in the dry bag inside my pack. I carried the folder in the pocket of my rain coat and used it quite a bit around camp and some on the moose. It also held an edge very well and stayed razor sharp with just the ceramic steel. When I don't want to carry a fixed blade that knife will get a lot of use.

Sell the aurora and check out Lt wright. More affordable than bark river, and higher quality IMO, along with being designed more as a user knife.

I still have a bunch of bark river knives, mainly kitchen knives. The mini kephart in 3v is one of my favorite kitchen knives, it holds an edge better than all my other bark river knives on top of it all.

 

[boom]

crazy..snapping off .25" of the tip?!

i wonder if it happened during what point..maybe the probeing of the leg joints to find the path of least resistance?

i tell myself that my next knife will be Elmax, but that steel is difficult to find in a fixed blade..(that i like)

 

[Yellowknife]

A

My buddy that went didn't have a larger fixed blade knife so he borrowed my other Bark River. It's an Aurora LT in Elmax steel. It held an edge great but I noticed one time I went to sharpen it that the last 1/4" or so of the point broke off. I need to send it back in, they can probably re-grind the blade a little and put a new point on. I was pretty disappointed that it broke though, I didn't feel like we did anything to rough with it. That one is supposed to be in their bushcraft line and I figured it would be tougher than my other one. I may end up selling that knife when I get it back.

I got a Bark River caper in Elmax a couple years ago. The point came ground to an extremely fine edge, and I lost 1/16" chip off of it just pulling it out of the sheath. I filed that out, but then lost a much larger 1/8" chip off the tip caping a sheep the next year. No abuse... it just fell off.

Rather than send it back, I reground it myself as a drop point, which thickened up the steel behind the point quite a bit. Has held up so far since, but I wasn't too impressed. Not sure if it was the steel treatment or the grind, but clearly it came out of the box stressed and fragile at the point.

 

[Trogon]

After reading all these I bought a Bark River classic clip point hunter that has become my favorite hunting knife. I wanted one with a little more blade length than the 3 or 3.5" blades I'd used and picked that model. It worked great on the two moose we took. The 3V steel held an edge really well through both moose. I always pack a little ceramic steel on trips that I'd touch it up on quick every 15 minutes or so through the butchering and it never needed more than that. It probably didn't need touched up that often, but I'm in the habit of doing it from using lesser steels and figure it doesn't hurt.

My buddy that went didn't have a larger fixed blade knife so he borrowed my other Bark River. It's an Aurora LT in Elmax steel. It held an edge great but I noticed one time I went to sharpen it that the last 1/4" or so of the point broke off. I need to send it back in, they can probably re-grind the blade a little and put a new point on. I was pretty disappointed that it broke though, I didn't feel like we did anything to rough with it. That one is supposed to be in their bushcraft line and I figured it would be tougher than my other one. I may end up selling that knife when I get it back.

The other knife I took along was my ZT 452 CF folding knife. Since I was wearing waders the whole trip I didn't want to carry a fixed blade, I kept the Bark River in the dry bag inside my pack. I carried the folder in the pocket of my rain coat and used it quite a bit around camp and some on the moose. It also held an edge very well and stayed razor sharp with just the ceramic steel. When I don't want to carry a fixed blade that knife will get a lot of use.

Send it back. You wont hear a word from Bark River for months, and they may send it to the wrong address a few times before you get it, but eventually you will get a new knife back in your hands.

 

[Lawnboi]

Seems like you guys got some bad bark rivers. Of all the bark rivers iv seen and used I have gotten a few duds, along with some that were poorly ground, usually too thin, and needed reprofiling, which I did.

I still have a good handful of bark river knives I like but have since found a few other makers that create a similar priced knife, with a little better attention to detail on the finish.

 

[mcseal2]

I plan to send it back, just haven't got it done yet. We just got home a week ago. I'm not sure when it broke to be honest. I'd bet it was when he was working around the spine or shoulder from the top side. We did a lot of the cutting from underneath with the other knife. Everything on a moose is bigger and thicker than a deer or elk, some things took more pressure, but it wasn't like we were using as a pry bar. I kinda try to use knives to cut and not much else, We were keeping the edge sharp with the ceramic steel so it wasn't like it got dull and needed a ton of pressure to cut.

If they send me a brand new one I will for sure sell it and pick up something else. The Aurora design is more of a bushcraft than hunting design. I bought it mainly for scouting, camping, and river trips where I won't be breaking down animals just need a good knife. I figured I wouldn't have to worry about rust with the Elmax like I do the D2 or O1 steel knives I have. I just won't trust it as my primary knife on trips to far from civilization, the trips where I'd carry that much knife, in the future. I might just keep most of the money I get from selling this knife and get a better sheath for the Benchmade bushcrafter knife I have. I could use it for those trips if I had a better way to carry it.

 

[adamm88]

I plan to send it back, just haven't got it done yet. We just got home a week ago. I'm not sure when it broke to be honest. I'd bet it was when he was working around the spine or shoulder from the top side. We did a lot of the cutting from underneath with the other knife. Everything on a moose is bigger and thicker than a deer or elk, some things took more pressure, but it wasn't like we were using as a pry bar. I kinda try to use knives to cut and not much else, We were keeping the edge sharp with the ceramic steel so it wasn't like it got dull and needed a ton of pressure to cut.

If they send me a brand new one I will for sure sell it and pick up something else. The Aurora design is more of a bushcraft than hunting design. I bought it mainly for scouting, camping, and river trips where I won't be breaking down animals just need a good knife. I figured I wouldn't have to worry about rust with the Elmax like I do the D2 or O1 steel knives I have. I just won't trust it as my primary knife on trips to far from civilization, the trips where I'd carry that much knife, in the future. I might just keep most of the money I get from selling this knife and get a better sheath for the Benchmade bushcrafter knife I have. I could use it for those trips if I had a better way to carry it.

You could probably sell that bark river for little to no loss in money on bark river groups, i follow them and they seem to take care of any issues that come up.


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[mcseal2]

You could probably sell that bark river for little to no loss in money on bark river groups, i follow them and they seem to take care of any issues that come up.


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Thanks I'll look into that.

To be clear I am not trying to bash Bark River. The other knife I own of theirs works flawless and has become a favorite very quickly. Anytime I'm processing anything larger than a muley I will pack that knife with the 4.5" blade. I might pack it deer hunting too, I just have some lighter options for smaller thinner hided critters. If I buy another Bark River it will just be in a different steel. The other one I have is the 3V and I'd probably look for another model in that steel.

 

[boom]

You could probably sell that bark river for little to no loss in money on bark river groups, i follow them and they seem to take care of any issues that come up.


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sell the barkie with the snapped off tip?

 

[Ashy Larry]

I’ve primarily used a Case XX light hunter 5” I inherited. It’s stainless, which up until recently I didn’t realized was a disadvantage. It always gets shaving sharp and seems to last through a deer. This year I bought the Case mini Finn hunter, and can’t wait to try it. Same profile as the light hunter but 3” blade. Hopefully she holds an edge and ok.

 

[dv808]

Here's a trio of Todd Fischer fixed blade hunters.

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[worx53]

I have a Kestrel Ovis hunter that I am inpressed with. It's s35vn steel- it is superlight 3.5 oz. , came wicked sharp, and has a great slightly upswept blade design. its done a couple critters now and the edge retention is above my expectations.