Survival knives?

[kodiakfly]

Who all packs a dedicated survival knife while hunting? I don't mean just a knife in general; we all do, but a dedicated full size survival knife like an Esee or a Benchmade Bushcraft that is not intended for skinning or game, but is for chores or actual survival.

And then who here uses a full size hunting knife for game and not a Havalon?

Thinking about reracking my knife situation for weight and space.

 

[elkguide]

Have only carried a custom made, 3" fixed blade, clip point knife for 20 years.

(including 10 years of working as a guide, same knife)

 

[Ryanjay11]

I'm not much on survival, or really large knives, but I personally prefer a fixed blade over a folder.

I've carried a Gene Ingram - Bare Bones for several years in my front pocket. It's cleaned it's share of deer, ducks, doves, countless rabbits, squirrels, etc. and opened lots of boxes. I like it enough that I picked up a second last year to use specifically for hunting. I played around with a havalon and much prefer a fixed blade knife. I'll save weight elsewhere.

 

[5MilesBack]

And then who here uses a full size hunting knife for game and not a Havalon?

I carry a fixed blade S30V steel knife and have a Havalon as a backup if I need it.

 

[go4thegusto]

After snapping off multiple blades while cold and wet in the dark with a Havalon I decided this trend was like butchering a Brontosaurus with an X-Acto knife. Sold the damn thing and now carry just a Survive Knives GS0-3.5 with CPM20V steel. Wow, holds an edge through and elk knock-apart and has the confidence to know I have a real knife if things get dicey. The whole Havalon trend is the one thing that has surprised me here and with other hardcore hunting blogs where guys are usually pretty discerning and critical. If I ever design a product their marketing guy is the one to hire. Refrigerators to Eskimos as they say.

 

[5MilesBack]

The whole Havalon trend is the one thing that has surprised me here and with other hardcore hunting blogs where guys are usually pretty discerning and critical.

I actually tried a scalpel type of knife and blades one year about 35 years ago on an elk. The blades were great to start with, but were so sharp that they dulled much more quickly than a good knife blade, so I gave up on that idea back then.

I actually carry one now as a backup, and I also will use it to split the hide to keep my knife sharper. But I've used my current knife completely on a large bull without resharpening and it did a wonderful job throughout, and still sliced paper when I brought it home.

 

[WoodBow]

Small handmade fixed blades only for me. I made a light weight tomahawk specifically for butchering game in the field and handling light chopping in camp such as clearing a tent site.

Big knives are awkward and more dangerous to use for butchering in my opinion. And it takes a pretty dang big knife to do real chopping. Seems that a "survival" knife would be capable of performing a few various tasks but not of doing any of them well. Just my thoughts.

 

[beachbunny]

I skinned and butchered my last deer with an essee 6 and it worked just fine. I would not consider it "survival" just a very functional camp tool that is extremely keen edged.i would have gutted also but for some reason I always use a schrade folder my Father gave me a million years ago.

 

[colonel00]

Like this?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Anytime I ever see the term Survival Knife it immediately reminds me of Rambo

 

[rileybassman]

I usually carry 2 fixed blades usually... a 3-4" hunter/skinner and a 5-6" camp knife... I don't carry a havalon or anything. I bounce around between ESEE and Bark River usually.
My favorite combo right now is the Bark River Camp and trail paired with a Bark River Rising Wolf. The camp and trail is 5.5 oz, which is pretty light for a full sized blade. The rising wolf is a phenomenal hunting blade and right now it is my favorite. ESEE's are awesome, but heavy, I usually don't carry them hunting, tho a 3 or 4 is a great deer knife as well.

Also carry a pocket strop or DC3.. only a few extra ounces, but worth its weight

http://www.usamadeblade.com/Flexxx-Pocket-Strop-PockStrop.htm
http://www.dlttrading.com/rising-wolf-green-canvas-matte
http://www.dlttrading.com/camp-trail-green-canvas-red-liners

 

[Flyrod]

Survive knives! GSO 4.1 always comes along…. and usually a quality 3" folder in the pocket hanging from its clip. When they're attached to your belt or in your pockets, I don't feel like its dead weight like in the pack. Havalon is in the kill kit in the pack.

 

[kodiakfly]

Big knives are awkward and more dangerous to use for butchering in my opinion. And it takes a pretty dang big knife to do real chopping. Seems that a "survival" knife would be capable of performing a few various tasks but not of doing any of them well. Just my thoughts.

Ain't got to be a big knife. You're correct. A survival knife is something you can (to an extent) dig, pry, beat on to get various jobs done. Versus, say a combat knife that's thinner and meant to go one way. Thicker blades, heavier handles...as much a "tool" as a dedicated knife.

I skinned and butchered my last deer with an essee 6 and it worked just fine. I would not consider it "survival" just a very functional camp tool that is extremely keen edged.i would have gutted also but for some reason I always use a schrade folder my Father gave me a million years ago.

That's what I'm thinking. In my job, I have survival beat into my head and it's just normal for me to carry a Benchmade that I can break a branch with, pry up a rock, etc. And then I carry a Havalon for game. I'm looking to do something like an ESEE or something with a slightly more manageable blade that I can still build a shelter with, should SHTF.

 

[PathFinder]

I have a fairly heavy duty survival knife (BK&T - KA-BAR) but I rarely take it with me. One time I did, it came in very handy to make oars out of willows when we lost ours. Typically, I carry a havalon (in my kill kit, light and I'm faster with it) and an Emerson folder for chores and potential emergencies. The Emerson is plenty tough for most any chores and far lighter than my "survival knife."

 

[gmajor]

I think I'm just going to be bringing my little fixed blade benchmade (hidden canyon) and a small sharpener on my trips this year. I don't really want to be batoning with it to be honest, but it's more than capable of doing so if I need to. Like someone mentioned above, I hate butchering with big knives.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I like and own many sharpy pokey knives.

After butchering a bit with a havalon, I find the scalpel type knives work just to good to ignore. At 3oz they are also too light to leave home.

I still carry a fixed blade or a stout folder more often than not but it gets little action in cleaning game. It serves general duty around the camp and in the field. I will concede that a good hatchet is probably a much better camp tool as well. However, carrying a knife is just one of those things I associate with being in the woods. It's more habit than utility.

 

[DWinVA]

I have a lot of knives resting in my gun safe but now I'm a converted Havalon guy here for VA whitetail and hopefully my first elk in years to come. I do carry a buck folder on my pack belt as a backup and for tougher stuff.

God Bless.

 

[MontanaMarine]

Last fall I carried a Havalon knife, and a Fiskars X7 hatchet.

 

[GKPrice]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a Diamond Blade ?

 

[Clinch]

At the risk of getting rocks thrown at me, I carry a pair of Moras. A Companion for basic chores, and the Bushcraft Forest for butchering. I know there are better blades out there but the Forest took apart two elk this year without sharpening. I did that on purpose just to see how it would do. Plenty good enough for me. And it was about $50 for both together.

 

[rileybassman]

At the risk of getting rocks thrown at me, I carry a pair of Moras. A Companion for basic chores, and the Bushcraft Forest for butchering. I know there are better blades out there but the Forest took apart two elk this year without sharpening. I did that on purpose just to see how it would do. Plenty good enough for me. And it was about $50 for both together.

No rocks here... Mora's are amazing blades for any price point - their cost to performance ration is insane. I have 4 or 5 of them laying around as well