Best chopping & skinning knife under $200

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Uniquebloke

Joined
Apr 25, 2009
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Hi, I am an aussie from Sydney doesn't know anything about hunting knife.

Could anyone please suggest me which are the best chopping & skinning knifes under $200.

Cheers,

Jake
 
Welcome, you probably want two knives for the tasks at hand. A small knife like a buck 110, sodbuster, izula, rc-3 would be a good choice for skinning and general cutting tasks. When I think chopping I think 7in+ blade length with good heft but not so heavy it becomes a burden to carry. BK-7, BK-9, kershaw outcast, ka-bar, to name a few.
 
knifenut gives great advice. The Izula would be a good choice. Small fixed blades would be easier to keep clean than a folder, and a knife with belly and a plain edge will excel at skinning. If you plan on taking down larger game, you can look at the larger ESEE knives (Formerly RAT Cutlery), Buck knives like the 119, Bark River's etc. There are also many custom makers here who offer very reasonably priced skinners.

Chopping knives need about 9 inches of blade to really be effective in my opinion. They also need thick spines, and the more blade heavy they are the better. You could check out the larger Beckers, the Kuhkuris offered on the Himilayan Imports subforum here, the Kershaw Outcast etc. Or you could go with an axe or hatchet, which would be a good companion to a small fixed blade.
 
I agree with Knife Nut too. You might also want to look at Ontario Rat 7 or the Ontario RD9 as well.
 
Uniquebloke said:
Hi, I am an aussie from Sydney doesn't know anything about hunting knife.

Could anyone please suggest me which are the best chopping & skinning knifes under $200.

Cheers,

Jake
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Check out the Fallkniven S1. Do some reasearch on this great knife ( or any other knife you plan on shelling out hard earned cash on ).
I have yet to see a bad review or negative comment on the S1.

VG10 laminate steel , very comfortable handle , perfect size for hunting , camping , fishing , hiking or anything outdoors , also makes a great 'camp cook knife' and yes it can chop , not as good as a heavier knife but the convex makes it a good enough chopper for small chores.

I love mine !


Tostig
 
a chopping blade and a skinning blade are two very different knives.

for a big chopper, you're looking at 7"+ blades. most skinning blades are in the 3-4" range.

for a compromise, consider something around the 4"-6" range.

so Fallkniven S1, F1 or A1 all fit the bill, the RAT RC-4, RC-5 and RC-6 all have a solid following. the choices are almost endless.

just decide on what length blade or blades you want and take it from there.

Tostig said:
Check out the Fallkniven S1. Do some reasearch on this great knife ( or any other knife you plan on shelling out hard earned cash on ).
I have yet to see a bad review or negative comment on the S1.

VG10 laminate steel , very comfortable handle , perfect size for hunting , camping , fishing , hiking or anything outdoors , also makes a great 'camp cook knife' and yes it can chop , not as good as a heavier knife but the convex makes it a good enough chopper for small chores.

I love mine !


Tostig
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i was initially considering a Ka-Bar or Cold Steel Tanto.

after some research, i've also settled on an S1. seems like a lot of quality blade for a reasonable outlay.

they are a little pricy in Australia (~AUD$240 for a rubber handled one), but can be obtained from overseas, including shipping, for ~AUD$50-$70 less than retail in Oz.

can't wait for mine to arrive.
 
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your looking for a 2 knife combo for sure. Where you are you will be hunting roo's and feral hogs yes?
Chopper could be cheap or pricey, get tramontina machete if funds are limited,
a becker bk-9 will handle chopping very well and will do all your fleshing and butchering into cuts, it really is a 2010 combat butcher knife.
Skinner you want no more than 3.5 to 4.5 in for control if a rookie. That said
RC-3 is a very good skinner with flat grind, drop point and choil.or any similar blade design. Fallkniven f-1 as suggested would be good but more pricey, the s-1 is more multipurpose than dedicated skinner.
A good inexpensive folder is the Smith and Wesson Field Skinner is a pretty good hunting backup, comes with a cordura pouch as well, aus8 from china but hammer forged
I picked a 5 lot cheap off ebay for gifts and kept 1, my friends liked them
 
For a chopper you would want something with at least a 7" blade and longer than that would be better, like 9" or better for a real chopper, you don't want to go under 1/4" thick for a chopper.

The shorter blades will work, but it's takes a long time to do any heavy chopping through thick stuff and a lot more work than with the bigger choppers.

Something in the 3" to 4" range is pretty ideal for a skinning knife.

You really need 2 knives. ;)
 
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theonew said:
Why?:confused:
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Too thin, too light, too much feedback when chopping, vibration for a dedicated chopper unless the blade is under 7 inches, but then that wouldn't be a chopper. ;)

That doesn't mean you can't chop with a blade that's 3/16" thick, but that thicker blade is better for the task at hand.
 
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My Becker BK-9 which is less than 1/4" thick is my best chopper with its very thin out-of-the-box edge geometry.
 
AF said:
My Becker BK-9 which is less than 1/4" thick is my best chopper with its very thin out-of-the-box edge geometry.
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It all depends on what the other blades are that you are comparing it too. ;)

A blade 1/4", thick with convex primary grind and a thin edge will out do a thinner lighter blade with the same features and the same length. Weight has a lot to do with performance, thin out the blade too much and you lose a lot of chopping power.

Thinner and lighter is NOT better when it comes to chopping.
 
Could anyone please suggest me which are the best chopping & skinning knifes under $200.
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Well acouple of questions might be in order. What are you thinking of skinning and how large a blade? A small skinning knife is more useful for things the size of rabbit. For deer sized game something else may be handy.

What type of chopping are you looking at?

Chopping brush? Or something else.

Let folks know and some replies may differ.

tipoc
 
to combine good skinning and chopping qualities in a single knife? I hardly believe so.

chopper is presumed to be a big blade bulky knife with a tough steel, whereas a skinner should a shorter-blade lighter knife with a hard wear-resistant steel.

Buck Vanguard Alaskan Guide with S30V steel might be a good example of a mass production skinner of under $200 with shipping to Australia.
for a chopper - let's say Rat Cutlery RC-6 would be a great choice. I like their 1095 steel for camping chores. (I don't own RC-6 but I have a RC-4 and it's a great universal camping knife.)
In fact, for chopping my preference is a Fiskars axe - the smallest model in their range with weight on par with or even less than a big chopping knife but better suited for chopping.
 
The best combination for under $200 would be a full size ax paired with a sharp 4-5" fixed bladed knife in a belt sheath. Pocket knives work, but can be a real mess to clean up later, and it is safer to use a fixed blade in confined spaces (like a body cavity) where a lock can be accidentally disengaged.

n2s
 
Ankerson said:
It all depends on what the other blades are that you are comparing it too. ;)

A blade 1/4", thick with convex primary grind and a thin edge will out do a thinner lighter blade with the same features and the same length. Weight has a lot to do with performance, thin out the blade too much and you lose a lot of chopping power.

Thinner and lighter is NOT better when it comes to chopping.
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My Dogfather chops a lot better than my BK-9. But the BK-9 has better ergos and its much lighter.

The BK-9 is your best bet, its a great knife for 70 bucks. I really love mine.

Get a saw and a BK-9 or BK-7 and you have all your wood processing covered.

Unfortunately, skinning and chopping rarely coincide. The BK 7/9 both are great slicers, but a bit large for skinning. Get an Izula.
 
For skinning, everything that has been recommended is very good. I would also suggest the Cold Steel Master Hunter. Although the VG-1 version is good enough, if you could find it in Carbon V it would probably be (in my opinion) the best option for an all-around hunting knife.

For chopping, nothing short of an excellent hatchet beats a kukri. Himalayan Imports kukris are arguably the best you can get. An Ang Khola would take care of all your chopping needs. But if you only want to spend $200.00 for both knives, consider a Gansfors hatchet or an Ontario kukri machete.
 
Leuko's are often designed for both light chopping and skinning/preparing large game. Might be something to look into.

Cody
 
Hey mate I suggest a good machete maybe a cold steel,ontario or tramontina and a 3 to 4 inch knife .I tend to buy off cuttingedgeknives since they have a good range of high quality toys already in country.
 
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