Best hunter 2015 - FINALISTS CHOSEN!

Not big on custom hunters, but find these three do attract my attention:

Post # 4 - image 2 - Sam Lurquin Hurak from the Paranee Hurak Project 2015

post 15, knife 1- Seward

post 15, knife 2 - Seward
 
Boy, this was tough because they are all winners in their own right.

Post 4 #2 Lurquin Hurak
Post 32 #7 T Steingass
Post 12 Ben Breda
Post 18 #1 Adam Derosiers
Post 18 #2 Ben Breda
Post 36 #1 Kyle Gahagan

Paul
 
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So many beautiful knives, here are my nominations:

1) #4 #2 Lurquin Hurak
What can I say, this knife just fills me with want.

2) #16 #1 Osprey K&T Apache Hunter
Another knife that fills me with want. It is just a well done knife that looks like it would be a pleasure to use.

3) #30 #1 Appleby Scagle
For me, this knife is about the execution. There are a lot of things about this knife that I would normally not go googoo for, but this knife just shines for me.

4) #43 #1 Doyle
Doyle has a number of great looking submissions this year, but this is the one I would want to use.
 
#15 1 by Ben Seward
#21 1 by Travis Fry
#28 4 by Sandro Boeck
#31 1 by Mike Craddock
#32 9 by Bob Crowder
#33 5 by Rod Watts
#36 1 by Kyle Gahagen
 
Hunting knives are what got me into customs in the first place, from delicate bird and trout knives to full-out moose skinners. For general use, I prefer a blade under 5 inches, a single guard or equivalent and a dropped point or clip. Hard to imagine using many of the nominees in the field, but I'll just pretend and make my selections based on functionality combined wth a range of styles and embellishments.

7 - 1 Russ Andrews
15 - 2 Ben Seward
18 - 1 Adam DesRosiers
19 - 2 Haley DesRosiers
19 - 4 Jerry Fisk
27 - 1 John Doyle
32 - 6 Marcus Lin
 
post 19 #4 Fisk Sendero- Stag, Dog star Damascus, and scratching in the quintessential ABS hunter style.

post 32 #5 Tim Zowada- Clean, understated design.......great looking random Damascus.

post 36 #3 Haley DesRosiers - Beautiful steel, and the carving adds a mystical, elven touch.

post 1 #3 MONTENEGRO- Awesome Feather Damascus and perfect blade to handle ratio.

post 7 #1 Russ Andrews- Simple, classic style, stag and Damascus what more do you need?

post 51 #2 Stuart Branson- Love the forge finish and aged look.....perfect shape and proportions.

post 40 #3 Haley DesRosiers- Great Damascus.......I love twisted w's.


Darcy:)
 
Post 4 #4 Erik Markman

Post 18 #1 Adam Desrosiers

Post 19 #4 Jerry Fisk

Post 27 #1 John Doyle

Post 31 #1 Michael Craddock

Post 36 #3 Haley DesRosiers

Post 40 #2 Haley DesRosiers
 
post 10 #3 Karl Andersen

post 19 #5 Jerry Fisk

post 28 #2 Sandro Boek

post 50 #1 Mike Quesenberry

post 25 #1 Mike Malosh
 
4) 1 Mirabile

4) 2 Lurquin Hurak

4) 4 Markman

8) 1 Gahagan

31) 5 Behring

31) 7 Knight

36) 1 Gahagan
 
On a hunter, I like balance between blade and handle as well as simplicity to aid in clean up. 6 that speak to me in post order:
2 - 1 - Wes Barnhill
15 - 2 - Ben Seward
28 - 2 - Sandro Boeck
32 - 6 - Marcus Lin
33 - 1 - Eli Jensen
48 - 3 - R Appleby
 
Lately I have been draw to guardless hunters and there have been some great examples here. Here are my choices for finalists.

1 - 2 John Doyle

15 - 1 Ben Seward

18 - 1 Adam DesRosiers

28 - 4 Sandro Boeck

36 - 3 Haley DesRosiers - my favorite knife of this competition. I will have to pry that away from Kevin one day...

40 - 1 Haley DesRosiers

1 - 1 Tim Steingass
 
My picks in no order. There are a few more that would work for me as well

Post # 12 #1 Ben Breda
Post # 15 #2 Ben Seward
Post #27 #1 John Doyle
Post #38 #3 Tad Lynch
post #40 #3 Haley DesRosiers
Post #50 #1 Mike Quesenberry
Post #51 #4 Stu Branson
 
Wish I had more time to participate in this more fully, especially as I am so fond of hunters.

Anyway, here are my faves in order:

Post 8, #1 – Kyle Gahagan

Post 4, #2 – Sam Lurquin

Post 15, #1 – Ben Seward

Post 18, #1 – Adam DesRosiers

Post 18, #4 – Harvey Dean
 
Post 9, #1 S. Davenport "Samurai Stuart"

Post 12, #1 Ben Breda, JS.

Post 16, #1 Osprey Knife & Tool, Apache Hunter

Post 26, #1 Travis Fry, Mammoth with scrimshaw

Post 33, #3 Rusty Waide

Post 48, #3 R. Appleby

Post 51, #4 Stuart Branson

Amazing work from everybody, and it is so hard to choose based on pictures alone. Congratulations to the featured artists and craftsmen.
 
To me, half of the knives here are fighters so even though I like them I'm leaving them out.

1 #2 John Doyle
2 #1 Wes Barnhill
10 #1 Karl Anderson
36 #2 Josh Fisher

The Barnhill knife is quite odd for my taste but speaks to me more then most hunters i've ever seen for some reason. Its the kinda thing where ordering a similar one probably would not have the same effect on me. And speaking of knives coming together, I think the Doyle is just a great example of parts flowing wonderfully. I've always loved this model from Karl with the belly in the blade and this one in particular. The Fisher is just pure beauty from under the radar.
 
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Post 21--Knife 1 Fry

Post 27--Knife 1 Doyle

Post 18--Knife 2 Breda

Post 8--Knife 1 Gahagan

Post 44--Knife 1 Steingass

Post 36--Knife 1 Gahagan

Post 12--Knife 1 Breda
 
I have a lot of catching up to do. Have been out of pocket since Christmas, or I would have made some hunter submissions. But, man, what a great lineup! Had to do a lot of head scratching to get it narrowed down.

Glad to see hunters join the year end fun here on the forums.

1) Post 4, #2 Lurquin Hurak. An all everything design, hunter included.

2) Post 4, #4 Markman Taurus. Popular design by Erik. I am a fan.

3) Post 10, #4 Andersen Tasmanian Blackwood honey. Karl has always been a favorite hunter maker of mine. This one speaks my language.

4) Post 15, #2 Seward hunter. Love this one. Would like to dirty up Ben's handle.

5) Post 19, #4 Fisk Sendero. Jerry's Sendero's are all delicious. Would love to own this one.

6) Post 31, #7 Jason Knight with lots of style points. Thanks for posting, Coop.

7) Post 50, #1 Mike Quesenberry clean hunter. Quiet elegance here.

- Joe
 
Post 1 Knife #4 Darcy Ellis
Post 10 Knife #3 Karl Andersen
Post 12 Knife #1 Ben Breda
Post 15 Knife #2 Ben Seward
Post 24 Knife #1 Chris Montgomery
Post 27 Knife #1 John Doyle
Post 40 knife #1 Haley DesRosiers
 
Post 4, knife 2 by Lurquin

Post 18, knife 1 by DesRosiers

Post 44, knife 2 by Steingass
 
Alright, here it is. I rather think guards get in the way and are a waste of time, and my choices reflect that:

#1, 2 - John Doyle. I know he didn't invent the guardless hunter, but damn. I like the subtlety of the damascus accents.

#7, 1 - Russ Andrews. Hard to beat an integral, and this one is the poster child for the K.I.S.S. principle.

#21, 1- Travis Fry. Ok, so I have a little bias here, but I sell more of these than any other knife I make for a reason. They aren't all this fancy, but it has everything you need and nothing you don't.

#36, 3 - Haley DesRosiers. I've gotten to handle a few of these DesRosiers integrals and would be happy to have any of them to use.

#40, 1 - Haley again. Should probably spread the love to Adam, but I like this one.

#48, 2 - John Doyle, again. The textured blackwood is lovely.
 
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