Bladeforums Best Hunter 2017 - winner announced

Which is your favorite for 2017?

  • Total voters
    143
  • Poll closed .
S.Alexander

S.Alexander

Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
2,614
Here are your finalists for the Bladeforums Best Hunter 2017.

1. Ben Seward

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2. James Rodebaugh

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3. John Doyle

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4. Stephen Fowler

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5. John Doyle

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6. Karl Andersen

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I must say that the photography displayed here is exceptional. It really helps to show off the knives and all of the details.

I haven't decided who to vote for yet, so I'm going to think on it...
 
This one wasn't so hard for me to decide. Clearly these all deserve to be in the finals. Regardless of which one wins there will be legitimate reasons for it. Ultimately it comes down to personal taste and the voter's conception of what a hunter is to them. This is how I broke it down in my head.

B. Seward - I love this knife. It's beautiful to look at and the design, combination of materials and the workmanship is outstanding. Great sheath too. But I see it more of an EDC or fighter. I have no doubt that it would make a great hunter as well but I don't get a hunter vibe from it.

J. Rodebaugh - Beautifully made knife and handsome sheath. But the aesthetics of the piece don't work for me.

S. Fowler - I really like this knife and it looks like a very handy hunting knife. For me, it just came down to the pinched area where the guard spacer meets the stag handle. That killed it for me.

J. Doyle - I love John's work but the patina treatment on the blade isn't my favorite. I also prefer a guard on this style of knife..

K. Andersen - I have a lot of respect for Karl's work. His knives are well built and designed for the work they'll do. Some of the details of this piece don't speak to me.

#3 John Doyle - This one does it for me so it gets my vote. John is a guy who sweats the details. The lines on his knives are well considered and executed. The dimensions, flow, proportion, surface finish and accent materials are artfully chosen and assembled. The overall design and tonal palette of this piece is cohesive. Each detail serves the whole without being overdone.
 
Both Ben's and James' knives are wonderful works of art and likely would be good users also if anyone would be so inclined. Not being a hunter but rather a collector that leans toward the art realm of knives, I love both knives. I think I tend to prefer hunters with single guards and just the added feature of the elegance of Jame's knife which is something I would love to show other artists that just don't understand the knife world until they see I had to make the final vote for James Rodebaugh's elegant art hunter.
 
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For me, what it boiled down to was the question of which knife would I be unable to resist using if I owned it. They are all beautiful, but that #3 John Doyle just calls out to be treated as a knife, not simply as art to be admired. At least it does to me. I would be over the moon to own any of them.
 
It's already been said that these knives are exceptional examples of their genre, but it never hurts to say it one more time. Again it's been a difficult one for me to choose, but it comes down to which one I would really take out in the field with me and that would be either.
1. #1 Ben Seward.
2. #4 Stephen Fowler.
3. #5 John Doyle.
4. #6 Karl Anderson.
I'm going to have to go with #6 by Karl Anderson, best of luck to all of the finalists these really are exceptional pieces.

Steve
 
I really wanted to vote for a Karl Anderson, but I couldn't for that one...had it been the bakelite one or the blackwood with laminated blade it's be a no brainer. From this group though I had to go with the Seward.
 
As much as I'm impressed with that Seward, it doesn't strike me as a hunter. Even with some Florida bias for that sheath!

Had to go with the clean simplicity of the Anderson. I tend to be put off by work that leans more toward the artsy side, even if it shows amazing skill (which it does).
 
This was a much harder decision than the Bowie thread for me. In the end though, I had to go with the Fowler. I have a hunter made by Larry Fuegen with a similarly shaped stag handle so I can guess how comfortable the Fowler knife would be in hand.

The guard and spacer create a great transition between the character of the stag and the character of the damascus. Nothing on this knife clashes. It’s a beauty with a background meant for work.
 
Kind of cool to see that three of the seven knives I voted for made the finals.

1. Seward - My favorite knife on this thread. I do not consider it to be a hunter.
2. Rodebaugh - My second favorite knife on this thread. However I did not realize until I read Kevin Jones' post that this knife was made several years ago. It sounds like it meets the rules for inclusion here, but not my rules.
3. Doyle - A very nice knife. However the blade shape is a little off for me and I do not want the file work on the spine.
4. Fowler - Now this is a hunter! Can't find anything wrong with it. One of my "final two."
5. Doyle - Another nice knife. But I want a guard on my hunter.
6. Andersen - Karl has mastered this style of knife. The other of my "final two."

In the end, I could not really choose between the Fowler and the Andersen so I went to a tiebreaker and based on a "body of work" I voted for the Karl Andersen hunter.

Congrats to all of the makers, and thanks for all the work creating this contest!
 
Seward not a "true" hunter? Who cares.:p It gets my vote. So that two for two with me for Ben's knives. :D
 
I love the Seward. Probably because I love bowies in all shapes and sizes and that's a vest bowie / boot knife / small fighter to my eyes.

The Rodebaugh is stunning, but I will admit that for whatever reason, super fancy hunters don't really appeal to me.

John Doyle's guardless hunter with that crazy blade finish is a knife I really love and would love to own - but for field dressing an animal, I gotta have a guard on my knife.

For me it is between the Fowler and the Andersen - and I'll go with the latter on almost a coin toss simply because I love the no-dropped-edge blade profile and I dig the bank vault solid feel of Karl's big hunters.
 
The Seward is one nice, well executed knife, however with the subject being "best hunter", I had to consider which one would be best suited for the purpose stated. John Doyle does it for me. I would not grab a double guarded/sharpened clip small fighter to take to the woods for gutting and skinning.

Thank you for running the contest. I really enjoy seeing what people consider the best of the category.
 
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Ok, after some thought... I am voting for John Doyle's koa hunter.

There is plenty of detail to keep it interesting, but it all flows together so nicely.
 
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From my years of using a hunting knife in the field, I have this vision of a single hilt being incorporated in the build. This is one of the many features that has drawn me to Karl's hunters over the years. I love his hilt design on the majority of his hunters. I own a few and have used a few of Karl's. Roger mentioned they are 'big hunters', which I also like. The Doyle Koa could make me happy many times over, but for best hunter vote, I went with Karl's.
Great to see such an awesome group of knives to chose from.

- Joe
 
A great and diverse line up!

I went with Karl's White Iron Hunter (2?) in W2 and curly oak. His take on the classic "non-dropped-edge" hunter with that active hamon and the stabilized curly oak all work so nicely to give this workhorse a beautiful flow. The profile is perfect as far as I'm concerned. I also love the subtly sculpted handle with the soft palm scallops, which looks like it'd just melt in your hand. Even his guards are purposefully shaped and rounded at the front to glide in and out of its sheath, which also gives it really nice look.

(edit): I almost forgot to mention that the fact that it's built in his standard take-down construction always adds to the appeal as well its practicality. :thumbsup:

Congrats to all the finalists!



~Paul
My YT Channel
Lsubslimed
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)
 
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I’m torn on this one. When I think “Hunter”, I think practical application in the field. I’m always on the hunt for a “perfect” field knife. From a collectors perspective, practicality is thrown out the window. Looks and details rule my decision making. I’m an avid hunter and collector so it makes this decision tough. I personally think a Hunter should be exactly that, one you would use in the field on an animal. I’m fortunate to own knives from Karl, Ben and John and I must say that the Forum has done well by placing their knives in the final group. All the above makers represent the “Hunter” niche exceedingly well. I need to think on this one a bit. One particular knife in the final list catches my eye but isn’t a knife I’d use in the field, one knife in the group is exactly what I’d use in the field but doesn’t exactly hit my button as far as looks are concerned (only speaking from personal preferences not a comment on the quality of the work). Hmmm.....
 
Great line up of knives. I don't really consider Ben's a hunter(more of a small fighter), but it's my favorite of the bunch, it earned my vote.:thumbsup: As someone who uses a bowie for field dressing and skinning, I am confident Ben's knife would fill that role well.
Love that transition damascus:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks for running this show again Shane!

Darcy:)
 
Congratulations friends, beuatiful knives!!!
My vote goes to John Doyle hunter... because this knife speaks to me!!!
 
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