In the 1970s I carried and used a 154OT, a rather odd, radical drop-point. I think I used it "because it was there." Whatever knives I had were just tools like screwdrivers, and were usually free or cheap, like everything else I owned. Nowadays I use a number of knives I have around the place which tend toward a straight spine or slightly drop-point. I do not presently use a Schrade for hunting, but if I were to do so, I would favor the 497, the 160OT and the 165OT. I would add the D'Holder, but it is too rare and lovely to break away from its Safe Queen status. I don't like knives with an upswept spine, because the sharp tip wants to go places where it is not welcome. Most of the time in the field a medium to small knife is plenty if one does not split the sternum. I split the sternum if the weather is warm, which is much of the time. I have never killed an elk or moose; perhaps I would favor a larger knife, in that case. I NEVER split the pubic bone of the pelvis on an animal. It accomplishes nothing positive, and is brutal on a knife, and serves very effectively to get some meat dirty. I carry one knife which only cuts soft or semi-soft tissue, and another larger stronger knife for dirty work, like sternums, and leg disjointing. Although many folders would work well, I don't use them because they are hard to clean of the inevitable "ick." I don't carry knives on my belt. I carry everything in a fanny pack or a larger pack, depending on what I need. I am in fear of losing stuff, and I have seen it happen more than once. Although I know that a gut hook does what it is supposed to, they reek of gadgetry to me. For probably similar reasons I use a chef knife or a potato masher to do the things that modern house-husbands use a food processor for. I am pretty traditional and conservative in my manipulation of the three dimensional world. I shouldn't say it but I can't resist a smug plug for the BUCK 121.
