Folder for Field Dressing and Butchering...Y or N??

Benchmade Onslaught only because I can but it is hard to clean. I will use my Newt Livesay Bow Hunting Buddy fixed blade from now on.

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I have used a benchmade 710. Other than that I use moras. I had one that was passed around and cleaned 3 dear and was still damn sharp afterwards with just a few knicks and a tiny bit of rolling. Since i sharpened it back up I havent had even those minor problems. It even outskinned my f1 by a lot.
 
I used my Benchmade 710 last weekend to help my buddy gut and skin a big hog he shot. Worked great. Also, another buddy has been using his Buck 110 for 30 years and nothing else. I used to use a Gerber Gator folder, too. Never had a problem.

An old pig and deer guide I used to know would do everything with an old Case XX Trapper. He'd laugh at us with our big "modern" knives. He probably had 40 years on that knife.
 
elkins45 said:
Dress a gutshot deer with a folder sometime and I can guarantee you won't enjoy cleaning it later. :barf:
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I have been there....no fun

I used my kershaw oso sweet on two deer in a row...pulled it apart for a quick cleaning....few passes on a strop, then used it later that evening on another.

It's no problem as long as it breaks apart easily for cleaning.
 
:thumbup: on the mora. I find myself using them for more stuff every day. They're hard to beat for the $ you spend.
 
Planetcat said:
I used my Benchmade 710 last weekend to help my buddy gut and skin a big hog he shot. Worked great. Also, another buddy has been using his Buck 110 for 30 years and nothing else. I used to use a Gerber Gator folder, too. Never had a problem.

An old pig and deer guide I used to know would do everything with an old Case XX Trapper. He'd laugh at us with our big "modern" knives. He probably had 40 years on that knife.
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I did a big doe with an Old Timer medium stockman once because it was the only knife I had at hand, but that doesn't mean it was the ideal knife for the job.

We're knife nuts...we are supposed to have dedicated blades for each task.

I only shot one deer this year (an average sized doe) but from gutting to freezer I used 5-6 different knives just to see how they worked for different tasks.
 
Nalapombu said:
...I am talking about using a folder for deer, pigs, bear and other large game. How do you think they compare against a fixed blade. I know the fixed blades are much easier to clean.
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If you take "cleaning" out of the equation, either will do just fine. Size, shape and steel will be much more worthy of consideration. Also, field dressing and butchering are quite different. A 3-4 incher would be fine to field dress most everything, but I'd rather not butcher deer-sized or larger with one.
 
I've been hunting for almost 40 years and about five years ago switched to a Buck Alpha Crosslock. I really like it with a spear point blade on one side and a combo gut hook/saw on the other side. It's also much lighter than my old 110s.
 
This one is my favorite for field dressing
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Bladetech Pro Hunter Magnum

But like many others said already, sometimes it can be a pain to clean, that's why I prefer a fixed blade
 
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the straight is a custom made in 82 in 06 carbon steel & has done many, many deer plus an elk. only reason it has no patina is i lent it to my brother & he polished the blade like an idiot. the gec pioneer in 1095 has done 2 whitetails & tons of haystring. hands down a straight knife is for bigger animals since it's stronger & quicker. folders are too much trouble to clean up. in the mountains you could wash both knives in a stream but what about drying & then oiling the joints of the folder. two hunts i did required you bone the deer , put in plastic bags ,then pack off the mountain with the meat. folder would have been full of hardened tissue & blood.
dennis
 
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