Getting annoying...knife I pick has something wrong!

Has anyone on here done a deer/elk or moose with a essse-5? Blade to thick or ok for this?

For doing an animal even in very cold weather I only wear latex gloves (the big ones that to go your shoulder like they have for going inside a cows butt on farms) and the animal is so war that it isn’t usually a problem. I also leave little pockets between the skin and fat tissue that I use as hand warmers. I’m more concerned about the steel being -40 one instant and then body temp the next. I’m also concerned about taking a -40 knife and whacking it with a stick to help me do a moose.

The Finns do it with plain puukkos all the time on reindeer. Of course, they don't baton their way through the ribs or bones, they finesse it through. I've never heard from my relatives that any knives have snapped from the temperature transition.
 
The Finns do it with plain puukkos all the time on reindeer. Of course, they don't baton their way through the ribs or bones, they finesse it through. I've never heard from my relatives that any knives have snapped from the temperature transition.

You can't finesse your way through a moose sternum nor their pelvis but thanks for the info on temperature transition.
 
You can't finesse your way through a moose sternum nor their pelvis but thanks for the info on temperature transition.

That is what a wyoming saw or a 10 dollar hatchet from Walley World is for, NOT a 200 dollar knife. I don't split the pelvis, never saw a need to. As I said, I have never moose hunted but if I ever do I would have the tools I needed to take one apart and would not try to make do with one 4 or 5" knife. Chris
 
I posted this in the knife makers' section where a maker was soliciting input from hunters on a knives for hunters- moose hunters...

Why are people pounding their knives through the rib cage in the first place? On a deer it is a simple process to cut the cartilage where the sternum connects to the ribs. However, unless you want the ribs for something, there is really no reason to open the body at all.

Method 1 (Don't open the body cavity). Insert the point of the knife (edge up) at the base of the tail. Make an incision from the base of the tail to the base of the skull, following the spine. Skin down the rear leg to the hock, exposing the hip. Cut the ligaments and tendons holding the ball socket together. This frees the rear leg. The backstrap is exposed, so remove that now. Inserting the blade under the spine where the hind leg used to be allows access to the tender loin. Remove that. Skin down the shoulder to the hock. The shoulder is a "free” joint so you really don't have to cut through anything. Cut off as much neck meat as you desire. Turn the animal on to its other side and repeat. Dispose of the carcass.

Method 2 (Open the body cavity smartly). Insert tip of knife- edge up- under sternum creating an incision into the chest cavity. Carefully, skin down the stomach to the groin. Without puncturing the gut bag, cut the stomach muscle fro the sternum to the groin. Under the tail, insert the point of the knife to create an incision at the anus. Cut around the anus- and "girly parts" if a cow- and concentrically ream around the rectum. Be careful of the bladder. Once free this will pull through the pelvis to the rest of the gut. On a deer it is much easier to just cut up the sternum to free the organs in the chest. However, an elk or a moose is large enough that you should be able to reach up into the cavity with little problem and cut away the lungs, heart, liver, and esophagus. Finish processing the animal as you desire.

This can all be accomplished with a sub three inch caping knife. Skinning is much less cutting than it is pulling, when the animal is warm.

I use this knife from Knives of Alaska... Cub Bear
 
Hlee, that's the way I do it to a t, there isn't enough meat on the ribs of the deer and pigs I hunt to fool with. I figured on a moose that might be different and you might want to use a saw or hatchet to take the ribs off, although for simplicity I would probably just bone them out.

Sometimes I use the "no gut" method, just taking the shoulders, hind quarters and backstraps, I know that wastes some meat but not a lot on 70 pound whitetails. Chris
 
It's not a matter of getting into the chest cavity it's a matter of cutting up the animal into pieces that you can carry on foot to get back to your truck. Also we are not allowed to waste any meat here so I take the whole thing out because deboning in the field is a pain and my dogs eat all the bones on the animals I shoot. So everything gets used.

I realize very well that a saw does these jobs better and a knife isn't the best tool for this but then again brining only 1 knife to do everything isn't the best idea either is it? We'd all be better off with 3 knives, a saw and an axe and maybe an electric shaver too. However if you have EVER packed a moose out of the bush 3 miles 1 way to the truck in -30 taking all day to get it out of there the less you have to carry the better.

This entire exercise to have 1 knife to do everything is rhetorical anyways since there are better tools for virtually every job you would use only one knife on. The premiss however is that one only has one knife to do all said tasks and to discern which is the best for most situations is the question I am trying to have answered.

Just to be funny how about a Busse CABS? A bit thin perhaps to do a moose but how about for everything else? Howling rats and ratmandus are all sold out it seems.
 
This thread cracks me up. Why does someone want a super-duper-nuclear war knife when they haven't even tested out the good, IMO, knives they already have? If you want to split a rock, get a jackhammer. If you want to go camping and hunting, get a decent knife that is comfortable in your hand and that you know how to properly use, taking into account its strengths and weaknesses.

I'm the first to admit I'm a knife snob, but that's just because I've spent years learning how to use them and I can do much of the same work with a $10 knife that I can do with a $500 custom....I just happen to like my customs a lot better...mainly because I'm friends with the makers and I enjoy supporting them.
 
It's not a matter of getting into the chest cavity it's a matter of cutting up the animal into pieces that you can carry on foot to get back to your truck. Also we are not allowed to waste any meat here so I take the whole thing out because deboning in the field is a pain and my dogs eat all the bones on the animals I shoot. So everything gets used.

I realize very well that a saw does these jobs better and a knife isn't the best tool for this but then again brining only 1 knife to do everything isn't the best idea either is it? We'd all be better off with 3 knives, a saw and an axe and maybe an electric shaver too. However if you have EVER packed a moose out of the bush 3 miles 1 way to the truck in -30 taking all day to get it out of there the less you have to carry the better.

This entire exercise to have 1 knife to do everything is rhetorical anyways since there are better tools for virtually every job you would use only one knife on. The premiss however is that one only has one knife to do all said tasks and to discern which is the best for most situations is the question I am trying to have answered.

Just to be funny how about a Busse CABS? A bit thin perhaps to do a moose but how about for everything else? Howling rats and ratmandus are all sold out it seems.

You are a hardcore moosehunter that packs moose out because deboning in the field is a pain, a 1 pound wyoming saw is too much weight to carry, you use all of the animal, to include the bones, but you have no idea what kind of knife you like?

OK, I think I understand now, good luck with your quest for the one knife for all things. Chris
 
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You are a hardcore moosehunter that packs moose out because deboning in the field is a pain, a 1 pound wyoming saw is too much weight to carry, you use all of the animal, to include the bones, but you have no idea what kind of knife you like?

OK, I think I understand now, good luck with your quest for the one knife for all things. Chris

Bwahahahahaha! :D

-Stan
 
G'day Kman

So I started researching knives a while ago and thought I made up my mind. I ordered a Fallkniven F1. Then I do some more reading and find out that the tang is narrower and that the handle can break since it sits on top of the spine of the knife.

So I order a bravo 1 no ramp from the same place and then I find these threads about the ceo of the company ripping off people and also a series of youtube videos where the edge is folding and the knife didn't hold up very well.

So I spent ~$350 or so and I still don't have a knife people say is good.

At the risk of offending the various "Walter Mitty's of the internet", are you sure you are reading informed opinion or just opinion?

Have you taken the time to search the previous posts of those who's opinions that you seem to be taking into account, to see if they actually spend time in the wild, or only spend time behind a computer screen?

You might just be be suprised what you won't find :D




Kind regards
Mick
 
kman300;

Regarding your concern about temperature and knife performance - Fallkniven is a Swedish company... their knives were R&D-ed in Sweden in the winter (among other conditions). I think some of the reasons that the F1 (along with a number of their other knives) has a thermeron handle are that it doesn't conduct heat (away from your hand) very well and doesn't get brittle in the cold while providing a comfortable and somewhat "grippy" handle (with or without gloves)...

Earlier in this thread, you mentioned the glock torture testing guy... there is a similar guy for knives - the website is knifetests dot com. Knives are tested to the point of failure. Just like the glock guy, these tests are absurd but enlightening. Knife tests actually did "test" a Fallkniven A1 - have a look (link)

Last but not least, Youtube has some useful vids that might give you some insight...
Fallkniven / Bark River comparison vid - link
Virtuovice hunting / survival knives - link

Good luck on your quest for the one knife... ;)
 
You are a hardcore moosehunter that packs moose out because deboning in the field is a pain, a 1 pound wyoming saw is too much weight to carry, you use all of the animal, to include the bones, but you have no idea what kind of knife you like?

OK, I think I understand now, good luck with your quest for the one knife for all things. Chris

No, I'm a "hardcore" moose hunter that has been using the right tools for years (dozier skinning knife, gerber saw and a $20 Forschner deboning knife) but have asked the hypothetical question if I could have only 1 knife to do everything (which is what people on here always preface their question with right? SHTF and I have to take 1 knife?) which one would it be. This is new to me as I have in the past only used the "right" tools for the job.

And perhaps I am taking the advice of those who have never done what I am asking about to serious. I wish I could shoot 5 moose a year and test the knives all for myself. Doing woodcraft is easy enough but processing animals more difficult because I just don't have acess to enough of them.

I will post pictures and impressions when I do get them and make up my mind then. I have also been toying with the idea of buying a f1 blank and putting handles on it. No idea how to do that either but I'm sure I could learn.

Cheers
 
That first post sure didn't sound like a hypothetical question to me... I think that you will find that the weight and burden of "One knife to rule them all" is significantly greater than the three tools that you are say you currently carry.As a matter of fact, you will probably find that the boning knife is overkill for what you say you do. One knife and a saw is all that you should need to break a moose down into packable pieces (and it saves on weight- woohoo!). I'd be interested to see the regs in your area as to what is considered waste. In CO, TX, CT, CA and NE (The states in which I have hunted) the edible portions of the kill include all four legs to the hock, the backstraps, and the tenderloins. Ribs can be legally left in the field, even on elk... However, with a boning knife and using the no gut method above, it would be trivial to bone out the rib meat on a moose sized animal without opening the body. The lungs will settle toward the ground side of the carcass and be out of the way of the knife. Likewise, boning out the ribs, and leaving the pelvis in the field (because you cut out the sockets instead of hacking through the middle of it) saves considerable weight for those hard core moose hunters that care to count ounces. In fact, one could bone out the ribs with either method, and neither requires one to hack through either the ribs or the pelvis.

Am I the only hunter that knows that bone is significantly harder than wood?

Now that I think about it some more, the boning knife would really be better substituted with an expedient field sharpener/steel. A thin and relatively short knife is all that you need to bone out the ribs, and disintegrate the joints.

It is my contention that what is really needed is not a new knife (but who among us really needs a reason to get a new knife) but a reevaluation of your method of breaking down a carcass.

Who needs to shoot 5 moose a year to test their hunting gear?
Step 1.) Buy a knife.
Step 2.) Shoot a moose.
Step 3.) Cut moose up.
Question 1.) Did the moose get cut up?
If yes; proceed to question 2.
If no; call a friend to cut up your moose for you as you and your gear are a poor match, repeat step 1 through 3 next year.
Question 2.) Did the knife perform as well as you would like?
If yes; stop. You have found your hunting blade.
If no; repeat step 1, then call a friend and ask him if you can cut up HIS moose. Proceed through step 3 and questions 1 and 2.
If rebuked by friend (likely at this point as you have shown yourself to be a rather poor butcher), repeat steps 1 through 3 next year, conditional upon drawing moose permit. Do this alone as it could be somewhat embarrassing year after year...:rolleyes::D
 
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That first post sure didn't sound like a hypothetical question to me... I think that you will find that the weight and burden of "One knife to rule them all" is significantly greater than the three tools that you are say you currently carry.As a matter of fact, you will probably find that the boning knife is overkill for what you say you do. One knife and a saw is all that you should need to break a moose down into packable pieces (and it saves on weight- woohoo!). I'd be interested to see the regs in your area as to what is considered waste. In CO, TX, CT, CA and NE (The states in which I have hunted) the edible portions of the kill include all four legs to the hock, the backstraps, and the tenderloins. Ribs can be legally left in the field, even on elk... However, with a boning knife and using the no gut method above, it would be trivial to bone out the rib meat on a moose sized animal without opening the body. The lungs will settle toward the ground side of the carcass and be out of the way of the knife. Likewise, boning out the ribs, and leaving the pelvis in the field (because you cut out the sockets instead of hacking through the middle of it) saves considerable weight for those hard core moose hunters that care to count ounces. In fact, one could bone out the ribs with either method, and neither requires one to hack through either the ribs or the pelvis.

Am I the only hunter that knows that bone is significantly harder than wood?

Now that I think about it some more, the boning knife would really be better substituted with an expedient field sharpener/steel. A thin and relatively short knife is all that you need to bone out the ribs, and disintegrate the joints.

It is my contention that what is really needed is not a new knife (but who among us really needs a reason to get a new knife) but a reevaluation of your method of breaking down a carcass.

Who needs to shoot 5 moose a year to test their hunting gear?
Step 1.) Buy a knife.
Step 2.) Shoot a moose.
Step 3.) Cut moose up.
Question 1.) Did the moose get cut up?
If yes; proceed to question 2.
If no; call a friend to cut up your moose for you as you and your gear are a poor match, repeat step 1 through 3 next year.
Question 2.) Did the knife perform as well as you would like?
If yes; stop. You have found your hunting blade.
If no; repeat step 1, then call a friend and ask him if you can cut up HIS moose. Proceed through step 3 and questions 1 and 2.
If rebuked by friend (likely at this point as you have shown yourself to be a rather poor butcher), repeat steps 1 through 3 next year, conditional upon drawing moose permit. Do this alone as it could be somewhat embarrassing year after year...:rolleyes::D

You seem to be fixated on taking a moose apart. This is supposed to be a do all survival knife. They are expected to do more than do animals. I'm not going to baton with a boning knife...

I'm looking for a knife that can do everything well enough to get buy with it in those situations.

Also nobody said anything about hacking off ribs with a knife. I talked about opening the sternum up to the front of the chest.

The hunting regulations state this:

Retrieval and Wastage of Game
A hunter who kills or injures a big game animal must make every
reasonable effort to retrieve it. It is illegal to abandon or spoil
the meat of a deer, elk, moose or caribou. If a wounded animal
enters an area where hunter access is restricted, contact the local
authority (landowner, federal Park Warden) or a Natural Resource
Officer before entry into the area.

So that means neck meat, rib meat etc. which is why I don't debone in the field. I like to hang my meat for 10 days before cutting it up. I also give the bones to my dogs as states earlier and them being on a raw diet they really rely on my hunting each year to fill the freezer. Feeding 2 125lbs rottweilers by buying raw food is not an option. Not rich after all.
 
Whether you can use finesse and get the job done with certain knives is Irrelevant, you are wanting a knife that will not fail you whatever unexpected tasks arise.

You have doubts in ya head about the two knives you currently have, whether founded or not these doubts will not go away and you will never be totally happy carrying them.

In my humble opinion the best options for you would be knives from Fehrman, Swamprat,Scrapyard, Busse or TOPS. There may be other brands I should have included but all those mentioned are about as tough as they come.
 
Wall of text warning!!!


Kman300- (Post 1) “Hey WS&S peeps, I just bought this knife on the interwebs and someone said it sucks. Then I bought this other knife (before the first knife showed up) and someone else said that it sucks too! I need a survival knife that can process a deer! PLEASE HELP!!!!!”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus “Those knives are great. Stop sweating it and get out and use them. But, then again, here are a bunch of other knives that are great too. Oh, and by the way, what do you intend to do with these knives?”

Kman300- (Post 10) “It has to spread peanut butter, cut up a fish, and skin a deer/moose or whaterver if I have to pack it out.”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

August West- (Post 17) “ Any knife from Walmart will be more than sufficient for your listed intended purposes, especially if you get out in the woods with one and learn to use it for what it is intended…”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

August West- (Post 26) “A real man would use a piece of broken glass, or a tin can lid sharpened on a rock. You can’t buy survival like that…”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

Kman300- (Post 54) “I don’t have the time or energy to actually USE a knife. That is why I am here trying to get a consensus of what the best knife is.” [Good luck with that]- Edit mine. “I may have to build a lean to or chop a stick. I absolutely HAVE to baton the knife through the sternum and pelvis of a big bull moose, because there is no other possible way that a moose can be butchered. I live where it is cold, so I carry my knife and saw in my pack. I need a knife that can do everything in case I lose my pack.” [If you carry your knife in your pack, and you lose your pack, how are you in a better situation than when you had a knife and a saw?]-Again, edit mine. “Has anyone ever heard of Glock pistols? They rock! And I was in the army.”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. They were DESIGNED for what you intend. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

KGD- (Post 71) “August West is right…” [Great, now he’s going to be a boar…]- Edit mine.

Kman300- (Post 85) “Has anyone ever done a deer/elk/moose with an ESSE-5?”

Pitdog- (Post 86) “The ESSE-5 is pretty thick, but here are some other great knives…” [That dog don’t hunt…]- Edit mine.

Thomas Linton- (Post 87) “My wife’s grandfather was a very successful hunter and only used thin, short, simple, no name knives.”

Kman300- (Post 88) Where can I get a [Ratmandu or Scrapper 5].”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. They were DESIGNED for what you intend. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

August West- (Post 94) “Good post Thomas. Modern knives are scams. Kman300, what you need is a good tin can lid, sharpened on a rock of course.”

August West- (Post 100) “Why are you batoning a knife through bones? A saw would be a better choice.”

Kman300 (Post 103) “You can't finesse your way through a moose sternum nor their pelvis…”

Hlee (hey, that’s me!) and August West “No, but you don’t have to…”

Kman300- (Post 109) “I can’t waste meat, need to part it out, and carry it by foot to my truck. When you are 15,480 feet from your truck every ounce counts, and that is why I want one knife. But, deboning the meat is a pain in the field so I carry that all back for the dogs. By the way, this is all rhetorical.”

August West- (Post 111) “Kman300, you are an enigma wrapped in a mystery… Good luck.”

Kman300- (Post 115) [Enigmatic musings shrouded in mysterious overtones…]

Hlee- (Post 116) “You are on the wrong quest. Here are a couple of ways to change/improve what you are doing to be more efficient. Bones are hard. Satirical moose processing related knife test.”

Kman300- (Post 117) “Why are you talking about moose? I’m looking for a survival knife.”

I think I have pretty well summed up this thread. Kman300, I talk about cutting up a moose because that is all that you talked about. You say you may have to build a lean to, chop a stick, spread peanut butter, and hack through the sternum and pelvis of a moose. The last two are the only things that may be difficult with a $10 mora knife. What I and others (August West, Thomas Linton, others) have tried to point out is that neither cutting through the sternum, nor cutting through the pelvis is required to part out a moose. Likewise, although I did not explicitly state it, not cutting through the stermum does not preclude one from packing out bone-in sections of moose three miles to a pickup, even if it is really cold out. What I have attempted to do is to provide alternative methods of butchering a carcass, as this seems to be the major “hard use” that you intend for a knife. Unfortunately, much of the “hard use” that you intend is actually unnecessary- given the proper application of grey matter. Additionally, bone in or bone out, one can hang meat in a cold room. Your desire to hang meat has virtually no bearing on how the carcass is broken down- especially being that you have already stated that it has to be broken down into pieces small enough to be packable by a human three miles in -30F weather. One more point- the bones may be a nice treat for two rotties, but even a full moose worth doesn’t go very far given the nutritional value of a bone and the requirements of two 125 lb dogs. Unless you are feeding them the whole moose… Even then, that’s not a year’s worth of dog food… How much game are you feeding them? You are not rich afterall…

Oh, and you are not the only one that has packed large game out from far away places...

This was a few year ago now. But it is still fresh in my memory. The Weminuche Wilderness is in southern Colorado.
4Colorado.jpg


I shot this little guy 11 miles and 5000 ft of elevation change (most up, but we went down about 1000 ft from the trailhead to start the trip) from the truck.
8Colorado.jpg


All of it left on our backs. That is a shoulder in my pack, and one of the 8 creek crossings on the way back to the pickup.
11Colorado.jpg


Sorry about the ribbing August West. All in fun.:D:foot:
 
Wall of text warning!!!


Kman300- (Post 1) “Hey WS&S peeps, I just bought this knife on the interwebs and someone said it sucks. Then I bought this other knife (before the first knife showed up) and someone else said that it sucks too! I need a survival knife that can process a deer! PLEASE HELP!!!!!”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus “Those knives are great. Stop sweating it and get out and use them. But, then again, here are a bunch of other knives that are great too. Oh, and by the way, what do you intend to do with these knives?”

Kman300- (Post 10) “It has to spread peanut butter, cut up a fish, and skin a deer/moose or whaterver if I have to pack it out.”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

August West- (Post 17) “ Any knife from Walmart will be more than sufficient for your listed intended purposes, especially if you get out in the woods with one and learn to use it for what it is intended…”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

August West- (Post 26) “A real man would use a piece of broken glass, or a tin can lid sharpened on a rock. You can’t buy survival like that…”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

Kman300- (Post 54) “I don’t have the time or energy to actually USE a knife. That is why I am here trying to get a consensus of what the best knife is.” [Good luck with that]- Edit mine. “I may have to build a lean to or chop a stick. I absolutely HAVE to baton the knife through the sternum and pelvis of a big bull moose, because there is no other possible way that a moose can be butchered. I live where it is cold, so I carry my knife and saw in my pack. I need a knife that can do everything in case I lose my pack.” [If you carry your knife in your pack, and you lose your pack, how are you in a better situation than when you had a knife and a saw?]-Again, edit mine. “Has anyone ever heard of Glock pistols? They rock! And I was in the army.”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. They were DESIGNED for what you intend. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

KGD- (Post 71) “August West is right…” [Great, now he’s going to be a boar…]- Edit mine.

Kman300- (Post 85) “Has anyone ever done a deer/elk/moose with an ESSE-5?”

Pitdog- (Post 86) “The ESSE-5 is pretty thick, but here are some other great knives…” [That dog don’t hunt…]- Edit mine.

Thomas Linton- (Post 87) “My wife’s grandfather was a very successful hunter and only used thin, short, simple, no name knives.”

Kman300- (Post 88) Where can I get a [Ratmandu or Scrapper 5].”

Wilderness Skills and Survival Chorus- “Those are great knives for the listed intended purposes. They were DESIGNED for what you intend. Get out and use them, and stop fretting on the internet about your choice. Here are some other great knives that you may want to try out.”

August West- (Post 94) “Good post Thomas. Modern knives are scams. Kman300, what you need is a good tin can lid, sharpened on a rock of course.”

August West- (Post 100) “Why are you batoning a knife through bones? A saw would be a better choice.”

Kman300 (Post 103) “You can't finesse your way through a moose sternum nor their pelvis…”

Hlee (hey, that’s me!) and August West “No, but you don’t have to…”

Kman300- (Post 109) “I can’t waste meat, need to part it out, and carry it by foot to my truck. When you are 15,480 feet from your truck every ounce counts, and that is why I want one knife. But, deboning the meat is a pain in the field so I carry that all back for the dogs. By the way, this is all rhetorical.”

August West- (Post 111) “Kman300, you are an enigma wrapped in a mystery… Good luck.”

Kman300- (Post 115) [Enigmatic musings shrouded in mysterious overtones…]

Hlee- (Post 116) “You are on the wrong quest. Here are a couple of ways to change/improve what you are doing to be more efficient. Bones are hard. Satirical moose processing related knife test.”

Kman300- (Post 117) “Why are you talking about moose? I’m looking for a survival knife.”

I think I have pretty well summed up this thread. Kman300, I talk about cutting up a moose because that is all that you talked about. You say you may have to build a lean to, chop a stick, spread peanut butter, and hack through the sternum and pelvis of a moose. The last two are the only things that may be difficult with a $10 mora knife. What I and others (August West, Thomas Linton, others) have tried to point out is that neither cutting through the sternum, nor cutting through the pelvis is required to part out a moose. Likewise, although I did not explicitly state it, not cutting through the stermum does not preclude one from packing out bone-in sections of moose three miles to a pickup, even if it is really cold out. What I have attempted to do is to provide alternative methods of butchering a carcass, as this seems to be the major “hard use” that you intend for a knife. Unfortunately, much of the “hard use” that you intend is actually unnecessary- given the proper application of grey matter. Additionally, bone in or bone out, one can hang meat in a cold room. Your desire to hang meat has virtually no bearing on how the carcass is broken down- especially being that you have already stated that it has to be broken down into pieces small enough to be packable by a human three miles in -30F weather. One more point- the bones may be a nice treat for two rotties, but even a full moose worth doesn’t go very far given the nutritional value of a bone and the requirements of two 125 lb dogs. Unless you are feeding them the whole moose… Even then, that’s not a year’s worth of dog food… How much game are you feeding them? You are not rich afterall…

Oh, and you are not the only one that has packed large game out from far away places...

This was a few year ago now. But it is still fresh in my memory. The Weminuche Wilderness is in southern Colorado.
4Colorado.jpg


I shot this little guy 11 miles and 5000 ft of elevation change (most up, but we went down about 1000 ft from the trailhead to start the trip) from the truck.
8Colorado.jpg


All of it left on our backs. That is a shoulder in my pack, and one of the 8 creek crossings on the way back to the pickup.
11Colorado.jpg


Sorry about the ribbing August West. All in fun.:D:foot:

Good story but you still havn't told me which survival knife will do a moose and everything else that is required of a survival knife. I want a survival knife that will also process game in a acceptable matter. Is this sussinct enough for you? I'm not looking for you to explain to me how I pack out my animals. I have a system that works for me. Nor am I saying this knife will be the only tool that one should use for doing moose. I want it to be a tool that CAN do a moose not one that is better than a bone saw, my dozer skinning knife and my forschner deboning knife.

I also said my dogs are on a raw diet and if you google that you will have a better understanding of what that is. They do not just eat bones. I have three 25 cubic ft freezers that are full of wild meat. Deer/moose geese fish of various sort. We also buy 60lb bags of organic fed beef hearts/lungs/livers for the organ parts.

Have a good one.
 
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