Hunting knife and bushcraft knife in one?

Personally, I'd much rather process game with a knife that's smaller than what I'd consider the ideal size than one that's larger. 6+" is way too large a hunting knife for my tastes. My favorite backpack hunting/camping knives are the Fallkniven F1 or Busse BAD. Ones I'd consider as usable (but I'd find a bit large for the hunting part) are the Busse CABS and the Fallkniven S1.

I guess this is a situation where I'd prefer to have a big camp knife and also carry a small folder for processing game.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I use my CABS and a small caper lately I keep the 4" blade around as my "beater" and blade for running around the joints and up against bone. The caper does 90% of the field dressing and the 4-5" I can use for everything else and not worry about the tip breaking. This includes any camp chores or bushcrafty stuff which I really never need. I've estimate I have cleaned 500+ animals in 25 years and used everything from a 6" filet knife to a leatherman. The closest thing I have found to the right size is a Rodent Solution or a CABS, but both need to be moded. The RS blade is way to thick and has to be stripped of the coating, but it holds a decent edge and is just about the perfect size over all. The CABS I need a slimmer blade and bigger handle(slabs). I am going custom as the cost is to close to what a modification on a production model would be. For instance a RS is $125 new. I then have to have the blade stripped, thinned out and I might as well have the slabs replaced to the thickness I like and add pins so it is easier to clean(blood in the rivet holes sucks). Just my 2 cents.

List of blades I have used to clean animals- at least what I can remember and why I am no longer using them
6" filet knife- flexed to much and too long
Mora clipper- great handle - blade length is good - scandi grind left odd cuts in the backstraps
CABS- close to perfect but I had to have mine mod'd- to much invested to risk losing it so it is for sale now
RS- like it and still have it but am selling it for a custom caper due to wanting to mod it to much
Kabar 6 1/2 blade given to me by my dad- used it as a kid since I did not know any better and thought I was a bad ass at 13 having huge fixed blade on my hip
Schrade Sharpfinger(two of these)- love the blade shape- a little short for good size deer on the backstrap- derlin handle blows when wet and is to small for my hands- still I went through two of them as I sharpened the first to a nub
Schrade with gut hook- derlin handles blow when wet and I started hating gut hooks with this one
Schrade safety with gut hook- learned to hate gut hooks as I could not sharpen them and the blade is too long and wide
Case Blade trader -love it-still have it - used multiple blades every time- hate cleaning it
CRKT drifter- forgot all my knives- this is my EDC
Original Leatherman- seriously I was in a pinch and only had this in my pack
6"boning knife I found in the kitchen- great handle - too long of a blade and flexed
KOA caper- still in use today
KOS Alaskan- loved the size but D2 hates me when sharpening so I sold it
Buck 110 knock off - still have it but sucks to clean it
Case stockman- broke the tip and hated cleaning it
Gerber unknown free blade - EDC and never held an edge longer than 15 minutes

If I had only one it would be :
Stainless in CPM 154 or Elmax due to ease of sharpening and less maintenance - I am lazy and prefer to drink beer than clean up
4.5-4.75" handle that is thick - arthritic hands
3.5-4" blade that tapers to very skinny at the tip and maximum 1" wide near handle
No ricasso at all
No choil
Full Flat Grind
1/8" thick steel
toss up between drop point and upswept tip like the sharpfinger- I clean more animals than process wood so upswept tip it is.
solid pins and g10 on handle
tapered tang to reduce weight
moonglow liner so I can find it when I set it down- lost the Kabar that way
no lanyard hole- I don't need to chop- I can push cut/whittle any up to wrist size and that is all I will ever need to cut down to build a shelter or a fire- If bigger is required the BK9 or machete goes with me.

What you see below is a custom I had made by another maker that did not meet my expectations so I sent it to Big Chris to salvage and he did a great job at correcting someone else's mistakes. That is why he is building my new caper. I am still working on the one blade as the one in the pics is a salvage job


 
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I suggest two knives. Something like the BK9 and a smaller fixed blade like a BK16 (4"). You aren't going to be doing much chopping with a BK15 or BK16. 6" and longer blades for hunting are just clumsey and I either cut myself or mess up the game processing or field dressing because it simply is too much blade for me.

The BK2 has always been the compromise knife, but it is quite a heavy knife for me to use as a "hunting" knife unless I just have to. You will probably not be able to hurt it and you can do light chopping and batonning with it quite easily. I'm actually quite comfortable with a 2.5 > 3" blade as a general hunting use knife. Frankly I'm comfortable with a folder for field dressing chores in which case, you can carry a larger knife for the other stuff.
 
I've found 3" knives with FULL size handles to be a fantastic size for field dressing and disassembly. Control is more important than length.
It's also a great size for so much else and gives an excuse not to compromise on the 6" you want anyway.
 
I'm not sure why anyone would try and use a 6" blade for hunting unless they haven't cleaned many game animals. You see a lot of Newbs out in the woods with KaBar fighting knives and Bowie type knives strapped to their hip and they'll gladly tell you all about their "hunting" knife. People who clean game on a regular basis know better. Buy you a dedicated hunting knife in the 3 1/2" to 4" range to use on game (maybe up to 5" if you'll be dealing with Elk or Moose, but a 4" is just as good in my experience) and then buy you a play knife in the 6" or better range. Better yet, take a hatchet if you're planning on chopping or splitting wood.
 
Whisper21 said:
....but the blades on hunting knives are often 6"+ anyways.
Click to expand...

That's news to me.



Mudbug007 said:
I'm not sure why anyone would try and use a 6" blade for hunting unless they haven't cleaned many game animals. You see a lot of Newbs out in the woods with KaBar fighting knives and Bowie type knives strapped to their hip and they'll gladly tell you all about their "hunting" knife. People who clean game on a regular basis know better. Buy you a dedicated hunting knife in the 3 1/2" to 4" range to use on game (maybe up to 5" if you'll be dealing with Elk or Moose, but a 4" is just as good in my experience) and then buy you a play knife in the 6" or better range. Better yet, take a hatchet if you're planning on chopping or splitting wood.
Click to expand...

This. ^
 
A good hunting knife is a Spyderco Moran with the drop point blade design. Believe it is 3".
 
22-rimfire said:
A good hunting knife is a Spyderco Moran with the drop point blade design. Believe it is 3".
Click to expand...

I have two of these. I own some really great "woods" knives but for cleaning deer, these moran's do a phenomenal job. Lightweight and grippy, with a thin, sharp edge. Steel is VG-10. They are a shallow, partial tang design so I would not beat on them with a baton. I use a case sodbuster jr for small game.

On a side note, I slice, carve, and baton with 4" and under 1/8" and 5/32" blades frequently and without issue. Anything longer than that and I might as well carry my 12" machete. YMMV.
 
I would have no problem using most of my fixed blade knives for hunting or bushcraft. However, they are all South of 6 inches in blade length. I think you need to re-evaluate your needs. Have you ever cleaned a deer, or even an elk with a blade that size? I don't know anyone who does or would want to. I also don't know why you'd need a blade that long for bushcraft work. I think much over about 4" or so is too unwieldy for bushcraft.

Now if you mean, you want a big gigantic knife you can put in a drawer and call your hunter/bushcrafter, by all means...
 
So apparently you're hunting elephants? A hunting knife that has a six inch blade would be incredibly unwieldy and you'd probably rupture the animals intestines trying to gut it. My reccomendation is a fallkniven f1. They are incredibly well made, have a nice thin convex edge and are still strong enough to baton logs. Plus they are easy to sharpen in the field, all you need is a strop and sheets of sandpaper.
 
I remember this came up in Scott Gossman's sub forum once and he talked about cleaning a deer with a 8" Big Boar Tusker. It was more of a "how difficult is it" experiment.
If you want to only one knife to carry for all your uses while at hunting camp I think a 6" blade is a great compromise. A blade that is on the narrower side between 1" and 1.25" is what I would shoot for.
 
The BRKT Bravo 1.5 might fit the bill. You may have to work on the profile to thin it to exactly match your requirements. For me it's a good all rounder and solid enough to not worry about my heavy handed methods of use.
 
I think there's a common misconception that 'hunting' knives are killing tools.

a 3" wicked sharp hunter/EDC plus an E6 or BK7 or an Axe..

here's my 3" hunter:
IMG_20121117_114552-small.jpg
 
If its a 6" you want. Then the Esse6 IMHO would be the best knife that would fit your requests.
A bit latter down the track, pair it with a Izula or small knife of choice.
 
I'd get a knife with a 4.5 to 5" blade if you want one all-arounder. This is still big enough to split small logs for dry wood in an emergency, but small enough to be useful the other 99% of the time. A 6" blade is really big and clumsy for most small tasks including dressing game. Personally I really like the Bark River models, Survive-knives, Grohman knives, Fiddleback forge and the Gossman Deer Creek. But there are tons of good knives in the 5" range that are meant to be all round use knives.
 
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