Hunting Knife for the Wife

I'm not sure what you point of the knife is, but I think the women care a lot less than we do.

If I were doing this then I would bring a bunch of my knives and see which she used for the most jobs, or if it's for field dressing only then let her try several.

I didn't see any context... like are you camping... or is it for field dressing birds,- or bison,- does not seem like general all-around camp knife.

My personal experience is my wife and daughters like knives that open and close with 2 hands, but I am trying to convince them an auto is actually easier and safer (they use theirs for fishing and mushroom hunting mostly) - - - but they don't care--- and while I have at least 3 knives in bear territory when I am only mushroom hunting, they happily share some knife Olight gave me for free 🤦

Knife for field dressing should be a fixed blade with grippy ideally very stainless material, easily stropped in the field (something like a Boye original cobalt or anything in Nitro V that's easy to touch up and won't rust), but if in a folder really anything you mentioned would work, and it's going to to most likely be YOU gutting 75% of the first one anyway, haha that's how they get ya to do their dirty work : )
 
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bratch said:
My wife has decided to join me hunting for the first time and we are working to get her outfitted before October. Next on the list is a good fixed blade. I’m looking to get her something of her own and not just one of my hand-me-downs.

I got the knife box out tonight and let her handle a few with the following feedback:

Liked:
Benchmade Steep Country
White River M1 Pro
White River Small Game Knife

Didn’t mind but doesn’t like:
Houge Extrak
Buck Paklite

Didn’t Like:
Buck Vanguard
Mora Garberg
Spyderco Moran

The knives she didn’t like all had too big of a handle for her so we are looking for something with a smaller grip. We also prefer something high-vis.

Buying an old Steep Country or a new M1 Pro is an option but is there anything else out there we should look at? The Buck Small Pursuit looks promising but I’ve never handled one so I’m not sure on the grip size.
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How about this knife from one of BF makers: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/caper.1997138/
There are others available in that forum as well. Well worth a look.
 
All solid choices mentioned so far :thumbsup:

You mentioned you might like High-Vis, a good idea in a context where stuff can get dropped. Take a look at Marttiini puukkot (Finland) inexpensive and practical. The one this girl is wearing has a bright orange rubberised handle for excellent wet grip and visibility. Might be a good starter? Also other types available check their website (many languages)

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Judging from your list, the Becker BK14 is about the right size, and comes with a set of oranges scales for hi-viz. Esee Izula would be another, and they come is several colors.
 
Not sure what you are needing the knife to do but I have a Dozier Lil Deer Skinner that would be in the size range.

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Or as others have said check the makers market on the forum. This is a little EDC Skinner from navman (Josh Mazer). His handle ergos are awesome and uses some great steels. S90V in this one.

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Lots of great suggestions already that would last a lifetime (or 3).

I don’t know what she will be hunting or other needs she has, but for an all around great hunting knife, the Cold Steel Master Hunter in cpm3V is a great buy. It isn’t pretty, but are a good design.

The Kornalski knife for sale on the makers exchange is a great design-I have one of his and they are excellent.

Good luck with your search.
 
Thanks for the ideas so far I have a couple of the mentioned knives that I didn’t let her handle so that’s on the to do list.

ElementalBreakdown said:
I'm not sure what you point of the knife is, but I think the women care a lot less than we do.

If I were doing this then I would bring a bunch of my knives and see which she used for the most jobs, or if it's for field dressing only then let her try several.

I didn't see any context... like are you camping... or is it for field dressing birds,- or bison,- does not seem like general all-around camp knife.

My personal experience is my wife and daughters like knives that open and close with 2 hands, but I am trying to convince them an auto is actually easier and safer (they use theirs for fishing and mushroom hunting mostly) - - - but they don't care--- and while I have at least 3 knives in bear territory when I am only mushroom hunting, they happily share some knife Olight gave me for free 🤦

Knife for field dressing should be a fixed blade with grippy ideally very stainless material, easily stropped in the field (something like a Boye original cobalt or anything in Nitro V that's easy to touch up and won't rust), but if in a folder really anything you mentioned would work, and it's going to to most likely be YOU gutting 75% of the first one anyway, haha that's how they get ya to do their dirty work : )
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Field dressing whitetail and possibly quartering once out of the field.

She doesn’t care about the steel but very much cares about how it feels in her hands. She carries a mix of Benchmade, Spyderco, and Buck folders in her purse so she does like a quality blade.
 
Buck 102 - class, nice size for a amall hand, great knife, says a lot of good things about the person carrying it. Buck 420 HC has never been a problem for me. Or a lot of others either.
 
My favorite hunting knife is not a typical choice: it's a Busse Boney Active Duty ("BAD"). Of all the Busse knives I have and have had, I think it is the most practical -- as a hunting knife or fixed blade EDC.

It fits my hand like it was made for me, has a rough enough texture that's it's not slippery when bloody, and has a blade just the right length to lay my index finger down the spine to the point for opening a whitetail's abdomen without piercing the guts. The Infi blade steel is plenty stainless and holds an edge enough to easily last through a field dressing operation. A light stropping is all it ever takes to get it back to shaving sharp.

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I personally don't like field dressing deer with a folder. Before knives became such a huge varied market, pretty much all the hunters I knew carried Buck 110s and even with their simple design, it was a headache to get everything out of the nooks and crannies and touch up the blade in the field.
I switched to a Gerber LMF II, and upgraded over the years but never went back to a folder.
But maybe you field dress different, we do them for hanging off the deck because they might hang a week if you get one opening day... starting with reaming to get the whole intestinal tract, then splitting the pelvis which generally takes a Kabar.

Anyway, fixed blade preferred
 
As of now we have ended up with a White River M1 and a Buck Small Pursuit. They were an easy 1A/1B for her with the Steep Country and Bradford G3 further down the list.

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I’m impressed handling the little Pursuit, it is almost an identical size to the Steep Country which I really like. It may be one of the better deals going on a smaller readily available hunt blade right now.

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bratch said:
My wife has decided to join me hunting for the first time and we are working to get her outfitted before October. Next on the list is a good fixed blade. I’m looking to get her something of her own and not just one of my hand-me-downs.

I got the knife box out tonight and let her handle a few with the following feedback:

Liked:
Benchmade Steep Country
White River M1 Pro
White River Small Game Knife

Didn’t mind but doesn’t like:
Houge Extrak
Buck Paklite

Didn’t Like:
Buck Vanguard
Mora Garberg
Spyderco Moran

The knives she didn’t like all had too big of a handle for her so we are looking for something with a smaller grip. We also prefer something high-vis.

Buying an old Steep Country or a new M1 Pro is an option but is there anything else out there we should look at? The Buck Small Pursuit looks promising but I’ve never handled one so I’m not sure on the grip size.
Click to expand...
I have the Buck Pursuit small. Good knife and high vis. Had to warranty over rubber handle coming off. Great steel and it is a smaller comfortable knife. I think the BM Steep Country is a better knife and it includes a high vis blade guard/sheath. Both would be great drop point knives. My preference is to keep extremely pointy things out of an animals insides (clip point knives)....especially in the hands of anyone inexperienced.
 
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