Hunting knife question

mccandmatt

mccandmatt

Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
358
Buddy of mine who is an avid hunter asked me to make him a hunting knife that he could use for gutting, etc. Now I am not a hunter, I fish :D and really don't know if this design is going to perform

I am kind of questioning the butt end of the handle is too big, I think I should drop the top of the handle down a bit more and start it further up the handle

it's .094 1095 8[SUP]9/16[/SUP] OAL and 1.5" tall. I plan to do a flat grind 1[SUP]1/4[/SUP] high

Any tips is always appreciated, there are so many hunting knives out there that I have been looking at not sure what actually performs and what just looks good
2q1b0yf.jpg
 
More belly. Just like cow bell in a song, one can't have enough belly in a skinning knife. Unless he will be using this knife to stab the deer to death also, I would bring the point up to somewhere around 1/8-1/4" of drop from the top of the spine. This is just my opinion of course. Many skinning knives use a trailing point that provides a lot of belly and gets that point up and less likely to puncture the intestines and such when slicing through the hide.
 
IMO looks should take a second place to how well it fits your friends hand. All of us can tell you how to "improve" the knife, but it may change the knife into something the end user does not want. Game cleaning techniques are like certain body parts, kind of like opinions- everybody's is different. This year I completed a hunting knife for a friends cousin. I would not have called it a hunter, more of a utility tactical, but he loved it!
To show what he was happy with:
6FA1179F-0976-4990-98AD-521CCF4045E6-481-000000CAB51422E4.jpg


If it fits his hand well and is what he wants, then focus on softening the handle and all non edge spots, make the blade as thin and slicey (or a bit thicker if he is a rough butcher), and worry more about performance than aesthetics. Ask him about how he uses the blade when cleaning game. Does he pound through breastbones, scrape muscles off of bones, or is he gentler. Will the knife be for bush processing only, quartering, or the only knife for the whole job?

Good luck and have fun with the build, and take my advice with some salt as I'm just an amateur who has sliced (and watched others slice) a lot of animals a lot of different ways.
 
Perrin said:
More belly. Just like cow bell in a song, one can't have enough belly in a skinning knife. Unless he will be using this knife to stab the deer to death also, I would bring the point up to somewhere around 1/8-1/4" of drop from the top of the spine. This is just my opinion of course. Many skinning knives use a trailing point that provides a lot of belly and gets that point up and less likely to puncture the intestines and such when slicing through the hide.
Click to expand...

Yeah one thing he asked is to not have trailing point on it like the Sheffeild Old Timers. Putting more belly in is good idea. I based this off what I was finding with drop point hunting knives, he isnt going to be skinning but gutting it and then off to the butchers.
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
IMO looks should take a second place to how well it fits your friends hand. All of us can tell you how to "improve" the knife, but it may change the knife into something the end user does not want. Game cleaning techniques are like certain body parts, kind of like opinions- everybody's is different. This year I completed a hunting knife for a friends cousin. I would not have called it a hunter, more of a utility tactical, but he loved it!
To show what he was happy with:
6FA1179F-0976-4990-98AD-521CCF4045E6-481-000000CAB51422E4.jpg


If it fits his hand well and is what he wants, then focus on softening the handle and all non edge spots, make the blade as thin and slicey (or a bit thicker if he is a rough butcher), and worry more about performance than aesthetics. Ask him about how he uses the blade when cleaning game. Does he pound through breastbones, scrape muscles off of bones, or is he gentler. Will the knife be for bush processing only, quartering, or the only knife for the whole job?

Good luck and have fun with the build, and take my advice with some salt as I'm just an amateur who has sliced (and watched others slice) a lot of animals a lot of different ways.
Click to expand...
Good advice thank you only game I process is fish so I have no idea with real animals
 
Thanks Bo I did not see this, reading it now

I did not know that there are so many different variations of them, I mean I knew there were quite a few but never thought it was like this. So I am going to make out a wooden mock up or put some pine scales on this one and hand it to him see what he thinks.

Thanks all for the help really appreciate it
 
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