hunting knife

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battboy

Joined
Feb 21, 2011
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i was looking for a good hunting knife for under 55. i looked at the buck 119 but wanted something a little smaller.like under 5 1/2 inches was thinkin the ka-bar usn mk1.
thanks
 
I really dont care for the K-Bar, although they made decent knives. I am definately a Buck fan. What are your intentions for the knife. Is it going to be used for average out door duties or are you using it for skinning, or what. The Buck Alpha Hunter is a good knife as is the 113 skinner, just remember you get what you pay for. My advice is to spend a bit more now and you'll have less regret later, Buy Buck Knives
 
yeah, list your needs and what you plan on doing with it. i like becker's.. i like bucks.. i like ESEE.. but each will be better at something that perhaps the other is not.. so list what you plan to do with this knife and maybe we can help.. buck skinners are hard to beat.
 
i will be using it to skin animals, camp chores,and i will be bringing it with me fishing
 
battboy said:
i will be using it to skin animals, camp chores,and i will be bringing it with me fishing
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battboy ill shoot you straight here. i would buy a knife for skinning animals and buy a serperate one for the chores. that being said your skinner needs to stay wicked sharp. if you use it as a camp knife you will see that its edge will be tortured. unless you are a top notch sharpener i would buy a skinner (buck omni comes to mind) and another knife like the becker mentioned above, or Esee or whatever as a camp knife... i made a lot of mistakes when i was younger and one of them was using a skinner for camp chores. just my opinion
 
thanks ill just buy a skinner and use my becker bk-2 for chores but also would the usn mk1 back an ok back up skinner if i bought it to take hunting as a bushcraft/survival knife
 
battboy said:
thanks ill just buy a skinner and use my becker bk-2 for chores but also would the usn mk1 back an ok back up skinner if i bought it to take hunting as a bushcraft/survival knife
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you will see its better this way. you know your skinner will always be sharp if you use it for nothing but skinning. if you have to cut through joints just use the BK 2 or whatever, not the skinner
 
Maybe your camp site chores would be better handled with a hatchet. In addition you can use it for those joints and bone. I have used a hatchet on elk bone and big joints and it works alot better than even large knives. But just an all around pack knife or something you cary on hikes I'd go with Buck 119 or if you have your heart set on a USN Mark 1 go ahead. I do aggree with the Omni hunter for skinning.
 
For a designated hunting knife it sure is hard to beat the good ole' Buck 103 skinner but the 119 is perfectly adequate and a classic for sure.
 
Granted I'm not a hunter or avid fisherman so take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

From what I've read and searched online it seems like a 3 blade combo is the way I would go. A small knife like the Izula II or equivalent for skinning, a hatchet/hawk for camp chores and quartering, and a boning knife for processing the meat and would double as a filet knife. Your BK2 would fill the hatchet role adequately enough so go with a skinner you like and maybe an Old Hickory boning knife for about 10 bucks.
 
Check out the Buck 105 fixed blade; smaller than 119. Very easy to keep hair popping sharp.
 
Second the recommendation to have seperate skinning knives and camp knives. I like the Buck Nighthawk and will inherit a Ka-Bar eventually but smaller knives work better for skinning. Unless of course you like to buy stock in bandage companies or see how much your local PPO charges to reattach fingers.

I like my AG Russel's woodswalker for skinning deer, also have a Browning 815 that is a good size. I also bought one of those new fangles Gerber knives with the ball on the tip and the edge on top for at least making the initial cuts to skin your deer. Your mileage may vary but get a smaller blade that fits your hand well and keep it sharp. Consider a kevlar glove for the hand holding the hide with too.
 
WA Martin said:
Second the recommendation to have seperate skinning knives and camp knives. I like the Buck Nighthawk and will inherit a Ka-Bar eventually but smaller knives work better for skinning. Unless of course you like to buy stock in bandage companies or see how much your local PPO charges to reattach fingers.

I like my AG Russel's woodswalker for skinning deer, also have a Browning 815 that is a good size. I also bought one of those new fangles Gerber knives with the ball on the tip and the edge on top for at least making the initial cuts to skin your deer. Your mileage may vary but get a smaller blade that fits your hand well and keep it sharp. Consider a kevlar glove for the hand holding the hide with too.
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Interesting. I have one of the woodswalkers from AG as well, but thought it would be too small for deer. I might have to give it a second look!

If I were to pick one hunting knife under $55, I would probably go with the Buck Vanguard, although the 119 ain't bad either. YMMV.
 
I keep my skinning knife separate from my camp knife. They do different things, and have different requirements.
 
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