ideal blade length for a hunting knife?

BLADECARVER said:
just curious whatcha all would say is the ideal blade length in a hunting knife?
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I'm not trying to be cute, but what are you hunting?

Big game, big knife, small game, small knife.

Imho, it's the leading 2 inches that count. That's where most of the work takes place.

Fred
 
That's an often asked question and when it comes to big game the most common answer is 4". I'm happy with a straight or drop point blade.
 
Anything under 3 1/2" won't make that first all important cut around the anus. If it too wide, it will screw up that cut.

Anything longer than 4" is waste steel and weight.

IMHO ;)

Rob!
 
I rarely make a hunting knife over 4". One of my most popular hunting knives has a blade about 1 1/4" long. I do 80% of my knifework on a deer with my index finger on top of the blade anyways.
 
My most useful knife is about 4 1/2 inches of blade, my favorite carry knife has 3 1/4 inches of blade. Anything over 5 1/2 inches is mostly ornamental until you get to a short sword or machete.

-Page
 
I learned to field dress deer with a regular pocket knife, so I think for them a good sharp 2 1/2" blade is good. I like a bit more for Elk especially if I might have to quarter it to pack out. I always favored drop points myself. Now I never shot a water buffalo, rhinos or elephants so I would just be guessing that I would need a bit more knife, but I am thinking probably so:D
 
Will Leavitt said:
I rarely make a hunting knife over 4". One of my most popular hunting knives has a blade about 1 1/4" long. I do 80% of my knifework on a deer with my index finger on top of the blade anyways.
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One rule of thumb (or index finger really) that some folks go by is not to make the blade longer than your finger can reach along the spine and a bit past the tip. The reason being you can protect the tip with your finger this way when gutting thus preventing cutting the guts.

Personally I've dressed most small and large game (only up to deer and boar) with little 3" bladed trout and bird sized knives. I can joint out most anything with it. To me hunting means field dressing. If you're getting more into quartering and/or processing, blades and tools other than hunters can be real helpful.

It really does seem to boil down to what you need to do with your knife. We don't just dress game with them. The trick seems to be to find some sort of happy balance. That being said, I've grown partial to two bladed piggyback hunter sets and have been working on developing the skills necessary to make them.
 
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12"

I'za hunt'n big stuff. ;)

:)


In all seriousness, I did have a table at a Safari Club show once, and I was set up right next to a South African hunting guide. After he was done insulting me and everything on my table... he told me he likes a hunter with a 9-10" blade and a giant gut-hook on the bottom of the handle. And he was being serious (in his world). He also happened to be one of the most racist, crude, arrogant, jerk-off bastards I've ever met.

Around these parts.... for deer, elk, and the occasional bear, most folks are looking for blades in the 3-4" range.
 
4-4 1/2 inches. Although, with that said, a customer of mine managed to skin out two deer in short order with the little 6 inch clip point amboyna handled knife that appears on my website.
 
NickWheeler said:
12"

I'za hunt'n big stuff. ;)

:)


In all seriousness, I did have a table at a Safari Club show once, and I was set up right next to a South African hunting guide. After he was done insulting me and everything on my table... he told me he likes a hunter with a 9-10" blade and a giant gut-hook on the bottom of the handle. And he was being serious (in his world). He also happened to be one of the most racist, crude, arrogant, jerk-off bastards I've ever met.

Around these parts.... for deer, elk, and the occasional bear, most folks are looking for blades in the 3-4" range.
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You have to wonder what the chances are that Meneer Douchebag actually does any skinning if he can afford a table at SFI.:D
 
NickWheeler said:
12"

I'za hunt'n big stuff. ;)

:)


In all seriousness, I did have a table at a Safari Club show once, and I was set up right next to a South African hunting guide. After he was done insulting me and everything on my table... he told me he likes a hunter with a 9-10" blade and a giant gut-hook on the bottom of the handle. And he was being serious (in his world). He also happened to be one of the most racist, crude, arrogant, jerk-off bastards I've ever met.

Around these parts.... for deer, elk, and the occasional bear, most folks are looking for blades in the 3-4" range.
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Sorry you had that experience! We're not all like that but I guess every country has some!
 
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My opinion is 3"-4". I guess this has been pretty well covered.

I make a shallow cut around the anus and reproductive stuff and tie it off. I then finish it from inside of the deer. I'm careful to not nick anything, causing possible leaks.

I don't like fat wide blades, I don't like gut hooks and I don't like clip points. I do like a good belly as it comes to the point and I like a thin sharp tip. Hide and hair is surprisingly abrasive, so I like an abrasion resistant steel. I like the way D2 cuts flesh, the carbides cause a micro serration that aids slicing. You need something for finger protection. A finger choil or guard or something to keep slippery hands off the blade.

My .03...
 
NickWheeler said:
In all seriousness, I did have a table at a Safari Club show once, and I was set up right next to a South African hunting guide. After he was done insulting me and everything on my table... he told me he likes a hunter with a 9-10" blade and a giant gut-hook on the bottom of the handle. And he was being serious (in his world). He also happened to be one of the most racist, crude, arrogant, jerk-off bastards I've ever met.
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May he met a very pissed off, racist, crude, arrogant, jerk-off bastard of a wounded cape buffalo and have his 10" blade snap off at the giant gut hook.;)
 
ib2v4u said:
May he met a very pissed off, racist, crude, arrogant, jerk-off bastard of a wounded cape buffalo and have his 10" blade snap off at the giant gut hook.;)
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Yes, and buff's are BLACK, so that would be a particularly gruesome way to go in his book:D
 
Farmer Phil said:
To me hunting means field dressing.
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I think this is probably one of the first things to sort out, as always. What are you really planning to do with it?

For my part, a "hunting" knife may be called upon to remove a pesky branch from around my stand, construct a makeshift ground blind, or even finish off a downed animal (perhaps more of a concern during muzzle loader season). Tags are supposed to be put through the deer's leg in the hock, so a bit of a point comes in handy for that. We rarely "field dress" deer for a couple reasons- we usually get them out of the woods and hanging in the shed in short order, and we may want to come back and hunt from that same stand just a few hours later, so we prefer to leave as little trace as possible.

My brother usually has to head back north right away, so he brings his deer to a processor. We watched them work for a while last year. And what do these professionals use, for skinning, gutting, etc. all day long? I didn't see a 4" blade anywhere. All I saw were using a simple boning knife with a blade around 6"-7" long.

I process my own deer, and the gutting & skinning is the quickest part of the job, so I don't focus as much on it. I'll have an assortment of knives at hand for various things, from the little spey blade on my stockman for slitting skin, to a 13" bladed butcher knife for slicing big roasts. And of course, a big honkin' bowie to lop the head off. :)

I'm not trying to discourage anyone here or anything; just offering another point of view. But I think we tend to over analyze this whole "ideal" thing. A reasonably capable person should be able to get the job done with a fairly wide range of blade styles and lengths.
 
Just to clarify, I didn't mean he was that way because he was South African, he was that way because he was a giant prick.

And besides...Charlize Theron grew up in South Africa, so it's gotta have some seriously good stuff going on right? ;) LOL :)

Joe... I know what you mean about those table holders ;) But I was renting a house from the SCI's local chapter's (I think it was a chapter) treasurer. He got me into a table for something like $250 and a donated stag hunter. Which would easily get you a table at the Blade show... but is VERY cheap as far as most SCI shows go. Oddly enough, they'd just had their big show in Vegas that year and everyone had blown their loot down there.

But hey, why am I defending myself to a guy that goes halfway around the world to have a table at a show!!! :p :)
 
A hunting knife and a skinning knife are differant. A hunting knife is needed to cut brances, cut clothing to make a tourniquet, cut bacon in camp, slice and dice any variety of things in the woods. To field dress a deer, you want a short 2 1/2 to 3" blade. It is comman pratice to carry 2 or 3 knives in the field. A swiss army knife is god for certain tasks also, like removing splinters, popping a cap from a muzzle loader, etc. A hunting knife for me is a Bob Dozier Professional Guides Knife, A Marbles Expert II, or a nice 4' puukko. That is what I carry in the field.
 
I like a recurve drop point about 4 1/2 - 5 1/4" long about 8 1/2 - 9 1/2 oal the only exception is bucks alpha hunter model and those are freakin sweet in my book. personally I use a Boker gaucho semi skinner in 440C. The rest of my family use Puma's Hunters Pal models. And we use them on everything from rabbits to whitetail.

Mine...
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Dad and Brothers...
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Are we assuming that hunting means deer, here? :D

What if you are bagging bunnies, which is one of my favorites; a four inch knife is a bit much.

Squirrels are also on the menu at my house.

What size do you like for these smaller critters.

Fred
 
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