as a basic survival knife the kbar is a reasonable choice, but for hunting and field dressing i would tather have something with a thinner and shorter blade. the blade of a kbar is about 7 inches long, and very thick. it will pry, cut and chop ok. but you really want a slicer for your hunting knife as the major function would be to field dress game. my experience is that this is better handled with about a 3 1/2 to 4 inch blade of the shape that you like best , drop point is one of my favorites. i like the cold steel master hunter, i like the kershaw folding field, i like the knives of alaska brown bear combo to do everything as far as making camp, field dressing--dont think that the little cub bear knife is too small- it is really handy around camp and when dressing game.
when i am deer hunting here in the northeast i need a folding belt knife to open the deer, thats about it, the processing is done after the deer is taken from the field to the shed where such things are done. when i have hunted alaska and wyoming i have used a serengetti skinner and a axe and saw on the elk so that they could be broken down and packed out. in alaska i used a cold steel master hunter and an axe and saw for the game. in africa i carried a puma white hunter but the skinners and game scouts did the work with it.
a good friend of mine that is a professional hunter in south africa recently visited. i had given him several knives to try out during the last year, he liked the buck general style blade (119)--they used to make it with a rubber handle called the fieldmate-- he said nothing seemed to skin hippo like that knife. he also used the cold steel master hunter in carbon steel, but liked a longer blade for the hippo!!
these are just some of my observations-- the big choppping knives look sexy-- but the small knives seem to do all the work.
alex
