knives of alaska

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reggie38

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Dec 19, 2003
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has anyone ever used the brown bear skinner cleaver on heavy bone, i recently used a gerber camp ax to chop up some leg bones from a large bull "cattle" and found that the edge rolled and chipped very easily. i need a knife that would be capable of chopping through bone that wont chip or roll like the camp ax did. i do not want to use another ax or a saw, any recommendations. thank you
 
Bone is harder than iron and will wreck any steel edge - I chipped the edge of an ax while trying to chop out some moose antlers. A chainsaw works better :D . I know of no knife that will withstand such abuse.
 
Well, since you don't want to use a saw...

The Gerber axe blade was likely too soft for bone. Most hatchets are meant specifically for wood and will ding/roll/chip when used on something harder. This is actually one of the few chopping chores where a well made knife will outperform most hatchets.

Knives of Alaska makes good blades but not for what you're wanting. D2 is a very wear resistant steel but fragile under impact. That cleaver would do well in skinning and butchering the meat. What you would want is something relatively thick edged in a tough steel like S3V, L6, 5160 or INFI. For those who undoubtedly are going to shower me with wisdom that no knife can survive this work, take a look at this review of a Bill Siegle camp knife.

A good option that's in the relative price range of KOA is Swamp Rat, either of their big knives or the Paul's Ratchet--a hatchet that I describe as an Ulu with an extended handle. Their steel is very tough, and the edges are robust enough to better survive what you're talking about. Another option would be the Becker Brute, which again has a sturdy enough edge to survive this kind of heavy shock. Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works is another thought. Ted makes a variety of large knives and also and incredibly cool blade called the cleaver

Siegle (as mentioned), Busse, Fehrman are all excellent options for a hard use knife. They're more expensive, but you'll find legions of people on each who'll tell you it's well worth it. Bob Hankins makes some tough bowies that many swear by as wel, though he (and Bill Siegle too, for that matter) tend to do thinner/sharper edges, so it'd be worth telling them what you're intending the knife for.

I've by NO MEANS covered all of your options, but there are a few. If you do nothing but chop bones, you're going to have to deal with some amount of chipping and rolling--eventually the edges will weaken under such use. That's what we have sharpeners for, however. :)
 
Certain models of "meat cleaver" were made to cut through at least some bones. The example I have is 5/16" thick and has a convex edge. I have used it to cut through beef bones, but I wouldn't try it on the large leg bones. For that I have bone saws. I would think there would be packable saws designed to process a large carcass.
 
I think Knives of Alaska generally uses AUS-8A steel, which is decent, but there are others (D2, CPM S30V, VG-10...) that would probably perform better.
 
Chopping bones with a knife or hatchet is asking for trouble,I separate the limbs at the joints, if I have to cut through bone (ribs ,yum ) I use a hacksaw,smooth and clean.
 
The Brown Bear Skinner is D2, hardened to HRC 57-59. D2 is at optimum impact toughness at HRC 60 and is weaker both above and below there.

For hunting, I don't see any reason to cut leg bones, you just take apart the joints, which is very easy with a sharp knife. Nothing works as well as a saw for cuttin heavy bone. You can slab up the big leg bones to make knife handles at home.
 
What you want for cutting heavy bone is a Knives of Alaska Hunter's Hatchet. This has a blade made from shock-resistant S7 alloy. Go to their website and click on 'hatchets'. That looks like the toughest hatchet that I know of. S7 is really tough! For reference they use S7 to make jackhammer bits.

http://www.knivesofalaska.com/
 
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