Looking for a good hunting knife

Sithus1966 said:
I just used a Buck Vanguard this past Monday to field dress my deer and then used it to cut though all the hide for skinning after. I'm only going to have to touch up the edge a little to have it back to it's razor edge. One small portion of the tip is all thats really dull.
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Buck has the rubber handled vanguard ATS-34 model on clearance for $40 right now on the Buck website. I had one a long time ago, and found it to be a great size and shape for field dressing. But after seeing the Benchmade rant in D2 for $15 bucks more (no pun intended), I'd probably go for that. In fact, I just might buy one anyways, as I don't have a D2 field knife.
 
Miles Veritatis said:
I did some reading up on D2 steel, and it sounds like it'd be a good steel for my intended use (gutting, field dressing, and whatnot) as it is more rust resistant than 1095. I've heard of Benchmade before, but have no personal experience with their knives. How should the 515 Rant's overall durability be compared to the KaBar?

Edit: The post above wasn't there when I started typing this. LOL at the club remark! The Benchmade is looking more and more tempting, so long as they produce an overall quality blade and are good at working with D2.
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Each new knife is packaged with written documentation of the Benchmade Warranty. Benchmade Knife Company, Inc. warrants to the original owner that the knife will be free from defects in materials and workmanship. Benchmade will without charge, repair or replace at our (Benchmade's) option, any knife returned for Warranty work and found to be defective by Benchmade.

http://www.benchmade.com/about_knives/warranty.asp
 
Every year i use a smaller blade it seems. I started out with the 119 and similar knives and decided I just don't need that much knife on my hip. Don't get me wrong though I do love that knife. The 102 is almost ideal but I wish I could get it in a rubberized handle. I've dressed a lot of deer and the knife style I stick to now is a 3" or there abouts folder. This year it will be the spyderco native.

You may even want to check out the esee izula. Though I don't have one yet I think that it would be a great field dressing tool. Hopefully I'll have one for next hunting season. For the record I've never used a gut hook that worked REALLY well. I find it more of a hinderence on a blade than anything.

The important thing is to cut from the inside out while field dressing and avoid cutting hair and contact with bone. Pretty much any steel you choose will retain a good edge to completely dress and skin a deer if you avoid the harder tissues with the blade edge. Also a small saw is vary valueable when processing game. Even the small saws on Leatherman tools and SAK's is sufficient to cut through pelvic bones and sternums.
Hope this helps.
 
Hm... thanks for the saw recommendation, I'll have to make sure to keep my Leatherman on me in case I want that. I normally carry that day to day, but wasn't necessarily planning to take it hunting. I'll do that now :cool:

I think I'm pretty well sold on the Benchmade at this point, the more I find out about it, the more I like it! I've been looking at Benchmade folders too to replace my current EDC knife (cheap S&W I picked up at AutoZone for $12, it's adequate, but nothing special). Maybe I'll go ahead and order both at once, both the models I like are available from Knifeworks (looking at the 710 McHenry Williams, coincidentally also in D2) and both have the same coupon code available... happy coincidence!

Thanks so much for the help guys!

Edit: BTW guys, for anyone who's interested, from Knifeworks with the coupon code, the Benchmade 515 Rant comes to $54.19 and the 710 McHenry Williams comes to $108.37. I was amazed how much the price dropped when I put the code in!
 
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Miles Veritatis said:
Hm... thanks for the saw recommendation, I'll have to make sure to keep my Leatherman on me in case I want that. I normally carry that day to day, but wasn't necessarily planning to take it hunting. I'll do that now :cool:

I think I'm pretty well sold on the Benchmade at this point, the more I find out about it, the more I like it! I've been looking at Benchmade folders too to replace my current EDC knife (cheap S&W I picked up at AutoZone for $12, it's adequate, but nothing special). Maybe I'll go ahead and order both at once, both the models I like are available from Knifeworks (looking at the 710 McHenry Williams, coincidentally also in D2) and both have the same coupon code available... happy coincidence!

Thanks so much for the help guys!

Edit: BTW guys, for anyone who's interested, from Knifeworks with the coupon code, the Benchmade 515 Rant comes to $54.19 and the 710 McHenry Williams comes to $108.37. I was amazed how much the price dropped when I put the code in!
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well you made some good choices, go ahead an get the 710 to you will not be dissipointed.
 
This is my loadout for hunting this year. I'm a traditional archer and I primarily hunt whitetail deer. The SAK is for any small game, etc., the BK-11 is for cleaning deer and the BK-2 is for general woods stuff...

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Miles Veritatis said:
I think I'm pretty well sold on the Benchmade at this point, the more I find out about it, the more I like it! I've been looking at Benchmade folders too to replace my current EDC knife (cheap S&W I picked up at AutoZone for $12, it's adequate, but nothing special). Maybe I'll go ahead and order both at once, both the models I like are available from Knifeworks (looking at the 710 McHenry Williams, coincidentally also in D2) and both have the same coupon code available... happy coincidence!
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I get the best of both worlds when I hunt: 5" fixed blade in a cordura sheath with accessory pouch. And guess what's in the pouch, my BM 710. It's a handy setup, although the 710 is on the larger side for caping and finer cutting duties. During archery season, I keep the leatherman tool in the accessory pouch.
 
Besides custom makers, Benchmade's D2 is second to none. You've made some excellent choices. I really like their Bone Collector folders, I was hoping that you decided on one of those when I was reading this thread. Be advised, D2 takes a bit longer to sharpen than the 1095 that you're used to, but it can get stupid sharp.
 
So I just thought I'd update you guys, I just got my Benchmades today, the 515 and the 710. Initially, I'm very impressed with both, I'm most excited about the 710, it puts my old EDC to shame. I just finished "playing" with a manila folder, BEAUTIFUL lengthwise cuts, no rocking necessary, the folder looks like it just came out of a paper shredder. The 515 isn't quite as factory sharp, but that's no problem, I can work on it a bit.

Initial impression: I'm so happy I could cry. Thanks guys!
 
I'm glad our recommendation didn't let you down, the 710 is my alltime favorite knife.

BTW, were you at in NC i'm in the central area south of lexington
 
You can pick up an ESEE Izula for $43-55 depending on accessories. Seems like it would work and cleanup would be a snap.
 
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