Modern folders for hunting?

[CVamberbonehead]

So I got to thinking about the upcoming hunting season. I usually use a fixed blade for field dressing/butchering/skinning big game, and sometimes a traditional folder like a Trapper or a Buck 110. When I use a folder, I like the traditional ones because I think I can clean them out easier and they tend to cut nicely with their usually thin blades. Today though I was wondering, who on here uses modern folders for hunting and how do they work out for you? What knives do you use? I have modern folders that I'm sure would work well for the job, but I have never used one hunting.

 

[hank_rearden]

No, because modern folders are best suited for EDC and as such, the edges tend to be subject to constant TLC. If used on the wild, you could use it so often the edge will dull, and I hate the feel of a dull and expensive knife. Don't believe all those cutting and slicing tests. Skin and butcher even just a small-medium animal and your knife will dull. To me, a nice small fixed blade of a simple utilitarian steel that will restore sharpness on just one stone grit you carry is best for hunting.

 

[Danke42]

 

[MolokaiRider]

I've used folders for hunting and butchering. They work fine, even the super steels.

The only disadvantage for me is making sure the knife is cleaned thoroughly. Sometimes blood/bone chips, fat, etc gets caught up in the little nooks and crannies.

 

[Phil in Alabama]

Nobody voting? I picked fixed blades as that's what I like to use when blood and guts are involved. It is so much easier to just wash a fixed blade off, wipe it dry and be done. Folders are fine for most chores, but it sure is simpler to just be able to slosh a fixed blade in a creek or whatever source of water is around, wipe it off and stick it back into the sheath than it is to try to wash crud out of a folder.

 

[Lesknife]

I’ve used my Buck Vantage pro a few times on smaller game and a coyote. If that’s what I had in a pinch I wouldn’t hesitate to use it on deer.
Cleaning em isn’t any harder than a fixed blade or a traditional trapper as I use Lysol disinfectant and Dawn dishwashing liquid in fairly warm water. Soak a few minutes and scrub brush then rinse and air dry. Then a drop or two of oil and it’s like nothing ever happened. I started out with traditional folders mostly stockman and never thought it strange because that’s what most of my family and friends used. I will admit when deer season was on that’s when the fixed blades would be more in fashion but lots more trappers and large folders of all kinds.

 

[black mamba]

I prefer fixed blades, but I have used modern and traditional folders as well. Modern abrasion resistant steels DO make a big difference, as a single deer will dull a 1095 blade, but I have done six deer using "Super Steels" (S90V @ 61 and CTS-XHP @ 65) and they only needed a stropping at the end to bring them back to shaving.

 

[l1ranger]

fixed blades for me. I've used folders, modern and traditional, from time to time and it reinforces the fact that I prefer fixed blades .
on some small game and birds I can work with a folder and not have much issue with cleanup

 

[CVamberbonehead]

Nobody voting? I picked fixed blades as that's what I like to use when blood and guts are involved. It is so much easier to just wash a fixed blade off, wipe it dry and be done. Folders are fine for most chores, but it sure is simpler to just be able to slosh a fixed blade in a creek or whatever source of water is around, wipe it off and stick it back into the sheath than it is to try to wash crud out of a folder.

Yeah, not to mention drying the folder afterwards so that it doesnt rust inside of a complex locking mechanism.

 

[CVamberbonehead]

No, because modern folders are best suited for EDC and as such, the edges tend to be subject to constant TLC. If used on the wild, you could use it so often the edge will dull, and I hate the feel of a dull and expensive knife. Don't believe all those cutting and slicing tests. Skin and butcher even just a small-medium animal and your knife will dull. To me, a nice small fixed blade of a simple utilitarian steel that will restore sharpness on just one stone grit you carry is best for hunting.

This is a big issue for me, I worry that if damaged the edge of my knife on a bone or something that a modern super steel type of knife may be impossible to sharpen back in the field.

 

[CVamberbonehead]

Ive heard that the Stretch was designed as a hunting knife, but I have to wonder if the designer ever gutted an animal. Flat, thin, sort of raspy plastic handles cant be comfortable for long sessions of skinning and such, can they? Plus I feel like cleaning that thing out would be a nightmare! Do you worry about the knife coming unclipped from your pocket when youre out in the woods?

 

[CVamberbonehead]

fixed blades for me. I've used folders, modern and traditional, from time to time and it reinforces the fact that I prefer fixed blades .
on some small game and birds I can work with a folder and not have much issue with cleanup

I have had the same experience basically. Birds (unless its a big bird like a goose or turkey) and some small game dont really make too much of a mess.

 

[Onies]

My preference is fixed blades, but my first deer was field dressed with a Gerber Gator, my last was field dressed with a Cold Steel mini Recon. All do the job.

 

[fargo203]

I primarily used fixed for easier clean up. Early season is not bad but all that fat in the late season can be a pain during clean up. I do have an older Case folder that was my grandfathers hunting knife. I usually will do one deer a year with it

 

[tiguy7]

A modern folder with a Titanium handle, Stellite blade, and open back is easy to clean and will not rust.View attachment 1647190

 

[MikeInTX]

I've dressed, skinned, and quartered many deer with many folders (everything from a Case Trapper, to Buck 110, Gerber Gators, Havalon Piranta Bolt, Benchmade Griptilians etc., etc., etc.) and many fixed blades (Puma, Bark River, Buck, Several Customs, etc.). My strong preference is to carry a folder in my pocket for basic tasks when hunting, but to do the real work with a fixed blade due to ease of cleaning and that "rock solid" feeling (especially when ripping through the rib cage as we often do in TX because it's hot and we want to cool them down as quickly as possible).