Question for hunters

Tiiiiiiiim

Tiiiiiiiim

Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
952
To all you hunters out there (feel free to input if you not a hunter too):

Do you guys prefer/like jimping on knives, and where about would you put it? I ask because I'm making a few hunter style knives at the moment and not havign any hunting experience myself I thought I'd ask and get it right.

What else do you look for? What would you add or change about the knives in the picture below?

They have a good distil and tang taper.

20110910125428.jpg

(the bottom 5 are the knives in question)

Let me know if you need more pictures.

Looking forward to getting some constructive feedback from people who use knives.

Thanks in advance.
Tim.
 
Tim, I have been hunting for about 35 years and have always done my own processing of the meat all the way to the final product. The top 2 knives would not work for me, I would need a belly on a hunter. The third and fourth look like very good hunters for field dressing and skinning. The final 3 really do not have enough of a point for field dressing, but would work well for cutting up the meat and would also work on larger game for hide removal (I would consider them more a skinner than a hunter) but would still need a caper with more of a point for skinning the legs and up under the shoulders. The third from bottom may be considered a hunter, it is borderline on the point? I like jimping or file work to be within an inch of the tip of spine, because when field dressing if you are saving the shoulder mount, you must reach up into the body cavity to cut the esophagus blindly by feel and my finger is always near the tip of the spine for control. The distal taper is always good on a hunter.

I hope this helps!
Alan
 
The third knife from the top looks like the best all around deer knife with the right amount of belly in a drop point, but can still pierce. The fourth looks pretty good too. Agree that the top two are not suited at all. Good on aland for processing out his own deer but unfortunately most hunters field dress only and don't do their own skinning anymore, which the blades towards the bottom with more belly would be better matched. As for jimping, I prefer none at all since I personally don't see it as needed, but more importantly it would just add more nooks and crannys to clean dried gunk out of at the end of the day.

I can shoot you a link of a good field dressing video if you want to see what most hunters do with the knife.
Otherwise, best of luck, I really like the work you have done with your knives!
 
If jimping = fileworked spine, then put me in the "no jimping" camp. Third from the top would be my pick.

Roger
 
i like about a 3 inch drop point something i can get my index finger on the spine all the way to the point... and no jimping for me either they look like a good batch of camp knives or bushcrafting blades i for one would like to see how the handles turn out :)
 
Last edited:
Third one down for me as well, and add another vote for no jimping. My only complaint about #3 is the shape of the back of the handle--too square. On whitetails about the only time I have a 4-finger, full fist grip on the handle is when I'm cutting through the ribcage. From field dressing to skinning, quartering, butchering and trimming off fat and sinew, I usually use the same knife. So, I can be using the same knife for several hours depending on conditions. Features like jimping, recessed finger grooves (your 4th one down) and even over-large self guards can really beat up my hand over time.

The ideal knife for me (mind you, for deer sized game) is a 3.5- 4 inch drop point or spear point with a blade that is a little under an inch in height. Most of your designs--and of many makers--has very high/wide blades. While these "track" well when cutting, they are sometimes too wide to get into tight areas, like caping out the hide from around the neck, cutting cartilage to remove hind quarters, etc. A blade that is 3/4 to 7/8 inches high is plenty. I like the edge to be just about in line with the bottom of the handle, and I like the handle to have a slight drop to it. Knives with pronounced self-guards are fine if the blade is short and the primary use is going to be skinning, where there is a lot of belly. In those cases I'm not using the back of the edge as much. Personally, I find an edge that is too far below the bottom of the handle a little awkward to use, and find that the back of the edge (hanging down below my finger) usually catches or hangs up on hide, bone, etc. That may be just me, as I grew up using Buck 110's, Marbles Ideal, and Western skinners as my primary hunting knives. The small guard on the Marbles and Westerns is perfect to me--just enough to tell me where my fingers are in relation to the blade, not too big that it constantly hangs up. I doubt that it protrudes more than 1/8 inch or so. Much of the time I'm using a 3 finger hold with my index finger running down the spine of the blade (so my dislike for jimping).
 
Thanks everyone. These are some very useful responses. Sounds like I'll leave the jimping off.

Another quick one. It's there any need for a swedge/false edge if You've got plenty of distil taper?
 
Lon Humphrey said:
i like about a 3 inch drop point something i can get my index finger on the spine all the way to the point... and no jimping for me either they look like a good batch of camp knives or bushcrafting blades i for one would like to see how the handles turn out :)
Click to expand...

I'm doing a WIP on these. I'll be sending them for HT after the weekend. If you did want to follow along and see the handles on heres the thread. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/829866-My-first-real-quot-batch-quot-WIP/page5
 
i dont think i have ever met 2 hunters that wanted the same knife :) alot has to do with who taught them to skin/ clean the critter and what kind/ size of critter they are working on

hunter could mean fish and fowl or deer (deer can be 100lb -300 depending on where you are) what about elk (read cow with antlers :) )
 
butcher_block said:
i dont think i have ever met 2 hunters that wanted the same knife :) alot has to do with who taught them to skin/ clean the critter and what kind/ size of critter they are working on

hunter could mean fish and fowl or deer (deer can be 100lb -300 depending on where you are) what about elk (read cow with antlers :) )
Click to expand...

Very true. Based on the size of his knives I assumed he was designing them for big game hunters, not for small game. Here in the east, most guys I know that are experienced whitetail hunters don't use anything over 3.5 inches in blade length. In the west you could probably add another inch to blade length and cover most large game.
 
As I look at the picture again, from the top, handle #1 with blade #3 would be just about perfect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top