Small back-up skinner and daily do-all needed - any suggestions?

N

Nightingale

Joined
Nov 2, 1999
Messages
16
Hi all - new to the forum, but glad to be hear. And now the confession: I don't know anything about knives. Several months ago I got some good advice from Dexter Ewing (using his email link on knifecenter.com)He recommended a Spyderco Tim Wegner for my three month trekking trip in Nepal. And what a great knife it is! Sturdy, versatile, well suited to daily chores, and, I guess, good in a survival situation (drop-point, reasonable belly).

Now I'm hoping somebody can offer me some advice on another knife. This one's for a friend in who lives on a bush-block farm in New Zealand. He always carries a fixed-blade on his belt for heavy cutting work. I want to buy him a small (blade less than 2.5") knife to complement it. He grows flowers in commercial quantities along the river flats so he cuts a lot of string, polythene sheeting and plastic ties. The knife will get lots of regular daily use, and may be treated quite roughly. It may also be used as a back-up skinning blade, especially for rabbits and possums.

And all this for under, say, US$60 ????

Look foward to any suggestions you can make.

 
Welcome to the forums, Nightingale. It sounds like you are describing a REKAT Fang. At 2.85", the blade is a slight bit longer than your spec but I think you have a direct hit otherwise. It's a great little knife & comes with a Kydex multi-carry system. Take a look at http://www.rekat.com/fang.html for a pic & full specs. These are currently selling in the BladeForums Store for $44.95 so, even with int'l postage, you should still be within budget.

On a different topic, given your travels in Nepal, you should pay a visit to the Himalayan Imports Forum here on BF. In addition to discussions on khukuris, you'll also find a wealth of info on Nepalese culture & the like. I'm sure your experiences would be of interest to other HI forumites.

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Cheers,

--+Brian+--

I may be goin' to hell in a bucket, Babe, but at least I'm enjoyin' the ride.


 
I assume you mean a pocket knife:

Try a Browning Signature series model 725 if you don't need one-hand opening. It has a 2-7/8" drop-point AUS-8 blade that takes a fantastic edge. It's a classy looking, but utilitarian lock-back knife with a composite handle. They are available on the net for less than $20.00. I picked one up at my local gun store for $23.00. They also make an equivalent Model 825 with a sort of wood inlayed handle for about $10.00 more.

If you want to spend more and/or get one-hand opening try the new Spyderco Lightweight Calypso Jr. It also has a 2-7/8" blade. This one comes with the tough and very sharp VG-10 alloy. It's in a class by itself at it's price point. At Chai cutlery on the net it's selling for $54.00. See the link:
http://www.chaicutlery.com/spyderco.html



[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 02 November 1999).]
 
If you're looking for a folder, your Wegner is as good a choice as any. If it's too costly, take a look at the Gerber Gator ATS-34 Drop Point. If it's a fixed blade you're after, you have lots of choices! Check out Wayne Hendrix's knives at hendrixknives.com. Workmanship is great, prices are fantastic. The REKAT Utility is a great little knife, meeting all your spec's. The Stiff KISS from CRKT is now made in a variety of configurations, all of which should meet your criteria, although I wouldn't want to do too much skinning with it. If you can find one, the Schrade Pro Hunter would be just the ticket. I'm sure that other forum members will come up with many, many more choices, so let this thread run on for a while before you make your choice. And welcome!
 
For a small fixed blade Anza has a number of nice choices. They're basic full tang knives made of annealed files, take a very good edge and with choices less than $20 are very affordable. A small Mora knife would also work very well, but being thinner than the Anzas probably won't take abuse as well. They offer one of the best ratios of cutting ability to cost around as some can be found for less than $10. AG Russell has a 3in thin blade of ATS-34 for around $50, and Dozier has some very nice small fixed blades of D2 for over $100. My daily use knife for around the house and yard is a Mora, a 3.5in Ericsson with a plastic handle that I found for $5. I got two, and really splurged on a 4in Ericsson for $10. Frosts of sweden will be similar. A small 3in blade that looks like it will take a lot of abuse is an Old Timer Personal Finger or something. It's about 1/8in thick and a full tang drop point, and can be found for less than $20. I've considered getting one and cutting the Delrin scales back about 1/8in from the end of the handle, in order to see how it holds up when used as a chisel/wedge for splitting as well as a hard use knife. Anyway, lots of choices available.
 
I suggest you check out Newt Livesays Neck Knives:
http://members.tripod.com/~Newt_Livesay/neckknives.html

In particular, these sound like what you would want:
• Model 123 - L.P. ($30)
• Model 136 - Bow Huntin' Buddy ($45 & $55)
• Model 702 EX - Executive NRGS ($50)

They are all great, small utility type blades that would serve as back-up skinners, perfectly.

Happy Trails...

Romans 6:23
 
Schrade Sharpfinger about $25 all around very nice and good for skinning

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~ JerryO ~
 
I won't suggest anything UNLESS he promisses to leave the possums alone!

wink.gif
Just kidding. Kind of.....Possums are awesome. I've got an awesome possum. Bunnies?..... Go ahead and skin em.

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"But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." --Jesus Christ (Luke 22:36) See John 3:15- 18




[This message has been edited by EQUALIZER (edited 02 November 1999).]
 
A very nice little fixed blade drop-point hunter/skinner is made by Colorado Cutlery: 1095, flat ground, 3.25" blade, full tang, micarta grips, lanyard hole, useful pouch sheath, for $40-$50. Their website is www.coloradocutlery.com. Otherwise, Frost or Erickson. Chaicutlery also lists a great little utility knife for around $15 in the Pellam or Finn knives section, I think. These are amazingly tough little knives that take a superb edge; I believe they are made from old files that were annealed for grinding, then rehardened.
 
Hi - thanks everybody for taking the time to write.

I didn't make it clear in my original post that I am after a folding knife (thanks Jeff). However, I will be following up ALL the recomendations you all made (I'm still probably going to buy just ONE knife right now but....). I believe one handed opening, especially with cold or gloved hands, is a definite advantage in a working folder, so I'm kinda after that too...

Next time I'll try to be clearer in my FIRST post.

PS: I know possums are cute, but in New Zealand they are an extremly destructive pest. They were introduced from their native Australia (where, I believe, they are a protected and perhaps even endangered species) into an environment with no natural predators and a climate which speeds their reproductive cycle. They are a pest for orchadists and other commercial tree growers but, more importantly, they wreck havoc on the native NZ rainforest, killing forest giants through barking, eating fruits upon which our unque native bird population depends, destroying seedlings. It's all a question of numbers, One possum is cute, 500 per acre of native forest are not.
 
Nightingale,

Since you want one-hand opening with gloves on I would suggest the Browning Barracuda 604 (3" blade) or 612 (2" blade). The grip is a little thicker than some and the thumb stud for opening is easier to access than most other mechanisms. In a recent Bladeforum posting TomW recommended the Barracuda model for just that purpose.

Quoting part of his explanation:

"I've tried a lot of knives wearing gloves. What i found that that thumbstud knives worked better than hole type models but the problem was with the closing more than the opening. The gloves i would be using are the basic leather bottom work gloves. These are loose fitting bulky gloves. Try a few different knives wearing these type. It was an interesting experiment when i first tried it and i also found the extra width of the Browning helpful and the rubber discs nice too. Thin knives work poorly with bulky gloves and are extremely hard to hold on to.
Has anybody ever dropped a knife in the snow?
You'll find that happen often with a thin knife. "
 
Who would import possums? Were they pets? Did they hide on ships unnoticed, like mice? They look a lot like 20-pound rats, they seem hard to miss and harder to love.
 
Common word around here in the Pacific NW is that possums were introduced by people from the south who came to work in the shipyards in WWII, cause they liked to eat them. I haven't tried to determine how true it is though.
 
I'm not sure why possums were introduced to NZ either. Meat may have been the reason as NZ had NO warm-blooded animals other than birds. It was quite common for ships to "seed" islands with animals and plants useful for food. Captain Cook introduced pigs to NZ on one of his visits. Among the wild pid population there are sometimes found black, razor-backed specimens said to be descendents of thes original imports and called, strangely enough "captaian cookers".

As for keeping possums as pets, it is done. See one of the above posts!
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would guess that your native opossum is a different species from our N. American variety. Yours is probably the same marsupial that inhabits part of Australia, judging from geography. Our opossum does not bark ("rrruff-ruf!"), or eat bark. Although they do take some ripe sweet fruit that falls on the ground, they are mainly carnivorous. They are one of North America's most effective mousers. People around here don't realize the incredible ecological benefit of the N.American opossum, because of the lack of "cuteness factor" when they see them in their head lights as they fly by at night, or splattered along the road.

Southern Australia NEEDS some more good mousers from what I've seen on TV & publications. There is a major plague of mice that have eaten generational farmers out of house and home and driven up the price of grains, livestock dramatically. Sorry to get carried away. I know this isn't a possum forum. I understand what you are talking about Nightingale. I have nothing against meat hunting. Our opossums used to be used for their warm furs too, by the way. I guess that isn't a factor in New Zealand. I'm not an animal activist. Just a opossum fan. Forget trees Al Gore! Hug a possum! Possums are awesome!
biggrin.gif


By the way, I saw a major Battle Axe that a missionary from N.Z. showed me. Looked like the one used by Chichingagook in the remake of The Last of the Mohicans! Have you ever seen one of those big knives Nightingale? I think they're awesome too. I'd like to visit your country someday.

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"But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." --Jesus Christ (Luke 22:36) See John 3:15- 18


 
Equalizer - possums are NOT native to New Zealand, and that's the problem. They were introduced from Australia by early European settlers ("early" European is about 175 years ago in NZ). I couldn't swear to it but I think "our" possums are mostly vegeterian but may stretch as far as insects. I havn't heard of them taking mice, but I may be under-informed.

You'd probably love NZ - most do. Especially if you're an outdoors type. I miss it myself - I've been living in Taiwan the last three years.
 
Now back to knives.

For folder I would try Kershaw 1410 and for fixed Irie Sport 200.

I have both and they are very nice and useful knives. I can send you pictures if you want.

David

Well, I sent you those pictures already.

[This message has been edited by David1967 (edited 04 November 1999).]
 
You might want to check out the Fällkniven WM. This is 2.75" blade made of VG-10, full tang, strong, sharp and really nice. Available from Chai Cutlery.

Tom
 
Cheap but very nice ,I used it coon hunting for many years,OLD TIMER SHARP FINGER it has a small blade and it is a fixed blade,I think it is the best skinner around,And a very SHARP POINT!!!
 
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