"Ultimate" Hunting Knife

A.McPherson

A.McPherson

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jan 27, 2012
Messages
2,933
Now I know this is kinda subjective... heck, very subjective! But if you were to try to design the "ultimate" hunting knife, what would you do?

A buddy of mine asked me to make him a Hunter, but was pretty vague about exactly what he wanted, other than a sort of "buck" shaped blade...

Anyway input please!
 
I would ask him to show you a picture of what he feels is a Buck style blade and then go from there.
 
I think the true ultimate hunting knife is a lot more modest than even hunters themselves often want.

If you have to pick a single knife, I think a medium sized drop point on the slimmer side is probably the safest bet.

A lot of my local customers that are hunters order small trailing and drop point blades, usually in the 7-8" OAL and 3-4" blade range. Hidden and full tang, flat and hollow ground are are all popular.

If I was only to carry a single knife, I'd want it a bit larger, but it could start to become cumbersome for the most common tasks. It isn't uncommon for dedicated hunters to carry multiple blades.
 
3.5" - 4.5" Clip or Drop point with no bells and whistles. No nooks and crannies, easy to clean is a must.
 
I carry a Custom 3 1/2" Blade - Drop Point /Hollow Grind with a 4 1/2" Handle W/rough Stag to keep from slipping when the
""rain"" starts.!** ( When I Hog hunt it is a 4" Handle w/a 3' Blade SS - w/Flat Grind.!) <<< works for me.!!
 
I have watched a lot of youtube videos, to see what people are using to dress out deer. Looks like a lot of drop-points, and about 4" average blade length. I saw one guy do the whole job with a delicate little caper, except opening up the chest with a t-handle saw. Another guy doesn't even bother opening up the chest. He just reaches up under the rib cage to get the trachea. Long arms I guess.
 
redsquid2 said:
I have watched a lot of youtube videos, to see what people are using to dress out deer. Looks like a lot of drop-points, and about 4" average blade length. I saw one guy do the whole job with a delicate little caper, except opening up the chest with a t-handle saw. Another guy doesn't even bother opening up the chest. He just reaches up under the rib cage to get the trachea. Long arms I guess.
Click to expand...


I don't have long arms and have done it a long time without opening the chest. However what a lot of people don't realize (which someone showed me) is if you go along the sternum where the ribs meet it, it's only held with cartilage and you can cut through it very easily with a good knife. So sawing, hacking, batoning, etc isn't really necessary. Once you find the right spot you can just pull a bit on the knife and you'll "pop" through all the ribs in seconds as you follow it up or down the chest depending on which way you go in. I've done it from the neck down and from the bottom of the rib cage up.
 
Thanks for the input guys! I really appreciate it! I'll draw something up and post it here, let me know what you think!
 
Well as long as this is a subjective question ;0)

The ultimate hunting knife should be about 4.5 inches long, drop point with a 357Mag welded to the bottom, Now there is a knife you could get some hunting done with

Even without the magnum a 4.5" drop point is pretty darn good ;0)
 
I usually hunt, and butcher several animals a year. I just ordered a custom knife, drop point, 5.5 inches in length, full flat grind. Something I figured would be a good all around knife for skinning and quartering animals in the field. 5.5 is a little longer than most people want, the most popular seems to be around a 4 inch blade. I prefer a drop point, but it depends on what your hunting too.
 
I've been hunting a long time, and have field dressed my share of whitetail, along with a few elk, antelope, and mule deer. I get a chuckle out of the newbies that show up with gigantic blades. They usually don't use them for long.

Much of the work done inside the chest cavity is done by feel. I do not want a long and unwieldy blade in there because you will end up cutting something you didn't want to......mainly your other hand. I used a Benchmade 190 drop point hunter for a very long time and recently switched to a Bark River Huntsman. Big blades are fun to play with around the campfire, but the serious work gets done for me with the small blades.

I also carry a small pack axe with me for splitting the pelvic bone and chest cavity.

The top two knives in this pic have probably gutted, skinned and butchered 50+ deer.

 
Ultimate hunter eh? Let’s see; I’m thinking a 9”+ blade with a giant guthook AND a saw-toothed spine, some ‘blood grooves’, a glow-in-the-dark compass in the handle, no guard/choil of any type and a thick blade with a fat edge for chopping through bone and jammed outhouse doors…

Now other people are probably going to tell you different. Ignore them, they are wrong.

Seriously though; what all does your buddy hunt? Any idea on how well he generally maintains his gear? How good is he at sharpening? Pick your steel, then pick your pattern and edge geometry for the intended use.

As already stated, it’s probably hard to beat a 3 to 4” drop- or trailing-point pattern ground thin with synthetic slabs. Edge geometry and safety come first IMHO (cutting only the right stuff matters more while in the boonies). Versatility and ability to be cleaned well/easily in the field are also key variables.

A lot of folks have tried to re-invent the wheel on this particular quest. While it's thought provoking, very few have had enduring success. I suggest you not stray too far from the well-beaten trail on this one. A high-quality workup of a simple hunter design beats all the bells and whistles ever imagined.
 
These are my last two knives I used in the field. The black one has a 4.25 inch blade the other has a 3.75 inch blade. Both went through a deer and an elk in their respective year which was 2012 and 2013. But I forgot to test the side load! :eek: Jess
Black Micarta.JPG wormwood.jpg
 
h20oni said:
Now I know this is kinda subjective... heck, very subjective! But if you were to try to design the "ultimate" hunting knife, what would you do?

A buddy of mine asked me to make him a Hunter, but was pretty vague about exactly what he wanted, other than a sort of "buck" shaped blade...

Anyway input please!
Click to expand...
Nebulous question of the third kind. I'm quite happy with a KISS, vintage and sharp piece of high carbon steel, without a slippery plastic handle, whereas others out there (that probably have never field-dressed a large animal before) will want all manner of advertized goodness including the ability to chop trees, kill bears, text, look pretty, never rust or get dull, and make coffee. You can't have everything. I don't think there is an 'ultimate hunting knife' except to the very people that actually use them, and this almost certainly does not include the flavour-of-the-month fashion products of cash-hungry makers that cater to every whim of 'wannabe' folks that happen to have fat wallets.
 
I agree with everyone above. All the guys around here are using 3.5-4.25" blades. I don't hunt, but make knives for some of the locals. A lot are using raised clip blades, wide belly, comfortable contoured handle. One wanted a 6" blade, used it for 1/2 of a deer, and switched it out. It was too fatiguing to use such a long blade for the task.
 
I had one customer who dressed his elk each year with a new 10" Damascus Bowie.
4 years straight. Finally said he had enough Bowies.
Just saying that the "perfect" hunting knife is the one that's perfect for the user.

Personally, I like a 4 5/8" hunter.
I've dressed a train load of deer over a 40+ year deer hunting run.
This is my current deer hunting "carry knife" for the last 3 years:

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top