ULTIMATE Ultimate Hunter

Spinny

Spinny

Joined
Jan 6, 2014
Messages
439
Just wanted to share my UH mod over here. When I first saw this knife earlier in the year I was a little turned off by the rather bull nosed tip. However all of the overwhelming praise led me to purchasing this recently. But after owning it for a couple of weeks, the lack of a decent tip led me to stop carrying this otherwise great knife. So I took matters into my own hands.

Before:

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After a couple of hours of grinding:

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BOOYA! The edge profile is unchanged and the tip is exactly where it was. Just changed the geometry of the spine for much better piercing. Even a hunter needs to poke something every now and then :)
 
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Great mod! If the original looked like that I would already have one. Good job.

What did you use to take it down and how did you protect the temper?
 
DocT said:
What did you use to take it down and how did you protect the temper?
Click to expand...

Here was the basic process:

1) Remove blade.
2) Mask off everything that wasn't being ground, so only the part of the spine that was being "clipped" was exposed.
3) Spend next 30-45 minutes with my dremel in one hand and the blade in the other, dipping the blade in a bucket of water after every couple of passes of grinding. Holding the blade in my hand instantly gave me feedback as to how warm it was getting. 90% of the grinding was done this way.
4) Reinstall the blade and finish grinding by hand on my Japanese water stones. No heat generated here and this removed any of the steel that was ever exposed to higher temperatures.
 
Very nice mod. I've been known to mod a few blades over at Spyderco. I like reshaping the steels. In that large, bullnose blade, you could do all sorts of things. In fact, I can see a nice curved clip with a swedge in there somewhere waiting to come out. You're giving me ideas. Yours and Mr. Graley's look real nice. Thanks for sharing.

- Jazzz.
 
It is odd that Cold Steel would call this design "Ultimate Hunter" when the blade profile is not perfect for hunting.
A hunting knife needs a point to puncture when making the initial field dressing cut around the anus. This area is loose tissue that is easier to cut by puncturing through it and then slicing around the anus. With the design of this blade you would have to make this cut entirely by slicing, which is doable but not as slick as starting with a puncture with a sharp blade tip.
Very professional modification here. Most impressive.
kj
 
I am sure that CS called this the Ultimate Hunter as it's a homage (design wise) to Bob Loveless' Drop Point Hunter.
The modification is perfect and personally I like it better than the original.

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jazzz said:
In that large, bullnose blade, you could do all sorts of things. In fact, I can see a nice curved clip with a swedge in there somewhere waiting to come out.
Click to expand...

I thought about different shapes, but in the end decided to go with the most straightforward yet effective approach. Plus I didn't want to take on more than I could chew and end up with something looking messed up. A bowie style swedge and concave clip would've been nice, but then I'd have been worried about consistent angles and matching both sides, etc. And I'd have easily doubled my work time since my equipment is pretty limited. But I can definitely respect those that go all out...

Which Spydercos have you done? I'm generally pleased with most of their blade profiles...
 
Of course a Barkie and a Fallkniven are the perfect profiles. My Woodland Special and Fox River are two of my favorites. Once you have a knife with a fantastic shape, it starts to be come obvious when something is less than perfect.....ie Ultimate Hunter.
 
kootenay joe said:
It is odd that Cold Steel would call this design "Ultimate Hunter" when the blade profile is not perfect for hunting.
A hunting knife needs a point to puncture when making the initial field dressing cut around the anus. This area is loose tissue that is easier to cut by puncturing through it and then slicing around the anus. With the design of this blade you would have to make this cut entirely by slicing, which is doable but not as slick as starting with a puncture with a sharp blade tip.
Very professional modification here. Most impressive.
kj
Click to expand...

Mine came with a point. Looks like a "Kephart."
"Its blade and handle are each 4-1/4 inches long, the blade being 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick on the back, broad pointed, and continued through the handle as a hasp and riveted to it. It is tempered hard enough to cut green hardwood sticks, but soft enough so that when it strikes a knot or bone it will, if anything, turn rather than nick; then a whetstone soon puts it in order."
Click to expand...

It is noticeable that most "hunting" knives have a sharper point.
 
kootenay joe said:
It is odd that Cold Steel would call this design "Ultimate Hunter" when the blade profile is not perfect for hunting.
A hunting knife needs a point to puncture when making the initial field dressing cut around the anus. This area is loose tissue that is easier to cut by puncturing through it and then slicing around the anus. With the design of this blade you would have to make this cut entirely by slicing, which is doable but not as slick as starting with a puncture with a sharp blade tip.
Very professional modification here. Most impressive.
kj
Click to expand...

While methods of dressing deer definitely vary among hunters and regions, I've never started a deer by cuttng around the anus. The reason simply being that I've guttted it in the field first before bring it back, hanging it for skinning and dressing. The anus is removed by cutting from the back end of the guttig slit. No piercing involved. In field dressing, puncturing is a big no no, you can puncture the internal organs. Puncturing a full bladder can ruin the backstraps. Overcutting is something a hunter wants to avoid. So a relatively short blade length knife precise control with a prominent belly with just enough point to penetrate the skin and start a cut was considered an "ideal" knife by Robert Loveless. The drop point hunter was his answer. The comcept has infuenced countless knives of all makers and
can be seen in the Pendleton Hunter and Master Hunter. Prior to this the "hunting knife" was basically a bowie knife variation, and modification to emphasize the "belly" produced classics like the Buck 119.
 
Ken, so you are cutting the rectum/anal canal out entirely from above ? As i said my first cut is around the anus and then slicing through the loose tissue around the anal canal & rectum until i am at the level of the pelvic inlet. Then i can go in from above through the gutting slit and pull the rectum etc out from above.
I too think a Loveless style blade is the ideal profile. What i think is not "ultimate" about this Cold Steel is that there is too much 'belly' close to the tip. This is what the O.P. slimmed down with his modification and thus made the blade closer to "ultimate".
The gutting i do usually occurs in the field and then the animal is either halved or quartered and packed or dragged out to the ATV. At other times the deer or elk is on the lawn and then i skid the entire animal to the wood shed and haul him up with a gambrel & block & tackle, gutting out as i raise him up.
kj
 
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No I am cutting from below (cavity area) not above. But either way, I am cutting rather than penetrating.
I can see the argument that the CS Ultimate Hunter has too much belly towards the front, which is why many
knifemakers and companies modified the original Loveless design. Not to mebtion that RWL himself had variations
on his own design. Like I said, I personally prefer the "modified" version. But if we accuse the CS Ultimate Hunter
of not being ideal for a hunter, we can also question whether a "hunter" knife should be a folder in the first
place. When I use to use my Carbon V Master Hunter at the end we'd all throw our knives in a bucket of water and wash
them the next morning. I wonder how much blood and flesh is going to end up in a folder's working parts.
To be honest, I have never met any deer hunter that used a folding knife for dressing a deer and I alwauys assumed
that cleaning might be the cause. Same would apply to folding fish filet knives.
I used to gut out while raising with block and tackle too but dumping the washing bucket of guts became too much of
a chore and leaving it in the field for the critters became was easier.
 
Spinny said:
Which Spydercos have you done?
Click to expand...

First of all, I hope you don't think I was saying you could do better (it looks awesome) - just rambling about the possibilities with all that steel to mod. I'll show a couple, but this is a Cold Steel forum.

An example of what I mean about lots of steel to work with...


Same model - different mod...


My Native mod...


- best wishes, Jazz.
 
I like my ultimate hunter for several reasons. But I like your modifification if the blade better than the original. I occasionally like to be able to do fine work with the knife point.
 
I don't hunt so as far as functionality goes, I have no thoughts either way. Yours looks better though.
 
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