What knife / knives would you take on an Alaskan bear hunt?

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Paliden

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Mar 26, 2006
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A friend of mine is planning a bear hunt in Alaska this fall and asked what kind/s of knives he should take along. not having been to Alaska nor hunted bear i thought this would be a good place to pose such a question. so if you were going what would you take and why?
thanks
 
Paliden said:
A friend of mine is planning a bear hunt in Alaska this fall and asked what kind/s of knives he should take along. not having been to Alaska nor hunted bear i thought this would be a good place to pose such a question. so if you were going what would you take and why?
thanks
Click to expand...

I would take all kinds - big ones - medium ones - and small ones.....:D

Big knives - survival - chop brush, fire wood.
Medium - food prep - daily choirs?
Small - personal use - cut a rope, clean finger nails, whittle around the camp fire....

It would be a great trip - be safe.

TA
 
I am guessing it will be a guided hunt as most just don't jump into the Alaskan wilderness on their own. So, no game prepping would be necessary. I would have a 5-7" fixed blade for camp and my usual pocket knife.
 
Consider 3 if it is a guided hunt. My 4-5" fixed blade that goes on all trips. My EDC Drifter($20 - lose it and I can replace it easy enough) and a $50-$100 fixed blade as an additional tip for the guide beyond the normal 10% price of the hunt. Guide are always breaking, losing and lending out equipment to hunters, so why not help out where you can. Reason is two fold, bring another person into a quality knife and if you can pull off a semi-custom or custom from a maker here on the forum, then you may bring a new person into our ranks. After seeing how reasonable some of the makers are here for a fixed blade, I will likely never purchase another production fixed blade from a major manufacture again. That is until they invent a light sabre.
 
Black or Brown bear?

Browns require out of state residents to have a guide. Unguided is a whole different story than guided when it comes to the tools you need to bring.

Also where exactly is he going?? What part of Alaska? It does matter where. The terrain and weather vary greatly in Alaska. The recommendation has as much to do where as anything.
 
Kodiak by Mike Carter
KodiakWprops.jpg
 
For dressing game I prefer a 4" drop point (Loveless pattern) and a smaller 2"-2.5" blade for the fine caping. As noted it's going to depend a lot on what he'll be doing, and where. My smaller knife usually gets a lot of work on birds and fish too.

Bear can dull a blade quickly if he doesn't know how to work the hide; if possible leave that work to someone with experience.
 
A skinner and a caper is the only two knives he will need. If he is out of state and going on a brown/grizzly bear hunt. He should just observe the guide or the packer and take mental notes.
 
thanks guys, I am glad this thread has had so much response. since i posted it i was out of town attending the nasp national tournament where my daughter was competing and am just now getting to reply to your responses. He will be on a guided hunt out along some of the rivers, i don't know exactly where but i do know they plan on being out for a solid week and will be camping on a barge in the middle of the river,(away from the bears). i was thinking of a 3.5-4" drop point skinner and some kind of camp knife in the 6-7" range. even with a guide i wouldn't want to be that far out from civilization without an adequate knife or two. for the skinner i was thinking of something like this:
HPIM2310.jpg

for the camp knife something similar just a little larger. so what do you think?
 
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