What knife would hold a good edge to cut open round bales

L

Ltec

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Apr 13, 2016
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As above. I bought my father an opinel and after 2 round bales it was blunt. I like the look of a benchmade mini grip 556 but it probably wouldn't work that well if it got silage around the lock bit
What knife would you recommend
 
I'm pretty sure round bales aren't exactly a tough materials to cut. Get a svord peasant folder, it's proven the test of time
 
You want a hay knife, dude.

HayKnife.jpg
 
#serrations!

But just in case; bales of what? Hay bales, or cloth, or what? Just cutting straps, or opening them up and cutting the contents too.?
 
Ltec said:
As above. I bought my father an opinel and after 2 round bales it was blunt. I like the look of a benchmade mini grip 556 but it probably wouldn't work that well if it got silage around the lock bit
What knife would you recommend
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Are these wrapped bales or string/wire bound bales?

Either way, the HK Mini or Regular Axis would probably work pretty well. You might also look at a Spyderco PM2. Pretty open design that shouldn't clog up easily.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
You want a hay knife, dude.

HayKnife.jpg
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If there is One person that contributes to this forum on a regular basis that I would listen to about these types of cutting implements, it is this man right here...

Be it bill hooks, machetes, hay knives, scythes or other comparatively obscure or farm/field cutting tool, this is your guy.
 
Bales of hay? Cotton? Fiberglass insulation? Straw? Three of these are going to be hard on an edge and I'd recommend a serrated knife. The cotton I'm not sure of.
 
Nothing wrong with the Opinel, just what you are trying to cut. Bail tine comes in all type: nylon, nylon covered wire, steel strapping. Serrated blades do work well on hard nylon, but I find Knipex snips are better. Felco C7 is supposed to be even better.
Straight edges fair poorly on farm grade nylon cordage. That cord if full of rubbish and infamous for taking an edge off anything.

And what has been said below, completely agree:
 
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In my experience all bales are going to have a little dust on them. It's the dust and debris on a round bale that dulls a blade, it's less about the steel and more about the technique. I use bales bound with nylon mesh. If I slash across the round bale it severely dulls the blade, but if I slip under the nylon mesh and put my edge outward it stays much sharper. Dust is incredibly abrasive, and regardless of what a company may do to market it, no steel will ever be as hard as dust. It's like dragging a blade through incredibly fine sand.

Sharpen it back up and avoid cutting into the hay where there could be dust or fine debris.
 
MarkN86 said:
In my experience all bales are going to have a little dust on them. It's the dust and debris on a round bale that dulls a blade, it's less about the steel and more about the technique. I use bales bound with nylon mesh. If I slash across the round bale it severely dulls the blade, but if I slip under the nylon mesh and put my edge outward it stays much sharper. Dust is incredibly abrasive, and regardless of what a company may do to market it, no steel will ever be as hard as dust. It's like dragging a blade through incredibly fine sand.

Sharpen it back up and avoid cutting into the hay where there could be dust or fine debris.
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If that is the case, what about a Benchmade seatbelt cutter, or a designated gut hook in a high abrasion resistant steel?
 
A well-sharpened hay knife cuts into a round bale like a hot knife through butter. The teeth keep the hay and twine from slipping off, especially when the edges have become slightly dulled. It's easily touched up every few uses with a scythe stone.
 
Sorry round bales of silage. I cut an x on the plastic wrap and strip it off. Then with the round bale on the tipper we cut along the netting on each side below the tipper arms so when we set it down we can lift the rest of the netting away.
Some of the netting is pulled away into the silage so some of the silage is being cut as well to get it off. He had a serrated kitchen knife which worked okay but it got lost and I thought I was doing a good thing by buying him a proper knife, but obviously not
I was so gutted I was going to buy him another knife with better steel and put more money into it but obviously I'm wasting my money
 
I open round bales on an almost daily basis using whatever knife I have on me everything from a spyderco assist to a blurple manix. Never had a problem.

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I was wondering what other knives you have been using to cut this twine (other than the Opinel)? That can't be your only experience to date.

Assuming that we're not talking metal (wire), I lean toward a better quality Spyderco folder in higher grade steel than VG-10. Something like the Para Military 2 should work just fine. But there are a lot of choices including one of my favorites the Native. Blade length shouldn't matter as much as holding an edge. Just remember, the higher grade steels tend to be harder to sharpen.
 
Funny, I was going to say old serrated bread knife. Must be a world wide modern farming problem, with same old time solution.... just don't tell the Mrs's.
 
Wasn't the hay knife intended to cut hay out of a pile? It fell out of use after round bales, iirc

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The steel in Opinels will not be as hard as most high end folders and a more expensive knife probably would hold up a little longer. I usually carry a big beater fixed blade when I'm doing outside work around the place, it's actually a Cold Steel Latin machete cut down to 12" that I use to slip in beneath the binding and pry outward to cut, so even when it's dulled some I can still use the leverage to cut. If a simple serrated kitchen knife works great there's nothing wrong with using one, sometimes the best solution is the simplest.

Does anyone sell a knife similar to the CRKT Bear Claw in something other than butter knife steel? That would be a REALLY good tool for this kind of task. And I kind of like the design myself and would like to know where I can find one not in AUS4.
 
I did a thread on it not so long ago: Skrama. Its my new favourite big boys toy. I use knives a lot and I really like this.
Its a pretty different from the norm, very adaptable, very sharp, great steel, and not overly too a high ticket price (even with postal costs from Europe). A couple of people are getting them and I'm sure will give their two cents worth over the next few weeks:
IMGP7497.jpg


There is only one place you can get them from:
https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/terava-skrama-bush-knife-carbon-steel/28025

Here is my thread on another forum. I've been shouting its praises a bit because I think it is exceptionally good and a bit different :
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139115
 
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