What makes a good bird and trout knife?

T

TomFetter

Joined
Dec 6, 2004
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Thinking about this lately - what are the best design features of a really good bird and trout knife? Some have a slight drop point, but more have an upswept point. Some are flexible enough to fillet a fish easily, others are stiff to be more useful as a utility knife too. Maybe 4" length tops - usually a bit less. Most have a fairly fine point - though you'd think that could be a bit fragile in the field.

All I've seen are pretty slim, with a slim handle. Fairly thin blade too, and I don't think I've ever seen one with a hollow or a scandi grind.

What is the thing you like best about your favourite bird and trout knife - what makes it work so well?
 
this one is my favorite so far...and yes, I'm biased. :D

KreinPanfish.jpg

(the yellow micarta one)



But the basic gist being a 3.5"-4" blade, not too tall, 1/8" or 3/32" thick, very pointy, straight blade, simple handle.



Interested to see what others like in a bird-n-trout...
 
If you look at the various manufacturers bird and trout pocket knives, you will see some similar blade shapes repeated. I don't hunt bird and don't have a personal opinion. I wouldn't think a fixed blade neccesary. I have a real long fixed blade fishing knife I almost never use, though for the larger fish around here in Montana it's good, and would be for big bass.



munk
 
When I lived on Vancouver Island, I had a really good, long, fillet knife, that had been made for commercial fishermen. Maybe an 8" blade. Very springy steel - was perfect for doing really big salmon, halibut etc. Way over-sized for trout though.

My wife liked it so much that she stole it for the kitchen - eventually, metal fatigue right at the edge of the handle claimed it ... snapped off. Shoulda been tempered softer right there, but on a commercial grade knife ... 10 years was a pretty good run.
 
That's what mine looks like- flexable thin steel. Tom, there are a couple real strangely shaped blades for Bird hunting. I only hunted a little, chukar in Ca so really don't know why the blades would be so strange- but all the manufacturers carry them, so I know it's a proven design. I'm guessing for taking feathers off or pulling the innards out.


munk
 
TomFetter said:
When I lived on Vancouver Island, I had a really good, long, fillet knife, that had been made for commercial fishermen. Maybe an 8" blade. Very springy steel - was perfect for doing really big salmon, halibut etc. Way over-sized for trout though.

My wife liked it so much that she stole it for the kitchen - eventually, metal fatigue right at the edge of the handle claimed it ... snapped off. Shoulda been tempered softer right there, but on a commercial grade knife ... 10 years was a pretty good run.
Click to expand...

Mount that broken blade between two scales with about 3" to 4" of blade sticking out, and you will have a good answer to the question posed by this thread.

PS - Just took the in-laws up to see Victoria a few weeks ago. Beautiful place!
 
Kind of a wierd thing...

I don't know much about the bird part of it, but as far as trout, I've always been happy enough with the Victorinox adventurer I've carried since I was 17 or 18 (I'm 33 now) that I've never bothered with anything else.

The knife bug has hit me pretty hard, so I'm considering another order from Ragweed. When I do, I might have him throw one of these in:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/9601.jpg

for $11, a guy can't go too far wrong, also a real nice price point if the River Gods demand a sacrifice.:D

The main one I'm ordering though is this one:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/9614.jpg (Not a good B&T knife, eh?);)
 
Howard, I kept the blade for some time, intending to do just that. But we lived in an apartment just then ... and I didn't have tools (yet) ... and eventually it disappeared. Rats.

RWS, I love the "main" knife you're ordering from Ragnar - very pretty indeed, though yeah, a bit hefty for most of the birds or trout I'm likely to meet. I've got a love/hate thing going with the plastic handled Moras though ... great steel, but I hate HATE the plastic handles/sheaths. However practical and cheap. Wouldn't be surprised if the River Gods agreed ...
 
Ka-Bar LITTLE FINN is a lovely little knife. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BT1G6C/ref=nosim/102-5314942-2185754?n=3375251


Katnas Kagne also works very well if you re-handle it.

But a bird and trout knife is different from a filleting knife, and really--almost any small (3-4 inch) bladed knife would work well for small game and fishes.

If you are leaving the knife in the tackle box or game bag, you might want to consider rust-free metal. ?Rostfrei?

Have fun. You can get thousands of knives in this range and still be looking at the horizon for "the perfect one.":D
 
TomFetter said:
RWS, I love the "main" knife you're ordering from Ragnar - very pretty indeed, though yeah, a bit hefty for most of the birds or trout I'm likely to meet. I've got a love/hate thing going with the plastic handled Moras though ... great steel, but I hate HATE the plastic handles/sheaths. However practical and cheap. Wouldn't be surprised if the River Gods agreed ...
Click to expand...


Gotta agree witcha. My leatherwork is just now getting slightly better than the ugly plastic stuff. One temptation I'm considering is taking one of those super tough differentially tempered plastic handled Moras and rehandling it.....

So many irons in the fire right now, but I still think it would be way far neat-o.:D
 
Now, I haven't actually caught a trout in...hell, over a year now, since I don't really fish. ("Fishing" implies the possibility of success, as in that there may be fish involved. I just kill worms all afternoon.) However, back when I did catch them, I took them back home and processed them in my kitchen so portability wasn't an issue. A cheap paring knife worked just fine for me. The only knife that I kept in the boat was my beat-to-hell CS Voyager (consigned to my tackle box when the lock started loosening) for cutting lines and such. I do not take anything with me that I'm not prepared to drop over the side and thus, I would be very hesitant to take a good knife fishing.

Now that I think about it, though, an Opinel would be just about perfect, wouldn't it? Very sharp, very thin, and if the Deep Ones decide to steal it from you you're only out a couple of bucks.
 
An Opinel might even float, cheating the River Gods. Whether that would be a wise thing or not ...
 
Bird and Trout? Just made a belt/boot knife that'd probably gut them critters. Blade's 4 3/4" long, 7/8" wide, 1/8" thick, full convex ground, and file worked on the spine, so your thumb don't slip when "making your point". Handle is some of the hickory I had left over from another knife. Waste not, want not. ;)

attachment.php


Sarge
 
I've hunted and fished most of my life, mostly small game and trout. I think something like Dan Koster posted is about perfect. I've been making a few variants on the bird and trout style, and find a slight upswept point slightly better for bird cleaning. Anything with a fine sharp point is the way to go, and I also prefer convexed edges. I like a slim handle with with a round profile so either edge up or down is comfortable to use.
 
Only problem with an Opinel is the wood swelling around the pivot.

Of course, I got my own Opinel worked over so that's no longer a problem.

(Filed and sanded the inside of the handle at the pivot area, surprisingly it works fine wet or dry, and didn't even develop any blade wobble)
 
I still don't know about Birds and Trout, but that new knife handled a rattlesnake just fine this evening. Skinned him, gutted him, and cut him up into bite size pieces (I smother fried him in a gravy made from butter, beer, flour, garlic, onion, and some sage, salt, and pepper). :D
Normally, I observe a strict policy of non-aggression toward my scaly friends, as they keep mice and such in check, but this one was on the archery range this afternoon, and there were way too many friendlies in the grid square for me to let him slide. Nothing too dramatic, I keep an old Brazilian machete with a 14" blade around the place to deal with weeds and brush. A flick of the wrist, executing a perfectly placed snipe cut, and the snake was decapitated so cleanly that his head plunked to the ground right next to his now writhing body.
Somewhere up in heaven an old Marine is grinning. Yes Jerry, aka Pappy, we miss ya hoss. For them that don't know what I'm talking about, Pappy was an A-number-one pistol ball when it came to lopping heads off of snakes. Generally preferred a sirupati for such frivolity. :cool:

Sarge
 
Why am I not surprised that Sarge's entry into the "bird and trout" game gets its first outing on rattlesnake.:D But you've seen through my clever plan - trolling the collective wisdom for design ideas. I bought a grinder the other day, and it seemed to me that an 8" file might be just about the right size stock to use for a slender bird and trout (or boot) knife. Not that I'm expecting the first one to be anything too special ...
 
Tom?

You'll do fine. Wear protection.

Remember, knives used to be chipped from rocks. Just improve on that, and you will be on your way.;)
 
Tom, an eight inch Nicholson mill bastard file will indeed be perfect for what you want to make. It should yield a blade width of 3/4", and a thickness at the spine of 3/32". Ought to make a sweet little knife for birds, trout, rattlersnakes and such. Good luck and git 'r done.

Killing that rattlesnake on the archery range bothered me a bit, not the doing of it, but the need to do it. I've never seen a venomous snake on that property when El Padron was around patrolling his territory. El Padron is a large adult male roadrunner, with beautiful plumage, and he's one crackerjack snake fighter of a bird. Uses his wings just like a matador's cape, and fights with grace, tenacity, and great courage. We suffered a pretty severe drought this year in central Texas, and I've sadly not seen El Padron in months. I can only hope he's well, and that he'll return to his home range when conditions improve, I miss that big goofy bird. :(

greater_roadrunner_2.jpg


Sarge
 
Inspired by Sarge and company, here's my first kick at a bird and trout knife. An old file (formerly my dad's) supplied the steel, and a piece of maple from the firewood pile supplied the handle.

birdandtrout1editedkf9.jpg


birdandtrout2editedbn0.jpg


birdandtrout3editedkq0.jpg
 
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