Whats the best fixed blade hunting knife under $100.00

I suggest a different approach. For field dressing a deer, you need no more than a blade longer than your index finger, slight drop point and any steel will do. A great knife for deer is the swiss army Hunter(not the Huntsman) model that has a curved gutting blade. Even has a drawing of Bambi on it.
 
Billy Watson makes a very very nice forged integral guard basic hunter in 1095 with a nice handmade pouch sheath for just a tad over 100 bucks. I have 2 of them and as fine a handmade forged knife as you'll find for the bucks. He has a website too. BillyWatsonknives.com, least ways I think that is it. All that being said my main hunting knife for the past 20yrs is a CS Master Hunter in Carbon V. If you can find one grab it but it may just be more than a hundred bones now. keepem sharp
 
Strike 3 said:
The Bark River line,Upland model .It has the A-2 steel.Is it a pain to take care of ? As far as keeping sharp and what about the rust factor ? I want to break it out when I need it not sit and polish it on my down time.Or maybe there is another blade type to look at.
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A2 will require this kind of attention because it rusts very easy and BR does not believe in coatings. They have however some models with Sandvic 12C27 which is swedish stainless.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
You have to check out the Cold steel master hunter plus. if you look at thebladeshop.com they have a great price on it, and Cold Steel has VG-1 laminated, not VG-10 which they also tested for physical strength, toughness, sharpness and edge retention and VG-1 surpassed it in all areas. i own one, and the kraton handle is very comfortable, the blade feels good to use, its not too big, the gut hook comes in handy, the sheath will allow you to pull it out only when you want it out, it wont fall out by accident. all synthetic and stainless materials, you could go diving with this knife so you dont have to paranoid about any rotting, warping, or cracking of any parts.
 
Im looking at all of the ideas being thrown in on this thread.I have been hitting a few stores when I get some time so I can get a better idea on the way the knife feels.I have been seeing the new 2008 line ups coming around lately as well.There are some huge mark downs to make way for the new stuff. Lots of good choices,Thanks and keep em coming.
 
Cold Steel Master Hunter with Carbon V steel (not stainless, so keep it oiled down), flat grind, distal taper (slices like crazy), won't slip when wet, takes and holds a great edge, great balance. It's the best all around skinner i've used, best of luck in your search.
 
Is the D-2 steel a good thing for use on a hunting knife? How much work is to to keep it sharp in the field or can it be touched up with a hand tool ? The type of tool that runs down the blade a few times and back in your pack ?
 
I have several D2 knives. I doubt you'll need to ever sharpen one in the field, as they are edge holders in the extreme. IF you did have to field sharpen one, I would definitely look into a pocket sized diamond hone, as most of the compact EZ type sharpeners won't faze D2 much.
 
For hunting, D2 is good, I would look into a high hollow grind - Dozier. But that is considerably over your $100 limit. The high hollow grind makes it easy to sharpen with a dmt duo fold blue/red. Avoid the pull through, they will rip your edge like crazy and damage it.

For under $100, either a Fallkniven F1, CS Master Hunter in Carbon V, or a Queen 4180 in D2.
 
How about a Grohman #1 - 50 bucks gets you a hunter and camper:

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or a real US Schrade Sharpmaker - fantastic control hunting knife for field dressing.
 
Here are some different examples: L-R Bark River 'Huntsman' (Black Micarta - convex-ground A2 steel.); Benchmade 201 'Activator+' (Winewood - D2 steel.); and Buck 192 'Vanguard' (420HC).

They were $118, $82, and $66 delivered. You could get the Cabela's-only 'Alaskan Guide 192' in black Al-Ti-N coated S30V steel delivered for $100, too.

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Stainz
 
I think the handle issue is fairly important. I had occasion a few years ago to tackle a monster buck way bigger than me with a Buck 692. While the blade was pretty close to perfect the rubber handle caused a little of my own blood to soon mix with the blood of the deer while reaching up into the chest cavity to my elbows to detach the trachea. Loosely summed up rubber handles get incredibly slippery when covered with hot blood. I have never experienced that problem to that degree with a leather handled knife. All of the CS products have rubberized blades and while I used an SRK this year on one, trust me when I say I used extra care to avoid the wet handle phenomena.
 
A Barminski skinner ( several different styles) in vascowear from country knives. It will need to have a handle put on as it's skeletoned but it's very well made and about $70 or 80 dollars. I like vascowear better than O-1 and D2 for wear resistance. It's tougher also. Like A2 it will rust if not taken care of. Joe
 
Stainz said:
Benchmade 201 'Activator+' (Winewood - D2 steel.);
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I found my B210 works great for turkeys, chipping wood, spooning beans.

Not so well for skinning and processing.
For me, I went back to Buck 102/802 Woodsman.
I just seem to like the elegant clip point for skinning and processing.
 
Messed around with a Spyderco Bill Moran at the store the other day.Not real sure about the sheath it had with it.I was told the early mod. had a leather pouch type.The price was right,marked way down.I guess an after market sheath would work.Anyone have any time with one of these and which sheath.Thanks
 
One thing to think about, or at least give a small thought, is the sheath.
Lets take my favourite, the F1, for example:
If you are just camping and not not doing any messy jobs a leather sheath does look really cool.
If you on the other hand are hunting and gutting animals the zytel sheath is preferred since you could probably even sterilize it.
 
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