Why do knifemakers make 5" + blades and call them Hunters?

harleyguy02

harleyguy02

Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
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5 inch plus hunters ....

I saw a beautiful knife listed from a maker whose knives I really like. I open the thread and read the specs
Blade : 5".
The knife was gorgeous !! But 5" is not a Hunter to me..

I just wonder is it that some of these knifemakers don't hunt, don't get it, don't listen to hunters,
Or are just trying to make an impressive looking knife that will never see the field?

No experienced hunter I know would walk, sit, stand, climb in the woods or mountains carrying 5" of blade.

Does this bother anyone else.. Maybe bother is the wrong word..
But doesn't this strike you as the knife is named wrong ?
 
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Oh sure they do. :)

Depends on the carry mode, most will keep the Custom in their day pack or horizontal sheath so it's not in the way. ;)

Here is a Phil Wilson Custom Bow River with 4 3/4" blade, knife weighs 4 ounces.

DSC_3344.JPG


Same knife with my other 2 Phil Wilson Customs.

Top to bottom:

Bow River (4 Ounces), South Fork (5 Ounces) and Smoke Creek (3.3 Ounces).

DSC_3367.JPG
 
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Well, lots of folks in northern Europe seemed to use large knives for butching moose, caribou, etc. I guess it depends on your needs. I've seen lots of disagreements among hunters as to what works best.

Hey Ankerson, I like that Smoke chalk thing-whatever. I'll give you $20 for it. :D
 
There are so many different tasks involved in hunting that you could need a whole assortment of different knives,
depending on what you're gonna need to do. Some even use an axe to get through the bone at the pelvic area of deer and moose, for instance.
 
sodak said:
Well, lots of folks in northern Europe seemed to use large knives for butching moose, caribou, etc. I guess it depends on your needs. I've seen lots of disagreements among hunters as to what works best.

Hey Ankerson, I like that Smoke chalk thing-whatever. I'll give you $20 for it. :D
Click to expand...

Oh I guess you would. ROFL :D
 
I wonder if some of these large "hunters" are being marketed to "mighty hunters" who think they are going to use them to actually hunt the game (instead of process it). We've all seen plently of those "What knife should I use to kill a bear/mountain lion/wild boar etc etc etc" threads.
 
I have used a 4 to 5 inch blade all my life hunting, this year for my elk hunt i carried a busse boss jack, and a fehrman peacemaker on my belt all week. The boss jack is a 6 inch blade. And trust me i walk all day fully packed. I just like to have a decent sized knife on me. For my deer hunt i carried my scrapyard wardog which is i think a 5 inch blade. About perfect for everything in my opinion. Used it to gut and skin, did a perfect job for me. 4 to 5 inch is about ideal in my opinion. I also carry a smaller fixed blade and a folding knife for some detailed work.
 
What size blade do you use that you think better fits the term "hunter"? I'm not a hunter myself, so I'd be curious what length you find ideal and why.
 
harleyguy02 said:
5 inch plus hunters ....

I saw a beautiful knife listed from a maker whose knives I really like. I open the thread and read the specs
Blade : 5".
The knife was gorgeous !! But 5" is not a Hunter to me..

I just wonder is it that some of these knifemakers don't hunt, don't get it, don't listen to hunters,
Or are just trying to make an impressive looking knife that will never see the field?

No experienced hunter I know would walk, sit, stand, climb in the woods or mountains carrying 5" of blade.

Does this bother anyone else.. Maybe bother is the wrong word..
But doesn't this strike you as the knife is named wrong ?
Click to expand...

I have a customer who carries a 12.5" x 2" x .25" re-curve, full-tang, bowie blade on his 2 month hunting trip from Idaho to Wyoming to Colorado every year and has used to FD deer/elk, and a smaller 9.5" OAL guthook/skinner(both I made for him). Now he wants a huge two-handed 20" long chopper. He has been hunting for most of his life. Everyone is different, it may not be your thing to carry a large blade on a hunting trip or anywhere else but it may be someone else's thing. Some hunters I know carry just a SAK or Slip-joint, some a multi-tool, some take a small hatchet and bone saw like my granfather did, others try to find the biggest meanest knife they can carry. If what they use works for them, then it works for them. As for the name, who cares, there are several styles of any kind of knife; hunting/tactical/fighter/utility etc, if someone uses a kukri to skin game and calls it his hunting knife...so what. As for the maker naming the knife, I think a lot of us name it a hunter or tactical or whatever, based on which category it most closely falls into, and the parameters for which category usually a fairly wide because everyone has different opinions. If a customer wants it I would call it the ISHKABIBBLE blade for hunting, killing, and processing medium to large leprechauns and lawn gnomes.;)

Personally, I think the name of the knife is the least important feature and I don't devote much thought to it.:rolleyes:
 
harleyguy02 said:
5 inch plus hunters ....

I saw a beautiful knife listed from a maker whose knives I really like. I open the thread and read the specs
Blade : 5".
The knife was gorgeous !! But 5" is not a Hunter to me..

I just wonder is it that some of these knifemakers don't hunt, don't get it, don't listen to hunters,
Or are just trying to make an impressive looking knife that will never see the field?

No experienced hunter I know would walk, sit, stand, climb in the woods or mountains carrying 5" of blade.

Does this bother anyone else.. Maybe bother is the wrong word..
But doesn't this strike you as the knife is named wrong ?
Click to expand...

My go to hunting knives are all around 5". I guide deer, hog, and black bear hunts and find that anything between 4-5" will take care of most field dressing, boning, skinning, and even camp kitchen chores. I guess if you hunt squirrels and birds, then 5" is too big, cape buffalo and elephant, then 5" too small. A 5" blade with a standard clip point or drop point to me is a "hunter".
 
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The ubiquitous Buck 110 folder has been used for hunting for decades and what size is it's blade ? :)


Tostig
 
I'm a hunter, and my go-to knives are a ~4" blade folder, and a 5" blade fixed.
I generally don't jam my folders way up into a chest cavity when field dressing, so my fixed is used for that. I could certainly do it with less ("All you need is a finger's length of sharp steel"), but that's just what I'm comfortable with.
Truth be told, when I use my 5" blade, the front half toward the tip, where most of the belly is, is the part that sees the most contact. I could very easily do what's needed with a blade half as long, but again; that's what I'm comfortable with.
Also, I'm not about to carry 6 different knives, so a 4" folder and a 5" fixed will cover all my bases around camp, working on building/maintaining the boxes & stands, cooking, clearing, AND dressing/skinning/butchering/quartering.

Although... for butchering, skinning and quartering, I'm glad to have a 5" blade.

For reference, my go-to blades are:
fixed:
Buck 119
BRKT Settler
BRKT Wolf River
folding:
Buck 110
Queen Mountain Man
 
When I was a young teen and started deer hunting with my dad and his group of friends a good number of them carried and used a Buck 119 which is more than 5" and had no problems with it. My dad always used a Buck 110 and I carried a 110 knock off.
 
puukkoman said:
I'm a hunter, and my go-to knives are a ~4" blade folder, and a 5" blade fixed.
I generally don't jam my folders way up into a chest cavity when field dressing, so my fixed is used for that. I could certainly do it with less ("All you need is a finger's length of sharp steel"), but that's just what I'm comfortable with.
Truth be told, when I use my 5" blade, the front half toward the tip, where most of the belly is, is the part that sees the most contact. I could very easily do what's needed with a blade half as long, but again; that's what I'm comfortable with.
Also, I'm not about to carry 6 different knives, so a 4" folder and a 5" fixed will cover all my bases around camp, working on building/maintaining the boxes & stands, cooking, clearing, AND dressing/skinning/butchering/quartering.

Although... for butchering, skinning and quartering, I'm glad to have a 5" blade.

For reference, my go-to blades are:
fixed:
Buck 119
BRKT Settler
BRKT Wolf River
folding:
Buck 110
Queen Mountain Man
Click to expand...

I like the Buck 105 myself, which I hear little about. The narrow 5" blade does a great job on deer sized game. Also, the Fallkniven hunting series like the PHK are nice, too. I believe the Buck 110 has about a 4" blade.
 
My dad's always used the combination of a 7" blade butcher knife and a razor blade.

I do similar, with a Green River Sheep Skinner (5 3/8" blade) and a razor blade.
 
Ankerson said:
Oh sure they do. :)

Depends on the carry mode, most will keep the Custom in their day pack or horizontal sheath so it's not in the way. ;)

Here is a Phil Wilson Custom Bow River with 4 3/4" blade, knife weighs 4 ounces.

DSC_3344.JPG


Same knife with my other 2 Phil Wilson Customs.

Top to bottom:

Bow River (4 Ounces), South Fork (5 Ounces) and Smoke Creek (3.3 Ounces).

DSC_3367.JPG
Click to expand...

I've got to get me one of those Phil Wilson knives. He's only a couple hours drive from me and I hunt and fish in his neck of the woods often. He makes some beautiful knives. I'll have to see if I can pay him a visit next time I'm in his area.
 
harleyguy02 said:
5 inch plus hunters ....

No experienced hunter I know would walk, sit, stand, climb in the woods or mountains carrying 5" of blade.
Click to expand...

Maybe you need to get out more and meet more hunters from different parts of the country.

I've never seen the spec that says what size knife a hunter can carry.
I've got friends who carry everything from 3" blades to 6" blades when hunting. Know a couple of others who use folders.
I kind of fall in the middle and used to like about 4".
 
I don't know, if you look at the Marbles, Ka-Bar, Remington, etc.... lines of of the 1920's-40's, the average hunter had a 4 1/2" - 6" blade, and if anything, I'd bet most folks did more hunting and general outdoor work than many do today. Different times, Different thoughts, but not wrong.
 
I kinda like a 3 to 4 inch knife for hunting. I also think it's kind of a personal thing. Kind of like what trucks best? JMO
 
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