Show Us Your Hunting Knife

[mdwest]

I am a huge fan of the Bob Loveless drop point hunter. The top knife is made by Bark River Knives. It is called the Classic Drop Point Hunter. This one is made from S45VN steel.View attachment 575965
The smaller knife was made using a Brisa 70 blade in 12c27 steel. It is meant to be used as a companion knife to the bigger knife for more delicate work, like joints and caping.
View attachment 575966

Loveless was an absolute master.. both as a designer and as a bladesmith..

Hes another very cool example of a guy that couldnt get what he wanted.. so he decided to just make it himself... (short version of a long story is he wanted a specific Randall knife.. but there was a 9 month wait to get it... so he said to hell with it.. and learned how to make one himself.. most of his first knives were randall copies from 1950's designs).. they were so good that Abercrombie and Fitch picked him up and began selling his knives (in direct competition with the randalls.. A&F was also a randall dealer)..

I screwed up back in the early 1990's.. I got a couple of Loveless knives that Bob himself had made during the 70's for pennies on the dollar... I had a friend that was a pretty avid collector (before knife collecting was really a "thing" that wanted them more than I did and paid me dollars on the dollar value for them.. so I let them go...

Ive regretted that day ever since lol..

 

[baxterb]

HEre's a few of mine that I like:

A Joel Clark from Idaho my brother gave me for finishing college, and a 1985, first production run Gerber Exchange-A Blade. Not much these haven't done.

 

[BeeMaa]

I have to admit.. despite preferring customs and being something of a hobiest maker myself.. havalon knives are wonderful..

while they are a "production" knife and lack the "beauty" of a custom.. the blades are razor sharp, and the disposable/replaceable blade feature is super practical.. the ability to swap out different blade profiles is extremely cool as well and makes the havalon incredibly versatile

Ive got a Havalon Talon and probably a dozen blades for it.. (a few filet blades, a couple of bushcraft blades, probably a half dozen gut hook blades, and a couple of the serrated blades as well..

I havent carried it in a while.. but.. Im talking to a buddy of mine about heading to AK next year for one of the salmon runs.. If we end up doing that trip, Im going to guess the havalon with the "fishing" profile blades will be what makes the trip with me..

I carry the Havalon Forge when goose hunting because the blades are so thin (top to bottom) making quick work of breasting these birds out. Without honing the blade, they are good for about six geese before needing a change. But if you have one of those inexpensive fixed position sharpening stones, it will last much longer than that. Absolutely incredible detail work can be done with these things. BTW - make sure you wear some cut resistant gloves if you are working near your fingers. You won't even feel the blade go though your skin. That's what we call wicked sharp!

Plus I don't have to worry about the beautiful rosewood scales on my Grohmann Canadian Belt Knife.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

As you suspected @BeeMaa here is a Von Gruff Safari. It has only dressed one deer, but it’s easily the best knife have ever used. Bruce Moulds had a wonderful idea with the sheath mounted steel, a few strokes and it cuts like brand new.View attachment 424000
View attachment 423999

It’s been a few years and this knife has done about a dozen deer by this point. yes still the best knife I’ve used.

 

[CJW]

I carry the Havalon Forge when goose hunting because the blades are so thin (top to bottom) making quick work of breasting these birds out. Without honing the blade, they are good for about six geese before needing a change. But if you have one of those inexpensive fixed position sharpening stones, it will last much longer than that. Absolutely incredible detail work can be done with these things. BTW - make sure you wear some cut resistant gloves if you are working near your fingers. You won't even feel the blade go though your skin. That's what we call wicked sharp!

Plus I don't have to worry about the beautiful rosewood scales on my Grohmann Canadian Belt Knife.

Do you have any cut resistant gloves that you prefer? I'm planning on adding some to my hunting kit as I all too often end up with a knick in a finger when dressing a small animal. The other day on a bone from a grouse. I really want to limit the possibility of a bad situation way out in the woods on a bigger animal.

I will take a look at those havalons as well.

 

[BeeMaa]

Do you have any cut resistant gloves that you prefer? I'm planning on adding some to my hunting kit as I all too often end up with a knick in a finger when dressing a small animal. The other day on a bone from a grouse. I really want to limit the possibility of a bad situation way out in the woods on a bigger animal.

I will take a look at those havalons as well.

Not a specific brand I like, but I prefer a glove that is tight to the skin, so when it gets wet it doesn't "grow" too much. When I'm at Lowe's or Home Depot I grab a pair that are cut resistant and have the rubber texture for better gripping when things get bloody and slippy. I think they are around $10-15 a pair. Don't overspend or overthink it too much.

 

[zephyr]

Made by Jim Bensinger of Vt

 

[baxterb]

View attachment 576029
Made by Jim Bensinger of Vt

Didn’t you have a Charlton Capstick knife years ago?

 

[Tra3]

Ive gone through probably a half dozen different "hunting" profiles over the last few years while making knives trying to figure out what I like best (whats most comfortable in the hand, what works most efficiently, etc).. for deer and hogs I think I have settled on my "modified sharpfinger" (I call it the "middle finger" )..

Ive built about a dozen of them at this point.. given most of them out to friends to test and use.. and kept 4 for my wife, youngest daughter, and I (three are like the one in the above post.. G10 scales, bright colored liners, etc... Wife got an OD Green with pink liners.. daughter got pink scales with white liners.. and I kept the one with OD scales and orange liners).. and I made a "special" one for myself using pieces of a broken stock off of a purdey shotgun for the scales that I got off a friend in Maine..

I took the Purdey "middle finger", a buck 110, and 2 other hunting profile knives I've built to the field this year and tested them all in side by side comparison to see how things shake out.. in 2023 I've managed to field dress, clean, and skin 8 hogs and 7 deer (so far.. theres still another week to go! )..

The middle finger out performs all the others by a very wide margin.. so I think thats what Im going to stick to for the next few seasons to come..

For larger, thicker animals (elk? bear? etc) a bit more blade would probably be welcome.. but for TX whitetail (not much bigger than a long legged doberman lol).. and TX hogs.. Im giving them all the middle finger from now on

View attachment 575944

Beautiful knife. The metal stamp looks like the flag from the country of Georgia. Any connection?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

1930s KaBar 4" drop point. Not the original sheath.

 

[jduckhunter]

Von Gruff won me over with this one. It's fast becoming my favorite knife.

 

[mdwest]

Not a specific brand I like, but I prefer a glove that is tight to the skin, so when it gets wet it doesn't "grow" too much. When I'm at Lowe's or Home Depot I grab a pair that are cut resistant and have the rubber texture for better gripping when things get bloody and slippy. I think they are around $10-15 a pair. Don't overspend or overthink it too much.

Agree on a good glove…I’ve nicked myself enough times over the years to appreciate their value…

Academy sells these for $7 a pair.. I keep a set in my hunting pack, a set in the UTV glove box, and a set in my tackle box..

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They aren’t perfect.. but fit decent, and are good enough to stop little nicks and dings… and have survived being hammered by a garden hose after a cleaning more than a few times

 

[edward]

ok,you asked for it,heres some

 

[BeeMaa]

ok,you asked for it,heres some

Don't think you are gonna slip that revolver past me. This is a knife thread we are running here and don't take kindly to the intrusion of a wheel gun making an appearance.

Obviously I'm kidding. You have quite the extensive collection of knives. What caliber is the Taurus Raging Bull?

 

[Tintin]

When I'm at Lowe's or Home Depot I grab a pair that are cut resistant and have the rubber texture for better gripping when things get bloody and slippy. I think they are around $10-15 a pair. Don't overspend or overthink it too much.

I also slip a disposable nitrile / latex glove over my cut resistant gloves - keeps them a bit less manky.

Like most on here, I've either got either

a) 'almost enough' knives (my view); or
b) way too many (wife's view ).

Like @Bob Nelson 35Whelen (and I suspect not many others here), I have a great little skinner that Ted Mitchell did for me, that is a particular favourite, with scales from a one antlered Sambar that I took a few years back. Ted also did a matching, slightly smaller, knife for my son.

A bit off topic - but in addition to two small knives, I also managed to get two other projects out of that single, high yield antler.

 

[Barry J]

I also slip a disposable nitrile / latex glove over my cut resistant gloves - keeps them a bit less manky.

Like most on here, I've either got either

a) 'almost enough' knives (my view); or
b) way too many (wife's view ).

Like @Bob Nelson 35Whelen (and I suspect not many others here), I have a great little skinner that Ted Mitchell did for me, that is a particular favourite, with scales from a one antlered Sambar that I took a few years back. Ted also did a matching, slightly smaller, knife for my son.

A bit off topic - but in addition to two small knives, I also managed to get two other projects out of that single, high yield antler.

View attachment 576122
View attachment 576123

Well done! Using the horns of the deer to make implements is a time honored practice and shows respect for the animal. Good job.

 

[Stamp Collector]

Love Von Gruff and will have to enlist him for a build. I cheat, my blades are forged and shaped in the Rockies then I have fun shaping the scales and pins and holster. I have made them for my kids (5) and a few friends. I love ivory this is Mammoth.

View attachment 424023

Those scales are absolutely beautiful

 

[edward]

Don't think you are gonna slip that revolver past me. This is a knife thread we are running here and don't take kindly to the intrusion of a wheel gun making an appearance.

Obviously I'm kidding. You have quite the extensive collection of knives. What caliber is the Taurus Raging Bull?

454casull,the beauty of the gun is its caseharden frame.

 

[CBH Australia]

ok,you asked for it,heres some

View attachment 576062

How many knives does it take to skin an Elephant for a jacket?

Nice collection.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Which gets carried, depends on the task. Most often it’s the Bark River bird and trout in a horizontal carry