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Knife of choice?

I was curious to know....

What's your favorite knife for getting the job done when field dressing out game?

Make-model-design, and general specs.

For whitetail:

Since 1983 I've been using a Western W84. Stainless steel blade @ 4.25" long. Drop point & sabertooth grind. Hardwood handle. OAL 9".

I couldn't tell you what I paid for it back in the day, but it's been a great knife over the years. I have a new Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner sitting in the box for next year, as the W84 is starting to show some wear on the back of the handle...so I figured it would be a good time to retire it.

It's been almost 30 years since I've been rabbit /pheasant hunting, and couldn't tell ya what I used back in those days. I used the same W84 for hogs in FL.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on December 12, 2016 at 0:52

Ken I'm sure that knife could surely tell some great yarns if it could only talk!

I favor a drop point skinner/hunter around the 4 inch mark and have several that all get a look in every now and then.

Left to right A custom of my own making. The Knife with a Canadian influence was made by a Mate of mine (Russ Gillard) back in 1985 ... The Camillus 2001 ... and a Custom from South Africa

Permalink Reply by Ken Liebick on December 12, 2016 at 9:32

Yeah, I couldn't possibly guess how many deer it's been through.

Those are all nice knives...great job on your custom....I like it, and it has to be rewarding to use a knife you made. I'm looking forward to getting started making knives myself.

The custom from S. Africa reminds me of the Loveless design.

Thanks for the post

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 12, 2016 at 10:12

Sweet custom in that group Derek!

Like you, Donnie always had a selection to choose from when he went hunting. He preferred his Case Arapaho, it resides with pride in the collectors safe

Permalink Reply by allanm on December 12, 2016 at 19:26

I have used my Buck Omni 10 point folder on 6 deer over 3 seasons now and not resharpened yet (just stropped it a bit), but added a Gerber Freeman Guide guthook folder to my bag recently as well. I tried it, but really prefer my Buck, it just feels much better in my hand for the initial dressing. But I did like the gut hook for "unzipping" the pajamas on my last buck, after which I put it away and took out my old favorite Buck Omni to do the real work.

Kind of redundant, I know. Maybe I should have bought an Omni guthook originally, but that was a number of years ago, before I started hunting again and never anticipated the usefulness of the guthook.

3" drop point blade, black "Alcryn" rubber handle

Permalink Reply by allanm on December 12, 2016 at 19:35

A weird but interesting knife I saw advertised recently - the FieldTorq looks interesting, kind of can opener like. I half thought about buying some steel some day and making one similar (being careful of trademark/copyright infringements of course) and having somebody harden/temper it for me since I don't have or anticipate buying equipment for that.

It looks very strange, I'd like to try it but don't want to go spend a bunch of money buying something that I already do mostly with my Buck Omni. I don't split the pelvis, but I do split ribs and all the rest of the dressing with it very easily.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 12, 2016 at 21:11

Permalink Reply by Ken Liebick on December 12, 2016 at 21:19

Can't go wrong with a good Buck knife Allan, and I tried the gut hook as well. Same results too...makes it easy to glide through the abdomen...after that it always seemed like a hindrance. Ive never used a folder, but that's me...some of our guys do. They are a real space saver for sure.

The FieldTorq looks interesting to say the least, but looks like one would still fall back to a "regular" knife to finish the job . Same with the "butt out" tool they came out with a few years ago...good if your just getting started I guess...but never really had a need for it.

Thanks for the post/pic...most of the guy's I hunt with have Buck Knives.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 12, 2016 at 21:44

I have used my Buck 393 Omni Hunter to field dress deer. I have even split the pelvis with it. The gut hook comes in handy too.

Permalink Reply by Ken Liebick on December 12, 2016 at 22:20

Nice Charles, I'm not familiar with the Omni, but it looks like a great model. The guy's at hunt camp use Buck Vanguards (model #692?) I believe.
The gut hook in the Omni's look a bit more substantial than "conventional" gut hooks. Maybe a bit more squared off...which would be nice when using it.
We don't normally crack the pelvis either, but do unzip the rib cage all the way up.
Thanks for the post/pic.

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on December 13, 2016 at 8:21

This has been my go to knife for a lot of years, though I don't do any hunting, these days.

I've used this one on everything from deer and hogs to catfish and even notching out wood for a fence.

Made by CVA, can't remember when I did this kit...

FeaturedPermalink Reply by dead_left_knife_guy on December 13, 2016 at 14:17

Allan M, why would you have to worry about copyright / trademark infringement if you're just planning to make the "can opener" styled knife for yourself?

Permalink Reply by allanm on December 13, 2016 at 14:40

Maybe no need at all - but I have an aversion to lawyers and people making claims of copyright infringement. :-)

I would never do it to resell, but I am curious about how it would work. Just not sure I want to buy the steel, cut it and pay somebody else to harden for me only to find it works as strangely as it looks. But maybe one day, just because ...

dead_left_knife_guy said:

Allan M, why would you have to worry about copyright / trademark infringement if you're just planning to make the "can opener" styled knife for yourself?