im looking for a decent hunting knife. can anyone sugest a specific brand and give reasons why? something that will work well for skinning, trophy handling (caping) etc.
thnxs

I let the skinners handle that, they are the experts. I usually carry an old DeLeon small custom 4"drop point but RARELY use it. I also carry a pocket folder, a bone handled Joe Kious and do use it for small cutting chores. Have never skinned an animal in Africa.

I bought a Blade-Tech Pro Hunter last year when they ran the promotion here on AR. This, without a doubt is the best knife I own. It feels good in the hand and is extremely sharp, and holds an edge. My knife has cleaned a Gemsbuck, two Impala, a Kudu, and eight deer. I just sharpened it, not because it needed it, but I wanted to try out my new sharpener. I currently own several knives, three knives of Alaska, two Buck, and a couple of handmade. You can't go wrong with the Prohunter.

D-2 takes a louzy edge and holds it all day,
is the way the steel is "affectionately"described. That means you can't get it as sharp as some steels but it holds it's edge very well!

Bob Dozier is the master of D-2

http://www.dozierknives.com/

I like Puma knives. I have their fixed blade skinner, but my favorite is the pocket knife that is the same size as the big Buck.

They hold a good edge and are easy to sharpen.

For Africa carry a pocket knife for slivers and cutting fruit. Let the safari crew handle the work with the animals and stay out of their way.

Mark

I've said it before and I'll say it again...In Africa the only time you need a knife is at the dinner table.

mark h young wrote "For Africa carry a pocket knife for slivers and cutting fruit. Let the safari crew handle the work with the animals and stay out of their way."

the question wasnt what knife i need to take to africa to skin my 100 buffalo i was planning on shooting. as far as africa is concerned, i am from africa. i asked a straight forward question to the room about their knife preferences, so i can form an informed opinion, not to be belittled by you telling me i must slice fruit and stay out of your way. dont just ASS-SUME. read what i asked

Ndlovo,
Knowing that you want to become a ph, I will suggest a Kershaw with a plastic handle. I have one that I have been using for the past 5 years. I keep a Warthog sharpener close and sharpen as needed. You do not want the most expensive knife for skinning and you never skin a animal with a knife that is to sharp, especially the small thin skinned ones, you can cut to easily through the skin.

You also never give your knife to a skinner, they can realy abuse a knife, from sharpening it on the cement or a rock, brick etc. to using it as a screwdriver.

Get yourself a good but not to expensive one, it will be a working knife not a show piece.

guys thanks for the advice. i was looking at kershaw and i appreciate your input. thanks again jaco

I've been very impressed with Knives of Alaska - well made, esp. for the price, good for field work, and they have some specialized skinning shapes that can be useful.

However, for good, cheap, v. sharp knives, I'd suggest a butchering set -- Forschner makes a good, wooden handled cooking knives based on their commercial line that will take a wonderful edge -- frankly, there's no reason to own better kitchen knives, aside from aesthetics (well, and specialized cuts, or if you want a light weight knife.)

The wood might be good, with a few plastic handled paring knives for detail work. You will always be more precise with a sharp knife -- it is more predictable, but you MUST pay attention -- mess up w. a good knife and you can get cut very badly and not even feel it.

You can always make your own.

I am making a couple of knives right now with some damascus bolsters and giraffe bone handles (from my zim giraffe). Then you have something to talk about by the fire after a day with the client.

It is pretty easy to do.

I have taken a Blade Tech Professional Hunter with S30V blade and carbon fibre scales, the last few trips to Africa. It's a fantastic knife.

For touch up, just use the DMT small diamond hone. A coarse diamond hone will touch up even S30V in a few strokes.

On my last hunt with Mike Kibble, I frequently loaned it to the tracker to make the first incisions etc. He never mishandled it and always washed it before handing it back to me!

Mike Kibble thought it was the best knife he'd ever seen.

I also have fixed blade knives in BG-42, with stabilised burl wood scales by SeanO'Hare.......beautiful.

And I have half a dozen by Kelly Carlson, which are exquisite, works of art.

ndlovu,

Your correct I did make an assumption that you were a novice safari hunter considering what gear to take on an upcoming safari. For that person a real hunting knife is somewhat superflous. I meant no personel offense but was just making an observation based on my personal experience. The last thing I want to do on safari is interfer with a bunch of guys that dismember, skin animals for a living and are better at it than I'll ever be while there working on my trophy. Once again I'm sorry you felt attacked as it was not my intention.

Mark

you can never go wrong with Victorinox - they are handy, good steel and they are not expensive - working hunting knives (sooner or later) do get lost or forgotten...

The handiest caping knives I've found are simple paring knives made by Dexter-Russel. They're excellent steel, easy to sharpen, and are cheap. I carry two of them with me any time I plan to cape a trophy. A well-known taxidermist introduced me to them quite a few years ago and from a guy who's made his living for tha past 30 years caping animals it's hard to find a better caping tool.

My favorite pocket knife, which is all I carry unless I have my pack with the caping knives, is a Spiderco Delica with a non-serrated blade. I've dressed and skinned many deer, elk, antelope and even a bear with it and have always been pleased with its performance.

Another vote for the Blade Tech Professional Hunter with S30V blade and carbon fibre scales. This has become my favorite knife. Easy to carry and nice to use.

The French made Opinel folding knives with the carbon blade. My skinners got handed just about every kind of knife you can imagine by departing clients over the years. They sold most of thm the next day. The knife they came to covet were the Opinels. They are easy to sharpen in the field.

I love knives, I own a lot of them, from very very expensive right on down to, really cheap. I have favorites but usually carry what I pick out for the day.
What amazes me is what you actually see in the hand of a professional. I can't comment on Africa but at any game camp there can be half a dozen professional guides skinning out game in the game shack. Most guys I've seen use whats at hand. The majority seem to lean toward fillet knives. Just an observation.
My all time favorite hunting knife is a Schrade sharp finger. At the time very cheap but always does the job well. I own knives at 10 times the cost and carry them, but this one does a better job all of the time.

Iv used a hole lot of custom and good prodution kinves.
But have settled on Bob Dozier and his D2 Knives.
I can skin several deer with one knife and then just tuch up the edge with a ceramic stick or a leather strop.
Give Bob a look
www.dozierknives.com

There are lots of good knives out there. After having several excellent but pricy Randalls, Doziers and other custom-grade fixed blade knives I bought a Gerber Gator folder for $45 or so. It caught my attention in a John Barsness review. The steel is what used to be called ATS-34, and is now 154CM. I've even bought extras as gifts.

Gerber Gator

Gerber Gator 154CM Drop Point
Product Code: G06064

S30V is nice stuff, but it's an absolute Mother to sharpen in the field. A good piece of plain old 1095 carbon steel or 440C hardened to Rockwell 59-63 makes for a GREAT knife blade, it will require sharpening more often than the Wonder Steel knives, but they are sharpenable with a pain diamond stick or a decent stone. If the edge gets nicked on a bone or the knife gets dropped, it can be brought back quickly and easily.
This year I bought a Loveless Design and while its a very nice knife to use, holds its edge extremely well, fits the hand, well balanced, and is absolutely the sharpest knife I have ever used, the AUS8 blade is bitch to sharpen without using my Gatco kit. And S30V is even more difficult to work with.

Just something to keep in mind when you go knife shopping.

I will agree that a Blade-Tech folder is good "big" knife as I used one to great effect in Alaska. Mine has an ATS-34 blade and it takes a diamond sharpener to get an edge.

I am also never without a 4", 3-blade Boker stockman folder. I've carried one, not the same one, for 25 years, and I'd just as soon leave home without money than without my pocket knife. It is not as wide as similar knives, so it doesn't feel bulky in my pocket. I have had the backspring break on a couple after years of service, but Boker replaced both at no charge. Can't really beat that. The "spay" blade makes an excellent caping blade.

To follow up on Ted Gorsline's suggestion, the Opinel knife is inexpensive, has a good if inelegant blocking system for locking the blade open and the carbon blade models are very easy to sharpen. Here's a link to the site (which is in French of course) but they must be available in a lot of countries.

http://www.opinel.com/FR/catalogue/index.htm

Click on "Les Traditions" to view the standard Opinel line.

I've only dressed and skinned a half-dozen deer over the years, but have been very impressed with the inexpensive Buck Vanguard "Zipper" with the gut hook and the the rubberized handle. This knife has held an edge for me very well, and is very comfortable, unlike a Cold Steel Master Hunter that I used on one buck.

ndlovu,

I'm one of those sorts that tends to use whatever happens to be handy. But. I usually make sure that my Grohmann Number 1 in carbon steel is handy, then I'm happy. It is probably the most overlooked hunting knife out there.

Whatever you choose, leave it at home. It is just another piece of junk not needed on a safari.

I daily carry a cold steel master hunter ,is short ,has a kraton handle ,very useful when you have blood in your hands,and drop poit ,ideal for skinning ,Juan

Bill, then what would you use to cut off your elephants' tails? Borrow a panga?

Dozier knives - any of them - read the review in African Hunter issue #2 of 2006 I think. Best built knife on the market (IMHO). Built to last forever and hold their edge just as long. It is truely amazing how much you can use one and not dull it. Use the link PRDATOR posted above and give them a look. Bob will even do you a custom job, style, shape, weight, handle material, whatever you want.

Another vote for the Blade-Tech when you have to do your own skinning. I've got a Gerber Gator drop-point also that does well. We have used filleting knives for deboning. For my personal day-to-day knife, a small Gerber folder that is often on sale for about $12. Does those little chores from slivers to razoring out coupons and crossword puzzles.

On the basis of what I've seen my PH and his apprentice do with their knives and what I've done myself, I'd recommend a knife with a big enough blade to cut small branches to shield downed game from the sun until you can get a vehicle to it. At the same time, the blade needs enough of a belly and point to skin, say at least to skin a small critter up to the top of the neck, and then cut the head off so you minimize possibility of hair slip if you're a ways from camp in the hot southern Africa day. This means a knife that has at least three, perhaps four inches of blade -- minimal is the old Kershaw 1040 if you want a folder -- and, at the same time, one you can sharpen with some ease.

I use a damascus, classical looking hunter that does branch-cutting well and coarse skinning fine, although it's a bit too big to wield around eyes and lips. It's much easier to sharpen than the various stainless blades, but, of course, needs more maintenance care than they do.
Regards

Schwarzer Damascus knives are great cutters and hold and edge well. You dream it and he will make it.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Bill, then what would you use to cut off your elephants' tails? Borrow a panga?

Borrow a knife.

I bought a folder from Russell, a 3" drop point made of ATS 34 a few years back on advise from Ross Seyfried. The knife cost around $65 with a plain handle, I got a fancy burled handle for around $80 and couldn't be happier. You need diamonds to sharpen the thing, I use a Gatco kit, but once its sharp its there for awhile. One year I skinned and boned out 3 deer and 2 hogs without sharpening it. The last hog was streatching it but I was curious. I wasn't aware they had renamed the steel but whatever its called I'm happy with it.

ndlovu

I recommend the Puma's, especially the large pocked knive because I have used it to gut, skin, and butcher a bunch of animals here in the states, where we hunters have to do it ourselves.

It has a good sharp point, enough belly to skin and is large enough to do elk, yet not too big for even rabbits.

I used it on my first Safari to cut a couble bullets out of some game I shot.

On my second two Safaris I took a knife given to me by a dear friend at my retirement party.
It is an SOG Flash II.
It was one of the sharpest factory knives I have ever seen. It holds a good edge and sharpens easily. It has a pocket clip and is a lot lighter than the Puma knives, great for the Safari hunter. It has cut off the tails of a few elephants like a Jedi Light Saber.

I do not like it as well as the Puma for all round use however.

It is my daily cary knife, along with a Swiss Army Knife.

Thats right I carry AT LEAST two knives at all times.

When I have to do the gutting, skinning, and butchering myself I use the Puma.

I was curious also about the difference in steel nomenclature. A knifemaker told me that ATS-34 is the US name, while 154CM is the Japanese (or international) designation for the same steel recipe. If anybody can confirm this I'd be interested.

I did find this forum discussion in which there are conflicting comments:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-258567.html

If there is a difference, it doesn't seem worth mentioning.

I use Grohmann knives for my deer hunting chores. I use a Grohmann #1 in carbon steel for gutting the animal, and other sundry chores around the carcass. I use a Grohmann Standard Skinner in stainless steel for skinning the animal. I have never caped a trophy, but Grohmann also makes a tiny skinner that I think would work well for caping. Most Grohmann knives are wood handled, but other materials are available. I have a small Grohmann bird and trout knife with a buffalo horn handle.

Most Grohmann knives are less than $100. Grohmann is a Canadian maker, and although they are widely available in Canada, I don't know how well distributed they are world-wide.

http://www.grohmannknives.com/pages/outdoor.html

You may also consider a Marbles knife with the rubber handle. Depending on the model, they have a swept blade that is stiff and seems to hold a very good edge. They are resonable in price and made in Michigan. We could use the money in the state at the moment...ha ha! I've had mine for 4 years, it feels good in your hand without being bulky. The rubber handle is a little "stickey", so even with blood on it, it doesn't slip in the hand.

Blade-Tech... Because they really do what they are suppose to, over and over again. I have used Tim Wegner designed knifes for years and his Pro Hunter with S30V is up for any task, Alaska to Africa. My daily carry is a Blade-Tech
Ganyana. Stays sharp for those small daily chores we all encounter.