What knives do you carry on your hunt?

[JayDK]

Over the past few years I have been making due with whatever I have laying around the house. Last year I dressed and quartered a handful of whitetails using a $15 Mora. It worked OK. I have a little bit of extra cash laying around and decided that I want to upgrade the knives that I carry into the woods.

I just purchased a Havalon and was considering buying a general purpose fixed blade. ESEE caught my eye. I am considering purchasing an Izula II or ESEE 3 to compliment the Havalon. Does anyone have any experience with those knives. Do you have another knife that you might recommend? I'm trying to stay under $100.

 

[mlob1one]

That's exactly what I carry in the field. Havalon piranta & ESEE Izula or Izula 2. Carry extra blades for your havalon.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[Marbles]

ESEE has a good reputation. KA-BAR is also good in the sub $100 price range. In that price range, the carbon steels used by ESEE and KA-BAR will serve better than stainless, generally. The KA-BAR Snody Boss would be a decent stainless option though, and lighter than the ESEE. the Snody has a short handle though, and for heavy or prolonged use that is a disadvantage. The handle material on the Snody is also inferior to the ESEE.

It kinda just depends on your use, maintenance habits, and environment.

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[Customweld]

I carry a heavier knife for boning out, a lighter caping knife. I also carry a utility knife with extra straight blades and hooked carpet blades for opening up down the back, legs and brisket.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Welcome.

lots of thoughts and opinions out there.

I really like replaceable blade knives for skinning and gutting. My favorite is a havalon. Be careful with them as they are sharp as F$&k and can give you a nasty cut or poke.

as much as I like them they are just about useless beyond that work. For other tasks I carry some various other blades. The key determinant is the amount of bushcrafting or other stuff I expect to do on a trip. I will mix and match but usually have one or two of these in addition to my havalon:

- leatherman wave
- zero tolerance 0350 folder
- 4 to 6 inch fixed blade
- ESEE Junglas 2 or similar giant chopper knife
- hatchet
- 1 foot machete
- 18” machete
- camp axe
- full size axe

to your more specific question, I have probably six esee knives including the izula. I like them all except for the older ESEE 5. It is a thick heavy pry bar of a knife and my least favorite of the bunch. Nothing wrong with the izula but I like just a touch more blade so I grab the 4 or a Winkler knife that is 4.5 inches more often than the izula. Hatchets are probably the next Most used items on that list But usually only when I will be building fires and/or shelters. The other items are rarely used but I find them to have utility in the right circumstances. I grew up in Louisiana and a machete was a fairly constant companion as a youth. I would reluctantly concede that a hatchet or an axe are a better choice for the vast majority of North America.

 

[Skee7533]

Outdoor Edge Razorlite

 

[ODB]

On a recent moose hunt I took more than I needed, but ended up using two Havalon blades and my Joel Clark knife. I only did half the work, but wouldn’t have needed much more to do the whole thing.

we did have a small saw for the neck, but knife-wise it was simpler than I expected.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I carry one 8" cutco skinner and my favorite fixed blade 3" knife. I always have my EZY-LAP rod for keeping edge on knife through out cleaning process. I also carry a 16' meat saw.

 

[Oregonboy]

I keep an Aragli carbon knife in the kill kit and spyderco para 3 in the pocket.

 

[VinoVino]

A Buck knife. Keep a SpyderCo Sharpmaker at camp to bring back out when the time comes.

 

[MuleyFever]

I carry 2: Outdoor edge and a Havalon.

 

[Te Hopo]

I like Condor knives and for years I have carried a Kephart as a general purposes knife.
Its suitable for bushcraft and has a nice drop point for skinning out/breaking down an animal.
I've used an Esee Izula and quite liked the size and shape of them

Recently I got given a piece of 12c27 stainless steel and made up a lightweight knife which is too thin for bushcraft but is sharp as a scalpel.
It's sitting in a plastic pipe sheath until I find the time to make a decent one.

 

[JFK]

Case Trapper always goes with me, then I’ll
throw in either the outdoor edge razorlite or a fixed blade skinner.

 

[Johnny Dollarhide]

Over the past few years I have been making due with whatever I have laying around the house. Last year I dressed and quartered a handful of whitetails using a $15 Mora. It worked OK. I have a little bit of extra cash laying around and decided that I want to upgrade the knives that I carry into the woods.

I just purchased a Havalon and was considering buying a general purpose fixed blade. ESEE caught my eye. I am considering purchasing an Izula II or ESEE 3 to compliment the Havalon. Does anyone have any experience with those knives. Do you have another knife that you might recommend? I'm trying to stay under $100.

I’ve always liked buck knives myself

 

[Catchfish]

I have been carrying a victorinox lamb skinner and a bench made droppoint fixed knife for regular hunts. If I’m backpacking I normally exchange the lamb skinner for a havalon.

 

[Johnny Dollarhide]

A Buck knife. Keep a SpyderCo Sharpmaker at camp to bring back out when the time comes.

How do you like that sharpmaker?

 

[VinoVino]

How do you like that sharpmaker?

I like it. It works great for quick sharpening. A little heavy and bulky to carry with me while I’m out stalking, but is pretty nice. Obviously, you’ll get better results with proper stones, but these are really quick and definitely adequate.

 

[Drenalin]

I'm trying Kestrel Knives this year, the scalpel and the caper models. Always have a Benchmade Bugout in my pocket; it would be fine for most of what I do but I despise cleaning blood and guts out of a folder. Would really like to try the Argali Serac soon.

 

[taskswap]

Pack: Morakniv Companion. Cheap, easy to clean, wicked sharp, extremely light
Belt: Whatever I feel like, my lovely wife gets me something new every year and I usually carry whatever that is
Kill Kit: Havalon Talon. It's a replacement for the Piranta that solves the earlier problems. Stouter blades, gut hook option, serrated option, easier blade changes, saw blade option, still lightweight.

 

[Reburn]

always carry a bugout in my pocket while I'm hunting.

Im my kill kit ill carry a scapel and a fixed blade. The argali knives are very good I have the carbon, serac, and caper. I mostly use the carbon or the serac. Tyto and kestrel knives are good as well. I do very little bone out meat and almost never any bushcraft.