Rokslide Kill Kit
by Robby Denning, Rokslide Staff
In 2012, Rokslide released a backcountry Kill Kit. The Kill Kit was the brain child of Aron Snyder and had long been tested and proved in the backcountry of the West. The kit gives the hunter everything he’ll need to handle any big game animal up to an elk.
I was able to use mine this year on an Idaho buck I took about seven miles from the pickup. I was impressed with the kit’s utility and having everything I needed in one convenient place, all at arm’s reach. Most kill sites are not the kind of place you want to be running back and forth to your pack to retrieve items needed for butchering. Also, it never seems to fail that you’re either pushing daylight, an impending storm, or a work deadline; having a fully functional Kill Kit just saves time.
The Rokslide Kill Kit contains these items:
1 Kifaru Medium PullOut
2 T.A.G bags @24×44
1 T.A.G bag @14×20
1 Kifaru Meat Baggie
1 Roll of Ultralight marking ribbon
1 25ft section of orange mil spec 550 cord
1 25ft section of green mil spec 550 cord
2 sets of latex gloves
Earlier models of the Kill Kit included as standard a Havalon Piranta-Edge knife with Orange Handle and 10 Piranta-Edge replacement blades. Due to many requests, we dropped the Piranta option (and the price) as many hunters said they wanted more flexibility in knife options. The Kill Kit is now offered with three options:
1) No Knife
2) Havalon Piranta Bolt
3) Havalon Barracuda Blaze
I received mine with the Piranata and this turned out to be the breakout piece of gear for my 2014 season. I used it on several mule deer bucks and one bull elk a client killed.
I was thoroughly impressed with the Pirantas function and estimate it saved me 30 minutes per deer and nearly an hour on the elk. While swapping blades takes a little finesse and caution, the time lost is more than made up in time saved in processing your kill. Trying to sharpen a traditional knife at a kill site with typically cold temps and all the fat sticking to everything is a thing of the past for me. The only downside to the Piranta was in caping. It’s so sharp that you have to be very very careful around the tear ducts and cheeks where the hide is very thin.
The Kifaru Medium Pullout bag holds everything together, is water resistant and of course, Kifaru tough. This year was also my first go-round with the T.A.G. Bags. They turned out to be very strong with no tears or loose threads showing after the seven-mile packout by horseback of my Idaho buck. I was also surprised when I washed them (they are totally resusable) that there was no bloodstaining like I’ve typically seen in reusable game bags.
I found the included Kifaru Meat Baggie perfect for carrying the cape of a mule deer, protecting it and keeping hair off the meat if it all ends up in the same pack. Obviously the baggie can also be used for meat like the backstraps, neck and rib meat, and the few loose pieces you always seem to end up with.
At 20 ounces, I think the Rokslide Kill Kit is a great option for anyone’s pack and will certainly be going on all my backcountry endeavors.
The only downside is that the Kill Kits are so popular that we have a difficult time always keeping them in stock. When you see them in the Store, you better grab one while you can!
Don’t take my word for it, check out more discussion on the Rokslide Kill Kit here
