What do you look for in a 'hunting knife'?

I use either a Twitty or Morseth for my hunting knife. I grew up around Steve Morseth and my father is Jerry Twitty so I'm kind of spoiled with there knives. I like the skinners, you can do just about anything with it. I have caped a few deer and even cut a deers backbone and all I have had to do is sharpen the blade once a year.
 
Thanks all for the alternative BRAND references...

but what ABOUT those knives do you like.
Other than the brand, or who personally makes them, what are the features that makes you gravitate towards them.
 
I like the skinners for hunting knives, they are a thinner blade. The Morseth and Twitty knives are made of ats 34 and are hardened to around 62-63 on the Rockwell hardness scale. They hold an edge for a long time and are easy to resharpen which is a plus. A lot of knives out there aren't quite as hard and don't keep an edge as well. Just my .02
 
I am new here but have been making knives for 16 years. You might look at our elk model for THE KNIFE. Sell as many of those as all the others combined. It opens, skins rips cages up thru deer sized animals w/o trouble. Had input from 60 hunters over 3 years on the shape and size of that puppy. Blade is about 3". I don't advertise and sell by word of mouth. Brother and I have sold about 4000 and that is all we can make. Will not make one for a collecter.
 
1) its cut and balanced to fit the hand
2) its hard 61.5-65.4 Rc
3) the drop point slides down tje meat opening with ease
4) ATS 34 and a 5* bevel. It just keeps cutting.
5) It works better than advertised and better than one can desribe. They speak for themselves.
6) deliver averages 2 weeks 90% of the time
7) Price...Takes 15 hours to make and with discount, it's under $150.
Used a proskinner cutting up two elk Sunday pm for 7 hours w/o sharpening. When I finished,it would still shave in most places so I thru it back in the drawer. (did wash the stuff off) There are picts on our website. www.mccroskeyknives.com
Dave
 
I did check the website.
Though I was trying to keep personal prices out of things to try and keep the thread objective and not an advert.

Thanks for the information.
 
Not advertising. That's fact and why they sell. I'm new here but probably several here have them. They can answer your questions better than me. Dave
 
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You might look at our elk model for THE KNIFE. Sell as many of those as all the others combined. It opens, skins rips cages up thru deer sized animals w/o trouble. Had input from 60 hunters over 3 years on the shape and size of that puppy. Blade is about 3".



I looked at it. Looks good to me.

The most I've ever spent on a knife is $60. I have some that are more expensive, but I traded photo services for them.

I'm currently using an old Gerber "Bolt Action", a 3 blade set. It has a 4" drop point blade, I like it but 3" would be nicer. It has a skinner blade with a lot of belly, and I like that too. Again it's 4" and 3" would be nicer. That skinning blade has a guthook - that's a waste of effort, and sometimes gets in the way. The third blade is a 4" saw which works well on bone and wood, but I never use it any more. I bone out game of all sizes, and don't bother gutting anything.

I guess that means that I want a 3" blade, straight or drop point. Sharpness and edge retention are paramount. Usually to maintain an edge, the blade is hardened to the point that it's not easy to regain an edge in the field. So I think that's a hard balance to find. For my purposes, it needs to maintain its edge through at least 2 elk, mine and my brother's. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif My Gerber does that, just barely.

For the right "using" knife, I could go $100. But then if I have to, I can bone out an elk with a cheap 3-bladed pocketknife.
 
RAS53. I appreciate your input. I will be an advertiser on here today or tomorrow. So I guess I can answer your question.
Jeff Steele, RMEF rep in OKC, used one elk and one modified buffalo skinner a few years back at the draw elk hunt in Lawton. He gutted and skinned 6 bulls in one afternoon. One veteran hunter asked him on the third one when does he sharpen them. Jeff's answer was "when they get dull".
Our boning knife will bone out one elk w/o sharpening. Now some know how to use a knife so your milage may vary. The record on the elk knife is 41 deer caped w/o sharpening. If you can use your gerber as you say, then it will take a while to dull. I might send you one to try if I have one made up in your size. Have 4-5 loaners for that purpose. Hogs and elk will test any knife. Dave
 
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The most I've ever spent on a knife is $60. I have some that are more expensive, but I traded photo services for them.



Nothing wrong with that.

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Again it's 4" and 3" would be nicer.



My BM Snody is a shortie. While good for turkeys and light skinning, it really was a little too small for my deer this part year. I ended up going back to my Buck Woodsman.

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That skinning blade has a guthook - that's a waste of effort, and sometimes gets in the way.



They work, but you can also pack a dedicated 'zipper'.
I don't really like them on my knife either.
Remington makes a dedicated zipper.

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For the right "using" knife, I could go $100. But then if I have to, I can bone out an elk with a cheap 3-bladed pocketknife.



Hard to beat Buck for less than $100.
You can get Alaskan Guide series through Cabelas with S30V or their signature series of various styles in S30V as well. I picked up my 102 in S30V (802SS) for less than $100 on the web. Has full tang and walnut checkered handles. Very nice.
 
Tha_edge, I'd be happy to field test any knife you'd care to let me try /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm not especially gentle with knives, I use my knife to separate the hip joints, remove the lower legs and separate the skull from the spine. The trick is knowing where to cut. If I'm really lucky in the drawing, maybe there'll be a bison to work on this year (won't know until the end of April).


BHShaman, I've looked at the link you posted and the photos you've shown. I like the simple, clean lines of the knives. The blade is just longer than I need, but many people like a bigger knife.
 
when i think hunting/skinning knife, I think stainless, folding knife with a "pointy" blade that keeps it's edge.

Usually it has the word "GERBER" in it somewhere.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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I think stainless, folding knife with a "pointy" blade that keeps it's edge.

Usually it has the word "GERBER" in it somewhere....



That's what I'm using, too. I can pack a pair in my jacket without having to worry about falling and gutting myself. If the first one gets dull, I swap to #2.
I'm carrying a Wyoming meat saw, too, which accomplishes most of the tough (for a knife) hacking duties.
I agree with the Bucks being too brittle, I've seen them break and chip at the cutting edge several times.
 
I have been usng the same Gerber 4" Semi Drop Point Guide series knife for almost 35 or so years... Stays sharp and feels good in my hand. They were around $80 in the 70's so I would assume a reasonable current price of $150-300.

If they could duplicate the features (or exceed them) they should have a winner.
 
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I can pack a pair in my jacket without having to worry about falling and gutting myself.



That is one reason I like my Twitty/morseth knives they have a hard liner that holds the knife in place and you dont have to worry about falling on it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif I have a gerber and it a decent knife as well but seems to need sharpend a lot(could be the model). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I use a cheep husky changable blade knife from Home depot. I know its not exciting. But then the hatchet does most of the job. I think about all the stories I have read over the yearsabout guys laying down there knifes of losing them under a gut pile. I think a cheap knife is like a cheep pair of sunglasses. I'm never going to lose it. And I don't sharpen I just put the used blades in a pepsi bottle get out a new one. Works on fish deer elk and home improvement projects.
 
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