Every "Traditional Bowhunter" needs a good knife.
What type of knife do you prefer,a fixed blade sheath knife,or a "pocket" folder?????
I always carry both but for gutting and skinning animals I like a fixed blade.
I just "like" pocket knives,I've been carrying the same 110 Buck knife on every hunting trip for 20 years. :archer:
My lovely wife Lisa gave it to me our first Christmas together.It's been hunting with me every year since,I wouldn't think of going hunting without it.
I'm with Tim, I always have a Benchmade folder on me. Always carry a fixed blade when I hunt.
I have a buck 110 as well and I love that knife. That is my do all kitchen knife when I am camping. That is one of the knives that never comes out of my backpack.
I always have a Swiss Army knife in my pocket and usually a sheath knife (sometimes a folder) in my pack. Just like bows, a person can't have too many. Like em all.
I like both,my dad and I make custom knives, but he likes all these high tech stainless steels, me I like the edge I get on my boker 2020 two blade folding hunter, it is very high carbon, it has cleaned three trout, two redfish, ten squirrels, and a rabbit, and it will clean any deer I kill this fall
i always carry both also. Use the fixed blade for field dressing chores.
Got too many to count but for hunting I only like the fixed blades. For EDC I prefer the folders like Spyderco.
i am a knife junkie and have many. i am never without a long knife and usually carry a big bowie as well. do must of my game cleaning with a shorther fixed blade.
I've hunted where you hunt Kenny.....I'd carry a BIG knife too!!!!! :scared:
I am also a knife junkie. I always carry a Gerber pocket knife, even while hunting. I also carry a big Imperial fixed blade(works for any cutting job and doubles as a pruning implement) my Dad got me before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Skinning and gutting usually brings out a Schrade I bought for him one year for Christmas. I mean can you really carry too many knives??LOL.
I always have a pocket knife on me, but I'll have a sheath knife with me while hunting for field dressing, etc
I love the fixed blades, especially the really big ones, and the competition cutters, but my vote goes to the pocket knife. I'm never without a fixed blade in the field, but a pocket knife's versatility just can't be matched. I've not been without a pocket knife since I was about 7 or 8, and would feel lost without the one I carry now. Just a single blade Schrade lockback that I've had for about 8 years. I abuse it with great regularity, and can count on my hands how many times I've had to sharpen it.
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u85/wolfman_031/CIMG1408.jpg) this is my everything knife you name it it will do it. :biglaugh:
I like a fixed blade. Used a folding Buck knife for many years, but got tired of cleaning the gunk out it after cleaning every critter.
While I have several larger fixed blade knives, my Chris Reeves small Sebenza is constantly with me, it is used for everything.
I always have one of each.
this is my do everything knife, a little big but it gets the job done and is very special to me.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/adkmountainken/knives/coffinhandle.jpg)
and here is my antler handle bowie, it goes everywhere with me as well.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/adkmountainken/knives/bowie.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/adkmountainken/knives/track.jpg)
Fixed blade, with a folder in the pack somewhere.
Most of us probably already know, but that "GUNK"
that remains in the nooks and cranny`s of a folder
can harbor some of the wrost bacteria that we can imagine. (Flesh eating) Even if it LOOKS clean.
I would have a good sized sheath knife on my side at all times if it were socially acceptable.
Neck knife or belt knife for me ..fixed blade.
I don't like the gunk you get in a folder either, especially since I use my knives more for lunch prep than anything else :bigsmyl:
I like both ut you can't get the folders open when youre hand is stuck in a rottwielers mouth! I carry a fixed blade in the woods and a pocket clip combat folder (Spiderco) one hand opener for every day use.
Sheath knives are quicker into action if speed becomes a factor. Like if yer Mickey and you shot your one arrow into a rutting buck. You think its dead and walk up to claim yer winter meat when all of a sudden the buck gets up and charges you. Happened to a preacher friend of mine. Shot it four times with a shotgun, thought it was dead.
In the ensuing wrestling match he had to remove his belt to tie the dern thing up to a creek edge tree root before he could open his folding knife to stab it to death. Darn near killed him.
Can't have too many knives though of either kind.
For hunting I like a fixed blade, but for everyday use I carry a couple of folders. A small Gerber in my pocket and a medium sized Benchmade on my belt. I just recently had to go on a buisness trip where I had to go thru security at the airport, so I left my knives in the truck, man,,,did I feel naked without a knife on me somewhere! :)
was always carrying a folder (still do), but now only use fixed blade for game. Easier to clean up, and I don't worry as to what is in those little spaces when cutting some pepperoni or cheese for lunch.
There is a Kershaw Leek clipped on my right front pocket. This is for everything, it is a thin, one-handed assisted-opening knife with a half straight, half serrated blade. There is Everready in my waist pack's side pocket. Everready's job is opening up critters and emptying them out, making them ready to carry or drag. There is a Buck Vanguard in the main pack compartment. It travels with me in case I need to cut saplings or summat, make an emergency camp. Once in camp, it skins, dislocates, disjoints and makes big pieces smaller for wrapping.
Everready's teef (before rescaling)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Killdeer/Everready2.jpg)
Everready with his new Lignum Vitae scales
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Killdeer/TG%20Uploads/Knives/Img_Everready1.jpg)
Time for the Vanguard
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Killdeer/TG%20Uploads/Hunting/AA12005butcherbird3.jpg)
So, you see, I could not answer the question. :(
Killdeer
I cleaned many deer with a Schrade Folder. It always worked good and stayed sharp. It was a pain to clean all the nooks and crannies from the knifes internals though.
I started carrying a fixed blade in my ever present fanny pack and have really grown fond of a small fixed blade knife.
The Helles are the ones I have used the most lately.
I like a fixed blade for cleaning deer. I have a Dozier Delta Traveler that I like a lot. I also carry a Spyderco folder with a skinning blade.
Thanks for all of the replies!!!!! I "like" sheath knives.....They just don't "like" me very much LOL.
I'm very hard on the sheaths,I end up sitting down and poking the tip through the sheath.Or,I slice through the stitching,sometimes even the side of the sheath putting the knife back in.
The "original" sheath for my Buck folder lasted about 3 years.It rode on my belt every day and I had to re-stitch the belt loop twice.The third time the leather belt loop ripped.I picked up another one at a flea market and that one lasted about 2 years before the snap broke. It's a little heavy but it's been riding in my pocket ever since.
Chuck,
Have you ever tried a cross Draw style sheath??
I have a big Ontario Knife Co. "Old Hickory" butcher knife that I have been thinking about getting a "Mountain Man" sheath for. (from Dixie Gun Works)
Killdeer, nice job on the knife rescaling :thumbsup: :notworthy:
Hey woodchucker, those are about the easiest sheathes to make. It is a folded piece of leather, and the old way of making them only required brass upholstery tacks driven through and bent over to "sew" it together. You could also use a welt, if you like, and rivets or screw posts to fasten it.
No stitching is necessary, no belt loop, just a cut-out in the edge to hold it on your belt or sash. Another style doesn't even have the cutout, just a "wing" at the top of the sheath to hang over the top of your belt.
Make it with a medium-heavy cowhide.
Killdeer
Killdeer, good stuff. Thanks.
I always carry a fixed blade knife and a "folder" as a backup or to do whatever needs to be done. My folder is a Kershaw. This way my fixed blade stays sharp for its primary purpose.
Killy, I'm looking for a piece of leather My Deer LOL ;)
Just might make a "Moutain Man" out of this Old Indian yet LOL!!!!! :bigsmyl:
I voted fixed blade, but I have been known to carry a folder instead or in addition. Some days it's Ginger and some days it's Mary Ann.
Chuck,
the picture of my long knife on page 2 of this thread shows the sheath which is the style Carbon Caster and Killy are talking about. this style sheath can be worn MANY ways and is very comfortable and durable.
Ken, Oh Boy!!!!! You would be PROUD of me!!!!!
I got me a BIG old Ontario Knife Co. "Old Hickory" butcher knife with a 7" blade!!!!!
All I gotta do is make a sheath for it..... :thumbsup:
I always carry both, my #1 fixed blade is a buck 124(frontiersman)my favorite,and in my pocket is any number of folders,mainly a case mid folding hunter because of the pocket clip.
You can never have enough knives...............
Mike
Chuck,
they are excellent knives, great steel!! i carry one a lot and it can take a beating!
This years Bear Quest was interesting as I took up about 10 different style fixed blades to see what guys liked. I surprised myself in that the one knife that I thought wouldn't be that good was perfect...much longer than I'd used in the past. Doc
If I'm in the woods I have a fixed blade on my belt and another in my pack. At work I have a folder in my pocket.
Yesterday my wife accused me of being "obsesive" about my knives! Can you imagine that?! :D
when not using my folding hunter in the field, I have a case trapper in my pocket
Jeremy,
Obsessive????? YOU????? Go Figure.....LOL
Very interesting poll results.....approx 75% fixed 25% folder, right from the start,and all through the poll.
I guess most consider fixed blades "hunting knives" and folders "working" knives.
Yeah Chuck, I know it's hard to believe, but I have a small "thing" with knives! :help: :D
I told my wife I hid the good kitchen and steak knives from her (put 'em on a high shelf! ;) ) and she started calling me names. Stonewear plates are essentially a sharpening stone and shouldn't be used as a cutting board!
I'd wear a belt knife to work too, but folks 'round here would look at me funny... well, funnier ;)
QuoteOriginally posted by Jeremy:
Yesterday my wife accused me of being "obsesive" about my knives! Can you imagine that?! :D
Jeremy, I think me and your missus need to have a persuasive conversation ;)
I was the same way 'till found myself being woo-ed to my hubby's knife collection....watch it, you may find the same thing with her someday, then your in trouble like Frank :bigsmyl:
I love the fixed blades for all purpose use (very partial to one in particular) and like
my compact folder for use at work.
Here are a couple of my favorites, the big one is a Danny Brown custom bowie with a chubby little 4" handle and for a big knife it carries very well, and the other is a case trapper which I now carry everywhere.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/voodoofire1/A1huntinggear001.jpg)