What is a practical hunting knife?

[Ds J]

Depends where you live and your lifestyle.
 I carry a pocket knife every single day, live by the coast and spend a lot of time on the ocean.  D2 rusts within a week, even when I try to baby it.

Fair enough, living as I do on the highveld and doing almost all of my wingshooting in GP or the FS so rust on blades has never been a big issue except where I've been slack. I sweat like a horse though and anything carried in contact with my body, like a pistol for example, rusts in a matter of days unless very well protected. For that i have landed on Herschells Wax spray. The stuff is impressive and since I started using it on my carry gun the rust issue has been entirely eliminated. Well worth a look for stuff that you want to protect at the coast.

Ek het ook "aaphandjies" - alles roes!

[Againstthegrains]

I must say, I do a lot of kitchen work and meat cutting, and after trying a bunch of different brands of kitchen knives, I keep coming back to Victorinox, and occasionally Wusthof steel. The beauty of these metals, is that it is easy to sharpen. If you can't put an edge back on the blade with a few swipes from a steel rod, it isn't worth having. My favorite knives have lost a few mm of the blade over the years, but keep going strong.

I only wish I could find a folder like the above in the same steel. Many of the hunting knives are made from alloys that I'm not familiar with, and they often sharpen with great difficulty.

[janfred]

Problem with the easy-to-sharpen steels is that they become blunt easily as well According to the experts at least. Not a problem in a well run kitchen with the sharpening tool usually sold with the knive. Might be slightly inconvenient in the bush.

[oafpatroll]

I have examples of both brands and neither could be accused of being a soft alloy. You can only make a decent knife work again with a steel if you don't let it go blunt in the first place. A steel is intended to do little more than 'ironing' the edge smooth, it's not for cutting a new one.

[janfred]

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by-a-metallurgist-toughness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/

Some light reading for those so inclined. In there it explains why certain steels sharpen easier. Also, through empirical testing proves that hardness and edge retention do not always correlate.

[Treeman]

Jan, the needs of a "look at" and in use knife are same, but the one actually has to work regardless of its appearance. I have had some beautiful over the counter knives, but they are all lying somewhere in the bush, just where they landed. I must have thrown 3 - 4 knives over my shoulder because they were torture to use. ( I really mean thrown away - a pen, a lighter and a blade that are faulty must be GONE, not put away)

For the bush working knife you want a hard blade that holds a sharp edge, not that shave with fancy gone in 6 cm cutting a hog open kinda stuff. One of the absolute best steels other than craft made knives I have ever found is the old Opinel pocket knife, so much so, that Cody latched onto one at like 9 years old and pretty much never used anything else ever again.
I say again to you, more than one blade kept in more than one place on the hunt.
A small, small bladed knife is better.
Have a sharpener.
Forget about fancy edges, sharp is sharp.
Have a disposable carpet knife for opening a animal skin, it saves a sharp blade a lot.

Here is my setup, less spare blades and the Bowie Hunting Knife which hangs in the car on every hunt - never used, but always goes with - I mean you can not go hunting without a hunting knife now, can we ?
20240705_173230 by David Frank Allen, on Flickr
Of all the blades, the Opinel is most used, stays sharp and sharpens on anything. The one is attached to shooting sticks, another to my rifle sling, and another in a pocket.
20240705_173348 by David Frank Allen, on Flickr
Some of those cheap effective sharpening stones scattered through my stuff for easy use.

Do not over do the blade thing, just buy a cheap folding Dowe Knife at local sharp for now, use it, learn it and base your next buy on that learn.
First knife - ME - TO YOU - buy an Opinel R180 learn to use it, then we talk again.

[Tripodmvr]

Carpet knife - using the hooked carpet blades. Wonderful to gut with and the blade never seems to dull. Skinners that have used it have been full of praise.

[Ds J]

I must say, I do a lot of kitchen work and meat cutting, and after trying a bunch of different brands of kitchen knives, I keep coming back to Victorinox, and occasionally Wusthof steel. The beauty of these metals, is that it is easy to sharpen. If you can't put an edge back on the blade with a few swipes from a steel rod, it isn't worth having. My favorite knives have lost a few mm of the blade over the years, but keep going strong.

I only wish I could find a folder like the above in the same steel. Many of the hunting knives are made from alloys that I'm not familiar with, and they often sharpen with great difficulty.

Agree- Victorinox has great steel, even the Swiss army knife.

Have you tried their big folders, or the Opinel?  Their Lagoile version carries easier.

[janfred]

I know that Opinel is supposed to be good, but life is too short to have a wooden dowel with a blade attached. Might as well just sharpen a saw blade.

[Ds J]

I know that Opinel is supposed to be good, but life is too short to have a wooden dowel with a blade attached. Might as well just sharpen a saw blade.

https://www.opinel.com/en/multifunction/n8-outdoor-blue

[Mohamed]

Check the Victorinox Hunter pro alox. I use it when hunting.

[Newton]

OK
So who are the best custom knife makers .. ( and why ) ?
Website and pictures please

[Tripodmvr]

Have a look at the assortment of knives.

https://www.knifeguy.co.za/collections/all-knives

[Ds J]

OK
So who are the best custom knife makers .. ( and why ) ?
Website and pictures please

Hi Newton, it is a very difficult question to answer. The question is what you want, and what your budget is. Your location and preferences will probably play a role as well.

There are literally thousands of custom knife makers in SA, some forge and the most do stock removal. Some buy precut steel and finish it, while others wil make a complete new design for you.

What do you want? A good hunting knife, a gentleman's folder, or maybe an edc fighting knife?

[Treeman]

custom knife makers are mostly hobbyist and hobbyist that are good enough to have people want to own their products-creations. They are mostly however guys that love making knives and experimenting with blades and handles, the selling finances the hobby.
There are two poles in knife makers, the guys that obsess with the steel type,quality, properties etc and the guys that obsess with handle materials, using 1000 year old wood or 6000 year old mammoth tusks.

The knife makers world is one of the most classical rabbit holes.