Big Knife vs Smaller Knife...what is "best"?

[R.M.]

I do carry a 6' in the field

Dang, that is a big knife.... Claymore?? Iffin I was the bear I would run from that.

 

Fat fingers, doncha no

[Roaddog]

I like just abought all knives big and small. That said when I'm feald dressing game I reach for o'l uncal Buck my folding knife.it's just a buck folding knife that has been on my hip from 1970.We have gut and skun a lot of deer ad squrriles together.I still want one of Longhunters buffalo kives though.Evor since Ron showed us That big o'l blade it's been calling to me.

PS.  Thanks Russ that was a good read.

[Stormrider51]

I guess it depends on the job at hand.  My favorite general use knife is the one in the photo.  It's a tad over 6" total with a 3" blade.  I designed it and the late Bud Terral made it.  I have average sized hands and the handle portion is large enough for me to get a grip on with everything but my little finger but short enough that it isn't poking me in the side when sitting in a vehicle.

Storm

[biliff]

I've been using a DH Russell with a 3 3/4" blade for about 40 years now. Its the only one I've never lost, which says something about how much I like it. Two or three years ago I decided to use my 7" scalper blade dressing out a deer. It worked, but was a bit cumbersome. Didn't get attacked by grizzlies or bands of marauders so it was not used to its full potential.

As for the article I guess it depends on how hard you want to work at things to make one tool do it all.

[mario]

Not convinced.

My newest and now new favorite knife is a More #2, 4" fixed blade.

Mora #2 Classic

It can do most everything he describes.

Most of what he talks about is much more efficiently done with a machete, rather than a large knife.

I carry those as well. 22" and 20" Latin patterns from Imacasa in El Salvador. The only machetes I've ever come across that can (after some edge work) shave hair off my arm.

Imacasa Pata de Cuche

If I had only one choice for living in the bush (outside of the SubArctic), it would be the machete. It truly does EVERYTHING.

Mario

PS- Lest you say the machete is just a big knife, be assured that looking at the historical record, it's actually a smaller, cheaper sword.

[rusty51]

I wish Buck would use a good High Carbon steel,their knives are ok,but not real good

[sse]

I wish Buck would use a good High Carbon steel,their knives are ok,but not real good

For the typical hunter, a Buck 110 is more than adequate.  I field dressed a white tail and hacked up a wild turkey with mine and the edge is still sharp...two strokes on the ceramic and it is right back to razor sharp.  (Plus, I consider it the 30-30 of knives.  Late traditional, I call it.)

For anyone lucky enough to take more game, they may need to kick it up a notch to a specialized edge...

[huntinguy]

I had a mora years ago. It was the laminated blade style. It was a good knife, would hold an edge and easy to sharpen. I tried using it to cut off a small branch to use as a fishing float (about a half inch in diameter, I swung the knife like a machete and broke the cutting edge, back about 1/8 inch, the full length of the blade). I decided they were good but brittle.

I have not had the luck most people have had with the Buck 110 but it is a great sized knife. I broke the lock on mine... don't use it for battoning    )

I do think the Buck 102 is a hard knife to beat though. It has survived with me for 40 years.

[sse]

Another point for those it suits, the 110 is made in the US of A...

[rollingb]

My favorite knife is my old Green River "butcher" w/8" blade.  

[Muley]

Good bear knife.  

[sse]

My favorite knife is my old Green River "butcher" w/8" blade.  

+1...!

And I got wunna them outta ya, too...!!!

[Muley]

My favorite knife is my old Green River "butcher" w/8" blade.  

+1...!

And I got wunna them outta ya, too...!!!

How's she work on them bars?

Oh wait! You just hunt for chipmunks.

[sse]

cut up a few hunnert pounds of bear fat pretty good...

[Muley]

BTW..Your membership expired 200 years ago.