# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Hunting & Trapping >  Popular knives, size comparison

## wolverine_173

Here are some popular knives for size comparison.
whats your favorite wilderness/hunting knife, steel, blade shape etc..?

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## wolverine_173

nobody wants to share a favorite?

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## Wildthang

I like the TAK with the brown handle in the middle of the line up. Wouldn't want a bushcraft knife any bigger than that!

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## hunter63

There are many different knives for many different tasks.....my hunting knife will not be used for baton-ing, unless I absolutely have to.
Big fan of folders, Buck/SAK/Gerber.

So most of my hunting fixed blade knives are on the smaller Mora/Buck/Green River side.

Ka Bar BK-2 is my first try at a Wilderness/Survival knife, just got it, slightly used and a good deal.....so will have to try it out.
Haven't found that I haven't needed one in 66 years....so we will see.

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## crashdive123

I don't have a favorite per se, but rather (like many) a particular knife that I use depending on the job at hand.

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## hunter63

I should add. CrashBrade to my hunting list...carried one all last deer season.

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## wolverine_173

do you guys use fixed blade or folders?

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## hunter63

Knives like any other tool....like hammers, are different size and shape for different jobs, so......Depends on what I'm doing.
I have a Buck Lite folder that has cleaned everything for fish and birds to deer, antelope, and Elk.

But usually carry a belt knife of some sort as well when out and about in the bush..

You have a nice collection of knives there, but I wouldn't carry all of them at once.....especially in a canoe.
(joke)

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## crashdive123

Daily I carry folders.  If I'm in the woods I add a fixed blade or two or three.

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## wolverine_173

i find gutting a deer with a folder just makes it really hard to clean out all the little nooks and cranies.

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## Lamewolf

I had the Falcon - hated it, it was too short for such a thick blade and the handle sucks.  Traded it for a bench grinder !  Got the BK16, love it and use it most of the time for general chores.  Also got 2 Mora Clippers - great little knives for carving and fuzz sticks and such.  Don't like the looks of the choil on the RAK, looks like it would cause some severe hotspots on my finger and the cutting edge is too far forward to suit me.  Can't comment on the others except the BK14 Eskabar - got one and its a good little EDC blade.

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## hunter63

> i find gutting a deer with a folder just makes it really hard to clean out all the little nooks and cranies.


My experience is just the opposite White tails, Mulies, antolope.....a long straight blade is tough to get to the wind pipe, that's where a 2-3" blade excels.
Survival (big chopper style knives) are about useless for this task although they will split the pelvic joint nicely.....if that what you do.
Just carving around the anus and pulling out seems easier.
Elk, add quartering....Wyoming saw is handy. 

In LA, weather warmer than Wisconsin/Michigan, SIL doesn't gut out........ just hangs, chops off legs with loppers, skins, removes the four quarters, neck roast and back straps.
Old Timer Skinner and long Buck knife, ( don't happen to know the number).

Did break the tip off my little Buck-lite folder once......re-ground and I still carry and use.

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## Adventure Wolf

I have a tendency to stockpile knives. I can get rid of a bunch of them, and about a year later, I have more then when I started getting rid of them. Sure I have impulse control issues when it comes to buying knives...

When buying knives, a lot of it has to do with personal preference. I like fixed blade knives for hunting and fishing, and most of "wet-work". I usually like blades that are five to six inches.

I carry a lock blade if I'm doing casual hiking, canoeing, etc. for when I run into incidental stuff like cutting light line, cutting a fruit for lunch, whittling while waiting (I'm not a good whittler), etc.

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## hunter63

You don't have to be a good whittler, you just have to have wood, knife and time.

If you were good at it..... then you would be a wood carver.

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## wolverine_173

anybody have experience with the fallkniven DC4 sharpener?

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## Wildthang

Hunter would never admit this, but his favorite knife is the most publisized knife of all times, the infamous Hollow Handle Rambo survival knife! :Smartass:

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## hunter63

> Hunter would never admit this, but his favorite knife is the most publisized knife of all times, the infamous Hollow Handle Rambo survival knife!


Now don't be dissin' my Harbor Freight Survival Knife for $ 7.99.....You could run away t to the wilderness with this an survive.....

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## Rick

And do you know how many Harbor Freight Survival knives you can buy for the price of a Busse Battle Mistress?

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## hunter63

I'll bet enough that you can throw the HF knives at small game............

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## hunter63

...or let us not forget the one that started it all from the 1980's

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My sons tried to dress a deer and gave up....but it was still cool.

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## wolverine_173

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## Tokwan

I like knives that I can handle and use. For urban and EDC, I shove a Kershaw Speedsafe into my 5.11 pockets (yeah,..I wear 5.11 pants daily,..love their pockets).
For the forest, its my MORAs and also a Malay Traditional Parang....

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## Tokwan

2014613195439.jpg 2014613195439.jpg  My favorite knives. I have gotten rid quite a few, but these, even though cheap compared to some, arer what I love.

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## wolverine_173

newest: Gerber Yari II
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## Tokwan

awesome looking knife.

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## CharlesHicks

both, use fixed blade most

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## Highhawk1948

4 Randall Mades.jpg  I like my Randall Made Knives.

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## blackfinger

Any decent drop point with a 4"-4 1/2" blade will do it for me. Not a fan of longer blades or clip points.

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## ninjasurvivor

I like straight blade tantos myself. Not necessarily for combat, but for practical uses. The secondary point on the tanto makes a great carving and cutting edge. It can be particularly useful for detailed tasks like primitive trap making.

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## wolverine_173

do you guys think a2 is worth the money?

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## crashdive123

A2 is a good tool steel, but it is not the end all, be all.  More importantly is the heat treat process.  The finest steels in the world that are improperly heat treated will be crap.  Of course the grinds are important as well.

I would venture a guess that 99% of the people using a knife wouldn't know the difference between a couple of similar knives that use different steels.

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## Adventure Wolf

> do you guys think a2 is worth the money?


A2 and D2 are good steel for knives. A2 is used mostly in punches and dies. D2 is used mostly for industrial cutting tools. Another good steel is S7, it's shock resistant and used in jackhammers and pounding equipment, because it can take a beating but it doesn't have as good edge retention.

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## wolverine_173

im thinking about bark river A2 but a used knife cost about $100

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## Adventure Wolf

> im thinking about bark river A2 but a used knife cost about $100


Bark River is a quality manufacturer. They make the Bravo-1, which is one of the best knives in my collection. A2 is a good steel, so you shouldn't have any problems.

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## Farley

Man I miss those stories!  Is that guy around or banned?

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## hunter63

> Man I miss those stories!  Is that guy around or banned?


Who....what...where?

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## crashdive123

> Man I miss those stories!  Is that guy around or banned?


What stories and what member?  If a member is banned it will display the word..........wait for it..........banned under their screen name.

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## Farley

There was a character who called himself Blade and he apparently used a Battle Mistress.  Many arguments were started by him, nothing but a troll.

Crash:

I haven't seen his name in a post recently to..........wait for it.........see if he is banned!

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## crashdive123

That should be your first clue.

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## crashdive123

The second clue should have been bringing up a guy and his stories in a thread in which he never posted.......or maybe that should have been my first clue. :Innocent:

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## hunter63

Hummm....

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