Thread: Best hunting knife unders $100?

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Have you tried soaking the handle in tru oil or similar? The cutout area just won't be well sealed.

They are lovely thin knive the opines, cut really well

Think I did go through that process once. Maybe it's worth another go. Agree with you about the blade.

Originally Posted by NRT

Wonder it didn't break weak as shit knives

Sent from my Nokia X20 using Tapatalk

oh do piss off..... the knock offs may be...but the origonal ones last for years and stand up to a heap of abuse........Im about as hard on a knife as it gets,some would say I would be cruel to a crow bar,and Ive never killed a mercator.

Originally Posted by MB

I've got a couple of those. Wanted folding knives. Overall, I would recommend them. Edge-holding abilities aren't great, but they will get through one animal and they are easy to sharpen.

MB, there are Gerber Gator folding knives also. USA made and the steel in them is pretty good. I can get a few animals out of a sharp blade. But i just use it for the field dressing component - into the pack and car.

Originally Posted by Dicko

MB, there are Gerber Gator folding knives also. USA made and the steel in them is pretty good. I can get a few animals out of a sharp blade. But i just use it for the field dressing component - into the pack and car.

Cheers, but that's what I meant/have. Yes, good knives for the price.

my favourite folder is actually a cheap knock off of the gerber gator...H&F licence giveaway...good bugger on forum sent me a 2nd one in case I ever loose the first one and my engineering whizz mate fixed a dicky pin through handle on my first one....dekota cutlery Im pretty sure is who makes them.

I wonder what the number of possums skinned with a Mercator would be? Pretty much every possumer had one when in the 70's and 80's

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

I wonder what the number of possums skinned with a Mercator would be? Pretty much every possumer had one when in the 70's and 80's

I bought my first one in Brannigans sports in Ohakune, 1981. They were the knife of choice for skinning possums then.

when I was a wee tacker....Dad and older Brother were doing possums pretty much full time when not at work.... at that stage Kinleith mill issued the IXL brand knives to guys in pulp mill......must have been tens of thousands of possums skinned with them...they issue mercators now LOL....
I skinned 300 with a knife on set of nail clippers...still have them here beside me.... soft steel and a steel will let you away with all sorts. a vegetable paring knife was weapon of choice in the tacking out shed....we were living in Torphin cresant when I was.....7-8 and Kinleith went on strike....8 weeks from memory, full on possuming then and a hell of a lot of folks were selling to Dad aswell,how he kept cash flowing I am buggered if I know but we kept afloat our two households plus a few others during that dark time.
middle Sister bought brand new honda 100cc bike with possum skin money from same time...she spent spare time in tacking shed.....
went past the old place the other month when up there....whole street has changed,the scout den is gone and supermarket has altered things forever....
EKA was another brand of pocket knife popular with possum guys.

A Buck folder for me when I was doing possum skins.
Possum and goat money bought my Model 94 Trapper, a big boombox stereo, and a lot of other toys a teenager needed in the 80's

+1 for the opinels for a field knife. I use a little number 8 and a number 10 and find them perfect for anything from skinning possums to processing deer in the hills.
Both have the point ground down to more of a drop point and the handles rounded at the ends so they're more comfortable to hold. No matter how wet they get I have always been able to open them by turning them around and smacking them on something hard.
Just found the Mercator's not quite as comfortable to hold and the edge didn't last as long as the opinels.
At home for processing I have an assortment of victory and victorinox skinning and boning knives.
Also a couple of custom made knives and several other bits and bobs such as the bacho ones.
Always seem to reach for the same ones though.

Depends if you want something special you can pass down or not but the havalon range seem decent for the price. And if you're not good at sharpening or just don't have the time to do it properly they have replaceable blades. Again probably not for everyone but they seem decent enough for under $100