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I'm looking at getting a folding scalpel knife for getting nice clean butthole cuts. I se they are used in the states quite a bit and I like the idea of having a super sharp knife that takes up bugger all room and weighs not much.
Does anyone use them? Are they any good or am I better off sticking my my mercator?
Cheers
Not long enough.
https://www.blademaster.co.nz/shop/S.../115BLAZE.html
Something like this would be comparable to a mercator in length.
Have done the butt hole of a big kaimai hind yesterday just with my opinel garner number 8.
Yes, Outdoor Edge EDC 3.5 inch blade. Blade dulls after one animal. Easy to resharpen to razor sharp. Light. Quite a unique design with a lot of blade support. Generally just do gutless animal preparation and I'm pretty happy with it. They also do one with a 5 inch blade.
I have a little havalon
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/05...g?v=1638624221
I used to take by old skining knife but got feed-up trying to do clean butt holes (It had other issues as well, very soft metal).
Watch a professional guide use one for dressing out a little fallow hind and was impressed.
He probably mostly used it for head skins etc but I did not see that.
Not ideal for braking down a large animal but fine for opening one up, gutting, cleaning skinning etc really good.
Also fine for taking of legs and back steaks etc if it's more than a km to the car.
Z
ps can also get a gut hook for them as well. I would suggest getting the little plastic blade changer tool. I have a fear that damp bloody or cold hands may have an accident trying to change a blade.
Normally you would change out the blade before leaving home.
+1 for the Havalon
Great knives, light and always sharp. All I have carried for the past 3 years
I use regular scalpels and bring a few spare blades with me. Loose sharps are put into a small container in the pack. I bring a small solid plastic container to keep the loose blades in. When one blade gets a bit dull i just replace the blade, no need for sharpening in the field. Im starting to prefer the scalpel over the regular knife for most field-dressing activities, sharp and precise, but the issue is the small blade.
Been looking at one of those folding scalpels with the longer blades.
Something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003204964143.html
Or this
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001478969540.html (razorlite)
Havalon offer clip in blades up to 5" for some models,
They do both hunting and fishing types some with bone saw partial or complete blades and gut hooks.
https://havalon.com/blades
That is the Outdoor Edge knife at about half the price! I wonder how it all works? I know a lot of premium products are knocked out in the same factories as the cheap stuff sold on AliExpress. I wonder if it's a blatant fake or surplus stock.Quote:
Originally Posted by JessicaChen
I'd go for it at that price. Oddly, even the spare blades on the genuine product need a tickle up with a strop before using, then they're razor sharp.
Yeah a lot of stuff is purchased from china, given a new label, and then sold at a higher price.Quote:
Originally Posted by MB
I like them as a backup/second knife.
I mostly use them for skinning cuts and bum etc. Great to have the second knife for this especially with a pissy/stinky stag. Keeps the meat from getting contaminated
They will do a whole deer well enough but there are better knives for the job. They are a bit short and pretty easy to snap.
Got one of these recently. Really nice to use and is easily big enough for any field dressing of animals. For the $40 I paid (including replacement blades and carry pouch), well worth it.Quote:
Originally Posted by MB
Yeah they’re awesome for skinning and gutting, but not suited for any kind of work around bone as it doesn’t take much to snap em. I can zip through field dressing quickly with my Havalon & then use a boning knife for breaking down the animal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick-D
Been using the Havalon knives 5 or 6 years now and being an ex butcher and fish filleter I hate sharpening knives so swapping blades is so easy. Not ideal for braking animals down. I mostly bone animals out on the ground before the wasps show up. I’ve had 100 blades last as long as I’ve had the knives and still have 28 blades left.
Havalon’s compared to a 223rem
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...52dd990a_b.jpg
Being an ex butcher and filleter you most likely have above average knife skills and dont cut bone and hair as much as most of do ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by tikka
Even at twice the blade usage that would still be good going tho with the amount of animals you get threw.
Where are you guys getting your blades from? And has anyone tried any of the different scalpel blades and did they work? I ordered some off ali express last year and they never arrived so had to go in to the green store and pay $35 for 12 blades.
I use the 60A blades from the link Magnus shared above. Still going on my first dozen so never tried any from elsewhere. Now I’m definitely no butcher, but so I can easily get a few animals per blade so long as I avoid doing any heavy work near bone with it.
now thats plurry interesting,as having been a fish splitter myself in previous life....was just about to type,does no one know how to ,and enjoy the art of getting and keeping a good knife sharp anymore???Quote:
Originally Posted by tikka
it is a simple matter to have a good sharp sheath knife and a smaller shape pocket/folding knife in kit as a spare.... the mercator/svord peasant/openil/IXL/swiss army/gerber gator, etc etc etc will do all the same jobs just about as well IF you get it sharp and keep it that way.
Yeah they dull pretty quick but can be brought back with a stropQuote:
Originally Posted by Pixie Z
Yes, I can do it. Do I enjoy it, no! I sharpen and reuse the "disposable" knife blades, so am still on my first one nearly a year down the line.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
This post gave me a chuckle.Quote:
Originally Posted by tikka
Ive got no time for them and think they are almost as silly as Mercators'. And that's very silly.
But Ive got a Havalon that I use for tricky head skinning. I will take it today and if I get a deer I will give it a try. Its a Havalon combo with a pocket knife blade at one end.