Thread: Top Quality Hunting Knives

s45vn and elmax are the same steel. The difference being s45vn is made in the US. Holds a great edge but not overly tough. Good for a hunting knife but for some people can be tricky to sharpen.

There is a list of good knife steels as long as your arm.

Day in day out 3V is my pick. Holds an edge, tough as nails and not hard to sharpen.

S30V is chippy hard to sharpen shit and thats why you only see it in folders nowadays (short blades so they aren't leveraged or overly abused)

If you get a Ripi (recommended) John will give you advice on what steel to go for.

Handmade but not custom, nice steel N690c but not a "super steel".

This was my birthday present this year from my wife, a Cudeman Akeley.

I have it shaving sharp and by the end of breaking down a deer (used it on two so far) it's still able to take hairs off my arm.

It replaced the venerable Mora Bushcrafter which took apart more animals than I can count.

is that a norma Alaskan I spy in the magazine???

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

is that a norma Alaskan I spy in the magazine???

Nah, RWS UNI Classic's. I don't really use scopes anymore, this gun in particular has never had one so my shooting rarely goes beyond 100m. At these ranges I've not had an animal make it more than 10 yards to date with the UNI classics.

Originally Posted by Hugh Shields

@john worthington What the heck type of timber is that handle made of??
A beautiful piece of art work!

the timber is ringed gidgee from aus about 4th on the hardness table for timber ,beautiful stuff to work

Originally Posted by Tahr

s45vn and elmax are the same steel. The difference being s45vn is made in the US. Holds a great edge but not overly tough. Good for a hunting knife but for some people can be tricky to sharpen.

There is a list of good knife steels as long as your arm.

Day in day out 3V is my pick. Holds an edge, tough as nails and not hard to sharpen.

S30V is chippy hard to sharpen shit and thats why you only see it in folders nowadays (short blades so they aren't leveraged or overly abused)

If you get a Ripi (recommended) John will give you advice on what steel to go for.

Nah s45vn and elmax are different steels. Elmax has quite a bit more carbon and chromium.
I typod s35vn as recommendation but nothing wrong with either steel. S30v can make a fine knife treated properly, but yeah bit harder to sharpen

3v is an awesome steel but obviously not stainless.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Nah s45vn and elmax are different steels. Elmax has quite a bit more carbon and chromium.
I typod s35vn as recommendation but nothing wrong with either steel. S30v can make a fine knife treated properly, but yeah bit harder to sharpen

3v is an awesome steel but obviously not stainless.

You are correct about the difference and I was wrong.

@john worthington certainly makes beautiful but practical knives and I'd also suggest @viper who makes a great knife too.
I have a handful of nice knives with one each of a Bob Loveless drop point and Kephart speer point that I think should meet you need for a practical hunting knife with some class. Both are 3V which I find a good compromise between edge retention and ease of maintenance. I've bought a Ripi knife for a colleague that was great and will one day commission Viper to make me one too.

Did someone mention semi custom knives? Mainly Bark River and some Cross knives.

@Tahr out of curiosity what is your favorite model of BRK?

Originally Posted by Hunty1

@Tahr out of curiosity what is your favorite model of BRK?

Small Scagel (leather handle on the top of the pile) & Fox River. Wolf River. But thee are so many good designs.

is that your favorite , you seem to use alot of guardless models as well

Originally Posted by john worthington

is that your favorite , you seem to use alot of guardless models as well

Not sure John. Im such a knife slut. The guard on the Scagel is quite unobtrusive.
Usually I dont like a guard because they get hooked up when fishing around clearing the lungs against the spine etc. Most of my knives are guard-less.

My Scagel

very nice i have lusted after a scagel style knife for ages. i did make myself one but sold it in a weak moment

yip I would use that LOL....not a hell of a lot different in shape to my preferred bowie style.