Truth be known, us outdoorsmen are slow to change. Is it because of nostalgia?
Family tradition? Sure, with some gizmos we’re all in but with a lot of gear we’re slowww to change. Years ago I read an article in which the author beseeched the readers to embrace the AR into their hunting world.
He said something to the effect of “Come on guys after WWII the soldiers came home and wanted to hunt with the rifles they’d used overseas and were comfortable with.
Our boys used an M16 in Vietnam and are wanting to use it to hunt. And dang guys, Vietnam was back in the 60’s. It’s not a new rifle. It’s going on 50 years old”. Maybe we are slow to change.
I’m going to use the same logic with you on today’s topic which is Folding Hunting Knives. When I started using a folding knife to clean my deer 30-35 years ago that was a new concept. I didn’t know of anyone else that used a folder except one of my early mentors-Mr. CC Teague.
Mr. Teague was the coolest guy I’ve ever met next to my dad. He took me, dad and my brother deer hunting from the time I was 9-years old on up until he died.
If it wasn’t for him, we never could have afforded to deer hunt as grade school kids. He gutted his deer with an old wood black handled folder called a Sodbuster. Sixty years ago it was unheard of to use a folder to gut deer.
Maybe it was his influence that caused me to use a Bucklite 110 back in the late 80’s/early 90’s to gut/skin my deer. That was revolutionary. So, like the author mentioned above while encouraging people to embrace the AR, I’m going to encourage you to try out some of the modern folders. There’s a lot of benefits.
1. Lightweight.
2. Compact.
3. Can strap them on your backpack for easy access.
4.Safer to carry in case you fall/horse wreck. A straight blade knife might poke through a cheap sheath.
The thing that enhanced the popularity of folders is that now some companies offer them with functional blade designs. Until recently, everything I ever saw had a clip point.
About 9-years ago I got a Diamond Blade folding Summit. It has a definite drop point and yet the spine is ground down so it has a definite point.
There’s a lot of dysfunctional outdoor folders on the market so be careful when buying. Determine what job you want to do.
Let’s start off with the EDC knife. Daily tasks require stabbing jobs such as cutting holes in leather, opening feed bags etc. so I like a clip point. I favor a 3 ½-inch blade with a bigger handle so I have a good grip or you may want to carry a more discreet, smaller knife. Not a right or wrong, it’s just what you favor.
DESIGNS
Now let’s cover what designs to look for in our hunting/fishing folders. For skinning an animal, a lot of people favor a 3 ½” clip point blade and I’ve skinned over 100 deer with one. The old Buck 110 is one of the first popular clip point folders. At last count they had sold over 10,000,000 and it’s the knife that put Buck on the map.
But if you want to save the hide, you’ll want a drop point. The Diamond Blade Summit is the best skinning folder on the market. It has a drop point but also the spine is ground down so it has a point for cutting the pattern.
Then there are smaller folders such as the KOA Featherlight Hunter with a drop point for skinning smaller animals (although you could skin a deer with it).
KOA makes a Featherweight Bird/Trout folder that has a straight cutting edge for breasting out birds and would also work for cleaning your trout when backpacking and.
If you favor a 6-inch blade for filleting your fish, Smith’s Consumer Products makes a folding fillet knife as well as Elk Ridge. Not that this is the best design for the task but last week at Pheasant Land Lodge in South Dakota the guides used 6-inch folding fillet knives.
While on the topic of folding fillet knives, the thought of a folding boning knife has always intrigued me. I tried to get a couple of companies to make one but none ever took me up on the offer.
So the only two viable boning knives are straight blades made by KOA and Smith’s. Here’s a link to a TV show that we did on the KOA boning knife.
In the old days all folding pocket knives were opened two handed using a thumb groove on the spine of the blade. You’d dig your thumb nail into the groove to pull it open. Now we have more options.
1. The old thumb groove
2. Thumb stud
3. Assisted open
4. Flipper knife
5. Spyderco thumb hole
6.Auto
BLADE LOCKING OPTIONS
1. Lockback folder. The blade locks open by means of a lock on the back of the handle. Some lock in the middle, some on the rearend of the handle.
2. Liner lock. When the blade is open the liner slides over in the middle of the back of the blade. To close it, push the liner over with your thumb nail which allows the blade to close.
3. Slide button locks like the KOA Onyx.
MULTIPLE BLADED FOLDERS
Here’s another twist-interchangeable blades. For an example check out the Elk Ridge XCHANGE FOLDING KNIFE. It offers three blade options.
Another feature to look for, does it provide a good grip? I like a textured handle, finger guard and thumb grooves on the top of the spine stabilize my grip.
You’re usually skinning your deer in the dark. Add in the blood and you’re handling a sharp object in the dark that is cold, wet and slippery.
How do you carry your folder? I still love the old leather sheaths but now almost everyone offers a canvas sheath. I assume to cut cost.
Pocket clips have become super popular. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I must love them because that’s all I carry but I hate them because they obstruct my hand when reaching into my pocket.
But I’ve found the perfect solution. Some of my 5.11 pants have a 3 ¼-inches wide and 5 ½-inches deep knife pocket. The perfect solution for carrying a folder utilizing a pocket clip.
Tom Claycomb is a hunting enthusiast and writes a bi-monthly column for Great Basin Sun.
