my knives by default

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These are my knives. I don't include kitchen knives lol.
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TOp to bottom, Kershaw 14 inch machete. I love it. 5? 6? Years now? It goes everywhere with me. I abuse the shit out of it. It sharpens so easy, and stays sharp so long. Did I mention I love it? I do though.

Schrade Old Timer, a replacement for my 35 plus year old of the same model. Lost it camping. It's just for food! Fillet knife, skinning, vegetables, never anything else.

Benchmade folder. I've had this thing forever. Since 2000? Somewhere in there. It's a medium folding knife. Apparently hard to lose.

The Cold Steel tanto. I hate it. I hate the blade shape, handle is nice in winter and when wet, I can never get it sharp, then today hit it with that little diamond sharpener beside for like 3 minutes, raised a burrito, skimmed it off, and had it shaving sharp. So who knows? Still hate it. I'll probably hate it a few more years of use yet.

That's it! What else do I need?

ETA: why would auto correct choose "burrito" lol
 
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No hunting style knives left. I did have a super nice Rambo style knife but gave it the oldest son. Have several utility pocket folding knives but I don't hunt or camp any more. The kids have gotten all my camping style stuff. I did keep the firearms, never too old to pull the trigger. I may not want to sleep on the hard cold ground anymore but I still enjoy the sound of "BANG". :D :ar15:
 
I hated the handle on my Ontario. Slippery, hurt to chop wood a lot... The reason i bought the Kershaw machete. Wish I'd bought the SRK, looks like a much more useful knife.

Friction electrical tape, that's what I put on mine and also on knives that tend to get slippery when wet or bloody ;)

It also helps by reducing the kinetic energy transfer to the hand.
 
The wife gave me a new skinning knife for my birthday. It's a fixed blade Buck skinner with rosewood handle and brass guard and end cap. I've used another one just like it for years but with a black handle. I use it primarily for skinning beaver but works well on bear and other large game.
I recently bought a new (to me) folder with replaceable blades. It's called a Wiebe Zipper and is used for making the opening cut on fur animals.
 
I've started using my USMC Kabar for skinning deer. That grooved stacked leather handle does not slip when your hand gets covered in blood and fat. And it holds an edge better than most other knives I own. Cutting through the rib cage is a cinch. You just have to be sure to get the blood off, which is very corrosive on carbon steel.
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Now I'm tempted to get one of the 3/4 scaled down Kabars for precision work.
https://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-KA1250-BRK-Ka-Bar-2-1250-5-Short/dp/B001RTEOVY
 
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I learned s long time ago fillet knives are great for skinning as well. .
My uncle, who was a well known thoracic surgeon (general chest surgeon) preferred a Rapala Fish 'N Fillet for skinning deer. From him I learned to appreciate a sharp pointy tip on my skinning knives.

From my next door neighbor, I learned to appreciate drop point skinning knives. So as a happy medium, I prefer a Bowie style with a sharp pointy tip that is lower than the top of the blade. The Kabar is not quite as pointy as I like. I have reshaped a number of store bought skinning knives to make the tip sharper, pointier and lower.
 
This Walmart special Mossy Oak is close to what I consider ideal. The blade shape is perfect, and the stacked leather handle is great. The steel is not quite as good as I'd like, but it's not bad. And the blade is a tad shorter than what I'd prefer. I had one, but some azzhat stole it out of the back of my truck :mad: This knife with a D2 blade about an inch, mayby just a half inch longer would be the perfect knife for me. I think that might be my next knife project :D
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I used this Puma for years. It has the right length blade, and close to the right shape, but the steel is too soft for me. (typical of German steel)
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I collect knives, and have many more than I need. I justify my addiction with the cheerful bit of nonsense that I can use knives as trade goods post SHTF or TEOTWAWKI.

I'm different from most collectors because I use a lot of my knives.

My favorite sheath knife for a lot of my outdoor activities is a SCUBA dive knife made by AquaLung years ago.

It has a textured plastic grip, a six inch blade with a clip point, and is partially serrated.

I work and play in a tropical environment, and I like that the knife is mostly impervious to most chemicals, salt water, and humidity.

It still needs care, it still needs oiling once in a while, and I can't use the butt to hammer things (although there are slightly different models on eBay that do have a metal butt cap), and I can--obviously--use it in water.....which is an important point as there are many edible plants and animals (like taro, and edible seaweed) that come from the water.

This is the exact model that I have, but the image came from eBay, as I'm computer challenged and have trouble posting photos from my phone (although I've done it before).

A slight drawback with this knife is that the steel doesn't seem as efficient at making sparks with a flint rod as my carbon steel knives.

The steel seems somewhat softer than I would expect from most other knives, so it needs to be sharpened and/or touched up a little more frequently with heavy use.

I have also found that the synthetic plastic sheath can be worn on a belt, strapped to a calf, and so on.

Blood may damage a carbon steel knife, but not this dive knife.

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I use a lot of different knives for skinning. I'm no expert on skinning knives, only been trapping and skinning for 50+ years, but I have found that there is no one single "best" knife for skinning all animals. For example I wouldn't use the same knife for skinning a muskrat that I'd use for skinning a bear. My favorite beaver (and bear) knife is a Russel Green River high carbon knife with a hardwood handle. I think they cost around $18. It's also good for rough fleshing a beaver pelt in the field. For smaller fur animals such as; mink, muskrat, weasel, martin, etc I might use a Case pocket two blade Muskrat or Trapper knife. Most fur animals are skinned case while beaver are skinned open. I recently started using a Wiebe Zipper knife with replaceable blades for making the opening cut. So far I'm impressed with it, saves a lot of time and blade wear on my skinning knives.
I also use a couple Bowie style knives and a Gransfors Bruks belt axe on the trap line for chopping stakes or frozen bait etc.
 
I believe in only very select brands of knife makers and I don’t believe in risking my life on anyone else. Kershaw is crap, Buck is crap, Gerber is crap they don’t actually care about the customer or their safety and fill the market place with junk. Cold steel is great, Spyderco is great, some and only some CRKT is ok, Benchmade is overpriced but, good. There are others but, they aren’t actually able to compete with these company’s. If you’re gonna buy a folding or fixed blade buy coldsteel I have no complaints about them as a company or their products. The Owner actually carries and uses his products in real survival situations.

There I said something.
 

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