What makes a good hunting knife? We talk to the big names in knife making, including
Emberleaf, Revenant Knives, Willslock Forge & Manor Knives and examines the key
attributes of a good hunting knife, what key features you should look for, and how to
keep your blade sharp.
Knife makers:
Emberleaf:
https://emberleaf.com/
Revenant Knives:
https://www.instagram.com/revenant_knives/
Wilslock Forge:
https://www.willslockforge.com/?srsltid=AfmBOor5saG9tXzfbXFbpAiEn45aeUaN65WSyYvHc-xV6OqrgDt21KZw
Manor Knives:
https://www.manorknives.co.uk/
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The knife sharpener guy:
https://theknifesharpenerguy.co.uk/
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If you are looking to get into deer stalking or advance your existing knowledge please visit:
https://www.shootingandhuntingacademy.co.uk/
If you have any questions please get in touch:
Website: https://www.countydeerstalking.co.uk/
Email: secretary@countydeerstalking.co.uk
Phone: 020 3981 0159
22 Comments
Interesting video Peter thank you.
Informative video.
To me it's very simple. The perfect hunting knife is the one (or they) you uses the most.
I have very expensive hunting knives in my shelves and I have very cheap knives as well. The knife…..or knives I uses the most is not amog the most expensive ones.
It hurts when you loose a hunting knife out in the woods, but it hurts less if you loose one of the cheaper ones.
Anyways…..thumbs up and greetings from Norway 🇳🇴
I’ve seen a deer done with a Stanley knife. 🤷♂️
Having used knives for 40 +years , cheap ones and expensive ones !!!!!!. I have found that cheap / budget knives perform just as well as my expensive ones.ok yes the sharpness may not last as long,but lets face facts !!is it really such a hard job to just sharpen your knives, with a good stone. NO ITS NOT!!.
I would say the most knife steels are good these days. So then the heat treatment and temper become more important. This can still be damaged during the grinding process if the blade is overheated. Which then comes down to the skill and integrity of the maker.
Balance also needs to include cost, a Mora knife will do the job just like an emberleaf but losing a Mora in the field won't be such a catastrophe.
£400 for one buetiful knife or 30 decent workhorse utilitarian knife!
I use various blades and my thoughts are, a good knife is one that fits the purpose it is being used for and is easily replaced if lost or damaged.
After more than 4 decades of deer hunting I have tried quite a few different knives. What made it finally? Fixed blades between 3 and 4 inches blade, the most used has a 9 cm blade. Easier to clean than any folder and a bit sturdier. I never open the pelvis with a knife. What is of importance is a dropped point so the tip doesn’t easily pin the guts. At all of my deer knives I adjusted the tip-drop myself. When holding the knife on a table surface – edge upward and trigger finger on the spine at the end of the handle/ beginning of the blade – the tip may not touch the table surface. This is enough drop to avoid gut puncture. I love stylish knives so my favorite has stag scales and some selfmade Scandi knives are among the favorites, too.
Want to add the steel of all my knives is between 58 and 62 HRC. Smaller blades I like harder as they are easier to keep sharp anyway. I regularly (after every use) maintain the edge using P500 grit abrasive cloth on a neoprene pad – goal is a convex-to-zero edge around 20 degrees.
From this video it highlights the need for using diferent knives for the task your doing till you find what works for you then it’s down to the skill of using it! A tool is only as good as the person using it it doesn’t give powers to use it it’s a knife after all not a magic wand!
No way are ember leaf .knives worth the money they ask . Take the bush camp knife. O1 carbon steel way way to expensive, listening to some on forums, the grind ain’t even even.
Emberleaf are the scumbags who tried to shut a small time British knife maker down for making a knife with the same name as them. Even though the bloke had been making that very knife for longer than them!
Go watch a kiwi homekill butcher with a £20 victory knife.
It's a sliding scale, at one end an old Stanley knife at the other a Damascus steel rosewood and antler handled handmade piece of cutlery . Both work. The difference is price, and how much yap you'll hear about the latter…
I don't see the point of a scandi grind on a hunting knife for 430 £. Anyone?
Another great video and interesting to learn about types of knives and their uses.
Check out Paddy Smyth – Stalker's Claw to see an interesting knife specifically designed for deer. A few YT videos by David Dunne showing its effectiveness!
(Just to note, I'm not affiliated with either – the knife is a really nice concept)
Many years ago I forgot my knife and remembered a bottle in the hedge nearby . I had the gralloch done before my mate got back to me from the other end of the field . Now all my kit is in a bag so I know where it is at all times .
Buck Knives, not too expensive and gets the job done.
I have to say i own a paddy smith knife and i cannot recommend it enough from new i done 17 sika heads and hocks before i put a sharpener to it fantastic tool 240 euro ireland i am obviously ..used mora cheap cheer full but there is something to be said for holding a beautiful knife on a beautiful open mountain in wicklow personally
Im a gamewarden and deerhunter and I don’t get why you would ever use a scandi grind on a hunting knife. Makes 0 sense
Peter great video from the knife makers, but you give more time to the knife sharpener which if anyone is spending £400+ on a knife, they will not be chucking it through that to sharpen! will do more damage than good…
I’ve used all sorts of knives for stalking and general use over the years, while I always carry a knife on my belt my go to knife is professional quality butchers bonding knife, my back up is a divers knife.
Another great video Peter many thanks. You hit the nail on the head when you were talking about blade length for bleeding the animal after shot. Most of my deer are large Reds and I find that a lot of blades are simply too short to accomplish this task. Also I find that many knives sold as "stalking" knives have blades that are too wide and thick for purpose. Check out White Peak Knives Large Gralloching Knife. I have to admit that I am biased as I designed this knife myself with Mr. Rob Gillions. Rob very kindly made this knife (as a prototype) for me which I have tested out this season. So far I have gralloched 19 deer (mostly Reds with some Fallow and a Sika) with the new blade and it has proven very successful. Rob is now making these for anyone interested. As an addition we are developing an accompanying smaller, precision blade for the more intricate cutting of the gralloching process. The idea is to provide both knives as a set that would be efficient and capable of gralloching all UK species of deer. They are priced very reasonably and are really aimed at people who manage parks, processing many deer over a season who want a work horse of a knife, don't want to pay a premium price, yet want something a little nicer than an off the shelf throw away.
Any knife from allan wood or danner blades ,, not that shite emberleaf churns out !!