Rolling Review: Big Chris Pocket Fighter in CPM-10V ***Hunting content

El Bandit0

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Feb 4, 2013
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1,257
Initial use on a central TX Axis Deer harvest
-Graphic hunting content ahead, if you don’t like it it don’t read it
! --

*Full Disclosure: This is my first knife from Big Chris and I felt I should write an honest review of this wonderful little blade. I reached out to Chris and he gave me his blessing to share my experience and opinion with his knife here and elsewhere on the interwebs. The knife was bought secondhand from a previous owner who purchased it in used condition from Chris himself.



I recently purchased one of Big Chris’s CPM-10V Pocket Fighters secondhand on the exchange as I had been eyeing this model for several months. Chris’s eye for clean, symmetrical grinds, handle ergo’s, and willingness to integrate newer high performance CPM steels all attracted my attention over a year ago, but I bided my time and did some research on his work and what folks had to say about the blades that come out of his shop.

Color me impressed.

Now I am the first to admit that I have an addiction for custom bowie/clip point knives and have had a number of high end production and semicustom bowies pass through my hands, including one I had reground and rebuilt to my specifications only a few years back. For whatever reason, each of these knives failed to stay in my inventory for too long and I sold them off while continuing to look for the knife that would fit my uses and tastes best. I am very specific when I buy a new knife and typically it has a specialized place in my toolkit for a specific task/tasks. I was in need of a new hunting/skinning knife when I stumbled across the Pocket Fighter. 4-5 inch clip point blade? Check. Premium 10V steel? Check. Full tang? Check. Micarta Scales? Check. Quality built kydex sheath? Check. Acceptable edge geometry and grind for intended use? ABSOLUTELY!

A few days after purchasing the knife off the exchange it showed up in the mail. Immediately upon unsheathing the blade I was impressed by the thin blade profile, close to 1/16”, thinner than any blade I had previously owned or used. I couldn’t believe how effortlessly I cut through the box it was shipped in, the edge slid right through the cardboard like butter even though the knife was not hair shaving sharp and seemed to have a lower grit, toothy edge applied. I quickly consulted Chris on Facebook as to his recommended sharpening methodology. 1200 grit ceramic followed by a light two stage stropping had the blade transformed into a hair popping, toothy, bowie shaped, lightweight 4-inch long razor blade. I knew this knife would be an effective cutter, but I wanted to put it to its intended use before drawing any further conclusions.

I was able to call a local friend and arrange a Saturday morning attempt to take one of the many overpopulated Axis Deer that roam my friend’s locale. Here in TX, Axis- an imported species native to India- are considered Exotic Game by the state and means and methods for taking them are very loosely regulated. The animals tend to outcompete native whitetail deer and drive the whitetails out of the area. I chose to set up 30 yards from a known feeding spot with a scoped .22 pump gun loaded with high velocity hollowpoints. Axis are typically much heavier than central TX whitetails, but as I hunt for meat I prefer to harvest Axis with carefully placed shots to the base of the ear to ensure a clean kill and avoid spoiling any meat. Additionally, it would be extremely unethical to attempt any other shot as the .22LR just doesn’t have the power to drop 100+ lb. game any other way.

After a couple hours on stand, a very plump and healthy doe walked out into the open and began to graze directly in front of my hide. I slid the little rifle into place and drew a bead. The shot broke as a surprise and felt good. The deer immediately dropped to the ground as I cycled the rifle for an insurance shot. My aim was true and the doe was dead before she hit the ground, the insurance shot proved to be unnecessary. I cleared and safed the rifle before approaching the doe, who proved to be a bit bigger than she had looked through the 2X scope. I knelt, unsheathed the Pocket Fighter, and severed the blood vessels in the neck to begin “bleeding” the deer. The blade bit straight to the backbone effortlessly, the cut made with almost no force.



Once the deer was bleeding, my friend showed up with a 4-wheeler to help me move the doe a short way to an old oak we use as a cleaning station. I hung and gutted the deer and proceeded to remove the hide for later tanning before quartering out the carcass and removing tenderloins, ribs, and as much neck meat as I could. Heavy cutting such as removing the racks of ribs and splitting the pelvis was done with an old hatchet I keep handy for such tasks, it is foolish to damage a fine blade cutting through bone.

The Pocket Fighter performed exceptionally well in quartering, gutting, and skinning roles. The blade was long enough to make big cuts while having plenty of belly for quickly separating the hide. The tip was extremely fine and keen and allowed me to make precision cuts with ease. The overall length was compact enough I had no issues maneuvering inside the chest cavity, while the simple yet elegant and durable Micarta scales provided plenty of traction even when my hands and the handle were completely awash in blood. I have always been a big believer in having at least a lower guard on a fixed blade, but the Pocket Fighter’s handle locks into my hands so effectively I was completely comfortable. Edge retention was OUTSTANDING, 10V with Chris’s heat treat is some impressive stuff. The blade was still aggressively hair shaving sharp after completely skinning, gutting, and quartering the Axis doe, and I felt I could have cleaned skinned and quartered at least another deer or two before needing a touchup on the strops.
I was unable to find any flaws in this knife. It fit my tastes and was perfectly suited to the uses to which I put it. As far as the edge goes, I managed to put two TINY chips into the edge and ever so slightly roll the tip. Cutting ability was not affected at all by this miniscule damage. Both the tip and the two chips would be unnoticed by many users and proved to sharpen out very easily and quickly during cleanup. Chris stated upfront that this knife is a dedicated slicer and as such is ground VERY thin on both the edge and blade profile. It is not meant for batoning through wood, penetrating body armor, or chopping through bones on game animals. This is not a hard use, survival knife but rather an elegant, specialized knife built to cut and cut well, exceptionally well. I do not blame Chris for the damage, these were caused by unintended contact with bones, both when I bled the deer and when I cut the tenderloins loose from along the spine. ANY knife used to process game WILL run into bone at some point, it’s just part of life. For such a thin blade and edge, I expected much greater damage. Every other hunting knife I have used has suffered similar, albeit much more noticeable chipping when put to the same task, and as such I credit Chris’s choice of steel and heat treat methodology for making this a tough, thin little cutter.

Sacrificing a degree of cutting efficiency to have a thicker blade of 1/8”, even 3/16” spine thickness with the same blade grind (flat) and a convex edge would be interesting but I do not see a need for a dedicated meatcutting/skinning blade to be that thick. I am playing with the idea of convexing the edge myself in the future but for now it will remain a V-edge.

Sitting here typing this article the night after the hunt, I must say that the 10V Pocket Fighter has proven its utility, durability, and quality in its first field use. If you are looking for an elegantly simple hunting blade with premium steel and classic styling, the Pocket fighter may be your Huckleberry. At this time I would not hesitate to recommend Big Chris Knives to anyone and am fully satisfied with mine. I have plans to do a follow-on writeup in 6 months to a year.

***ADDON
1/30 woodworking observations:
I took the Pocket Fighter out again this afternoon to do some woodcutting and build a small campfire on the back of my family’s acreage. I found a good sized juniper stump left over from a past burn which contained wood very similar to pine fatwood. This allowed me to build a splitwood fire in about 20 minutes and do some whittling and feathersticking. No edge damage, dulling, or deformation occurred while carving on the dry, seasoned juniper splits. I am not a feather stick expert by any stretch but the knife was capable of extremely fine cuts. Thanks for reading!



 
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Thanks for the review and write up.

It very much pleases me to see the knives I have made being put to real use.

I'm glad that you are pleased with the knife and I hope that it continues to serve you well.

Chris
 
El Bandit0,
I like your thorough write up and story telling style! Thank you for sharing your experience with this knife. Real world testing/usage is critical to formulating an informed opinion of a design and/or material. Well done.

Might I suggest for future articles that you put a beauty shot of the knife at the head of the article to show your subject earlier in the article? I kept wanting to know/see the image but did not get a look until the bottom after the "add on" text
 
Thank you for the awesome review! I purchased a pocket fighter as well and plan to use it for hunting as well. This review definitely gave me confidence and glad to see that the 10V performed amazingly. Just slicing paper with it makes me happy and can't wait to use it on one of my animals as well.
 
Thanks for the kind words Gents!

Chris, thanks again and keep up the GREAT work!

ChapmanPreferred, This is the first full length writeup I have done, took about an hour and a half to get it to where I wanted. I love to write and actually went back to college to get a job writing for Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, or one of the other big outdoors mags, but it didn't turn out to be the field I find myself currently pursuing a career in. I put the pics at the bottom purposefully so folks would at least skim it!;) Glad you liked it, I love telling stories almost as much as I love my cutlery!

Scope2X, you will find a fairly coarse, toothy edge works best with 10V for meatcutting, it was literally the most effortlessly cutting blade I have used to date.

DavidCAndersen, I actually read your review shortly before solidifying my purchase decision, it was the final evidence I needed. I enjoy reading TTAK from time to time, keep up the good work!
 
Excellent write up El BanditO !!!!!!!!
The only thing I would add is, don't limit yourself to 10V. I've got several Big Chris knives in different steels and they all do an amazing job. I've found that whatever steel Chris is using at the time, there is no doubt it will perform without issue. A couple of my co workers have bought Big Chris knives and they can't stop talking about how great they are. I've got a pocket fighter in Z ware and it's one of those that I'll never part with. My Big Chris knives in 10V, 4V, S125V are the only ones I can't compare other knives in the same steel because I have no other knives in those steels.
The Z ware, 3V, S110V, XHP, S30V, CPM154 Big Chris knives I've got have been compared to other makers either in a folding or fixed blade and there's no comparison how well Chris does his heat treat and blade geometry. They just simply out perform any knife I've had hands down. You might say Big Chris Knives have spoiled me in my expectations of how a steel should perform.
 
Ajack60, thank you, I have plans to get at least one more Bowie from Mr. Chris in the future!
 
2/16/17 Update:
Boar Hog #1

Big pig down this evening, my first boar. About 150 lbs, 62 gr. Federal Fusion (Bonded Softpoint) .223 to the neck after a short stalk to 40 yards dropped this big guy on the spot. Folks may question my sanity using a small caliber round on a man sized pig, but the results speak for themselves. Hogs are very tough animals and a quick postmortem inspection and autopsy revealed that the bullet burrowed through approximately 8-10 inches of heavy muscle and gristle before fracturing the spine, possibly disrupting the spinal cord. Couldn't ask for better performance and I use this load for both hunting and a primary defensive round.

As far as shooting hogs I always take either head or neck shots. Hogs-especially mature boars- develop a thick "shield", a stiff, tough layer of fat, hide, and accumulated scar tissue formed from growth and fighting other boars. The shield on this pig was approximately 2" thick from the point of the shoulder back over the ribs... Not a shot I would be happy to try even with tough barrier blind projectiles such as the Fusions. Even with a VERY sharp Big Chris blade, the shield was not easy to cut and took effort to peel back.

I would not be comfortable taking a broadside shot at a boar unless I was using a .30 cal or larger rifle with 180+ grain bonded bullets or copper solids such as the legendary Barnes X-Bullet lineup. a .45-70 Marlin levergun running hard cast lead bullets in the 400 grain range would be about ideal to my thinking for this kind of shot. It all depends on shot placement and how well the bullet holds together and transfers its energy to the target.

Equipment list:

Carbine: 16" 1/7 FN CHF barrel, Silencerco Saker FH, ALG EMR M3 15" MLOK rail, Colt/FN BCG, Aero Precision Lower, CMC 4.5 Flatty trigger, Magpul SL Stock, Megiddo Tactical Group G10 Rail Panels, Magpul MLOK foregrip & BUIS, BCM CH, M3 Grip, Troy Ind. Ambi mag catch & Safety, Sprinco USA action spring, Aimpoint Comp M4S RDS, Surefire M600U Scout Light, Arisaka Defense Inline Mlok Scout Light Mount, Lancer Systems L5AWM 20rd. Mag, and Blue Force Gear VCAS sling.

Knife: Big Chris Customs Pocket Fighter, CPM-10V Steel.

Extras: SOFT-T Tourniquet, Surefire P2XT Fury.

 
Thanks for sharing more with us El Bandit0
 
This hog also had several fresh slash and stab wounds incurred from fighting other boars, only a few hours before he was harvested. I found it noteworthy that the shield was able to stop the tusks of other hogs, only allowing an inch or two of penetration under the skin and stopping far short of major blood vessels or vital organs. The red mark right behind the hog's shoulder was one of these wounds.
 
Nice write up and review! Thanks for sharing. Big Chris' stuff is up there with the best! I have a couple M4 knives I got secondhand and love both! Hope to pick up a 10v or one of those s125v blades that keep taunting me!
 
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