Buck Zipper vs Cold Steel Master Hunter vs Benchmade Steep Country Skinner

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supermario

Joined
Oct 12, 2015
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Hello,

Im going to buy a fixed blade knife with a guthook for hunting. My daughter has a Buck that similar to the Zipper and it works well.
I saw and held the Benchmade Steep Country and Loved it, but I also own and LOVE Cold Steel knives.

Of the three, which do you guys think would be the most durable. But I also want something that can stay sharp for skinning out
deer and butchering. FYI, I carry two knives while out hunting. So I guess I can buy one that stays sharp longer but is harder to sharpen, while the
other is easy to sharpen but is sharper. If that makes any sense.


The knife must be fixed blade, good grip on handle, and stays sharp enough to skin,gut at least one entire deer. And I don't want to spend over $100, that is why
these three knives are on my list.

Thanks, any help appreciated.
 
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Well, the Buck is not in the same league as the other two with it's much cheaper steel. The Benchmade is fixed blade and I would always go that direction given a choice. However, if you need a folder, that new Cold Steel appears to be tough, solid with a great steel.
 
Thankyou for your input. All three are fixed blade unless I put wrong name for the cold steel one.
I think Im going to go with the Benchmade because I read a lot of good reviews. The Cold Steel is a lot bigger. Its almost 10" total length, the Benchmade is 7". I didn't want something that big.


Cobalt said:
Well, the Buck is not in the same league as the other two with it's much cheaper steel. The Benchmade is fixed blade and I would always go that direction given a choice. However, if you need a folder, that new Cold Steel appears to be tough, solid with a great steel.
Click to expand...
 
Oddly, I would pick the Buck out of the three you list. I use the Vanguard and it is brilliant. Easy to touch up, takes a great edge, and the handle is amazing when you are wrist deep in guts and gore.

However, if you are willing to forego the guthook, look at the Becker BK-15. I did five goats in a session and never had to touch the edge up once. Great ergonomics and incredibly useful for smaller work in tight spots.
 
It has to have the guthook, its really handy when fielddressing/skinning a deer and this is going to be my primary deer knife.
Ive looked at the Pendelton and liked it except no guthook.
 
Which has the better steel, the Hunter or Benchmade Steep country? I was thinking the Cold steel has stronger steel but harder to sharpen
and thicker blade wouldnt be as good for skinning? Is that assumption correct?

Thanks for your help guys. When I buy stuff, I usually keep it forever.
 
I had a guy come into our shop yesterday asking if we had the cord cutting tool that comes with the Gerber LMF-II. He'd been out bush with a mate who had used one on a deer and said it worked better than any guthook knife he'd ever seen. I've dug mine out and going to give it a go next time we take something down. Worth considering as it then opens up myriad options for what dedicated knife to take.
 
I'd say Cold Steel. It's not just the steel that makes it a great hunting knife but it a has a great full flat grind thats not chunky with a nice distal taper to a fine point.

The Kraton rubber handle is big enough for a comfortable cramp free grip and has amazing traction. No slipping from blood.

The sheath is the best of the three. It snaps into place. Won't hold odor or corrison.

The 3v is semi stainless but it has a dlc coating that has impressive scratch resistance and is actually bonded to the metal.

3v is touted as one of the toughest steels. Which means no chipping when bone contact is made.

The Benchmade has the best edge retention when it comes to pure cutting and has better corrison resistance.
But can micro chip on bone contact vs roll like the 3v.
this translates to 3v being more responsive to honing and stroping in the field because the edge can be realigned.

So its all in how there used. Some might get more performance from S30v.

They all touch up quick in the field with the right abrasives and techniques.

The buck will sharpen quicker but get dull the fastest.
The 420hc is a good steel but its being compared to great steel.
The best advantage of 420hc is price.

A diamond sharpening steel works great for field sharpening too.
Very fast and follows the curve of the knife.
 
I don't use a gut hook, but a lot of people like them. I had a Master Hunter and it is a great knife, but for me it's to big for working on animals...
It will work, but it doesn't take a big knife to work over a deer. Smaller knives are easier to control and feel what you are doing.

I was going to buy a new BM before last hunting season. I went and looked at them, and they are a nice knife, and as much as I love BM's, I just didn't fall in love with it.

Bucks heat treat on their 420 is very good. A lot better than people give it credit for. As good as the CS and BM? Probably not, but if you start with a really good edge, and aren't hitting a lot of bone, I would think you could work over one deer before needing to touch it up.

If you look on Cabelas website you will find an Alaskan Guide Buck Zipper that is a Cabelas exclusive. It is S30V and also has a rubber handle.
Size wise it is closer to the BM. IIRC it is about 8 1/2 inches long. The only problem I have with that particular knife other than it has a gut hook :D is, they also partially serrated the blade. Some people like that though.
 
ozgooner said:
I had a guy come into our shop yesterday asking if we had the cord cutting tool that comes with the Gerber LMF-II. He'd been out bush with a mate who had used one on a deer and said it worked better than any guthook knife he'd ever seen. I've dug mine out and going to give it a go next time we take something down. Worth considering as it then opens up myriad options for what dedicated knife to take.
Click to expand...

Gerber and Buck and others all offer stand-alone guthooks, I own the LMFII strap-cutter but prefer this new one for butchering (used it on goats earlier in the year):

814woQaZSGL._SX522_.jpg


Buck has this:

531164.jpg


Either would certainly open up the options on a good game knife.

As already mentioned, Buck and Gerber both have guthook knives in both 420HC and S30V. For example, the Gerber Gator Premium:

gerber-30-001082n-cm-large.jpg
 
Of the three, the only one I would consider is the Buck.
Cold Steel, in my opinion, is over priced, and over hyped, for the most part. That said, I do own a Bushman, GI Tanto, a couple each of the Eland and Kudu, and a couple of their machetes.
I can't afford a Benchmade anything.
 
I Gotta wait for payday and go from there. Im thinking its between the Benchmade and Buck Zipper Cabelas model or the buck alpha 193 hunter s30v.
The cold steel is awesome but too big. I used the blade on a leathermans tool on my last deer and the deer before that we used my daughters Buck 193 Alpha hunter and it is great knife. Its my dauthers hunting knife, I got it for $45 at Turners because the priced it wrong.

Thanks for all the info guys
 
afishhunter said:
Of the three, the only one I would consider is the Buck.
Cold Steel, in my opinion, is over priced, and over hyped, for the most part. That said, I do own a Bushman, GI Tanto, a couple each of the Eland and Kudu, and a couple of their machetes.
I can't afford a Benchmade anything.
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know where you're getting over priced for the Master Hunter. It's the least expensive 3V blade in that size range by such a large margin it's kind of ridiculous. I quite sincerely cannot think of one that's less than twice the price.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I honestly don't know where you're getting over priced for the Master Hunter. It's the least expensive 3V blade in that size range by such a large margin it's kind of ridiculous. I quite sincerely cannot think of one that's less than twice the price.
Click to expand...

I've never gotten into the steels/steel wars. I know that a Buck with their standard 425HC blade will do four deer before it needs stropped. Been there, done that.

My knifes with 440A stainless (Rough Riders, for the most part) keep and hold an edge, even if carving oak both with and across the grain - without batoning. My knives with 1055 and 4116 (Cold Steel) keep and hold their edges, as do those with 1095, that I have. All my knives are easy to sharpen, as well.
IMHO most who fret about "what steel should I get?" are over thinking it, beyond the high carbon v stainless aspect.
Most users do not need a "super steel". Again, just my opinion, but, if people really needed a super steel, companies like Victorinox, that makes and sells more knives than anyone, would have super steel offerings.

Also, I am a cheap ... well, since I can't spell it/say it in the forums, let me put it this way: My mum was not wedded when I happened, So, you know what I am ... anyway, I personally cannot justify spending over $40 for a knife, since there are a LOT of knives that can, and do, the job just as well, if mot better than a much more expensive knife.
Take the "lowly" sub $15 Opinel #8, for example. It slices better than pretty much any other non-Opinel knife, regardless of price. The Old Hickory line is another example. Why would/should I spend $150 for, say a CutCo paring knife, when an Old Hickory paring knife cuts better, holds an edge longer, and costs under $10?
 
afishhunter said:
I've never gotten into the steels/steel wars. I know that a Buck with their standard 425HC blade will do four deer before it needs stropped. Been there, done that.

My knifes with 440A stainless (Rough Riders, for the most part) keep and hold an edge, even if carving oak both with and across the grain - without batoning. My knives with 1055 and 4116 (Cold Steel) keep and hold their edges, as do those with 1095, that I have. All my knives are easy to sharpen, as well.
IMHO most who fret about "what steel should I get?" are over thinking it, beyond the high carbon v stainless aspect.
Most users do not need a "super steel". Again, just my opinion, but, if people really needed a super steel, companies like Victorinox, that makes and sells more knives than anyone, would have super steel offerings.

Also, I am a cheap ... well, since I can't spell it/say it in the forums, let me put it this way: My mum was not wedded when I happened, So, you know what I am ... anyway, I personally cannot justify spending over $40 for a knife, since there are a LOT of knives that can, and do, the job just as well, if mot better than a much more expensive knife.
Take the "lowly" sub $15 Opinel #8, for example. It slices better than pretty much any other non-Opinel knife, regardless of price. The Old Hickory line is another example. Why would/should I spend $150 for, say a CutCo paring knife, when an Old Hickory paring knife cuts better, holds an edge longer, and costs under $10?
Click to expand...

Of course you could spend $30 for a Warther paring knife in S35VN and have great corrosion resistance, better grinds and a steel that will hold and edge at least 4 times as long. Inexpenisve knives are great, and good enough is totally fine, but you can get a whole lot better than good enough and the price is often very much the same.

You're also talking apples to oranges comparisons. It's hard to call a blade overpriced when it's less expensive than any really comparable blade. I'm actually all about buying steels that suit your needs, but if I can skin 300% more deer without touching the edge and the steel used has 3 times the lateral toughness as well it's not too hard to justify a 100% increase in price. Doesn't mean that everyone should buy the Master Hunter over the Buck, but accusations of overpriced ring pretty damn hollow when you have that big a jump in performance.
 
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