Farm/Ranch suggestions

Irish_Iron_Spring

Irish_Iron_Spring

Joined
Jan 3, 2019
Messages
120
Hello all and merry Christmas!

Looking for some suggestions and knives I maybe haven’t considered.

Farm/chore/ camp focus. Lots of hay bail string cutting, occasional rough gutting, back up skinning knife or primary dependent on location of hunt, camp. Occasional construction (light prying, chopping). All around good utility. Occasional batoning, feather sticking.

The non-negotiables:

-Tool steel/carbon blade. I sharpen with Arkansas stones and I don’t really want to change all the stuff I’ve got. I’m not familiar with any tool steel variants, but am interested in O1, A2, D2, ect.

-Blade length: 4-5.5

-Fixed

-thick enough to take some abuse but won’t be thumped on frequently.

-Prefer some weight behind it

-under $250 would be nice

-want to stay USA made

-Company that supports military

-I live in Michigan so pines, hardwoods, maples, elms, ect.

I’ve had several in this same range and haven’t really liked them. Sold all of the listed off. Tops BOB- to thick, didn’t cut well. Esee 3- blade to short, hated the finger choir, always getting caught on stuff. Buck 124, to long, didn’t like blocky handle. Ratmandu- just didn’t like the blade shape, wished it was a bit wider.

I have a trail master that I just love even after being through a number of larger knives.

I’ve been eyeballing the LT Wright genesis, a few bark rivers, a BHK highlander. I’m interested in some different shaped blades, I usually end up with drop points. So maybe a kephart or Canadian belt knife?

What do you gurus think I should look at or consider?
 
Last edited:
Buck 110 or 112, comes in classic brass or lightweight models; 420HC is easy to hone. Cold Steel Ranch Boss is another option, or CS Twistmaster (Carbon V, discontinued but still a great tough knife if you can find one). Russell Canadian Belt Knife is a unique design, great all-round blade. Their carbon steel is close to 1080, takes a great edge, easy to sharpen.
 
You may want to check out some of our custom knife makers here on the forums. They may have exactly what you want. I don’t know how backed up Allen Davis is but he can fix you anything you want. Another guy you may try is Larry Withrow who like Alan is a great guy and may have something to your liking. As for factory look at Cold Steel, Spyderco, Becker, Benchmade as they all have some that would work well. Good Luck. Kevin
 
Becker Tac Tool?

cAGJaPv.jpg



Pretty sure that hook is just going to annoy you if you try to skin with it. Maybe a little large. If nothing else, it's something different to consider.

I don't recommend this often because the prices climb fast, but your unique combination of needs and wants sounds like you should look for a custom maker. Especially the skinning hook is going to make the other features your want hard to find.

Maybe get a dedicated skinning hook to move it off the knife, and open your options?

vpLTZvG.jpg
 
Last edited:
That poly string/twine or wrap on hay bales is very dirty, and rough on blade steel so you want an excellent wear resistant steel to handle that kind of work. You have kinda limited yourself in your selection but D2 with good heat treatment and geometry is pretty good. The “super steels” generally have more chrome and I think it’s the higher chrome content that helps with wear resistance.

My son and I feed cattle and have to cut a lot of bale twine and wrap. We both use a Buck Marksman his is 20cv steel and mine is S35vn steel. They both work very well and hold a good edge through a lot of heavy work, we refresh the edge about once a week. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried a diamond sharpener but they make it easy to put a wicked sharp edge on the super steels once you have the touch with practice. It’s different than using regular stones but I don’t regret learning how to use diamonds. This is just my opinion from my use and experience but I hope you find what works best for you.
 
Lesknife said:
That poly string/twine or wrap on hay bales is very dirty, and rough on blade steel so you want an excellent wear resistant steel to handle that kind of work. You have kinda limited yourself in your selection but D2 with good heat treatment and geometry is pretty good. The “super steels” generally have more chrome and I think it’s the higher chrome content that helps with wear resistance.

My son and I feed cattle and have to cut a lot of bale twine and wrap. We both use a Buck Marksman his is 20cv steel and mine is S35vn steel. They both work very well and hold a good edge through a lot of heavy work, we refresh the edge about once a week. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried a diamond sharpener but they make it easy to put a wicked sharp edge on the super steels once you have the touch with practice. It’s different than using regular stones but I don’t regret learning how to use diamonds. This is just my opinion from my use and experience but I hope you find what works best for you.
Click to expand...


Thank you! I do very similar work with mine most of the time so those are suggestions I’ll certainly look into. Maybe I’ll just suck it up and get a different sharpening system so expand my steel opinions. The steels I’ve been using do get beat up on that quite a bit.
 
Knives of Alaska has a bunch of good options in your price range. Their D2 is excellent and holds a good edge.

Perhaps a Becker BK-16 (or 15 if you can find it) would work in 1095.

Bark River has an overwhelming assortment of fixed blades to choose from in tool steels. I don't yet have one so I can't specifically recommend one, but I'm sure somebody else will.

Lastly, a Buck 119 could work well for you. You can find them in 5160 if you want to avoid stainless.
 
Shorttime said:
Becker Tac Tool?

cAGJaPv.jpg



Pretty sure that hook is just going to annoy you if you try to skin with it. Maybe a little large. If nothing else, it's something different to consider.

I don't recommend this often because the prices climb fast, but your unique combination of needs and wants sounds like you should look for a custom maker. Especially the skinning hook is going to make the other features your want hard to find.

Maybe get a dedicated skinning hook to move it off the knife, and open your options?

vpLTZvG.jpg
Click to expand...
Oh that’s a different option I had not considered. Interesting looking tool there. I’ll have to check that out. Thank you
 
A cold steel master hunter sounds about right. I had one in Carbon V that was great. An Esee 4 or 5 might work.
 
Becker BK16 with upgraded micarta scales, and an Azwelke Kydex sheath with leather dangler.

About 180 bucks all in. Great customer service and made in USA.
532F822E-3FE2-42F6-BBF9-C741F2A4AD89.jpeg
 
Irish_Iron_Spring said:
Hello all and merry Christmas!

Looking for some suggestions and knives I maybe haven’t considered.

Farm/chore/ camp focus. Lots of hay bail string cutting, occasional rough gutting, back up skinning knife or primary dependent on location of hunt, camp. Occasional construction (light prying, chopping). All around good utility. Occasional batoning, feather sticking.

The non-negotiables:

-Tool steel/carbon blade. I sharpen with Arkansas stones and I don’t really want to change all the stuff I’ve got. I’m not familiar with any tool steel variants, but am interested in O1, A2, D2, ect.

-Blade length: 4-5.5

-Fixed

-thick enough to take some abuse but won’t be thumped on frequently.

-Prefer some weight behind it

-under $250 would be nice

-want to stay USA made

-Company that supports military

-I live in Michigan so pines, hardwoods, maples, elms, ect.

I’ve had several in this same range and haven’t really liked them. Sold all of the listed off. Tops BOB- to thick, didn’t cut well. Esee 3- blade to short, hated the finger choir, always getting caught on stuff. Buck 124, to long, didn’t like blocky handle. Ratmandu- just didn’t like the blade shape, wished it was a bit wider.

I have a trail master that I just love even after being through a number of larger knives.

I’ve been eyeballing the LT Wright genesis, a few bark rivers, a BHK highlander. I’m interested in some different shaped blades, I usually end up with drop points. So maybe a kephart or Canadian belt knife?

What do you gurus think I should look at or consider?
Click to expand...


I’ve really been liking this one since I got it in. Great user overall, and I can get hard on them sometimes. Found a longer version here on the forums and had the maker create a shorter version for me. It’s stout enough to be plenty robust and trustworthy, but certainly thin enough to skin and field dress. Got some good weight to it in hand. Razor sharp, incredibly tough, and the sheath carries well on my belt. A great farm/work knife, and excellent experience all around.

5160
4.5” of cutting edge
Ironwood
Brass
In your budget ballpark

FFFADF49-07A4-4B67-BE0A-838BE07F2046.jpeg
 
Irish_Iron_Spring said:
The non-negotiables:

-Tool steel/carbon blade. I sharpen with Arkansas stones and I don’t really want to change all the stuff I’ve got. I’m not familiar with any tool steel variants, but am interested in O1, A2, D2, ect.
Click to expand...

Have you tried sharpening D2 with an Arkansas stone? D2 contains large chunks of chromium carbide, which is harder than that stone. It would be the same as sharpening 440C or similar stainless steels.

You might also consider some of the Ontario RAT knives in 1095 carbon steel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top