Field knife

rodriguez7

rodriguez7

Gila wilderness knife works
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
1,428
So I just received my field knife, thanks to Justin. Just wanted to say it's a hell of a design, good job Nate and Lorien. It will be put to use this year. Hopefully it will skin plenty of animals.
 
One thing I will say about this blade, is its plenty stout for a one knife solution, yet with the edge geometry it cuts extremely well.
 
I hope it serves you well on your hunt, and I hope you take lots of pics and share the experience with us!
 
Will do, we have 2 elk tags, so hopefully we'll fill at least one. I hunt with a recurve now, so my chances are much lower now. But my buddy is using a compound.
 
thanks, and enjoy!
 
Thanks guys, I'll try to get some pics of the field knife in action, and let you know how the edge retention is. Skinning an elk covered in mud and dirt is rough on a blade.
 
Lorien said:
not this blade :)
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Ya, I'm sure. That's why I wanted it. If not elk next month, I have a deer hunt in November, along with a bear tag, another elk hunt in December, and two domestic pigs I'm raising and will butcher in January. This knife will be tested this year for sure!
 
rodriguez7 said:
Ya, I'm sure. That's why I wanted it. If not elk next month, I have a deer hunt in November, along with a bear tag, another elk hunt in December, and two domestic pigs I'm raising and will butcher in January. This knife will be tested this year for sure!
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Pics and performance results please! All the best on your hunts!
 
3V is a great all-around steel and our heat treat for it improves the edge stability, particularly in rough use. Though it has better abrasive wear resistance than other high toughness steels, it is not a super abrasion resistant steel. It will work fine as a skinner, and run circles around things like 1095 in a skinner, but there are other super steels with better pure abrasive wear resistance.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
3V is a great all-around steel and our heat treat for it improves the edge stability, particularly in rough use. Though it has better abrasive wear resistance than other high toughness steels, it is not a super abrasion resistant steel. It will work fine as a skinner, and run circles around things like 1095 in a skinner, but there are other super steels with better pure abrasive wear resistance.
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Good info - what would be your choice of steel for the FK if you were to make one for higher abrasive/cutting chores and were willing to trade away some of the toughness?
 
AmericanAsApple3.14 said:
Good info - what would be your choice of steel for the FK if you were to make one for higher abrasive/cutting chores and were willing to trade away some of the toughness?
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In my opinion it's hard to beat optimized D2 in a skinning knife application. The super fine carbides in the super steels don't work as well in a skinner. The large carbide volume fraction and large carbide in D2 continue to cut flesh even after the edge is blunt, and the vanadium and moderate chrome content make it a very good alloy for this (if HT optimize for cutlery).

You just can't hammer it through a rib cage or pry with it.
 
Thanks for that ^. I've always liked the way D2 takes a toothy edge but never really understood why :thumbup:
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
In my opinion it's hard to beat optimized D2 in a skinning knife application. The super fine carbides in the super steels don't work as well in a skinner. The large carbide volume fraction and large carbide in D2 continue to cut flesh even after the edge is blunt, and the vanadium and moderate chrome content make it a very good alloy for this (if HT optimize for cutlery).

You just can't hammer it through a rib cage or pry with it.
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Thank you for the info! Do you have plans in the future to make the FK (or similar knife) with this kind of optimization? Would this optimized D2 you're talking about work better than 3V in straight cutting/slicing chores? Perhaps that question requires further clarification of material being cut.... I suppose cutting soft food is quite different than cutting boxes or rope....
 
As a skinning knife, I have never found 3v to be lacking anywhere. I have had really good luck with it. The only steels I have used that have out done it in any way was z-wear and cts-pd1. With the custom I have in z-wear being the best, heat treat done by peters at rc 61. I'm anxious to try nates heat treated 3v. I doubt it will be far behind, if at all. I have never used any of these other high vanadium super steels. These that I have used are super enough for me. The edge retention I'm talking about, is late evening, we down an elk, and have to cape and quarter it in a hurry before it gets dark, and my knife holds up enough to get it all done without a touch up in between. That's all I need, and a tip that won't snap popping joints when your in a hurry. This field knife looks like it will be good at this, and hold up well throughout.
 
rodriguez7 said:
As a skinning knife, I have never found 3v to be lacking anywhere. I have had really good luck with it. The only steels I have used that have out done it in any way was z-wear and cts-pd1. With the custom I have in z-wear being the best, heat treat done by peters at rc 61. I'm anxious to try nates heat treated 3v. I doubt it will be far behind, if at all. I have never used any of these other high vanadium super steels. These that I have used are super enough for me. The edge retention I'm talking about, is late evening, we down an elk, and have to cape and quarter it in a hurry before it gets dark, and my knife holds up enough to get it all done without a touch up in between. That's all I need, and a tip that won't snap popping joints when your in a hurry. This field knife looks like it will be good at this, and hold up well throughout.
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We look forward to hearing your Field Knife field report. :thumbup:
 
A nice bonus then for you rodriguez7, is that Nathan has started to leave a little bit more metal at the tip to reinforce it. I think this was inspired by Lorien throwing it. It should hold up even better than it would have before. I don't think the pry bar on the pommel will be useful for this task, and in a rushed state without time and facilities to clean it before hand, will certainly contaminate your sheath.
 
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AmericanAsApple3.14 said:
Would this optimized D2 you're talking about work better than 3V in straight cutting/slicing chores?
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Yes and no. The D2 can do better slicing rope. Until you clack it against a cutting board, cut a bone or clink against a steel hanging hook, where the edge stability of 3V shines. D2 is a good specialized high hardness slicer that is more durable than most stainless but still somewhat fragile. 3V is much more durable and still has good abrasive wear resistance and, in the balance, is probably the better steel. But if I was cutting up a bunch of boxes or rope I'd probably want D2. Unless there were staples hidden in the mix.
 
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