Who are the top custom fixed blade hunting knife makers in the world (USING KNIVES)

[Edwood7]

Daniel Winklers winkler knives II line is very nice. Some of his customs could also be users if your can bear it.

 

[mohd]

.. I am more interested in taking a look at the best custom fixed blade hunting knives available today not as a collector but to use as a hunter. I am interested in The Using Knives not The Beauty Queens ..

.. I have owned/still do own some knives crafted by the following masters:

Charles May
Gene Ingram
Bob Dozier
Mike Starling ..

I like this thread :thumbup: I guess you must have spent much time in hunting so that you need a top user hunter. Any picture of your hunting trips? I like threads about hunting knife in action. IIANM JParanee have couples of threads showing and telling about his hunting trips :thumbup:

I myself never hunt in my whole life Anyhow I have a hunter. It's the only one I have. A beautiful hunter made by Bill Buxton. So few times I used that hunter for skinning and butchering farm animals and it performs real great. Still most of the times it's a Beauty Queen in my house

mohd

 

[CR33]

BUSSE - Want a blade that you can use for life and pass down to the next several generations. somewhat of a semi-custom, but amazing stuff! I also love and use the busse kin stuff such as swamp rat. bussecombat.com and swampratknives.com - and scrapyard.
There is also more information on bladeforums.com under their respected sub-forums then there is on the sites, but you can get an idea-and that's where you order or get their contact info. Warning: they use extremely addicting properties-dunno what it is, but once you get one- its already on!
lol-Thx... Just check it out-you will not be disappointed if you are a user. Goto youtube and you can plug in Busse- 1000's of personal vids with all different blades.

 

[2knife]

Willow Bow crew:
Ed Fowler, Eldon Perkins, Chris Amos, Butch Deveraux.
Knifetalkonline.com

 

[Ironic]

To decide who the best maker is for a hunting knife you intend to use personally, I suggest you first define for yourself what you want a hunting knife to do. A knife for dressing birds and small game doesn’t necessarily fill the bill for deer. A knife adequate for field-dressing deer won’t necessarily take care of boning out/butchering an elk or moose efficiently.

If you’re in a backpacking scenario, hunting potentially hundreds of square miles of steep forested mountains, you may need to be able to do camp chores such as splitting wood or digging a fire pit as well as fine work such as preparing food or caping out a trophy. You may need to be able to rely on your knife in a survival situation, and know it’s not going to break, crack or chip out catastrophically. You may need to bone out large animals such as elk or moose to pack the meat out on your back, and need some length of blade to do that efficiently. You may need to split the thick pelvic bone on a large animal to let the carcass cool out. In this case, the choice of steel for the best balance of strength and toughness, heat treated for a balance of hardness and toughness, the thickness of the blade for pry strength and the thickness of the edge for the best balance of durability and cutting efficiency are all critical choices.

On the other hand, a hunting knife for many means a blade that will only be called on to perform field-dressing chores on deer and small game, leaving the actual butchering until you get the carcass home where it can be worked on with kitchen knives or dropped off at a wild-game processor who will butcher and package the meat for you. In this case, a 3-4” blade hunter, fixed or folding, will do the job without fanfare. In this scenario, if edge holding and a highly-efficient cutting edge are of paramount appeal, you may decide to go with an uber-wear-resistant stainless steel such as one of the CPM stainless steels in a nice, thin blade. On the other hand, the lower toughness inherent to CPM stainless alloys may not be acceptable in a survival situation, in which case you may be better served by a little thicker blade and edge made of good spring steel with expert heat treatment.

Study and decide what your requirements are for:

1) Steel and heat treatment: strength, edge holding and stain resistance vs. toughness, durability and resistance to catastrophic failure.

2) Geometry—cutting vs durability. Thin, hard edges = best cutting/best edge holding, but not the best for going through heavy joints and bone, if that’s an issue. A small-game hunting knife can have a very thin, hard edge that will last and last. A large hunter that will be called upon to split a pelvic bone on a moose may need to be thicker at the edge. Steel can mitigate the vulnerability and enhance edge holding, but striking the right balance is key.

3) Blade style is specific to the hunting task and to personal taste. Many like a skinning style blade with a trailing point. Others prefer a drop point, as having an upswept “skinner-style” point in many applications is more awkward. For example, an upswept point that rises above the line of the spine becomes awkward when the knife is turned upside down to make a gutting cut because the upswept point is now sweeping downward to bite things below your fingers which you cannot see.

4) Ergonomics. Hand size and specific hunting applications and tasks vary as do personal tastes. Some prefer grippy man-made materials such as rubber or Resiprene or textured micarta. Others may prefer smooth natural materials like wood or bone, with contouring that provides security, control and comfort.

Once you decide what tasks your hunting knife must perform well, and what steel/heat treatment/geometry/blade shape/size options you will require, take a look at ergonomics and handle materials. Then you will be able to begin looking at the work of individual makers whose work is to your tastes in the areas mentioned, to find the right maker for you. Perhaps you will want to begin saving some photos off the internet of knives that come closest to satisfying your preferences.

Makers offer design, materials and the craftsmanship to put them together. You have to decide what “best hunter” means for you, and then you can begin the search to find the best maker for you.

Finally, you may find, as I have, that the styles of some of the most expensive hunting knives to be found are essentially worthless for your needs. You also may find that performance-wise, some of the most storied master smiths produce knives that are, in fact, weak and substandard in fulfilling your requirements in the field. Some will tell you that damascus steels out-perform single-alloy steels or that forged blades out-perform blades made by the stock-removal method. These claims are typically half-truths. Don’t believe the hype on the surface. This kind of knowledge comes from extensive reading and experience in the field. Read what others have experienced for themselves on these forums and elsewhere, and decide for yourself what the truth is for you.

 

[SharpByCoop]

^^^ The extent of this post's wisdom is what made me shrug at the OP's inquisitive, but unanswerable question. Well said.

Coop

 

[Mardigras]

My choice for a user knife would be a Bob Dozier Master Hunter. An early Loveless sambar stag reclining nude knife would never get used only held and admired.

 

[Mr. Night]

check out Horton Knives in the makers section right here on bladeforums.
He is Tier One in my own humble

 

[barrabas74]

Through my own USE of hunting knives I very much like Scott Gossmans knives. I also like J. Neilson's take on mid size hunters and the one he made for me I have used and it excells in my hands. There is another maker who is named Jim Sigg (many may not know him) and he makes some very functional knives out of old saw blades (L-6). I have a few of Bob Doziers and his use of D2 is exceptional.

I have several "hunters" which are more shelf queens and I have not taken them in the field for whatever reason. I am supprised though no one has mentioned Bill Moran (though yes he has passed) as I have held his hunters and they are very nice in the hand though I have no personal experience in there use.

As Alferd stated a "hunting knife" is very personal to one's needs and the style in which they prefer. When I go pack hunting and will be gone for days I like a crossover between a "hunter" and a "camp knife" as it will be called upon for multiple chores. I have field dressed animals with a SAK and though not ideal it'll get er done.

 

[Snody]

These would be my top choices.

Stainless Steel, Hollow Grind, Thin Edge..

Loveless

Herron

Gaston

Davidson

Hendrix

Holder

Denning

 

[kzooglock23]

check out Horton Knives in the makers section right here on bladeforums.
He is Tier One in my own humble

Absolutely.

Many, many, many awesome knives and names in this thread. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[betzner]

Mike (Snody), that's the best list I've seen, for the purposes of this post. I think it's hard to put together any "best of" list, but in giving it some thought, I think you've picked some real winning makers here. Other than Loveless, I've used 'em all, and these are some of the best. Glock92 sure couldn't go wrong with any of these.

But so many good makers, huh?

Bob

 

[Lorien]

I read about this Wayne Hendrix fellow in a magazine awhile back, and I wasn't going to post in this thread since I've never hunted and then processed an animal in the field. Never ever, so I have like zero knowledge about that kind of thing. But, I do put a real heavy value on ground truth. A knife maker who specializes in a kind of knife because they use that kind of knife themselves is one that always gets my interest. In other words, if I wanted a hunting knife, I'd buy one from a knife maker who does a lot of hunting.
Anyway, I took a look around Hendrix's website and he looks like a maker who'd be right up your alley; http://www.hendrixknives.com/

 

[HJK]

Years ago there was a test of custom camp knives done by one of the knife magazines. I think it was Knives Illustrated. Most of the usual suspects had knives that were tested. One of the most highly regarded knives in that test was a forged 52100 knife by Canadian mastersmith Wally Hayes. he built me a variation of that knife and I must say it is extraordinary, but not cheap. You can find some of his blades for sale here and there in a variety of good steels as for surprisingly decent prices.

Personally, I would love an Ed Fowler Pronghorn, a Loveless or a Moran, but whether I could bring myself to actually use it is another story.

Having said that, the quality of the knives being offered for sale right here by several different makers on the fixed blade forum is really very high and it's probably unfair to pick just one or two. Check the feedback and you won't go wrong. Just don't beat me out when they come up for sale

 

[cappaletti]

Ed Caffrey, Ed Fowler, Wayne Goddard, Buster Warenski, Jim Hrisoulas....there's lots more!!

 

[CHRISTIN]

My Bagwell's have seen use in Bosnia, Iraq and several African countries. They were carried and used daily in the field, desert and bush. They are simply great blades forged by a great maker.

 

[VCM3]

Tony & Reese Bose make some awesome cutting hunters

From a price point & ease of obtainability (less than a 2 yr wait),deep hollow ground ss blades by Rick Menefee in many designs.
These are Bose influenced & Ricks renditions,at my request.

A few other handle & blade designs.
Rick is pretty much my "go to" maker for hunting knives & much more

 

[tiger_blade]

My ultimate hunter Loveless Drop Point hunter in D2 steel at 61RC. Will not get dull even after skinning 10 deers. Edge has toothier character, will just get more toothier, plus cutting through 0.25" thick hide, this knife works wonders with that kind of steel

 

[John Frankl]

"The pretty on a knife is like make up on a woman, she has to stand on her own merits before the make up but being pretty does seem to help while she does the same things as before."

There it is, and straight from Jerry Fisk! Jerry, I hope you don't mind that I will be using this in the future--obviously, I will quote my source.

 

[RogerP]

To decide who the best maker is for a hunting knife you intend to use personally, I suggest you first define for yourself what you want a hunting knife to do. A knife for dressing birds and small game doesn’t necessarily fill the bill for deer. A knife adequate for field-dressing deer won’t necessarily take care of boning out/butchering an elk or moose efficiently.

If you’re in a backpacking scenario, hunting potentially hundreds of square miles of steep forested mountains, you may need to be able to do camp chores such as splitting wood or digging a fire pit as well as fine work such as preparing food or caping out a trophy. You may need to be able to rely on your knife in a survival situation, and know it’s not going to break, crack or chip out catastrophically. You may need to bone out large animals such as elk or moose to pack the meat out on your back, and need some length of blade to do that efficiently. You may need to split the thick pelvic bone on a large animal to let the carcass cool out. In this case, the choice of steel for the best balance of strength and toughness, heat treated for a balance of hardness and toughness, the thickness of the blade for pry strength and the thickness of the edge for the best balance of durability and cutting efficiency are all critical choices.

On the other hand, a hunting knife for many means a blade that will only be called on to perform field-dressing chores on deer and small game, leaving the actual butchering until you get the carcass home where it can be worked on with kitchen knives or dropped off at a wild-game processor who will butcher and package the meat for you. In this case, a 3-4” blade hunter, fixed or folding, will do the job without fanfare. In this scenario, if edge holding and a highly-efficient cutting edge are of paramount appeal, you may decide to go with an uber-wear-resistant stainless steel such as one of the CPM stainless steels in a nice, thin blade. On the other hand, the lower toughness inherent to CPM stainless alloys may not be acceptable in a survival situation, in which case you may be better served by a little thicker blade and edge made of good spring steel with expert heat treatment.

Study and decide what your requirements are for:

1) Steel and heat treatment: strength, edge holding and stain resistance vs. toughness, durability and resistance to catastrophic failure.

2) Geometry—cutting vs durability. Thin, hard edges = best cutting/best edge holding, but not the best for going through heavy joints and bone, if that’s an issue. A small-game hunting knife can have a very thin, hard edge that will last and last. A large hunter that will be called upon to split a pelvic bone on a moose may need to be thicker at the edge. Steel can mitigate the vulnerability and enhance edge holding, but striking the right balance is key.

3) Blade style is specific to the hunting task and to personal taste. Many like a skinning style blade with a trailing point. Others prefer a drop point, as having an upswept “skinner-style” point in many applications is more awkward. For example, an upswept point that rises above the line of the spine becomes awkward when the knife is turned upside down to make a gutting cut because the upswept point is now sweeping downward to bite things below your fingers which you cannot see.

4) Ergonomics. Hand size and specific hunting applications and tasks vary as do personal tastes. Some prefer grippy man-made materials such as rubber or Resiprene or textured micarta. Others may prefer smooth natural materials like wood or bone, with contouring that provides security, control and comfort.

Once you decide what tasks your hunting knife must perform well, and what steel/heat treatment/geometry/blade shape/size options you will require, take a look at ergonomics and handle materials. Then you will be able to begin looking at the work of individual makers whose work is to your tastes in the areas mentioned, to find the right maker for you. Perhaps you will want to begin saving some photos off the internet of knives that come closest to satisfying your preferences.

Makers offer design, materials and the craftsmanship to put them together. You have to decide what “best hunter” means for you, and then you can begin the search to find the best maker for you.

Finally, you may find, as I have, that the styles of some of the most expensive hunting knives to be found are essentially worthless for your needs. You also may find that performance-wise, some of the most storied master smiths produce knives that are, in fact, weak and substandard in fulfilling your requirements in the field. Some will tell you that damascus steels out-perform single-alloy steels or that forged blades out-perform blades made by the stock-removal method. These claims are typically half-truths. Don’t believe the hype on the surface. This kind of knowledge comes from extensive reading and experience in the field. Read what others have experienced for themselves on these forums and elsewhere, and decide for yourself what the truth is for you.

Most excellent post. :thumbup:

Roger