Hey all,

I would like to see how you all respond to this question.  I am asking it because I am wanting to know how effective you all think folding knives can be for field dressing deer and larger game and what their drawbacks are?

I was surprised at the responses I received on another trad board.  Seems folders are more popular than I once thought they were.  We see some many pics of beautiful fixed blades from the artisans here that I just guessed that most would want and prefer a fixed blade on their side while hunting.  Make no mistake, I am not trying to take anything away from these custom geniuses that sell their wonderous works of functional art here.  I would love to have one or many.....someday I will.  I just want to see what path some others have chosen with their knife choices.

So lets hear your thoughts on folders for hunting chores and what the + and - are in using them.  Also post what folder you are using or thinking about buying for next season.  Pics are always wildly popular too!!!

Thanks for your time and help.

Nalajr

Nala , i always have a fixed blade on me when outdoors but My vintage Puma folder or Grohmann drop point folder get most duties whether camp or Field dressing.

yeah whenever i am outside i have a Spyderco plain edge Endura in my pocket.  Never used it on an animal yet.

nalajr

A folder and a sharpener are everything I need for dressing.For camp use I like a fixed blade that has not the need to stay as sharp as my skinner.

I always field dress deer with a Buck knife folder.

I keep a Buck 110 in my pack all the time
great knife

I've used a Buck 110 for years.Also use a buck fixed blade quite a bit.I don't really see pros or cons either way as long as you use a good knife.

Buck 110 and 105 go hunting the most with me. A large Case Trapper does about all of my skinning duties.

I am a knife addict and to be honest I love my Gerber and Benchmade folders. I never go into the woods without one. I just passed on to my son my first folder my Dad gave me, and when I took it out of the cabinet I realized knives are not made like that anymore. The knife weighs 4 times as much as the new ones,has a real thick blade(Steel that keeps an edge)brass ends and wood grain,with a lock back system that doesn't come loose or have play in it.The knife is designed to do business. I like the knives of today but they keep changing going down in functional purpose to serve the aesthetic needs of the main stream high tech hunter and IMHO they lost the true craftsmanship and quality they used to have.My fist lock back is 32yo and would still skin a deer and crack a pelvic bone like it did when my Dad gave it to me.Quality got lost along the way with the knives of today.Thanks Tim    

I'm kind of a knife addict too, but I can (and have) take a deer from field to freeer with just a medium sized Case Trapper. My biggest beef with folders is getting them clean afterwards, but I have that figured out. Put 1/2 open knife in a coffee can 3/4 full very hot water and dish soap. Shake. Shake some more. Let soak for awhile. Knife should come out clean.

Kershaw "Blue Mountain" 2 blade lock-back.

I use both types.  If you buy a lock blade be careful about the type of mechanism. My 31-year old son went to the emergency room a couple of months ago after inadvertently closing the blade on the side of his palm. This was an index finger under the front of the handle -- very common - Buck.  He was using the knife though in a way that wasn't intended.

I have used a Benchmade folder for my initial field dressing chores for many years now.  I have a pile of fixed blade knives too but they seem to stay in camp or in the truck and only get used for skinning and butchering on occasion.  I have a varied collection of fixed blade knives and it seems they come and go in many cases.

 About the only drawbacks I find to using the folder instead of a fixed blade is that the mechanisms get a little fouled with tallow/fat/blood and when I put it back in my pocket I sometimes get a little blood on my bluejeans.  These aren't real significant problems just issues that cause a little extra wiping of the knife before I'm done with the work.

 I'm a dinosaur I guess in that I always have a folder in my pocket and I see little need to pack along a second knife while in the field hunting.  I especially like the partial serrated blade on the folder for cutting through the brisket on deer while field dressing.

 In this picture there are some I use (and one I just received as a gift and is yet unused - Mission Knives MPK).  My years old Benchmade folder is in the middle and I have two other folders as spares.  The fixed blade knives vary, one is a WWII Theater Made knife used by my father in WWII, there is another like it that I personally made, a couple Randalls (gifts) and a vintage Buck 105.

Dave you may have to resize your photo.They should be no wider than 640.It may get deleted it takes up to much space.

Buck Trapper and Buck Canoe folder, then my Buck Vangaurd with rubber handle.

My Good old Buck 110......

I have a Buck Crosslock folder that has field dressed almost all of the deer I've killed in the past 15 years.  I like custom sheath knives too and have a couple really nice ones.  I also have a couple really stout custom fixed blades that are great camp and stumpin' knives.

my dad makes knives and Im currently learning how to, when I started hunting I carried big fixed blades everywhere but now i just like carrying a fixed blade in my pack for skinning and use mostly a folder or neck knife for everything else

Cleaned two deer out of three this year with a Wayne Clay folding Walker Special. Folding knives are more than sufficient they are just hard to clean.

Mason has gutted 4 deer this year with old faithful, Buck 110 folder. Robtattoo let us borrow his KME knife sharpener to try and guess it works, haha ! This Buck will still shave the full length of the blade after 4 deer ! Testament to the quality of Buck's steel and the KME sharpener. Simply soak it in hot soapy water when we get home, dry and strop on leather. No need for a serrated brisket saw for the ribs. Butcher showed me long ago how to scoot over beside the sternum where the ribs attach with cartilage. Ribs pop loose from the sternum easily and will not tear up your blade. JMHO