HUNTING KNIVES - FEATURES AND BENEFITS
A hunting arsenal should consist of many elements, and one of the main accessories is a knife. Without a knife, it will not be possible to process prey, be it fish or meat. But often a hunting knife is needed for hiking purposes - to cut off bushes, cut rope, mud, chop branches for a fire, open something, and so on.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF KNIVES FOR HUNTING
Each hunter chooses a knife based on his own needs and goals. There are no utility knives. The selection is made based on the assigned tasks. For example, a hunting knife with an elongated blade and guard will not be very convenient to butcher the carcass.
For processing and cutting, it is better to use a classic knife with a length of 12-14 cm with a wide blade, an especially thick butt is not needed, because the thicker the knife, the more it meets the resistance when cutting. The mass, ideally, should not exceed 180 grams, otherwise it will be physically expensive to manage it. It will be more convenient and easier to work, especially over a long time, if the chopping knife has a good balance. Of course, someone uses longer blades for cutting, but the work will not be as accurate as 13-centimeter ones.
Folding hunting knives should be taken with special care. It is more convenient to carry them with you, but do not forget that a folding knife requires more careful care.
Hunting blades are more durable than kitchen blades because they often have to cut through fairly hard objects. An important thing for such a knife is a strong handle, which is easy to handle in any conditions. Typically, these knives have an all-metal construction.
With the development of world metallurgy, in recent years, knives with blades made of powder steel are gaining more and more popularity among hunters. Such a knife perfectly keeps sharpening, like any high-carbon steel, but, at the same time, it is practically not susceptible to corrosion, wear-resistant, shows excellent strength characteristics and is not inferior in cutting aggressiveness.
WHEN CHOOSING A KNIFE, PAY ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING POINTS
The knife should lie comfortably in the hand: it is the ergonomics of the handle of a particular knife that plays an important role. It should be comfortable for your hand. Take a knife and make a few sharp movements, and then a few small ones. The hand should not get tired. It is advisable that the knife fits you from the first minute, and you do not have to get used to it.
- Wood, type-setting birch bark or type-setting leather (medium strength, comfortable to hold in hand at any temperature);
- Metal (increased strength, heats up or cools down depending on the weather, preferably used with anti-slip pads);
- Plastic (low strength, it is better to refuse products with such handles due to unreliability. They have one advantage - low price).
PAY ATTENTION
Pay close attention to the geometry of the blade. Thanks to one shape or another, you can cut something quickly and efficiently. If the knife has a thin blade, it will cut easily, but due to its thinness, the blade has a lower margin of safety. Therefore, decide what kind of tasks you set for this knife.
As for steel, here you need to decide on the purchase budget, and do not forget that a knife is the thing that can save you in unfavorable circumstances. remember that a knife is your friend, who, helping you, requires attention to himself. With this approach, the knife will serve you faithfully for more than one year, or even more than a dozen years.
