If you’re still using a conventional hunting knife to field dress, skin and butcher deer, perhaps it’s time to consider an upgrade.
By FeraDyne Staff
The old adage, “Now the work begins,” rings true each time you have a successful hunt. For anyone who’s taken enough game in their life, nothing frustrates more when trying to complete after-the-kill duties than a knife that isn’t very sharp or isn’t designed specifically for the tasks at hand.
Cutlery is one of the most under-discussed hunting topics. Many hunters carry relics that were passed down from fathers, uncles or grandfathers. While there is a cool sentiment with carrying a knife that’s been used to address many successful hunts, knives like this rarely have the edges they did when they were new. Beyond that, they’re often bulky and lack the finesse to tackle certain aspects of the work that inevitably ensues following a well-placed arrow or bullet.
If you’re unhappy with your hunting knife or you’ve wondered if a better mouse trap exists, enter the world of knives with replaceable blades. Here are some reasons why hunters are switching to these modern marvels.
No More Sharpening
With conventional knives, you’ll often reach a point when the knife isn’t performing as it did when you began working on your deer, elk, hog, antelope or whatever. You can either keep working and become frustrated, or you can get out a sharpener and attempt to reinstate the edge you began with. Of course, this takes time, and it’s always best to rinse a knife after sharpening to keep small metal debris off the meat.
You can skip those tasks with a replaceable-blade knife. The foremost benefit of replaceable-blade knives is that you always have a sharp edge. If you reach the point where the knife isn’t cutting like it was when you began breaking down your harvest, simply eject the existing blade and click a new one into place.
Changing blades at least twice during every successful hunt sounds expensive, right? It isn’t! Consider Schrade’s Enrage line of replaceable-blade knives. A 6-pack of replacement blades costs $11.99, and these are quality blades constructed from 420 A stainless steel — the same blade material as Rage Hypodermic broadheads. Not only is that economical but if time is money as they say it is, then the blades more than pay for themselves in the time that they’ll save you by eliminating the hassle of sharpening.
Carry One Knife, Not Three
Sometimes hunters carry a handful of knives. Part of the reason is that different knives are better suited for certain tasks, and the other reason hunters carry more than one knife is so that they can simply switch to a different one when one becomes dull. We already discussed the benefit of eliminating sharpening, so let’s look at the benefit of a replaceable knife’s versatility.
If you understand bone structure, you can break down an entire animal — even a big elk — with a small replaceable-blade knife. It seems hard to believe if you haven’t done it, but everything from skinning to quartering to deboning can be accomplished with one of these knives. When you’re trying to keep your backpack as light as possible, carrying three knives and a sharpener is impractical.
A replaceable-blade knife is a better alternative. Schrade’s Enrage Isolate 7, for example, weighs merely 2.1 ounces. So, with that knife and a 6-pack of replacement blades, you’re looking at next to nothing weight-wise, plus they’ll consume very little backpack space. Don’t carry three bulky fixed-blade knives when you can carry one replaceable-blade knife.
More Compact
To expand on that last thought, a replaceable-blade knife is incredibly compact since it folds. It’s so small that it’s hardly noticeable in your pocket. The Isolate 7’s overall length is 7.25 inches, and it folds to nearly half of that. Can your fixed-blade family heirloom do that?
Better for Skinning and Caping
Since replaceable-blade knives feature a scalpel-style blade, they’re ideal for skinning game and especially caping for a mount. The blade thickness is 0.024 inches, which is considerably smaller than most fixed-blade knives and even most folding knives. This allows for a better razor-like edge and a closer cut to cleanly extract a cape from the neck and skull. Why do you think razors give such a close shave? The blade thickness is minimal, which allows the blade to sit nearly parallel to your skin. The same is true of replaceable-blade knives such as Schrader’s Enrage. The minute blade thickness lets you achieve a nearly parallel blade angle to complete a caping job with minimal muscle and fat remaining on the hide.
Make the Switch
We understand that it might be difficult to lay down a time-honored hunting knife that you’ve had since you began hunting, whether it was your first knife or one that someone special in your life handed down to you. But, if you like what you’ve read here, perhaps you should give this whole replaceable-blade thing a whirl.
If you’re worried that it will be expensive to get started, worry no more. It’s incredibly affordable. You can obtain a Schrade Enrage series knife for as little as $39.99 and a pack of replacement blades for $11.99. That’s a small price to pay for never having to sharpen a knife again, the ability to carry one small knife that can do it all, and a closer, cleaner cut when caping an animal.