Spyderco Forums

Looking for a Fixed Blade that will stay Hair shaving sharp for Butchering Hogs. Who makes one and what Steel should I get? I have ordered a Spyderco in CPM110V but I really want a fixed blade. Suggestions?

Hi Daddyflea,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

Only one that comes to mind at the moment is the Sustain. 20cv (crucible’s version of M390) steel and 6” blade.

No steel will hold a hair popping edge forever. They will all need sharpened eventually.

What level would you say your sharpening skills are?

I have a custom knife in D2 and another in CPM35vn that I can easily get to shave hair. They will last around 4-5 hogs apiece before they get too dull to use, so I would say pretty good. Both return sharp pretty quickly but I know neither is the best.

I think perhaps there are some variants of the Mule Team left, some of the recent ones anyway, and I bet you could get them VERY SHARP lol. Might check them out?

South Fork would be a great choice if you can find one out there.

What about a Waterway? LC200N may not have the all time greatest edge retention, but it's easy to re-sharpen, and has the advantage of being nearly rust-proof and tougher than many high edge retention steels in case you hit bone or whatever. Also a nice grippy handle.

Folding knife: Stretch (I use the HAP40 model, but the ZDP189 is still available), Gayle Bradley.

Fixed blade: Bradley Junction, Bradley Bowie.

I missed out on the Southfork, but that's also designed for the task.

Those models are what I use for Sambar deer, which are similarly coarse furred and heavy bodied.

As mentioned above though, you will still need to come to terms with a sharpening routine if you're butchering a lot of animals.

When it comes to skinning: Hog's skin is thick and tough, so a touch up on the edge is to expected, more so than just a normal deer hide.

If you are after a knife to pierce through the neck/chest area of a live hog, most sharp knives would do it.
Just make sure you have full control of the blade.

A Sustain would be up with the best. And even better with with both edges sharpened!

Respect for the animal as you take it's life, is part of my philosophy.

Cambertree wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:54 pm

Fixed blade: Bradley Junction, Bradley Bowie.

+1 either Gayle Bradley knife

I use a GB Junction for dressing lately and am enjoying the steel

Or

The Spyderco Serrata

In my area quite a few avid hog hunters use various Fallkniven models with convex blades in 3G steel.
They use cheap zippers to open up the bellies and then use the good knives only on the inside to avoid premature blunting on the bristled and often heavily mud caked skin of the animal.

Ideally you'd want a mule in k390 imo.

Update I should get a Spydercon Folder today with CPM110V steel so I will try it and see if it holds an edge better than my Custom D2 knife. Last Friday night I gutted 14 hogs and my D2 gave out at 12, I only takes about 5 minutes to bring it back at home but late at night covered in blood, knife sharpening is not very pleasant. I have another custom in CPMs35vn that I carry as a backup but it is not really big enough for the task. I also carry a folder in s35vn that use for punching holes in the jaw to attach a hook that is used to winch them up for loading and or Gutting. So in short I carry 3 knives each trip. The two customs must be razor sharp. The jaw puncher not so much but it is nice.

What model did you get in S110V?

I think you'll find it holds an edge very well, and will probably benefit from using diamond abrasives to keep it sharp.

What do you use for sharpening when gutting a bunch of pigs like that? I find a handheld diamond steel and a ceramic steel work pretty well.

daddyflea wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:50 am

Update I should get a Spydercon Folder today with CPM110V steel so I will try it and see if it holds an edge better than my Custom D2 knife. Last Friday night I gutted 14 hogs and my D2 gave out at 12, I only takes about 5 minutes to bring it back at home but late at night covered in blood, knife sharpening is not very pleasant. I have another custom in CPMs35vn that I carry as a backup but it is not really big enough for the task. I also carry a folder in s35vn that use for punching holes in the jaw to attach a hook that is used to winch them up for loading and or Gutting. So in short I carry 3 knives each trip. The two customs must be razor sharp. The jaw puncher not so much but it is nice.

If you have the means, I'd look into what Shawn Houston (aka Deadboxhero here on the forum) can do for you. He is a custom knife maker who specializes in thinly ground, high performance fixed blades, and he works with a lot of high vanadium, high hardness steels.

The Meat man wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:40 am

daddyflea wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:50 am

Update I should get a Spydercon Folder today with CPM110V steel so I will try it and see if it holds an edge better than my Custom D2 knife. Last Friday night I gutted 14 hogs and my D2 gave out at 12, I only takes about 5 minutes to bring it back at home but late at night covered in blood, knife sharpening is not very pleasant. I have another custom in CPMs35vn that I carry as a backup but it is not really big enough for the task. I also carry a folder in s35vn that use for punching holes in the jaw to attach a hook that is used to winch them up for loading and or Gutting. So in short I carry 3 knives each trip. The two customs must be razor sharp. The jaw puncher not so much but it is nice.

If you have the means, I'd look into what Shawn Houston (aka Deadboxhero here on the forum) can do for you. He is a custom knife maker who specializes in thinly ground, high performance fixed blades, and he works with a lot of high vanadium, high hardness steels.

There is a guy who lives very near me that is President of some sort of Knife Making Organization that I use to make my Knives. His stuff is very good and since I use them so extensively, he uses me a test Subject quite often.

The knife I bought is a Spyderco Manix in CPM S110V. I just got it and it is very sharp but not as sharp as I like. I will be working on it soon.

To sharpen I almost exclusively use Ceramic Rods. I have worn out one set and have several more. They seem to work better for me than anything else. I even have a set of the Triangle shaped ones.

I have him working on planning to make one with Elmax steel but if this Spyderco works out good I may change that to the CPM 110.

Mind if I ask why you use only one knife for the entire butchering process?
I’ve always used 2 knives- A smaller blade for the early stages/gutting and then a larger more food oriented/culinary style knife for meat removal.

If I did it more often(and did skinning), I’d break it into 3 knifes- a smaller blade for gutting/field dressing, a dedicated skinning knife and then a food/culinary knife for meat removal.

For choice of steel in what your asking for(balance between extra sharp, great edge retention and pretty tough).... K390, cruwear, 4cv, m4, Rex 45 off the top of my head.

Haunted House wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:15 am

Mind if I ask why you use only one knife for the entire butchering process?
I’ve always used 2 knives- A smaller blade for the early stages/gutting and then a larger more food oriented/culinary style knife for meat removal.

If I did it more often(and did skinning), I’d break it into 3 knifes- a smaller blade for gutting/field dressing, a dedicated skinning knife and then a food/culinary knife for meat removal.

For choice of steel in what your asking for(balance between extra sharp, great edge retention and pretty tough).... K390, cruwear, 4cv, m4, Rex 45 off the top of my head.

I rarely cut up the meat myself. I usually sell the Hogs to a Dog Food place. I usually just Gut them. Last year I made right at 10,000 selling these Hogs. This year it has been feast or Famine. I have made around 2000 but the peak time has passed.

Unusual story I am a Policeman and I was called to a guy cleaning a Deer on the side of the Highway. It was not Deer season. I got there to find a guy cleaning a Hog. This guy obviously had money because all his gear was high dollar including his knife. It was a Benchmade but it was so dull, it was useless. He had been working on this thing for at least an hour.

I left the scene and felt sorry for him because his knife was too dull to use and he had no clue how to quarter a hog. I went home and got my knife and went back. Fifteen minutes later he was on his way home.

The Meat man wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:40 am

daddyflea wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:50 am

Update I should get a Spydercon Folder today with CPM110V steel so I will try it and see if it holds an edge better than my Custom D2 knife. Last Friday night I gutted 14 hogs and my D2 gave out at 12, I only takes about 5 minutes to bring it back at home but late at night covered in blood, knife sharpening is not very pleasant. I have another custom in CPMs35vn that I carry as a backup but it is not really big enough for the task. I also carry a folder in s35vn that use for punching holes in the jaw to attach a hook that is used to winch them up for loading and or Gutting. So in short I carry 3 knives each trip. The two customs must be razor sharp. The jaw puncher not so much but it is nice.

If you have the means, I'd look into what Shawn Houston (aka Deadboxhero here on the forum) can do for you. He is a custom knife maker who specializes in thinly ground, high performance fixed blades, and he works with a lot of high vanadium, high hardness steels.

Good advice, but Shawn would probably send him an absolute laser in the form of a blade with box cutter geometry with a fixed handle on it with a bte measurement so thin that he couldn't tap a bone without getting edge damage.