H2 performance for fishing

[LazyOutdoorsman]

How does H2 SE perform when being kind of abused? Btw, if you are a little squeamish about harvesting fish, id recommend clicking off.

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When I harvest fish, i have to dispatch them by sticking the knife through their pretty hard skull and twisting as well as sometimes going through their rib cage to completely gut them.
Do I have to worry about the knife tip and/or edge on say the stretch 2 XL in H2 SE rolling, blunting, or dulling?

Thanks

[vivi]

H1 & H2 are very tough steels, but SE knives are ground much thinner than the PE versions.

[hambone56rx]

It is my go to pocket knife for fishing! Cleaned trout, cut up shrimp, cut up small whiting for bait, cut line… and still keeps on ticking! I have a SE Pac Salt. While I’m not sold on SE for EDC, it’s pretty awesome in this application.

Hamilton

[Jeb]

I can tell you from experience that if you let a thrashing fish while your dispatching it, knock the knife out of your hand if it just happens to land point first on hard surface; expect a substantial blunt tip that you will need considerable honing to work out so that you get it back, right...

Really is my luck too, in having the knife with wet and fish slimy hands get slung off the cleaning table and hit the concrete point first hard. Was a really nice fish and it was thrashing around, things do happen and the very reason I like all the jimping and thumb and finger choils I can get.

I sure don't want my hand to slip and get on the edge of any of the knives I have, that would not be good! I don't own a dull knife here and in fact they are all kept like a Razor.

Now, after saying that, I do have one knife that while it's sharp but is not a Razor, I just have not sit down and spent the next three days to finish reprofiling it to 15 dps, it's my HIC Mule I bought a few months ago now. That knife is not a Razor yet lol. It has alluded being a Razor here so far lol.

[longjumpquiver]

How does H2 SE perform when being kind of abused? Btw, if you are a little squeamish about harvesting fish, id recommend clicking off.

► Show Spoiler

When I harvest fish, i have to dispatch them by sticking the knife through their pretty hard skull and twisting as well as sometimes going through their rib cage to completely gut them.
Do I have to worry about the knife tip and/or edge on say the stretch 2 XL in H2 SE rolling, blunting, or dulling?

Thanks

Hey there, I’ve put H2 SE through some pretty rough use myself—mostly in saltwater environments and on fishing trips where the blade sees a lot of action, including cleaning fish and cutting through tough materials. Honestly, it holds up better than I expected for a budget-friendly steel.

[sal]

Hi Longjumpquiver,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[Big50]

I had a SE H1 Pac Salt that I abused fishing, sailing, and cutting sod…in no particular order. It worked great. I kept the edge touched up with a Sharpmaker. The sod cutting was far more harsh than rope cutting and fishing, but it held up just fine in conjunction with the Sharpmaker. I loved that knife.
When I lost the knife overboard, I switched to a SE LC200N, I guess because it was the new hotness at the time. I haven’t abused the LC200N knife as much, but it is my primary fishing knife and works great.

FWIW, my experience with SE H1 was so good that I have 2 “emergency” Tazman Salts in H2, one stays in my PFD pocket, the other in the bottom of my kinda nasty tackle bag. I completely neglect them & am simultaneously confident they will still be at the ready if needed.

Speaking to your specific need, it all depends on the fish you’re catching. If you need a marlin spike, I guess you need a marlin spike (and I’m very jealous).

[SchoonerBum]

As someone who did need a marlinspike for several years of my professional career, a stand-alone one is definitely my preference. The folding ones just aren’t robust enough.

If you want to get really nerdy there’s a guy in Port Townsend who makes titanium spikes.

I think I drifted off topic a little but I couldn’t help myself.

[Doc Dan]

H1/H2 is amazing. I keep a Dragonfly H1 with me anytime I am around water (ocean or swimming pool) and never an issue with rust. I live near the equator and the sea and jungle, so I never have to worry. As for edge retention, some would make it out to be terrible. Terrible compared to what? It is a lot better than some of the older knife steels and is better at edge retention than Benchmade's N680 (I think they run their steels on the softer side). Oh, and I gave my wife a Dragonfly Salt because she has a habit of running her knives through the washing machine. Problem solved.