Hi all, first timer here but long time Spyderco fan. I am backcountry archery elk hunter and on a quest to buy a blade that can make it through an elk skinning and quartering job. I want to buy a Mule Team but can't decide between S110V, 390, or CTS-XHP.
I am proficient in proper sharpening and will carry a diamond or white rod. Looking for stainless and edge retention in the field.
Feedback please..............
Help me decide on blade material for Mule Team elk hunting job
-
go4thegusto
- Member
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:12 am
My vote goes to the xhp. My xhp native has been through so much abuse it's ridiculous and it takes an edge like no other. Xhp for the win
~~~~ USn Catcherman ~~~~ Tasman Se ~~~~ Centofante 3 ~~~~ UKPK blue SE ~~~~ Goddard OD Sprint Pe ~~~~ Ambitious Pe blue~~~~ Zdp Ladybug ~~~~ Manix 2 lwt Pe ~~~~ Delica orange Pe ~~~~ Swick 3 fb ~~~~ Native brown xhp ~~~~ Persian 2 ~~~~ Tenacious green ps ~~~~ Drangonfly Sb ~~~~
-
Strong-Dog
- Member
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 6:49 pm
- Contact:
For skinning? Definitely K390. You'll be hitting bones, etc. K390 will hold the longest edge, and be the toughest which are important for skinning. The only thing you'll have to worry about is keeping it rust free
"For a second, I thought I was dead, but when I heard all the noise I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they had been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead."
-Henry Hill
-Henry Hill
Yeah, but he said he wanted stainless or that would have been the 1st choice.Strong-Dog wrote:For skinning? Definitely K390. You'll be hitting bones, etc. K390 will hold the longest edge, and be the toughest which are important for skinning. The only thing you'll have to worry about is keeping it rust free
-
Strong-Dog
- Member
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 6:49 pm
- Contact:
Oops, totally missed that partAnkerson wrote:Yeah, but he said he wanted stainless or that would have been the 1st choice.
"For a second, I thought I was dead, but when I heard all the noise I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they had been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead."
-Henry Hill
-Henry Hill
XHP doesn't have the edge retention to do the job without having to stop and sharpen it, we are talking about ELK here, skinning and quartering..... They are HUGE.....BadFish wrote:My vote goes to the xhp. My xhp native has been through so much abuse it's ridiculous and it takes an edge like no other. Xhp for the win
-
Strong-Dog
- Member
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 6:49 pm
- Contact:
You'd vote M390 over S110V?VashHash wrote:He might be talking about M390 and not K390. Which i would vote for. It's very stainless and holds a good edge it should do well for skinning and takes a very nice fine edgebb
"For a second, I thought I was dead, but when I heard all the noise I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they had been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead."
-Henry Hill
-Henry Hill
-
Cliff Stamp
- Member
- Posts: 3852
- Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2005 1:23 pm
- Location: Earth
- Contact:
That can be done with any commonly used stainless steel, especially if you have a diamond or ceramic rod, but it certainly isn't necessary. I have loaned the Havalon Piranta to friends/relatives who hunt big game and then can skin and quarter a moose without replacing a blade (or sharpening obviously). I gave them 20 blades as spares and the used ones are not significantly damaged or blunted (you can still cut paper with them) so they had no concerns about wanting to use dull blades. That knife just uses generic "surgical" stainless steel (i.e. 3-5Cr13). Meat cutting is not traditionally done with those kinds of steels, it is like using a HSS rip saw blade to cut pine, you can do it sure, but it is kind of dramatic overkill.go4thegusto wrote:I am backcountry archery elk hunter and on a quest to buy a blade that can make it through an elk skinning and quartering job. I want to buy a Mule Team but can't decide between S110V, 390, or CTS-XHP.
I am proficient in proper sharpening and will carry a diamond or white rod. Looking for stainless and edge retention in the field.
Any of those knives could do it, but they are not necessary and are not going to offer a functional advantage over something much simpler. CTS-XHP has a cooler name than m390 though, so that would be my suggestion if practical performance isn't the guiding criteria.
-
bearfacedkiller
- Member
- Posts: 11501
- Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:22 pm
- Location: hiding in the woods...
-
go4thegusto
- Member
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:12 am
That sounds about right.....go4thegusto wrote:Actually, I haven't been knowledgeable about steels until now. Used a Havalon switch blade on my bull last year. Snapped 3 blades and really felt like an eco-pig throwing away blades. I would rather have a great knife on my pack for all chores on a 10 day hunt.
I remember a story someone told me once about a guy who wanted to use a scalple to dress an ELK, changeable blades etc....
Well the dude went through 20 or 30 blades and not getting very far while the other one waited until he got tired of doing it then handed him a knife to finish it... And it was finished with that one knife...
Pretty much goes along with my history back when I was young and did a fair amount of trapping and skinning..... Back in the late 70's...
Used to keep 4 knives and rotate them out then sharpen after they all went dull..... Wish I would have had the steels we do today back then, I could have used one knife all day....
-
Strong-Dog
- Member
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 6:49 pm
- Contact:
But on the secondary market, S110V and M390 will probably be around the same price. For the same price, don't you think S110V will be better suited to his needs of "stainlessness and edge retention"?VashHash wrote:M390 should be fully capable of handling the task so in this situation yes.
"For a second, I thought I was dead, but when I heard all the noise I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they had been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead."
-Henry Hill
-Henry Hill
Both will do the job, but if the hide is dirty and that can happen then I would want S110V personally...Strong-Dog wrote:But on the secondary market, S110V and M390 will probably be around the same price. For the same price, don't you think S110V will be better suited to his needs of "stainlessness and edge retention"?
Not like one can just run a hose and wash the ELK down before working on it out in the middle of nowhere like they do in the slaughter houses....
There is a very big difference in working in a slaughter house or meat dept in a Grocery store and being out in field working on game.
I have done both personally and the knife and steel recommendations would be different depending on what the task was, big difference in working in a clean environment than in the field.