hunting pigs w/ knives & dogs, knife breaking

[constantinople]

So um, my two knives got broken hunting some pigs last weekend (there were dogs too) - what are some good, heavy bladed knives that aren't outright swords that one could use for this sort of thing? The knives we were using were fairly decent quality skinning knives and they snapped right off so only quality recommendations plz

[yawanur]

greyfox to the rescue!

[944]

Originally Posted by TrustedDr.Watson

So um, my two knives got broken hunting some pigs last weekend (there were dogs too) - what are some good, heavy bladed knives that aren't outright swords that one could use for this sort of thing? The knives we were using were fairly decent quality skinning knives and they snapped right off so only quality recommendations plz

What are you using the knives for? Just skinning, gutting and quartering?


If Greyfox pops in I'll let him take over, but I'm also a knife dealer

[Motherfucking_Toast]

Bayonett?

[slicknickns]

Where you hunting like John Rambo?

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by 944

What are you using the knives for? Just skinning, gutting and quartering?


If Greyfox pops in I'll let him take over, but I'm also a knife dealer

For killing. The knives are for stabbing into the pig and twisting until it dies. The two I had snapped off right at the hilt.




And they hunt pigs like this in Texas.

[1983]

Get a piece of bar stock and sharpen it and wrap the handle in para cord.

I'd offer to smith one for you but the ensuing "plz make me one plzplzplz" Would make me start shitting in boxes and sending them next day delivery for added freshness.

How do you stick them anyway? Are they already hobbled or are they loose?

Al

[riverdonk]

I used to know a boy who did this.
He now has one testicle and about 3/4 of the dick he had before he starting hunting this way.
Stay safe and have a big back up for the herd.
I don't really like to hunt these fuckers alone when I have a rifle.
But here you are fucking running through the woods with just your dogs.
You must be from Georgia. We take kindly to people that do shit like that around here.

[Mullen]

Speaking of hog hunters..

I'd let Krystal Campbell hobble me and make me do naughty things to her.

[nutsack]

They snapped off in the pig? Both of them? Damn.

Get a nice drop point 6-9 inches.

[nutsack]

Originally Posted by 1983

I'd offer to smith one for you but the ensuing "plz make me one plzplzplz" Would make me start shitting in boxes and sending them next day delivery for added freshness.

Here's some homemade pig hunting knives made from leaf spring.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by 1983

Get a piece of bar stock and sharpen it and wrap the handle in para cord.

I'd offer to smith one for you but the ensuing "plz make me one plzplzplz" Would make me start shitting in boxes and sending them next day delivery for added freshness.

How do you stick them anyway? Are they already hobbled or are they loose?

Al

What do you mean by hobbled? They are encumbered by two fully grown pit bulls being latched onto their legs as well as being harassed by two other tracking hounds

When the pig is distracted you stick it in the area around the neck behind the ear or behind the shoulder blade. These pigs aren't very pig like maybe ~150lb on the hoof.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by riverdonk

I used to know a boy who did this.
He now has one testicle and about 3/4 of the dick he had before he starting hunting this way.
Stay safe and have a big back up for the herd.
I don't really like to hunt these fuckers alone when I have a rifle.
But here you are fucking running through the woods with just your dogs.
You must be from Georgia. We take kindly to people that do shit like that around here.

Sometimes I hunt them from bow-stands with a shotgun, that's pretty fun.

[Eskorbuto]

The Cold Steel Boar Hunter. Full-tang, hollow-ground, ~9 inches of AUS8a steel, double-guard w/ sub-hilt, and comes with a secure-ex sheath.

~$55.00 on Amazon.

If you don't like the scramasax style, you could try this:



Cold Steel OSS (OSI if you want/can only get single-edge).

I have this one sitting not too far away, and it's a motherfucker. Came hair-popping sharp, and I don't have to worry about the AUS8a steel rusting too much (although on my Rajah II, I get surface rust because of the sanded blade finish).

It's lightweight and quick, but sturdy as fuck. Again, full tang with the double-gaurd and subhilt. The kraton is checkered nicely but not too rough on the hands, and that fucker ain't slipping anytime soon. A lot of knife for ~$55, hot damn.

Also, it's proven. Check out this video, fast-forward to the part where the guy is attacked by a cape Buffalo and his son comes in and stabs the fuck out of it with the knife:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUtRkiX2OZw&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUtRkiX2OZw&feature=player_embedded
Video: click to display

[unstableasatable]

fair burn skyes!!! well the sas uses it for stabbing into fiends so i guess thats similar to pigs.

boardogs.com

[ilovechronic]

Bowie knife or blade with full tang at least 5-8 inches.

[Eskorbuto]

Originally Posted by ilovechronic

Bowie knife or blade with full tang at least 5-8 inches.

Yes on the full tang, but I wouldn't say a bowie knife is the best idea. It really depends on the style of the blade, but bowies tend to be wide (for chopping), with the benefit of a slim point with a swedge (for back-cuts and to increase penetration).

Since boar hunting is mainly stabbing, you'd want something that could pierce really well, while still holding up to the abuse. You'd also want something that doesn't slip after getting soaked with blood.

[Hydroponichronic]

Were they folding knives? I would think any good hunting knife would be quarter inch steel and full tang to boot.

[constantinople]

I think I'm just gonna bring a fireaxe next time.

[dyrtybyrd]

will you post a picture of your pitbulls?

[Motherfucking_Toast]

Originally Posted by nutsack

Here's some homemade pig hunting knives made from leaf spring.

I never thought of using leaf springs for knives. Good idea, and i gotta change the leafs in my truck this winter

[Konglomo]

http://www.rheaknives.com

He did business with my uncle. And I was the manager in the hardware and sporting goods section in a store I worked in back home and I sold them under consignment for my uncle. He had some custom designed Bowie knives, all 5 of them sold to guys who used them for hog hunting, and they wanted more for gifts, friends, ect...

[Mantikore]

disclaimer: i like knives, and read up everything there is to know about them, use them a hell of a lot (camping, woodcrafting, EDC tasks) and am even doing a university degree that is heavily based on metallurgy, but i dont have any actual experience with killing animals with knives so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Originally Posted by TrustedDr.Watson

So um, my two knives got broken hunting some pigs last weekend (there were dogs too) - what are some good, heavy bladed knives that aren't outright swords that one could use for this sort of thing? The knives we were using were fairly decent quality skinning knives and they snapped right off so only quality recommendations plz

Im going to assume you were already using fixed blades rather than folding knives. If not, then you should be. It is actually quite unusual that the knife broke at the guard. I would not expect any decent fixed bladed knife to stand up to simple twisting forces inside an animal. Unless of course, it was not a full tang knife. That is the blade stock extended into the handle. Most fixed bladed knives made by reputable companies (not chinese flea market stuff) should be full tang.

Originally Posted by Eskorbuto

Ironically, i would have said the Cold Steel Boar Hunter to be a pretty poor choice for boar hunting, simply because the blade design doesnt allow it to do skinning very well. However, if you were to carry a secondary knife for skinning, it shouldnt be a problem. I would use something short, thin, broad with a good curvature.

on the other hand, the OSS and OSI series is pretty good, but expensive, especially if you get the San Mai III version. Cold Steel often has big fixed blades in both a San Mai III or SK-5 version, and i almost always suggest the latter, since its cheaper. SK-5 is pretty much analogous to your simple 1080 carbon steel, and is more than adequate, but you have to keep it oiled. San Mai III is like a sandwich of a hard stainless steel (i think VG10, but i could be wrong) with two layers of softer steel. In my opinion, its not worth the extra cost. Cold Steel and Fallkniven are the two main companies that seem to do this.

As for choosing a good knife for this purpose, theres a few useful features you want:

-Fixed blade - obviously for strength.

-blade length - always important for any killing task. I assume you would know about hitting the right organs or blood vessels when hunting, and you would probably need at least a 5'' (about 120mm) blade for reaching various vessels in the neck, but longer is better. I would probably get something in the 7'' range.

-blade thickness - for resisting bending motions when twisting in and out of a wound. It doesnt need to be too thick, but enough for it not to warp. The longer the blade is, the thicker it would need to be, since youll be applying more torsion when you twist. 4mm/(3/16'') for shorter blades and a bit thicker for longer blades.

-tip thickness - some blades are thick, but the tip is ground really thin. its good for precision work, but not for stabbing and is more prone to snapping. but this quality is usually hard to know just by looking at a catalogue.

-blade style - ie. what the overall shape of the blade is. honestly, i dont think it makes too much of a difference in terms of easier stabbing, but some designs will have stronger tips. tantos and drop points are generally stronger, clip points and spear points being almost as good. its actually not too important if the tip thickness is adequate IMO

-handle and guards - since what youre doing is more stab-oriented, youll want the handles to provide good grip, especially when wet (water and blood). Good materials include kraton, micarta and G-10, but leather, fiber reinforced nylon (FRN, sometimes known as zytel) and polypropylene will work too as long as they have good, deep grooves cut into them for grip. I would stay away from wooden, bone/stag and metallic handles because theyre usually too smooth. Try to look for one with hard texturing on the spine side of your handle, where your thumb would be

guards and finger choils (deep cut outs in the handle for your fingers to rest) are also good for preventing slippage in the forward position and can substitute for slightly inferior handle texturing

-------------------
other features you might want to are:
-good blade steel: For killing animals, you dont need a super high quality steel (AUS8, 420HC, 440C, 1055 should be adequate), since the blade will only see little action before sharpening, but if youre going to use it for survival tasks like woodcutting, then you might want to get something a bit better (D2, M2, O1, 1080, 1095, SK-5, VG10, San Mai III, and a few others)

-grind - again, not overly important when going through flesh, but hollow grinds are crappy for camp use because they like to grip into a lot of harder materials. Convex is probably the best, but im not willing to pay for the extra cost. Flat grinding where the grind starts from the spine is my personal favourite. You might want to go for something double edged too for easier stabbing, but it will diminish its other utility tasks. I dont think its important, personally.

-sheath - certain natural materials like leather tend to absorb water. id go for a synthetic one. you can go for hard moulded plastic, including kydex, or a synthetic fabric such as nylon, including cordura. note the former is a lot more expensive. Look for one with a good means of holding the blade. note that hard plastics are usually moulded to retain the blade without needing any straps
---------------------
as for suggestions, i cant be bothered, since theres way too many of them out there, but look through the catalogues for SOG, Fallkniven, Cold Steel, Kabar, gerber, buck, boker and RAT cutlery.

there are a lot of other companies i left out : spyderco, kershaw, busse and benchmade, since they dont have a lot of folding knives, or are usually just too damn expensive.

finally, expect to pay a minimum of $50 for a knife like this, and the price keeps going up to around $300

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by dyrtybyrd

will you post a picture of your pitbulls?

they arent mine

[skygear]

I could recommend a forum... http://www.jerzeedevil.com/forums/forum.php? most of the people there make their own, and sell them also. I'm sure a worthy recommendation would arise there. ALSO, if you tell one of the blacksmiths there your intentions, they would make you a 1 off of your own.

[ilovechronic]

Originally Posted by Eskorbuto

Yes on the full tang, but I wouldn't say a bowie knife is the best idea. It really depends on the style of the blade, but bowies tend to be wide (for chopping), with the benefit of a slim point with a swedge (for back-cuts and to increase penetration).

Since boar hunting is mainly stabbing, you'd want something that could pierce really well, while still holding up to the abuse. You'd also want something that doesn't slip after getting soaked with blood.

This is what I have, keep in mind not all bowies are what you described. It would certainly be better than a skinner for stabbing.

Now that I think about it the mosin nagant m44 with a bayonet attached whether its the crucible folder or removable would make a great hog rifle. It would be a little dangerous for your dogs to shoot at close range but as long as they were clear of the possible exit wound I suppose it would be ok, otherwise you could just stick it with the bayonet which would be far superior to any knife really and also far safer.

[Eskorbuto]

Originally Posted by ilovechronic

This is what I have, keep in mind not all bowies are what you described. It would certainly be better than a skinner for stabbing.

Now that I think about it the mosin nagant m44 with a bayonet attached whether its the crucible folder or removable would make a great hog rifle. It would be a little dangerous for your dogs to shoot at close range but as long as they were clear of the possible exit wound I suppose it would be ok, otherwise you could just stick it with the bayonet which would be far superior to any knife really and also far safer.

There's a bunch of different styles of bowies.

But yeah, best idea is to carry a big knife for the kill, and a smaller one for the skinning, if possible. Different tools for different tasks.

[The Pat-Man]

what about a buck knife? like the classic buck knife? the fixed blade ones.

[Vargus]

Originally Posted by motherfucking_toast

Bayonett?

This is what I'm thinking, specifically an AK-47 bayonet. They are seriously beefy, but you'd need to sharpen the tip a good bit to easily stick a pig by hand.

Originally Posted by ilovechronic

This is what I have, keep in mind not all bowies are what you described. It would certainly be better than a skinner for stabbing.

Now that I think about it the mosin nagant m44 with a bayonet attached whether its the crucible folder or removable would make a great hog rifle. It would be a little dangerous for your dogs to shoot at close range but as long as they were clear of the possible exit wound I suppose it would be ok, otherwise you could just stick it with the bayonet which would be far superior to any knife really and also far safer.

When I was hunting alone I always used my 91/30's bayonet.

Guys have been stabbing hogs for centuries, and they typically used sharp pointies on the end of a stick.

[nutsack]

Originally Posted by Vargus

This is what I'm thinking, specifically an AK-47 bayonet. They are seriously beefy, but you'd need to sharpen the tip a good bit to easily stick a pig by hand.

Almost too big imo but they would probably work alright.

Originally Posted by riverdonk

Stay safe and have a big back up for the herd.

They're clever fuckers. In areas where they're well hunted they seem to like to split up, they'll send young runners away from the main group which are tempting to the dogs. When I've been we stomped through the bush in one direction seeing a little sign, but the real fun came on the way back. Sleeping pigs that you pass move around after being disturbed, sometimes investigate your tracks, and the dogs can pick them up a lot easier.

It's the main way of hunting pigs down here in NZ. I've got a mate who hunts just about every weekend and trains/sells dogs, I'll ask him what his ideal knife would be.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by The Pat-Man

what about a buck knife? like the classic buck knife? the fixed blade ones.

That's the one that broke

The other was an Old-Timer.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Eskorbuto

There's a bunch of different styles of bowies.

But yeah, best idea is to carry a big knife for the kill, and a smaller one for the skinning, if possible. Different tools for different tasks.

I would really prefer something with a wider blade than what yall have been posting but all these suggestions have been noted, especially the stuff about tangs

[Eskorbuto]

Originally Posted by TrustedDr.Watson

I would really prefer something with a wider blade than what yall have been posting but all these suggestions have been noted, especially the stuff about tangs

How much are you willing to spend?

[Keith Lemon]

Originally Posted by Eskorbuto

How much is your dad willing to spend?

fixed

[Eskorbuto]

Originally Posted by Mantikore

disclaimer: i like knives, and read up everything there is to know about them, use them a hell of a lot (camping, woodcrafting, EDC tasks) and am even doing a university degree that is heavily based on metallurgy, but i dont have any actual experience with killing animals with knives so take my advice with a grain of salt.



Im going to assume you were already using fixed blades rather than folding knives. If not, then you should be. It is actually quite unusual that the knife broke at the guard. I would not expect any decent fixed bladed knife to stand up to simple twisting forces inside an animal. Unless of course, it was not a full tang knife. That is the blade stock extended into the handle. Most fixed bladed knives made by reputable companies (not chinese flea market stuff) should be full tang.



Ironically, i would have said the Cold Steel Boar Hunter to be a pretty poor choice for boar hunting, simply because the blade design doesnt allow it to do skinning very well. However, if you were to carry a secondary knife for skinning, it shouldnt be a problem. I would use something short, thin, broad with a good curvature.

on the other hand, the OSS and OSI series is pretty good, but expensive, especially if you get the San Mai III version. Cold Steel often has big fixed blades in both a San Mai III or SK-5 version, and i almost always suggest the latter, since its cheaper. SK-5 is pretty much analogous to your simple 1080 carbon steel, and is more than adequate, but you have to keep it oiled. San Mai III is like a sandwich of a hard stainless steel (i think VG10, but i could be wrong) with two layers of softer steel. In my opinion, its not worth the extra cost. Cold Steel and Fallkniven are the two main companies that seem to do this.

As for choosing a good knife for this purpose, theres a few useful features you want:

-Fixed blade - obviously for strength.

-blade length - always important for any killing task. I assume you would know about hitting the right organs or blood vessels when hunting, and you would probably need at least a 5'' (about 120mm) blade for reaching various vessels in the neck, but longer is better. I would probably get something in the 7'' range.

-blade thickness - for resisting bending motions when twisting in and out of a wound. It doesnt need to be too thick, but enough for it not to warp. The longer the blade is, the thicker it would need to be, since youll be applying more torsion when you twist. 4mm/(3/16'') for shorter blades and a bit thicker for longer blades.

-tip thickness - some blades are thick, but the tip is ground really thin. its good for precision work, but not for stabbing and is more prone to snapping. but this quality is usually hard to know just by looking at a catalogue.

-blade style - ie. what the overall shape of the blade is. honestly, i dont think it makes too much of a difference in terms of easier stabbing, but some designs will have stronger tips. tantos and drop points are generally stronger, clip points and spear points being almost as good. its actually not too important if the tip thickness is adequate IMO

-handle and guards - since what youre doing is more stab-oriented, youll want the handles to provide good grip, especially when wet (water and blood). Good materials include kraton, micarta and G-10, but leather, fiber reinforced nylon (FRN, sometimes known as zytel) and polypropylene will work too as long as they have good, deep grooves cut into them for grip. I would stay away from wooden, bone/stag and metallic handles because theyre usually too smooth. Try to look for one with hard texturing on the spine side of your handle, where your thumb would be

guards and finger choils (deep cut outs in the handle for your fingers to rest) are also good for preventing slippage in the forward position and can substitute for slightly inferior handle texturing

-------------------
other features you might want to are:
-good blade steel: For killing animals, you dont need a super high quality steel (AUS8, 420HC, 440C, 1055 should be adequate), since the blade will only see little action before sharpening, but if youre going to use it for survival tasks like woodcutting, then you might want to get something a bit better (D2, M2, O1, 1080, 1095, SK-5, VG10, San Mai III, and a few others)

-grind - again, not overly important when going through flesh, but hollow grinds are crappy for camp use because they like to grip into a lot of harder materials. Convex is probably the best, but im not willing to pay for the extra cost. Flat grinding where the grind starts from the spine is my personal favourite. You might want to go for something double edged too for easier stabbing, but it will diminish its other utility tasks. I dont think its important, personally.

-sheath - certain natural materials like leather tend to absorb water. id go for a synthetic one. you can go for hard moulded plastic, including kydex, or a synthetic fabric such as nylon, including cordura. note the former is a lot more expensive. Look for one with a good means of holding the blade. note that hard plastics are usually moulded to retain the blade without needing any straps
---------------------
as for suggestions, i cant be bothered, since theres way too many of them out there, but look through the catalogues for SOG, Fallkniven, Cold Steel, Kabar, gerber, buck, boker and RAT cutlery.

there are a lot of other companies i left out : spyderco, kershaw, busse and benchmade, since they dont have a lot of folding knives, or are usually just too damn expensive.

finally, expect to pay a minimum of $50 for a knife like this, and the price keeps going up to around $300

I just read this in its entirety, and I completely agree. This is basically a couple years worth of accurate knowledge compressed into a list. It took me a while to learn all this just by reading articles, lurking on boards, and of course trying things out in the real world.

If there's anything left to be said, it's that the devil is in the details. You can go out and hunt with whatever you like, but many people have strict preferences they've learned after earning experience. Some people will prefer teflon coated blades, while others will prefer a satin finish. Some will swear by AUS8, others will take nothing but high carbon non-stainless. Etc.

One thing is for sure: No matter what knife you get, if you get it soaked in blood, or leave it out in the elements, it will rust. AUS8 will rust, just not as quickly as 1055.

Clean your blade well, wipe it down with some alcohol to clear all the muck out, then oil it up to ensure a long life. It doesn't matter what kind of oil you use, as long as the barrier between air and steel is present.

Hell, I've had krupp stainless rust on me after a single day (took it for a swim in the lagoon). I live on a thin strip of land between the Atlantic and a lagoon, there's maybe 300 feet between them. Rust is my worst enemy, salt is in the air constantly here.

Lately I've been using DAX super light pomade (costs about $4 for 3 ounces) on my blades, it's a nice thin coat that does the job. You can also take mineral oil and put it in a spray bottle, give your knife a couple of sprays and wipe it down. This is probably the fastest way.

If you're going to be storing your blade for a long time, some people recommend putting vaseline on them.

Hell, I've heard of people using olive oil.

[Vargus]

just not as quickly as 1055.

I've never heard of a knife with steel that low in carbon.

WD-40 also works well for long-term storage, by the way. Vaseline as well. I guess it's the closest thing to cosmoline you can easily find.

[r.bonesmith]

Originally Posted by TrustedDr.Watson

For killing. The knives are for stabbing into the pig and twisting until it dies. The two I had snapped off right at the hilt.




And they hunt pigs like this in Texas.

What the fuck? Cut it's fucking throat you dumb fuck. They don't hunt pigs like this anyplace, even in butt fuck Texas. Dogs hold the pigs down and the throat gets cut. This isn't fucking Beat Street. You are not supposed to be thug and tough when you go out hunting. Get the fucking job done.

You're knife should be sharp enough that you can slit straight through in one clean sweep. You're and other tards are probably resorting to these methods because you're too fucking stupid to keep a sharp knife.

Knives are supposed to be twisted, they are not made to be twisted, they are made to slice, and in some cases stab, never twist.

[r.bonesmith]

I'm just more and more rage when I keep reading this thread.

You don't need two knives. You need one. If you are hunting something big, like a Moose or a Bear bring a machete or an axe. You need those to cut through the chest plate and cut through the joints.

If you are hunting something smaller you only need a sharp knife, it doesn't need to be expensive, it doesn't need to have a swedge or a gut hook (gut hooks are so small they only work on things like rabbits anyway).

The only important thing is that it be sharp. I used a cheap carving knife I got from a thrift store for years, it didn't have a full tang, didn't have a bone handle, but I kept it sharp. I could skin with it, I could clean with it, and I could kill with it. Sharp is the key thing, expensive is not.

[Vargus]

Originally Posted by r.bonesmith

What the fuck? Cut it's fucking throat you dumb fuck. They don't hunt pigs like this anyplace, even in butt fuck Texas. Dogs hold the pigs down and the throat gets cut. This isn't fucking Beat Street. You are not supposed to be thug and tough when you go out hunting. Get the fucking job done.

You're knife should be sharp enough that you can slit straight through in one clean sweep. You're and other tards are probably resorting to these methods because you're too fucking stupid to keep a sharp knife.

Knives are supposed to be twisted, they are not made to be twisted, they are made to slice, and in some cases stab, never twist.

I've always been told to stab them in the heart. Loss of blood pressure is a lot faster than asphyxiation. It's also a lot easier to get to than it's flailing head when bayed with dogs.

The only important thing is that it be sharp. I used a cheap carving knife I got from a thrift store for years, it didn't have a full tang, didn't have a bone handle, but I kept it sharp. I could skin with it, I could clean with it, and I could kill with it. Sharp is the key thing, expensive is not.

As a po' boy, I agree heartily. In fact, I was amazed at how well a steel got my 304 stainless knife sharper than a 320 grit stone ever could. Save a stone, ride a steel.

[ilovechronic]

arteries are pretty deep so slitting a throat is not the most humane way and will cause the pig unnecessary suffering which can effect the meat.