Disposable blade hunting knives

[Ranger99]

This last season, a couple of
people I know that went over
to the "new" disposable blade
hunting knives got at least one
deer,  and had trouble with the
knives in that the blades chipped
or came undone and got lost
in the carcass somewhere. Very
dangerous of course in that that
there's a real possibility of a
severe cut to the fingers and
hands until the blade or pieces
of blade is found and recovered.
I had thought the popularity
and the availability of these knives
were a great thing for those that
couldn't get the knife sharpening
chore down. Now I have second
thoughts.

Anybody with real time experience
using these types of knives for
your butchering chores  ?
Any bad experiences  ?

[Graybeard]

Not me, never have, never will. When I first saw them come out I thought that was a real dumb idea.

[O-mega]

When CWD hit TN, discussion on other boards led me to buy a Havalon Piranta.  The blades are razor sharp, think scalpel, which made field dressing an easy chore.  But, the blade was a bit too sharp at the tip, and nicked myself a coupled times.  I purchased blades with a more rounded tip which worked much better.  The draw of course is that you can throw the blades away when dull, though I've sharpened mine a few times, or if the deer comes up positive for CWD you throw the blade away. Though through more research it seems there may be ways to clean the knives so it may be a mute point for CWD.  The bad thing is that you have to be careful not to break the blade when quartering a deer, as I have a habit of prying a little to open up the joints, though not entirely necessary.  Anyway, I also realised that it was better to have a second knife ready in case the blade snapped or became too dull to continue.  I didn't want to spend the same as I did on the Piranta so looked for a cheaper alternative and found the Swiss+Tech.


Piranta currently $39.41
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064GNZYM

Swiss+Tech currently $9.99
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BDS1WYZ

Rounded blades currently $14.61 for 12ea
smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B011730QDY

Piranta above, Swiss+Tech below.


Pointy blade above, rounded blade below.


The cheaper Swiss+Tech has aluminum scales, given it a hefty feel vs the very light Piranta.  Blades are interchangeable which is good because I had purchased a few of the rounded tip ones.

[Lloyd Smale]

as some know up till last year i processed ALOT of deer every year. I found them useful. THere is no time in all my years using a knife where i said i wish this knife was duller. A razor sharp knife is always preferable to me. I can gut fast and skin faster. For boning i like a razor sharp filet knife because of its flexibility. I used the outdoor edge knives a few years and actually liked them. Days that i gutted 4 or 5 deer it was nice to be able to go in my pack grab a fresh blade and be back to SHARP. Never had a blade come off the knife. Ya there not cool but neither is a plastic stocked stainless steel rifle but what they are are tools that work to get the job done. Now if you think your going to buy one and try to get the absolute most from the blade because your to tight to throw it away stay away from them. What else they were good for? Well they cost about 25 bucks so if you loose one and if you do enough deer youll probably misplace a knife at some point, then your not out squat. We havent been doing crop damage shooting for a couple years so my three sit in my vehicles in the consol. Much better then sticking one of my 100 dollar plus knives in there. Heck you can stick one in your tool box too. They never rust who cares if they get banged around. I have lots of nice knives and when i head to deer camp i take one or two of them But we have two deer a season for the most part and i dont always even get one so keeping a sharp knife is no problem. But there is utility in these replaceable blade knives.  but ive gutted and skinned 100s of deer with those knives and will aways have a couple

[ironglow]

Being a "knife guy" and a knife smith I never felt the need for a replaceable blade.   Being one who fully appreciates
   a hand forged carbon blade, I never looked into them. 

   I can only imagine the distress of having to fish out such a sharp object from within a carcase..or being in the process
   of cutting through the diaphragm, only to discover the hard way, that the blade has broken.. 

   Thanks for the heads up, you have provided a service.
   

[Dee]

Never paid much attention to them. I like a nice knife and used to buy one every time I saw one i liked. Built up quite the collection. Until I got tired of messing with them, then I gave them to my sons and my nephews. I have nothing but good knives now but I don't have very many. And I've always been able to put a razor edge on a knife without a problem. So no I don't have any disposable blade knives, and don't want any.