Knives w disposable blades

gznokes

gznokes

Very Active Member
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Do any of you use knives with a disposable blade like the ones from havalon with havel's blades? http://www.havalon.com/

I have a friend who is a taxidermist who uses the scaple version in the shop and the field with amazing results. The company also is marketing a more set up that is more like a traditional folding knife with a 2 3/4" blade. Another is a 5" filet knife version.

A couple questions.
1. Are these knives only good for skinning or do they hold up to stuff like cutting through tendons and cutting through big pieces of meat?
2. How would they do for whittling? (I'm wondering how rigid the blade is.)
3. The blade attaches to a nub that sticks out either side of the blade. Does this nub get in the way of any cutting utilities?
4. Are these knives mostly for skinning or are they versatile enough to be a primary knife for all purposes in the field?
 
not good for whittling for sure. once you learn how to use them they will do most anything you want them to do with your animal. you cant twist them, you have to let the knife work, not you.

the new Blaze Blades are heavier and may be better for boning than the smaller pirantas. im yet to use one of those but plan on trying them. there are a lot of pro's but they do also have some con's.

Travis
www.RidgelineOutdoors.com
Blacks-Creek Pack Dealer
Havalon Knife Dealer
 
I love my knife , and its really the only knife I use any more . I use it for skinning and also use it for quartering up the animal .

It took me a minute to figure out the blade changing deal , and it can still be a little tricky if your hands are bloody or cold . I use the little sheath that you can buy and allways keep about 5 extra blades in it . In most cases I use one blade for skining and a second blade to bone a elk . Every once in a while you will break a blade if your twisting it too much .

I don't think it would be very good for whitling all though I have never tried it .
 
I got the Havalon Baracuta-Blaze Skinning Knife last year
Ive only been able to try it out once on a deer but come to the conclusion that it is the neatest thing since sliced bread
I was able to gut,skin and quarter the whole deer and the knife was still sharper then any other of the 50 knifes I own
The only down fall Ive found is you need a pair of pliers to change the blade.This problem might get better once you change a few and the small lever on the knife gets easy to turn
 
My buddy had one of those with him when he got a big bull opening morning last Fall. I can't remember if it was #1 or #4 in the picture on that website, but it was one of the two and had the short blade. I used it to skin the bull and do minor cutting, take off the backstraps and front quarters. I replaced the blade part way through the cutting as the skinning part started dulling it somewhat and the cutting finished off the first blade. I wouldn't attempt to use it to do heavy cutting or to go in and try to take the himdquarters off though because it's rather fragile. Like the other post mentioned, you don't want to do any twisting with it like you would probably do going in around the ball joints of a deer or elk hindquarter with a heavier knife. I was pretty impressed with it, especially as small and light as it is. That and a packet full of extra blades would be great on a backpack hunt to get most of the basic work done on an animal. I guess you could debone with it if you really took your time, but I like to move right along and I would probably break the blades or cut myself.
 
Hands down, the best knife I've ever owned! As has been stated, the blades will break if there's any sideways pressure, but I've broken down several elk without a problem. The SOB's are SHARP, so you gotta be careful changing blades and keep your fingers outta the way!
 
I bought one last year before a mule deer hunt to Colorado. I was able to skin and bone out a large bodied deer with just one blade. I have used it since to skin a couple of wild hogs and I am extremely pleased with its' performance. As previously stated, you can't go twisting and tweaking on the blades but for general skinning and quartering I think they are great. They are also very lightweight and don't take up much room in the pack.
 
I use the Havalon system also. The standard blades will skin and clean a deer or elk no problem.

The really pointed blade is great for caping.

The blades are difficult to change with bloody hands, so I keep a Leatherman handy and then it is easy and SAFE.

"whackin' a surly bartender ain't much of a crime"
 
This is good stuff. I think I'll try one out.

I've never bought anything from Travis' website and his price and free shipping on this is better than I've seen anywhere else so I think I'll support a fellow MMer.
 
This picture is the knife my friend used to cape and skin out of two, yes 2 Lopes and also a Buck Muley last year in WYO. Made believers out of us on how great they can do a job for you.

3886p1000509.jpg


Brian
http://i25.tinypic.com/fxbjgy.jpg[/IMG]
 
Gznokes, as has been said the knives are incredible and well worth the couple of ounces they add to your pack. I caped and skinned an entire elk with one a few years back and liked it so much I decided to become a dealer for Havalon. If you're interested here's a link with my prices and information. Oh and if you would like I can charge you extra for the carrying case, knife and blades and then give you FREE SHIPPING too! :)

The prices listed in the link below include the knife, case and 1 dozen spare blades. I just charge what it costs me to ship which is usually $3 or $4 depending on how many you buy. One other thing I will do that I've never seen anyone else advertise before is give you a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If anything ever goes wrong with your knife or you just decide you simply don't like it let me know and I will replace it or refund your money. One time I actually replaced a knife for a guy that didn't even buy his knife from me! He bought it from some other guy and when he broke it (dropped it off his 4-wheeler while driving 40 miles per hour down a paved road) the dealer was giving him the run around. He told him it wasn't broken that it was just cracked and still worked just fine. I told the guy he didn't need to deal with all that BS and just handed him a new one. Cool thing was he ended up buying 4 more right after that. What goes around comes around I guess.

Here's the link to my pricing and my e-mail address is [email protected]

http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID49/2593.html

NvrEnuf
 
No offense on the free shipping thing Travis. I just couldn't resist. :) I actually refer people to your website whenever they are looking for the fillet knives or other styles that I don't sell like the bear/coyote engraved knives. Your prices really are very fair and MUCH better than some that I have seen around the net.

NvrEnuf
 
I bought a couple more knives and some blades from Shawn recently. Great guy to deal with and very honest. These knives are the cats meow!
 
I hunt quite a bit and am an outfitter. I likley do about 25-30 critters from antelope to elk in a given year. I've been using one for 3 years and it is excellent. I carry a couple of other knives in the pickup or a saw in my pack. But I can get almost everything from gutting to caping done with this lightweight knife. A few extra blades is all you need and it is really light.

As has been said, it's SHARP so please be careful with it.

The only downside was that I lost a blade in a the chest cavity on a big buck I was gutting. Never did find it, but I think that was operator error in how I put the blade on the knife.
 
I have had the piranta for a while and think its great, any one else that has tried it wants to buy one. I just ordered the Baracuta with both the skinning and fillet blades. I like the other one so much i wanted to try the new one with the longer blades.
 
Can't remember extactly, but we put together an order last year and bought something like 28 knives from Travis, plus a bunch of extra blades. Everyone that sees them in action wants one. I've also given several away as gifts, tips, etc. and everyone who received one loves it.
 
GZnokes,
All has been said but I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway.

I used that knife on 2 elk last year. I even took the "ivories" out of the elk and did it all with just 2 blades. The elk teeth removal bent the blade since I "twisted" it too much. I even used it to quarter the critters and remove backstraps although a bit short, it worked fine. Skinning was a breeze.

I LIKE IT. I can see the real use as a knife on a hardcore backpach trip. (dall sheep next year with my oldest daughter)

My wife's twin is married to a doctor and he can get bulk deals on blades although I havn't needed many extras yet.

Zeke
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-06-11 AT 08:45PM (MST)[p]>Gznokes, as has been said the
>knives are incredible and well
>worth the couple of ounces
>they add to your pack.
> I caped and skinned
>an entire elk with one
>a few years back and
>liked it so much I
>decided to become a dealer
>for Havalon. If you're
>interested here's a link with
>my prices and information.
>Oh and if you would
>like I can charge you
>extra for the carrying case,
>knife and blades and then
>give you FREE SHIPPING too!
>:)
>
>The prices listed in the link
>below include the knife, case
>and 1 dozen spare blades.
> I just charge what
>it costs me to ship
>which is usually $3 or
>$4 depending on how many
>you buy. One other
>thing I will do that
>I've never seen anyone else
>advertise before is give you
>a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
>If anything ever goes wrong
>with your knife or you
>just decide you simply don't
>like it let me know
>and I will replace it
>or refund your money.
>One time I actually replaced
>a knife for a guy
>that didn't even buy his
>knife from me! He
>bought it from some other
>guy and when he broke
>it (dropped it off his
>4-wheeler while driving 40 miles
>per hour down a paved
>road) the dealer was giving
>him the run around.
>He told him it wasn't
>broken that it was just
>cracked and still worked just
>fine. I told the
>guy he didn't need to
>deal with all that BS
>and just handed him a
>new one. Cool thing
>was he ended up buying
>4 more right after that.
> What goes around comes
>around I guess.
>
>Here's the link to my pricing
>and my e-mail address is
>[email protected]
>
>http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID49/2593.html
>
>NvrEnuf

Havalon backs their knives 100%. there should have never been a problem??? the dealer that customer was dealing with must have been lazy! good job for taking care of him. im sure havalon appreciates it.


Travis
www.RidgelineOutdoors.com
Blacks-Creek Pack Dealer
Havalon Knife Dealer
 
>No offense on the free shipping
>thing Travis. I just
>couldn't resist. :) I
>actually refer people to your
>website whenever they are looking
>for the fillet knives or
>other styles that I don't
>sell like the bear/coyote engraved
>knives. Your prices really
>are very fair and MUCH
>better than some that I
>have seen around the net.
>
>
>NvrEnuf

No offense taken at all and i thank you for the referrals. I do offer free shipping too tho on all products i sell.


Travis
www.RidgelineOutdoors.com
Blacks-Creek Pack Dealer
Havalon Knife Dealer
 
Zeke, hopefully we'll both be using our Havalon knives to take ivories out this year! I was kind of under the impression that they might not sustain a lot of twisting and hard cutting, but your story is making me think that assumption might not be correct. Like I said, I put in an order so I'll know soon enough.
 
Too many moving parts for a simpleton like me...I'll stick with my old Timer..why fix it if it ain't broke...
 
There's something to be said for a good, simple hunting knife.
Actually my favorites are some little custom beauties crafted by the skilled hands of fellow MM'r, Mr. 300ultramag. They are gems!

Zeke
 
So if I haven't bought one yet should I get the "Blaze" or the "Piranta"?

I hopefully will skin and quarter a couple elk, a mule deer, whitetail and several wild pigs this year. Last year it was 3 elk and by the last one i was cussing my dull knife pretty good. I do get tired of sharpening my knife, but I don't use a saw when I quarter up an animal, I use my knife and cut and pry the knees joint apart. Sounds like I would still need my regular knife for that part.

Would the Blaze version do all that, or would it just make skinning faster than the Piranta since it has the longer blade?

Thanks. Nathan
 
I use the piranta and i skin, quarter and bone many of my animals. the joins you can do with these, you just have to at it a different way than prying and twisting. i will say that the blaze would probably be better for boning, the blade is stronger and longer. they are also more expensive and the replacements blades are more expensive too. they may last longer tho, i have not tried the blaze yet.

Travis
www.RidgelineOutdoors.com
Blacks-Creek Pack Dealer
Havalon Knife Dealer
 
Here's my 2 cents Nathan. The new Blaze is an inch or so longer than the Piranta knives and that is nice. The Blaze also costs $20 more than the Piranta and it only comes with 5 extra blades. The Piranta comes with 12 extra blades. The biggest disadvantage to the Blaze in my opinion though is the cost of the replacement blades. 10 times more than the Piranta blades!!! That makes the Piranta a MUCH better value in my opinion. My guess is you will you break blades while using the Piranta, especially while you are learning the limits of the blades and taking care of bigger animals like elk. I bet you'll break a few of the Blaze blades too though if you're using them to pry on bones and stuff. The difference is the Piranta blades are 30 cents a piece and the Blaze blades are 3 dollars each!
I skinned, quartered, deboned and removed the head from an entire elk last year using just the Piranta I had in my pack. Never broke one blade either. The first elk I took care of I did break a couple of blades though. Once you learn the limits of the blades and learn to use the knife to cut you won't break many at all. I just cut through the tendons and meat all the way down to the joints, twist or break them and then finish cutting through with no trouble at all. I used to pry and twist with my old timer all the time too and honestly for me it was more work than it is now with the Piranta...

I hope this helps with your decision and good luck with your hunts!

NvrEnuf
 
npaden, I bought my knife from Travis last hunting season and I could not be any happier w/ the knife. (piranta) If you are still trying to decide, here are some things to think about.
If you are going to be boning a lot of elk, a longer blade will work better for this.

Also are you a fisherman? The longer handle would work great for filleting fish.

an extra 20 bucks is not that much if your knife can be used for fishing and hunting.

As for the cost of the replacement blades, I would pay a 1.50 for a sharp blade that could skin and bone an elk.

I love my piranta and have not found it hard at all to change a blade. instead of using your finger to release the blade from where it snaps into the knife, use a rock or the corner edge of a table/tree branch. I have not broken a blade yet and have skinned and boned two deer w/ one blade. I think either way you cannot go wrong with your purchase. hope that helps
 
>There's something to be said for
>a good, simple hunting knife.
>
>Actually my favorites are some little
>custom beauties crafted by the
>skilled hands of fellow MM'r,
>Mr. 300ultramag. They are gems!
>
>
>Zeke

Bob makes a helluva knife!
 
Mr Foreman4x4, Yes sir he does.

I've had Bob craft one for each of my 5 kids which I presented each of them on their first hunt. They have come to appreciate the beauty and functionality of a great custom blade.

I might take another knife but I never go afield without one of Bobs.
Thanks Bob.

Zeke
 

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