With all this knife talk

what is your favorite blade shape and steel for what tasks ?

I have never made a dime on a knife , I have also never sold one that I can recall.

I find carbon steel has been my go-to steel as it takes a edge well keeps it decent and is easy to bring back to a decent edge again. some are specified 1095 others just carbon or high carbon

buck 420 HC as a stainless is quite serviceable

I find clip points don't do much for me , although buck likes to make a lot of them and I do have a couple

one of these days I am going to find a nice nessmuk blade to try

Blade shape is determined by the task at hand. Butchering, skinning, gutting, killin, different shapes for different jobs.

Like you, I love carbon steel. I detest stainless in a knife.

Yep but I do have some stainless that’s pretty good

D2 is my preferred steel.i like something with a good stabby point.

I like carbon steel. Blade shape depends on the task. For example when slautering chickens I use a Kershaw leak with its very pointy blade and I keep it razer sharp. But it's only making shallow small cuts on chicken throats. For skinning I linke a knife with Handel that fills my hand blade 4" to 6 with a long rounded belly.
Gutting I like a litle more point for opening again handle that fills my hand. Normally my edc does this job becuse I like a pointy, stabby ability with 4" min knife for my edc so it's also a defensive tool. .

I'm certain I'm way in the minority on my blade shape preference. I use the triangle-bladed short knife for almost everything. I like high-carbon steel. Besides the triangle-bladed "pelter", I carry a Swiss Army knife for little things, and it gets used daily.

1095, 5160, a2, d2, 12c27, aus8
Spear point type blade mostly

I could see that blade shape doing 90% of my work. Butchering would be about the only time I'd want a longer blade. Beautiful knives.

blade shape is definitely determined by the task

I do like a nice utility shape , that does many things well enough

this is one handy , I don't worry too much about it being "stabby" it plunges decently well for it's shape

this is my most commonly carried pocket knife the buck 110 slims and buck lights while 420hc stainless are serviceable steel and
light and easy to have on you all the time while still being large enough to be useful

the Russel camp knife left is also a favorite general purpose and the Mora Right is sharp , cheap and easily available


opening cuts on deer make up a minute or three of a year so shape is less of a concern for me on that about anything sharp can work

i have skinned and quartered deer with all of these but the pocket knife although it has fields dressed several

the buck lite/ buck 110 slims run 20-30 $ so not so expensive to worry about loosing one , the orange does help when you set it down my son got that orange one for me for fathers day a few years ago

I still have my first buck-lite that I was given when I was 12 , it doesn't come out to play too often any more having made it all these years it has sentimental value I would hat to loose it now , came close a couple times had to go back to a gut pile and find it.

I like the carbon steel Mora's. Thin blade, very sharp, shape is good, ..enough, , easy to sharpen and under 10 bucks! Lose it?, no worries.

I can skin and bone several deer before a hit with a steel, the blade is about 3 -3 1/2" and will do any job a knife can do...No, it's not a hatchet. That's what hatchets are for.....

I can relate to that but todays stainless steels are not the stainless we grew up with. The CPM family of stainless such as MagnaCut, M-4 and the like are premium stainless and perform much the same as high carbon steels without the rust factor. The only knock on these high end stainless steels is you're going to need a diamond stone sharpening system because of the hardness of these steels.

Here yah go

that one is a custom someone made for you?

I see so many of the commercially produced nessmuk knives use a scandi grind , the ness is supposed to be a skinner ,slicer , food prep knife and I don't like a scandi grind for that.

I don't know why so many people get so bent on battening wood or making feather sticks

if I need kindling I am a lot more likely to go break the little dead branches off the underside of the cedars where they will be dry and small enough to need no processing

Got it from this guy...years ago. He had a write up in Fur Fish and game...that's how I found him. Great Guy to deal with.

Scandi is pretty easy to sharpen though.

Lot of the Bushcraft/survivalist stuff is something to do to entertain you in camp after your phone dies. It's glorified whittling. They generally don't like it when you bring up the practicality or lack thereof of what they're doing.

I am trying to remember the last time I was bored in camp, still trying , nope , can't remember.

Partial Culinary collection. 98% Carbon. Different shapes & sizes. Hunting knives are SS & carbon.

You mean you aren't out there breaking out the chicken legs or hamburgers and lounging around all day?

my wife has that Dexter chopping/slicing cleaver top right of the picture , she likes it but I prefer a 10 inch chefs knife
she also has an Fdick offset bread knife
otherwise she likes mostly parring knifes

You mean you aren't out there breaking out the chicken legs or hamburgers and lounging around all day?