I had never heard of rex121. Looked it up. Crazy hard but what I'm seeing is it's not very tough (hardness and toughness often have an inverse relationship). Have you had any issues with it chipping or otherwise proving to be brittle?Still always carry one. Have multiple that I will use on deer but only one that I use on moose and elk. I had it custom made by a friend... steel is REX 121 which is classified as a tool or "super steel"
My friend said he can shape 3 knives from 1 belt on his big belt sander. With the REX 121 he used 42 belts to shape the knife. Then it went to Peters Heat Treating where it came back with a letter stating a measured Rockwell hardness of 70. Then finish sanding was excruciatingly slow.
It will gut and skin an entire moose without needing a touch up. The ugly part is that I couldn't sharpen it until I bought a true knife sharpener (Hapstone R2 system).
Makes sense. Sounds like a heck of a steel for edge retention. No doubt an amazing skinner (the shape of the knife looks like a good skinner too)No... but I also don't go slamming it into bones. Surprisingly I haven't chipped the blade yet but I also don't use it to say open a can of beans in the field. But to say take the legs off a deer, not a problem. I don't split vertebrae with it. If I'm cutting bone I use a saw. It's not a "camp" knife. I don't split wood with it kind of thing.
My pocket knife doesn't get sharpened nearly often enough. So whenever I head for the hills, I swap it out for a sharp one.When I'm hunting I ditch my EDC knife.
Thought all Texans carry a fixed blade.I like the idea, but never have. I usually have a folder in my pocket and a disposable blade knife and benchmade altitude in my kill kit.
I remember my grandpa and uncles hunting with fixed blade knives in leather sheaths in the 80's and 90's.
Between this and the "What was hunting like in the 80s and 90s?" thread I am feeling old. Hard to believe if you are in your 20s now, 1984 is the same as 1944 when I in my 20s.I like the idea, but never have. I usually have a folder in my pocket and a disposable blade knife and benchmade altitude in my kill kit.
I remember my grandpa and uncles hunting with fixed blade knives in leather sheaths in the 80's and 90's.
I'm in my thirties but same idea. What doesn't feel real to me, even though the math says it's obviously true, is that we are closer to the year 2050 than we are to 1990. That made me stop for a secondBetween this and the "What was hunting like in the 80s and 90s?" thread I am feeling old. Hard to believe if you are in your 20s now, 1984 is the same as 1944 when I in my 20s.