Gotta rethink my hunting/gutting knife…S110V FAIL!

[jmj3esq]

I kinda built this Manix 2 for a hunting knife option to use in the field gutting and dressing game, especially deer. Well I finally got to use it when gutting a doe this morning. The blade zipped through the flesh with ease, but when it came time to cut thru the sternum we had a problem. I could hear the blade crunching against the bone and cartilage and it immediately popped in my mind that S110V chips easy. I got thru it with no problem, but the blade got trashed. Major chipping towards the tip of the knife. Considering this was my first use, I’m not happy. It will sharpen out easy enough, but I should have never picked S110V as my steel choice, or the Manix 2. The steel isn’t tough enough and the blade is too thin to use on larger game. I think a Shaman is the way to go. Just not sure what steel would be tough enough for these hard uses. Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience with this knife and steel. I love the Manix 2 and personally have 6 of them. They just won’t be getting used for hunting purposes anymore.

[Fharing45]

I use spyderco pocket knifes for skinning ,quartering, and breaking down my deer to pack out of the woods. The last 2 I used were the siren in S90, and the Ayoob SE in cruwear. Both knifes were still shaving sharp afterwards. This includes splitting the ribs.

This is how far down I take the deer before packing out.

[Dnwrghtsr]

I use a Police 4 LW K390 serrated. I don’t cut the sternum I just reach in and pull everything out. It is long enough I can cut the butt hole out so I don’t have to saw any bone. Worked great K390 is much tougher than S110V but it rusts if you look at it wrong. I forced a patina seems to help. I have a pm2 S110V I love it because it holds an edge and doesn’t rust.

[jmj3esq]

I think my Shaman S90V needs to eat!

[aicolainen]

For field dressing/gutting I quite quickly connected with the Native 5 LW Salt. It's well balanced with a tough steel, robust blade stock that still cuts, short enough for tip control and long enough to do the job. I also have a bias towards backlocks for safety reasons, and the Native 5 is as reliable as they come... so as far as folding knives for hunting I've kind of stopped looking.
It's not too dissimilar from my fixed blade favorite, the Fällkniven WM-1, which has a similar story. It was the first quality fixed blade I bought 23 years ago, and it's been so good I've never cared to look for anything that might be marginally better, or not.

[Bolster]

Sorry to see the damage. Did you use your 110V Manix on its factory edge? Photos kinda look like factory. I'm not saying it will stop all chipping, but see how your knife performs after several re-sharpenings. Lots of people report better edge stability after the factory edge is gone.

[Wandering_About]

Yeah gotta agree that factory edges on S110V are some of the edges I trust the least... although I'm not sure a reprofile would solve all the problems of getting a bit rough with bone on such a high carbide volume steel.

[Sharp Guy]

Just a public service announcement....

The plural of knife is knives

So it's "I like Spyderco knives" not "I like Spyderco knifes"

Carry on

[Enactive]

I suspect geometry is more important than steel in this case-- although high hardness, high carbide steels against bone and cartilage is, um, questionable.

[Skywalker]

I use a Police 4 LW K390 serrated. I don’t cut the sternum I just reach in and pull everything out. It is long enough I can cut the butt hole out so I don’t have to saw any bone. Worked great K390 is much tougher than S110V but it rusts if you look at it wrong. I forced a patina seems to help. I have a pm2 S110V I love it because it holds an edge and doesn’t rust.

This is my preferred method as well. Cut the butt out, cut from right below the sternum down (careful of the guts), and the cut the diaphragm loose, reach up and get the esophagus/trachea, and then just pull.

Sometimes I will notch the lower couple inches of the sternum if I need a little more space to reach up inside the chest, but it's not a ton of bone cutting.

Have used Spyderco K390 and 20CV the past couple years; VG-10 and XHP in the past. No chipping issues with any of it (though I don't believe any were factory-fresh edges either).

[JSumm]

Sorry to see the damage. Did you use your 110V Manix on its factory edge? Photos kinda look like factory. I'm not saying it will stop all chipping, but see how your knife performs after several re-sharpenings. Lots of people report better edge stability after the factory edge is gone.

That is always a good question. Spyderco sharpens new knives on a wheel correct? If so, it will have a slight hollowness to the edge. Similar to how they make a hollow grind. It will cut well, but definitely not the most robust edge if you are hitting harder material abruptly.

[wrdwrght]

Sorry to see the damage. Did you use your 110V Manix on its factory edge? Photos kinda look like factory. I'm not saying it will stop all chipping, but see how your knife performs after several re-sharpenings. Lots of people report better edge stability after the factory edge is gone.

My thoughts, too.

For processing game, I’d actually go with a lower-carbide steel, even at the cost of needing to sharpen more often…

[skeeg11]

Pair any knife of your choosing with a small compact light folding saw. For me, that would be a SpydieChef.

[skeeg11]

I use a Police 4 LW K390 serrated. I don’t cut the sternum I just reach in and pull everything out. It is long enough I can cut the butt hole out so I don’t have to saw any bone. Worked great K390 is much tougher than S110V but it rusts if you look at it wrong. I forced a patina seems to help. I have a pm2 S110V I love it because it holds an edge and doesn’t rust.

Speaking of butt holes, in days of yore, I use to use a long skinny melon knife for reaming rectums.

When out in the field with no mineral oil, you might try cleaning your K390 blade and rubbing it down with some saturated deef fat..

[jmj3esq]

Am I going to run into the same problem with S90V and chipping? I haven't used enough of it, besides on my Drunken I carry, to notice any chipping.

I have a Shaman in S30V and am really wondering if that's the way to go here.

[Erich]

I think a Shaman is the way to go.

You will not see a meaningful difference between the Manix and the Shaman. The Manix is actually intended to be Spyderco's "folding prybar" knife or as close to it. What you are seeing is just the cost of high carbide steels. They are very brittle and delicate, especially something as extreme as S110V. They are purely intended for draw cutting. Once you begin gouging at hard stuff with them like bone or wood or plastic, they are going to chip out badly. That kind of stuff is just not what they are designed to do. Friction is the name of their game.

If you want to hack through bone, you're going to have to drop down to 3v or 5160, and get a longer blade. Keep in mind that even merely draw cutting into bone with enough pressure is enough to chip these steels. When using them it is best to pretend that your blade is made out of glass.

[Manixguy@1994]

I used a Chinook 2 to see how it worked and did a good job . Took a lot of cleaning afterwards . Usually carry my Randall 20 or 21 .

[Erich]

Am I going to run into the same problem with S90V and chipping?

I have a Shaman in S30V and am really wondering if that's the way to go here.

Yes on s90v....and s30v is hardly any "tougher" than S110V or S90V. The whole reason why s35vn happened is because people in the beginning deemed s30v too brittle and chippy. s30v was marketed in the beginning as being as "tough" as a spring steel but also having high edge retention because of the magical "cpm" process. When that was proven false you began seeing attempts to correct it, which continue to this day with s45vn and SPY27. In each case 35vn; s45vn; SPY27 you see a constant reduction of carbon and vanadium with variations in other metals. High carbide is necessarily brittle and "tough" steels have comparatively awful edge retention. That's just how it is. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[The Mastiff]

All in all that S110v held up pretty well to what you asked it to do. I'd guess there was some lateral forces involved as well looking at the knife. I think a simple geometry change will solve that . Maybe a microbevel too. S110v is not a tough steel by any comparison but considering how high the carbide content is and the hardness of the blade it holds up pretty well. I have several S110v including a very hard custom that is super thin compared to yours and it does better than I thought it would but I would never consider using it on large animals sternums any more than I would baton it through wood making kindling.

Is that a straight out of the box blade or was it thinned ? It looks kind of different from my blades.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

I’ve used the Chef and the Siren with no problems from either however the Chef was easier to clean…nowadays I use the Havalon Piranta and a Silky PocketBoy