I have heard over and over that knives of Alaska are some of the best knives you can get if your a outdoorsman, but upon looking into buying a set, some of the reviews I’m reading online have me second guessing getting a set. So my question is, are they worth the money, or is there another good one out there that I should look at?
I don't own a whole set of them, but the one I do own has been performing butchering jobs for me on lots of animals for several years. Holds a great edge for a long time!
Great knives, I have several of them. They make a "Muskrat" that is the best skinner Ive ever used. Only downfall is they are tough to sharpen if you let them get dull. Upside to that is they use to sharpen them for free. Located in Denison out by the airport.
I have heard over and over that knives of Alaska are some of the best knives you can get if your a outdoorsman, but upon looking into buying a set, some of the reviews I’m reading online have me second guessing getting a set. So my question is, are they worth the money, or is there another good one out there that I should look at?
I have a set from back in the early 90's (before they were being mass produced), stag handles, a skinner/cleaver and a caping knife (both D2 tool steel). They have held up well. I use that 'set' and a Puma Skinner to dress pretty much everything.
The cleaver/skinner is large and heavy and you would think it unwieldy...but the rounded tip slips easily between the hide and carcass when skinning to prevent cutting the hide. The D2 tool steel can be made 'scary' sharp. Not just shaving sharp...where you can remove hair from your arm...but the kind of sharp where hairs 'pop' off as soon as they are touched.
I can't speak to the more recent offerings...but I can tell you my Old One's are good knives.
D2 is very abrasion resistant lending to the hard to sharpen and holding an edge. I have one from MikeC, one from Jason Fry and a Benchmade in D2 and all of them are excellent. If they get to where they aren't cutting great, a few passes on a leather strap brings them right back. As flintknapper said, the hairs seem to jump out of the way as soon as you get the blade close. Scary sharp, if you cut yourself, you won't start bleeding until tomorrow and won't stop until next week. If the new KoA are D2 they should serve you well. If not, get in touch with Mike and have him build you a set. He built a set a while back that had the cleaver and caper very similar to KoA.