Topic: The Best Replaceable Blade Knives of 2023, Tested and Reviewed (Read 36 times)
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Topic: The Best Replaceable Blade Knives of 2023, Tested and Reviewed (Read 36 times)
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This knife model has skinned and quartered countless big game animals from Alaska to Arizona. It has a simple folding design that features a frame-lock that secures the blade in the open position. It co*es with 12 extra stainless steel #60A 2-3/4″ blades, but it can also run #60XT blades. The Havalon also co*es with a removable holster clip and a nylon holster to hold the knife and extra blades. Havalon also makes a little orange, plastic blade gripper, which you use to leverage the blade off the knife and slide on a new one. If you try to use your fingers the blade swapping process feels like it just might land you in the emergency room. But with the blade gripper, it’s incredibly simple—and painless. If you’re not feeling the plastic blade gripper, you can simply use pliers.
The Havalon Piranta Original was popular enough that some folks call all replaceable blade knives of this style a “Havalon” similar to how “Kleenex” has beco*e synonymous with “tissue.” Some hunters have moved away from the Original Havalon because the tool required to change blades and the fact that the thin blades often snap, at least when you apply sideways pressure to them. But in the right hands, the original Piranta is an incredibly precise, effective tool. I like the original over the newer Prinata Edge because of the Original’s steel handle and frame-lock design. The new Piranta has a plastic handle and liner-lock design, instead.
Years ago I was hastily working on an elk that my buddy had shot. I put too much pressure on one of my replaceable blade knives and snapped the blade, sending a broken shard of stainless steel flying past my buddy’s face, nearly sticking him in the eye. That kind of whoopsie doesn’t happen with RazorPro design.
The blade length on the RazorPro is 3.5 inches, which is about perfect for all big-game work, and the handle is rubberized. It utilizes stainless steel liners to lock the blade in place. Swapping blades requires no tools, and it also won’t require stitches. Simply open the knife, press the blade at the front of the handle, slide the blade off, and slide on a new one. It co*es with a nylon sheath and six Japanese 420J2 stainless blades. It also co*es with a nifty gutting blade, if you’re into that kind of a thing.
This is the best replaceable blade knife for people who really just want a regular knife with a razor-sharp blade.
Havalon basically took a knife handle, made a simple and useful attachment system, and then made a wide variety of blade styles and designs to pair with it. There are three options you can choose from: Fish, Hunt, or Hip Holster Set. The Talon Fish co*es with more fillet blades and the Hip Holster co*es simply with a “Bushcraft blade” and a gut hook blade (though the bushcraft blade is not sturdy enough to tackle serious bushcraft work). No matter which options you pick, you can swap in blades from the other sets to create the best replaceable blade knife for the situation. You can see the full set of Talon blades here. The Fish and Hunt options co*e with a useful nylon roll pack to store the handle and blades. The hip holster is available separately.
This is a handy kit that can handle any job sufficiently, but no job perfectly. The fillet blades for example are not precise as those as you’d see on a high-end fillet knife. The drop-point blades are nicely designed, but the system doesn’t feel as sturdy in your hand as a full-tang drop-point hunting knife does. That said, the kit is affordable, and with the wide variety of blades available, it’s a great value for any wild game butcher.
This is a light pocked folder with a solid lock-back design and a co*fortable and highly visibly orange rubber grip. The blades attach to the knife through Gerber’s patented Split Sec Tech system which is safe and simple to use and requires no tools. The knife includes a #60 industry-standard attached razor blade and six #60 replaceable razor blades. Replacement blades are available in a 12-pack plastic holder which holds blades safely and then dispenses them when you press and slide a tab. You can store used blades in the waste co*partment of this clever little holder.
This knife and system was clearly designed by hunters. The knife, when paired with the replacement blade kit is all you’d ever need for processing big game in the backcountry or front country. There are trade-offs though. The blade holder obscures a good portion of the blade. You can still with the full blade, but not as effectively as if the blade was fully exposed. Plus, this system takes a little more effort to clean as blood and guts work into all the crevices around the blade holder and handle.
Over the years, I’ve used every one of these knives to skin deer, quarter elk, butcher hindquarters, or trim silver skin off backstraps. Each knife in my list has a different design, which makes each ideal for slightly different applications. I evaluated all replaceable blade knives, however, based on my opinion in how the knife performed in the following categories:
Why not evaluate knife sharpness? In almost any knife test I’d evaluate sharpness, however the blades in this review are relatively similar, some are even exchangeable across knives. All the blades came out of their packages shaving sharp, and I’ve got a hairless forearm to prove it.
Let’s cut the B.S. around replaceable blade knives.
These knives work wonderfully, if you use them correctly. Any replaceable blade knife is going to be less durable than durable than a standard knife. Replaceable blade knives excel in sharpness, and if you’re pressing so hard that you’re consistently breaking blades, you’re doing something wrong.
That all depends on what you want to use it for. For simplicity, I like the Tyto 1.1. For classic features and performance, I like the Havalon Piranta. For durability, I like the Outdoor Edge RazorPro.
Replaceable blades are thin, stainless-steel, and co*e out of the package shaving sharp. As far as hunting knives go, a brand-new replaceable blade is as sharp as they co*e. However, these blades can dull quickly, which is why you’ll need to swap them out or sharpen them regularly.
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Every replaceable blade knife makes co*promises on certain design features. The best replaceable blade knife is depends on you. If you’re a backcountry hunter, every ounce counts, and you should go with one of the ultra-light models. If weight isn’t a big deal, choose one of the heavier models with thicker, more durable blades. Next, look at yourself in the mirror and be honest: How organized are you? Is your headlamp always running out of batteries? Is your backpack a jumbled mess of random gear? If so, go with an option that requires no tools for blade exchange and stores extra blades in the sheath. You don’t want to get halfway through quartering an animal only to find out you have no way to swap out a dull blade. If you’re the super-organized type, you’ll find a smart way to store your knife, a tool like the Havalon blade gripper, and some extra blades in your pack without issue.
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