Real Steel Hunter 165 Fixed Blade Knife Review

Real Steal Knife company has a strategy that can be visualized particularly in three aspects. The first aspect is the realization of innovative technology based on traditional engineering skills. For example, they have extended the classic locking system such as liner lock, frame lock, back lock, or button lock with their own additional patentable safety devices. The second aspect of their strategy is the presence and leadership in all classes. The E77 sets standards in the entry class, the H6 in the middle class, the G3 Puukko in the upper class and the Megalodon in the custom knives class. Even in the difficult class of multi-functional knives, Real Steel is leading with the T3000 model. Because of this, Real steel Knives ensures the consistent high quality and high product safety though 1005 self-production. The third aspect is their conscious and fast response to market movements. By consistently taking into account the wishes of their customers, they are able to make all special editions and further developments of their basic models into market successes. They carefully listen to all opinions and wishes of RSK fans.

They consider their team to be their most important resource and are accordingly elective in their composition. All of their team members have proven technical excellence and are extremely enthusiastic about their products. This is demonstrated daily not only in their end product, but also in their professional graphics, 3D models and hand-made prototypes at the custom-knife level. Anyone who shows this dedication over a long period of time will naturally develop a sense of trends in the market. However, their inspiration lies not only in themselves, but also in the cooperation with brand manufacturers, with whom they exchange knowledge and experience in an open mutual dialogue. With regards to their brand, they do not rely on leading personalities or an association with military or similar specialist associations. Simply for them it is about excellence in the form design, construction, and production in the team.

Today we will be discussing the Real Steel Hunter 165 Fixed Blade knife.

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of Sandvik 12C27 steel. This steel is very well-rounded with fantastic edge performance that can get crazy sharp. The steel also sports high hardness, great toughness, and good corrosion resistance. This steel on the Real Steel knife has been hardened to a level of 56-58 HRC.

The blade has been finished with a stonewash finish. This style is created by tumbling the blade in an abrasive material. This finish works to preserve the look of the blade overtime, so it is extremely low maintenance. The tumbling with pebbles creates a very rugged and textured look, which effortlessly hides scratches and smudges that accumulate over time on your knife blade. The stonewash finish also provides a less reflective nature than a brushed or satin finished blade. For a hunting knife, this is the perfect blade finish, because maintenance is going to be hard with all of the messy situations you get into. With a stonewashed finish, you will cut down on that maintenance by a decent amount.

The blade has been carved into a big-bellied drop point blade. The drop point blade shape is one of the most popular blade shapes on the market today, and is especially popular on hunting knives. This blade style can stand up to almost any task that you choose to throw at it. To form the shape of the knife, the back edge runs straight form the handle to the tip of the knife in a slow curved manner, which creates a lowered point. Knives with lowered points allow you to have more control over your cuts and slices. And because the point on the drop point blade is easily controllable, this blade shape is the perfect shape for your compact hunting knife. It is this control that assists you in accidentally nicking internal organs or ruining the meat. The lowered tip also adds strength to the tip that is hard to find in a knife style. It is this strength that makes this a great option on a tactical or survival knife, but the strength will assist you while you are hunting as well. This strength will allow you to carve a path to get the best position to scope out your game. And, if you encounter an unexpected situation, you won’t have to worry about your knife not being able to stand up to the challenge. Drop point blades, especially the blade on this Hunter 165 blade, have large bellies. Large bellies are the feature of a blade that helps the user to more easily slice—perfect for dressing your game right in the field. One of the only disadvantages to a drop point blade shape is that because the tip is broader to add strength, it does cut down on your ability to pierce.

The blade has a full-flat grind as well as a plain edge. The full flat grind is the simplest style of grind. This grind begins tapering to the edge from the spine evenly on both sides, which means that the edge is extremely sharp. You can get this style of grind sharper than many other styles of grinds. However, this grind is not as durable as other styles of grinds. The plain edge assists you to better take on a wide variety of tasks. You really do need a plain edge on a hunting knife because it will give you much cleaner slices than a serrated edge would—and it has not teeth to shred the game.

 

The Handle:

This knife is a full tang blade, which means that the steel that makes up the blade also makes up the main portion of the handle. There are a ton of benefits to having a full tang knife, especially with your outdoors knives. For starters, full tang knives are much stronger, because there is no weak point where the handle and blade have been welded together. Also, in this specific knife’s case, if you are out in the wild and the handle scales fall off, you have a fully workable blade—just less comfortable to use. Full tang blades are more durable and definitely the way to go if you are looking for a sporting or outdoors fixed blade.

The handle scales on this handle are made out of army green G-10. G-10 is a laminate composite made of fiberglass. To make this material, the manufacturer takes layers of fiberglass cloth and soaks them in resin. Then the material is compressed and baked under pressure. The resulting material is very tough, very hard, very lightweight, and very strong. G-10 is actually considered the toughest of all fiberglass resin laminates that are used in the knife world, and even stronger than Micarta—although it is going to be more brittle than Micarta. G-10 is most easily compared with carbon fiber, but because it is slightly inferior, it is going to be a fraction of the cost. One of the best aspects of G-10 is how easy it is to add texture and other patterns to enhance grip while still remaining comfortable. Hunting knives in particular benefit from G-10 because it is lightweight, durable, and non-porous. This means that your hunting necessity isn’t going to wear down, isn’t going to break easily, and isn’t going to absorb all the fluids that you encounter while hunting. Real Steel has machined these G-10 handle scales to have thin grooves going across the width of the blade to help with grip on this knife even when things get messy—because things are going to get messy.

There is a deep finger groove on this knife, as well as a finger guard, which will help give you a more secure and a safer grip while dressing your game. On the butt of the handle, there is a lanyard hole carved out. This lanyard hole is the perfect addition that allows you to keep your knife near you at all times while also keeping it out of the way when you are trying to remain focused.

 

The Mechanism:

This knife is a fixed blade, which means that there is actually no mechanism. There are a couple of benefits from having your hunting knife being a fixed blade. For starters, and I think this is one of the biggest advantages, cleaning is much simpler when you are using a fixed blade. All you really have to do is wipe down your knife after use and oil it when required. You don’t have to worry about any inner workings getting dirty or rusted, and you definitely don’t have to take this knife apart to clean it. Second, while this is a compact knife, it still boasts the strength close to what a larger fixed blade would. This is because the blade can be thicker than on a folding knife, because it doesn’t have to fit inside of the handle. Lastly, fixed blades are more durable because there are no small parts that can break or quit working. What you see is what you get and you can expect greatness with this compact hunting knife.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 2.68 inches—truly a compact hunting knife. The blade thickness measures in at 0.118 inches. When the Hunter 165 is opened, it measures in at 6.5 inches long. This knife weighs in at 3.21 ounces—very lightweight so you won’t have to worry about packing it around with you everywhere; you won’t even notice that it is there.

 

The Pros of the Real Steel Hunter 165:

• The steel can get and stay crazy sharp.
• The steel of the blade is very well rounded, giving you just enough of each characteristic to get the job done.
• The stonewashed finish preserves the look of the blade overtime and makes maintenance easier.
• The stonewash finish also cuts down on reflections and glares.
• The drop point blade style has a large belly that makes slicing a breeze.
• The blade style has a strong tip that allows you to take on almost any task.
• The blade shape has a controllable point, making it the perfect option for your hunting knife.
• The full flat grind is very sharp.
• This is a full tang knife, which increases strength and durability.
• G-10 is hard, tough, strong, lightweight, and durable.
• G-10 is non porous, so it won’t absorb any of the plethora of fluids that you are going to encounter while hunting.
• This is a very lightweight knife.
• There is a deep finger groove and a finger guard.

 

The Cons of the Real Steel Hunter 165:

• The drop point blade style does not have a fine tip—which means that you are not going to be able to pierce as well as a clip point blade shape.
• The full flat grind is not as durable as other grinds.

 

Conclusion:

The Hunter 165 in full-tang construction is designed as a compact hunting knife. It is 165mm long, 3.5mm thick, the blade is made with Sandvik 12C27 steel which is easy to sharpen. The knife has a full-flat grinding and stonewashed finish, thus the Hunter 165 is perfectly suitable as a small size outdoor knife. Thanks to a generously sized finger recess, a 3D machined G10 handle and thumb grips on the back of the blade, the Hunter 165 ensures a very good hand position. The included sheaths are made of PP + GF and the adapter from Nylon + GF, both sheaths and adapters come in the same color as the G10 handle scales. The Hunter 165 sets are designed relatively flat and therefore comfortable to wear around the neck as well as on your belt. The used screws fit accurately, the G10 handle scales can be removed using ordinary screwdriver. Here RSK still attaches great importance to the expansion potential of different handle scales. Have fun with the new Hunter 165 after you pick it up from BladeOps.