Knife Review: Case® x Winkler Knives® Recurve Utility No. 6

As a hunter, when preparing for a hunt and I will always have a sharp knife in my kit. Normally, more than one, but one main knife for the majority of the tasks required. For a year, I have been testing the Case® x Winkler Knives® Recurve Utility No. 6 (from here on out, Case Winkler Recurve) to see how it would function in both bushcrafting and hunting scenarios. Even survivalist types carry amazing knives for bushcrafting and hunting needs. I had specific ideas in mind for this knife as a retired U.S. Navy Seal designed it.

Disclaimer: I am no survivalist or bushcrafter. I am a hunter through-and-through, but I do make my own fires and shelters from time to time.

The Case Winkler Recurve is Made in the USA – which should matter to you.

The Case Winkler Recurve is ridiculously sharp out of the box. Ridiculously sharp, once you can get it out of the sheath. The sheath is leather with a reversible belt loop and additional attachments for more carrying options. At first, the knife (inside the sheath) was so tight I had to reduce tension by unscrewing the connecting points in order to remove the knife. This helped, but what I really had to do was work the knife back and forth for a time, then take it out and put it back in to reduce the friction. It took some hard work and muscle to get it out of the sheath.

The knife comes with Slim® Black Matte Zippo® windproof lighter attached to the outside of the sheath. The Zippo lighter is a nice feature for a survivalist, but more of a gimmick and not something a hunter would use. Smell of zippo fluid is a problem and the attachment feature catches on things. My main issue is that the lighter falls out when you hit the sheath against something. It’s clunky and not reliable. That being said, it would be nice to have a lighter to start a fire instead of using a Ferro rod.

Creating a Featherstick

Case Winkler Recurve was tested first with some simple tasks; making feathersticks, shaving bark, splitting wood and making a fire. It took me some time to get used to making a featherstick because the available wood was near a dried up riverbed. The hefty handled Recurve was easier to grip and allowed excellent control. It worked well for making feathersticks easily.

Shaving Bark

I found that shaving bark took a little less control as making a feather stick and the process went faster because I didn’t have to keep the shavings attached to the stick. The Recurve allowed me to grip, shave and make short work of larger sticks for larger kindling. The Recurve stood out due to the combination of blade, weight and grip.

Splitting wood

Using another stick as a baton to strike the spine, the blade width made it a little slow going through wood, but it worked and with a little extra effort the logs split easily. In my opinion, the Recurve works for splitting, but would be far more beneficial at chopping wood and hacking.

Starting a Fire

As previously mentioned, the Winkler Recurve comes with a Zippo lighter that attaches to the sheath. While it’s a bit gimmicky and falls out of the Kydex often, it does start a fire easily and I think if you can find a way for it to lock into the Kydex better, you would have a winning combo for survival.

Processing Game

One thing I wanted to see was how well the Recurve held an edge for game processing after busting through some firewood. I had an opportunity to test it in NY. I used the Recurve to field dress, skin, debone, then trim and cut each section of the deer. The Recurve is a workhorse. I used it to separate bones, cut meat portions, trim silver skin and then grinding it into the cutting board when cutting cubes for grinding. I made it a point to press the knife into the cutting board because we know it happens and I wanted test results.

Processing a deer with the Recurve forced me to slow down and be sure not to cut myself. The Case knife was still sharp after hacking wood to bits. How do I know? I nearly cut the tip of my finger off as I was slicing through meat. It holds an edge!

In regards to field dressing, the Recurve has a very sharp blade, but the size of the blade was a bit much. It did work, but it’s not as low profile as I am used to.

When skinning a deer, the Winkler Recurve was heavy after using it for a while, and the blade started to get away from me as I cut. I ended up cutting the hide a few times because of this.

While the blade held up well, when quartering a deer, the Recurve was very heavy when having to lift it up over your waist. Not ideal for quartering a hanging deer. My wrist and arms became tired quickly.

Normally, I would not use a knife this large and bulky for cutting up the game meat, but I wanted to give is a full field test. It was obvious to me the Recurve needed an edge touch up. A knife sharpener with ceramic rod allowed me to refine the edge and get back to work. The Winkler Recurve was again wicked sharp. True, it was slightly more difficult to handle, but it made short work of the meat and I nearly cut myself two times.

On my adventures, I put the Case® x Winkler Knives® Recurve Utility No. 6 to good use during many months of testing and it worked great for specific tasks and good for others. The knife is heavy and with a large grip, my forearm does get tired quickly. It truly is a survival knife that can be used as while hunting and as a camp knife. While the Winkler Recurve costs around $400.00, this knife withstands abuse like no other and can do everything you need in camp or on a hunt. If you plan to use a Case® Winkler Recurve Knife as your hunting/survival knife, practice with it. Make certain it’s the knife for you and the tasks you need it for. Be safe, test your skills and experience what a Case® x Winkler Knives® Recurve Utility No. 6 can do for you.