U.S.A. — As an Outdoor Writer, I get to do a lot of cool stuff. Sometimes I feel like I’m slighting my wife because she doesn’t always get to go on all of the trips. And I kind of like my wife or I wouldn’t have married her. So, with that said, I’ve wanted to take her to Alaska for years and have been saving my writing pennies for 8-10 years to take her.
Last week I had a trip lined up to the premier Waterfall Resort Alaska in Southeast Alaska. I took her, my daughter, and my son-in-law. It was the ultimate trip and now she wants to move up there or at least work up there in the summers. I think that I might have created a monster!
I had a lot of Smith’s Consumer Products knives and stones, Frogg Togg gear, German Precision Optics, and 5.11 pants to test. Why not take all of this gear to Alaska to test? If gear can handle Alaska weather, it’s good to go anywhere!
So today, I will be writing about the first knife I tested, the Smith’s Darcizzle 8in. Curved Flex Fillet Knife. As with all of the good outfits in Alaska, Waterfall Resort Alaska has its own fish-cleaning crew. The manager Scott allowed me to have his guys test some knives and sharpeners for me.
Smith’s Darcizzle 8in. Curved Flex Fillet Knife
This would be the ultimate test. These guys were good. A lot of outfits fillet and package your fish, but they don’t get the bones very clean. To the common bloke, this may not sound like a huge deal, but it is. I worked for 3 out of 4 of the top beef packers as well as some smaller ones for over 45 years, so yields are a life-and-death deal to me. When I was at Con Agra, we at one time had five beef plants, four pork, and three lamb plants. Just by using proper boning procedures, it was possible to increase the yields in just the beef plants alone by $487,500.00 per day! So yes, I’m a little anal and observant and appreciative of good boners.
So with the above said, I let the cutters use the knives, and I observed and then asked their opinion after using them. The first knife we tested as stated above, was the Smith’s Darcizzle 8in. Curved Flex Fillet Knife. Right away, the cutter said this knife is sharp. But will it stay this sharp? I told him we’d see. On a side note, he had heard of Darcy and the Darcizzle line of knives, a buddy of his knew her. I imagine that I’ll see her at iCAST this week and tell her.
As you can imagine, some fish will dull a knife faster than others due to the size and hardness of the bones, thickness of the skin and scales. During the evening the cutters filleted King Salmon, Silver salmon, rockfish, halibut, and Ling Cod. A good variety.
I stayed for a while watching how the Smith’s Darcizzle 8in. Curved Flex Fillet Knife performed and took some pictures. It turned out to be a sweet filleting knife. I could tell by watching it in use but what really solidified my judgement was when I went into the cutting room the next evening and the cutting supervisor said you notice that?
I said what? He said they’ve set their knives aside and are using the knives that you brought. That statement pretty much sums up a good review for the Smith’s Darcizzle 8in. Curved Flex Fillet Knife.
Now let’s cover some of the features.
I love the snap-on sheath. It firmly covers/protects the blade. Not only does it protect you from getting cut, but you can also throw it in your tackle box, and the edge won’t get dinged up. Another feature that I like is that there are seven slots on each side which helps the blade dry out faster.
Due to the finger groove and thumb grooves on the back of the handle, along with the contour and texture of the handle, I feel like I have a firm grip.
One last little feature-it has a hole in case you want to tie on a lanyard. The MSRP on the Smith’s Darcizzle 8in Curved Flex Fillet Knife is $49.99 and as is usual, we will close with the specs.
Smith’s Darcizzle 8″ Flex Fillet knife has a non-slip TPE soft grip ergonomic handle and a breathable protective sheath. Features razor-sharp corrosion-resistant coated 400 series stainless steel blade.
- 8″ Razor-sharp tapered corrosion-resistant coated 3Cr13 stainless steel blade
- Dimensions: 13.8″ overall length 8″ Blade
- Non-slip soft grip TPE ergonomic handle
- Breathable protective sheath
- Lanyard Hole: Tether Ready
About Tom Claycomb
Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoor writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening #ad for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”
