Browning Devil's Due Review

100 Knives in 100 Days Giveaway: Browning Devil’s Due

Welcome to Day 87 of our 100 Knives in 100 Days Giveaway (8/26). It is hard to believe that we are down to our final 2 weeks of our contest. It is almost harder to believe that this is the final Browning knife we are giving away. Browning Knives is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and if I have learned anything from the 9 knives that they sent us, it is that their offerings are among the best that you probably don’t think of in the budget-knife category. Their Wheelhouse is truly a fantastic knife for the $35 or so street price, and today’s knife is a wonderful no-frills fixed blade hunter – The Devil’s Due.

If you want to win this or one of the other remaining knives in our 100 Knives in 100 Days Giveaway, you must register for a free KnifeMagazine.com account, and leave a comment on our Official Contest Thread. Your single entry remains valid for the duration of our contest.

Browning describes the Devil’s Due thusly:

“When you’re going through Hell, keep going…” — You don’t have to sell your soul for a good hunting knife. The Devil’s Due will help you pay the price for bagging your buck, field dressing, skinning, and quartering with ease.

Fixed blade hunting knife with a full tang hollow ground titanium finish 7Cr stainless steel blade, smooth marbled polymer handle with redline spacer, flush handle fasteners and a nylon belt sheath.

Specs: from Browning:

Personal Observations:

Mark will probably roll his eyes at me, because he hates some of my odd comparisons, but the Devil’s Due is a sort of poor man’s production Loveless. Now I am sure that some of you just spit-out their coffee, but hear me out.

I think the pinnacle of elegant simplicity is the Loveless Drop-point hunter. Smooth in the hand, with clean transitions between the blade, guard, and handle slabs. Obviously, the Devil’s Due lacks the refinement and finish of the Loveless, but it lies at the beginning of the spectrum that terminates in the classic loveless. It even has a hollow grind like the original.

Ergonomically, it fits me well in both a traditional and detail grip. If I have a nitpick, it is that I would ease the backside of the guard a bit more. It is a bit sharp, and could cause an issue with extended use.

Fit and finish are fine. The transitions between the materials of the handle and guard are very well done. Clean, tight, and no gaps. The only finish issues I noticed was a bit of a squiggle in the plunge line and a few tiny cracks in the scales that are virtually invisible unless you really go looking for them. Something a collector would complain about, but it should not affect the performance of the knife.

This is probably the knife from their lineup in most need of a steel upgrade. 7Cr is fine in a budget folder, but this knife is really screaming for at least 8Cr13MoV. I have a feeling that they are losing more money in potential sales than they are saving using the cheaper steel.

Outside Review:

I was unable to find much in the way of outside review. I am particularly curious how the steel holds its edge. It starts pretty darned sharp from the factory.

Browning Devil's Due Review

 


As I said, it is hard to believe that this is the last of the 9 Browning Knives. We would like to thank them for their enthusiastic participation. They have been great at sharing my mini-reviews and have driven quite a bit of traffic our way. It has worked out great for everyone, and I have even gotten some positive feedback from the winners of the knives.

Thanks Browning!