What makes a good skinning knife?

[horsemen61]

Hello all I am wanting to get a knife for a singular purpose and that is to clean deer I want to skin the deer to debone the deer so if you were going to buy a knife for this specific purpose what would you get? what kind of steel? Handle material? Factory or custom and also I ask what makes a good skinning knife?

 

[hso]

Keep in mind that skinning a deer is a very specific purpose. Breaking a deer down is a separate purpose. Most old timers use two knives if they hunt a lot of deer, antelope, elk if they're trying to preserve the hide and need to cape out the hide.


https://www.outdooredge.com/collections/hunting/products/swingblade-sb-10n

 

[rust collector]

In my experience, you can skin with just about any knife, but the best patterns have dull or no points, lots of sweep (ie point well above spine of the handle) and lots of cutting edge, or belly. Under best conditions, the skinner is needed only here and there to free up connective tissue when it becomes tight in the neck and shank areas. The Old Hickory skinner is typical, and plenty of knife for the job. For boning, the Forschner 5 or 6 inch boner is hard to beat, either swept or straight.

 

[rust collector]

The internet calls any knife it is trying to sell you a skinner but here are links to purpose built skinners: https://ontario-knife-store.com/ontario-old-hickory-71-6-skinner-knife-7150tc/ https://www.restaurantsupply.com/de...MIz5CduJj-9QIVIPvjBx1Psgi3EAQYAiABEgIB_fD_BwE You can get much fancier skinners, but some experience with one of the inexpensive models will help you understand what is functional and what is eye candy.

For boning knives, Old Hickory makes them but this is the knife that will see the most use and that warrants a bit higher spec. Here are some solid options: https://www.bladehq.com/?search=victorinox+boning and here is a video or two of how they are used:

 

[md7]

I use a Case Trapper with CV steel blades and bone handle to skin. Don’t do a lot of deboning. Most of the meat is hulled out while on the skinning rack.

It’s not a dedicated skinner, but it works well enough. Make sure to wash in hot soapy water, use q tips to wipe out excess meat and fat, and oil the joints after skinning.

That’s about it. Upkeep is simple and the blades sharpen easily

 

[Speedo66]

The top one is a skinner, True Edge by Ontario, the bottom is to debone, by Wusthof.

They have both worked well for me. No idea as to which steels they use.

Edit: The skinner I found is good old 1095 high carbon steel, from Wusthof "Wüsthof knives are each crafted from a single piece of chromium- molybdenum-vanadium steel with a Rockwell hardness of 58. The company's proprietary steel formula, X50CRMOV15....".

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

https://www.amazon.com/SZCO-Supplie...1644900482&sprefix=patch+knife,aps,165&sr=8-7

I got one of these and have never been happier. For $6.25 what do you have to lose?

 

[Ranger99]

I used a dexter beaver knife this last
year to skin the only deer I was able to
take. Probably the best tool I've ever
used for skinning. I've used most every
configuration of blade I can think of
and none did the job as trouble free as
that beaver knife. Skinning is the
most troublesome part to me. I use
a 6 inch boner to disassemble the
skinned carcass, and that only takes
minutes after the skinning.
Beaver knife, boning knife, steel, and
I'm good to go.
If we're doing the one-to-do-everything
I'll take a stiff blade 6 inch boning knife

 

[tactikel]

+1 on the (Grohmans) Canadian belt knife. It can skin any deer/elk with a bit of sharpening. The perfect bush knife.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I use my swiss army knife. From field dress to processed.

 

[JohnKSa]

For skinning you want something with a pronounced curve/belly to it and a point that's unlikely to catch in the work and poke a hole in anything. You're going to do the work with the belly of the blade and since the point of the blade is likely to cause you trouble, you want to keep it out of the way.

Something like a traditional style ulu is probably about as good as it gets for skinning. I say a traditional one because some of the stylized takeoffs on the original design can have really sharp points, even with a hooked profile--that's not what you want at all.

 

[hdbiker]

Kershaw, Gut Hook Skinner

 

[Seedy Character]

Buck Skinner
or something similar

Most important: SHARP
Able to take an edge and keep an edge

Comfortable grip


1 knife, start to finish, skin, gut, quarter, define is a lot to ask. It can be done.

I have done it with a large folder. I have done it with a pocket knife.
I typically use 4-5 knives.

 

[JFrank]

I’m still shopping

 

[Seedy Character]

We butchered a bull.
Had 16 knives and a sharpener on the tail gate.

I worked 1 side. Son on other side. Son in Law cleaning and sharpening.

Used every knife at some point of the process.