Which Is The Better Knife?

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Speedo66

Speedo66

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Deer deason is right around the corner. Last year I found a Polish deli that butchered my deer, and made venison jerky, venison sausage, etc., all great.

The only downside was he would only take the deer skinned. Who knew it was such a PIA?

This year I want to have the right tools.

I'm buying a real skinning knife. Saw an Old Hickory brand and a Dexter-Russell brand, both 6" blades, both the same blade shape, both wooden handles.

The Dexter-Russell is about twice the price of the Old Hickory, but neither is really expensive. One's $24 w/shipping, the other is $13. Both US made.

Anybody know which is the better knife?

Thanks
 
Skinning a deer does not require anything remotly as large as a 6" blade. I typically use a 2 1/2"-3" drop point blade. Gut the animal and zip from rear end to throat. Make a slice half way up the inside of the legs and make a circle cut around the leg just above the joints. Cut with knife up do not cut down through the hair. Cut up from inside working out. Once this is done work around the legs gently trimming skin away from the meat hind legs working towards neck. Once you have gotten the skin free from legs and worked it just above the rear end. Roll the skin up like a sheet. Hair in the middle of the roll. Pull the roll downward and keep rolling it up. Most skinning can be done without the use of a knife at all.

Since I did not answer the question from the OP. I would agree that the higher carbon steel is your better choice.
 
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This is a situation where too much knife will get in your way. I've gutted, skinned, and quartered deer with a 2"-bladed patch knife and a bolo machete.

I do believe that the patch knife started out as an Old Hickory knife of some sort. Not sure what kind of knife, though, as it had been ground down and broken at least once.

Never had a Dexter-Russel that I can recall, although I've had a few Russell Green River blades in various conditions. Don't know if there's a connection. The Green River knives were pretty good, even after my clumsy repairs. Well, except for that one that I'm pretty sure went through a fire... .
 
In my experience deer skinning is more about technique; having proper tools is helpful, having proper knowledge is essential. jbkebert described the way I work spot on.
 
I have to agree with the guys that are telling you that a 6" knife will just get in the way.

We skinned and butchered a goat this weekend. My wife used an inexpensive 4" Frosts Mora and I used a 3" Model 10-3 Randall.
 
It's been far to many years since I skinned anything, but my Opinel folder always served me well:) Although make sure you clean it all out properly afterwards, some boiling water works well.
 
I use the 3.5" Spyderco Street Beat for skinning my deer. The size is perfect since it doesn't get in the way once you have to get inside the chest cavity. If it were me, I would go no longer than 5", with 3.5-4" being preferable.
 
My old benchmade Panther is my favorite skinning knife. The blade is just about right in terms of size, and it holds an edge unlike any blade I've had before or after it.

Big knives are overkill. Just get something with a decent point to get into the skin, and an edge sharp enough to cut it's way out of the skin.
 
Length is open for discussion. Sharpness, is a given. That being said, I use a buck folding 110.
Lots of good knives out there so I`m sure there is something for everybody. :)
 
Thanks to all for their suggestions.

Now I just saw some video clips on skinning your deer with your auto, may have to rethink this knife idea. :rolleyes:
 
Buck 110 folders are excellent for deer and can be found for around $30.00 at walmart. I use it or a Case Trapper. no real preference between the 2.
 
And they are doing it for an eight-hour shift. I spent a miserable summer on the kill floor of a small slaughter house. When everything was working right, we processed one 800-900 pound animal every minute, eight hours a day.
 
They use the 5.25" "Lamb Skinner" to skin 800 pound cows?

I wonder what they use the beef skinner for? Elephant? :)
 
Notice the very specific blade shape of those skinners. Swept blade, lots of belly, blunt tips. They are skinning specific blades. There is more to processing an animal than skinning, and working on a professional slaughter house floor, those tools are available.

In the woods, you're more likely to want to be able to dress out your animal with minimal tools. You have to carry them in after all.

Also notice that none of those blades are larger than 6". They're larger than most will recommend for field work, but not by much.

There is a world of difference between skinning a buck in the sticks and processing beef (or lamb, or whatever) commercially.

J
 
Drop point long radius curved blade are the best. Of all the skinners I have used the knives of alaska Ulu is easily the best. This is made for skinning large game though and will make short work out of a deer.

Learning how to sharpen knives is more important than the knife though.
 
You can do all of that with a little shard of obsidian, but the skinning-specific blades may make it a bit easier. :D

Dexter-Russel makes nice commercial knives. I've mostly seen them in commercial kitchens -- chefs and such use them. Have to be rugged and durable for that. Old Hickory can be great as well, and for thirteen bucks, how can you go wrong?

Both will take a great edge.
 
I'vd skinned deer, buffalo, antelope, rabbits, squirrels, moose, elk, raccoon, wild hog, aligator, and othe animals. Hell, I'vd even helped out a little with a couple of bears. I'vd used my Leatherman, a USMC model CaseXX, a USMC Kabar, a 6 inch bladed Old Hickory, an M-29 bayonet, and a Buck #103 for sure that I can remember. The point is I'vd used each one of these knives on each of the animals mentioned in this post at one time or the other except for the bear and all of them worked pretty good the best I remember. I would have to vote that the main thing is to have a good sharp blade. If the blade is nice and sharp you can skin a moose with a Leatherman Super Tool and you can clean a squirrel with a USMC Kabar....
 
I took a taxidermy class in high school (which was awesome), and we skinned with a razor blade. Now, obviously, we had the time and were doing birds and fish, although we also skinned out a large raccoon and a deer that way. In the field, precision is frequently less important and time is generally a factor. I confess to not having to have skinned anything in quite some time, but if I were going to do so, my own personal choice would be something smaller and more manueverable. Frankly, if looked at specifically as just a skinning knife, I think I might want to use a case trapper. While I have never skinned anything with a trapper, that spey blade looks like it would be a delight in regards to skinning. I am not sure I would want to actually process an entire animal with one and there are so many good choices for an "all-in-one" hunting knife that I don't want to make any specific recommendations.
 
A friend of mine, 'Trapper Jim' pelts all of his fox and stuff like that with a double edged razor blade. He said is was the best thing going for working around their face....
 
I agree as well that a big blade will only get in the way when dressing / skinning. I guess I am not a pro...
My wife bought me a nice set of Ka-Bar leather handled knives (fixed, one has a gut hook) for hunting a while back (still have them) but after a bit, I reach for the old trusty Casexx. Love my Canoe. Love my Trapper.

LGB
 
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When I posted the question, my request was "which was the better knife".

I field dress with a 3 blade Browning folding knife, a round ended blade does the gutting, a saw blade opens the pelvis, a pointed blade cuts around the a n u s (won't post without separating letters) .

I want a knife for quickly removing the skin, don't care if I damage the skin or not, it gets tossed. The deer is hung from my deck, not skinned in the woods. I'm not looking to do precision work on a fur bearing animal.

Commercial skinning knives, like the original two I mentioned, seem to come in 6" lengths.

While I appreciate all the comments and advice, I really just wanted to know which was the better knife.:rolleyes:
 
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