Skinning Knife

[CurlyTail]

What do you guys use for skinning your Elk?

Do you use a special knife or blade for skinning (like a gut hook or swing blade type), or do you have a technique for skinning that makes life easier and faster?

I find my current technique of inserting the blade between the skin and carcass and cutting upwards to be slow and awkward - I have to use so much force that I fear cutting my hunting partner, and it leaves a jagged skin cut. There has got to be a smoother and quicker way!

This knife looks sweet, but I dont know if the gut hook is a useless gimmick, or a useful feature.

https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Gator-Premium-Fixed-Blade/product-reviews/B00XNRAPNY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_paging_btm_next_2?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=avp_only_reviews&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=2

Comments please

[unclefish]

download.jpg (3.57 KiB) Viewed 4279 times

best knife I every bought so far have used on 4 elk and 2 mule deer. and the gut hook works awsome, and you can even use gut hook to unzip around leg and head towards body with gut hook then start skinning with knife again. Benchmade grizzly creek

[CurlyTail]

That design eliminates the problem of the big sharp blade pointing up at you while using the gut hook to skin. And compact. I want to be able to zip around the legs and up the body and neck with little effort.

[RAMMONT]

It sounds to me like your blade isn't sharp enough, I use a good sharpener and have very little problem with breaking down an elk using the same blade from beginning to end without having to touch up the edge in between. I haven't found a good way to sharpen a gut hook so I tend to avoid using mine for opening up the carcass, I will use it to help cut ligaments and tendons.

My knife is an old Gerber bolt action that allows you to switch blades without any tools.


I've used this knife for more than 20 years and it has skinned/broken down many deer, elk, rabbits, etc. There are better knives nowadays but the blades are thick enough to not flex and the metal is just the right hardness to allow them to be sharpened to a keen edge without dulling very quickly.

My friend is carrying a Gerber Myth Field Dress Kit. Like most knives nowadays they needed sharpening even new out of the box. The thinner, smaller knife is a nice fillet style blade and it doesn't hold an edge as well as the heavier gut hook blade. The sheath has a built in sharpener and the blades lock in place in the sheath. I'm not really a Gerber loyalist, it's just that these are the knives I've seen used recently or that I own. Personally I like the idea of the newer Havalon style blades, if you don't want to sharpen a knife or want to ensure that you will always have a sharp blade through the whole game processing procedure then a Havalon is the only way to go because you can change razor blades as you go along.

The sharpener I use is a Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition sharpener. This is a miniature belt sander with a rest to help keep the edge angle consistent while you sharpen the blade. You can literally get your blades razor sharp with a little practice and the correct technique.

[CurlyTail]

I am currently using a Havalon and like it for removing the skin and quartering. I can live with the scalpel changing system although it is not ideal. I do not usually debone. I just am not satisfied with skinning. I do think a thicker, heavier blade would make that easier, but I am not sure I want to carry it around on my back all season.

I have been hearing some good reviews on the Swing Blade, which is not particularly expensive, and has a unique skinning blade. I am prone to losing stuff so very expensive small items make me nervous in general. I like the blaze orange knife handles for that reason. Anybody have a swing blade?