After skinning a hog last weekend I decided I want to get a new skinning knife. I have only skinned about 10 animals, so I'm no expert on skinning or the best knife to use.

What style of skinning knife do you think works best? Thx!

Regardless, a hog will dull it!

Here is a photo of my latest "favorite" skinning knife. It is a Menefee built copy of a Randall bushmaster with a sambar stag handle. It is my first knife with D2 steel.

I am a fan of the Cold Steel master hunter plus(gut hook model), these knives will hold a razor edge and a couple of swipes down a diamond steel and they are good to go again.

Also the Gerber Gator fixed blade is a great knife you can pick up any where.

any sharp knife with a gut hook is fine with me for about 90% of the work, then I like to have my buck lock blade as well as a long skinny blade for the tenders and straps, I use a buck sheath for this

There's a type of blade that goes in a box knife that is kinda like a small gut hook... it's THE way to go for splitting hog hide!!! Trust me these are worth having!

After that any good knife will do the rest, I use a knife with a partially serrated blade to cut (rip) through the sternum.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IE5P08/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=


Heres the link to the one i use. Best knife ive ever used/owned. You can find them for $20 online. Ive used gerbers, cutco, buck etc and this one is hands down the best. Has a non slip handle and the knife is well balanced in your hand. My knife has easily seen 100+ animals and with the exception to the black coming off the blade it still works like it did when i 1st bought it. The problem with all the knives ive used is after a few animals my hands will start to hurt. Im assuming because the knives are not well balanced? I can gut/skin all day with this knife and not have any problems with my hands hurting. Most ive cleaned was 13 pigs in 1 day.

That is beautiful!! Gorgeous knife!!!

I've never been a fan of the gut hook but Skylar over at the Diamond C Ranch used them to skin the pigs while we we there and dang he was fast using it. (He gets lots of practice)

my two current faves are:



Top is a Gerber Profile, bottom is an original OLD Marbles Woodcraft that a friend rescued from a box of other rusty knives at a funshow. Once the Marble's was cleaned up a bit it wasn't bad and I've used it extensively.

Thanks everyone for the advice so far. I appreciate it! Has anyone used/like/dislike this style of skinning knife:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280526813120&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Link no worky.

Try this one. I'm referring to the wider bladed one as far as the style:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...&hasJS=true

Great Randall knockoff..

Either one would work but between those two I'd choose the smaller one.

Went ahead and picked one up today. I liked the quality, the way it looked and how it felt. It is custom made by James T. Downie of Canada. The overall length is 8". What do you think?

Very nice!!

Im suprised no body has said KNives of alaska. I have a bush camp and a pronghorn they are awesome. they hold an edge and feel great. i have used mine for about five years now and have no complaints. Price around 50 - 85 bucks ebay has em pretty cheap.

I also have a KOA Magnum Ulu, and I like it really well. The only problem I have with it is that I don't have any way to sharpen it, and KOA charges half what I paid for the knife to sharpen it.

My favorite skinning knife is a Grohmann #1 made in canada. You can order them in carbon or Stainless steel. I personaly own 2 in Stainless a #1, and a #4 and they both retain their edges very well. Their web site is www.grohmannknives.com

He retrievermanm try a redi edge sharpener. its the only one i have found that works well on those knives. They are really hard metal and hard to sharpen. i really dont like the type of sharpener that you have to pull through but they work well on these knives and really well on gerbers. i think the edge degree might be pretty close. you can get em for about 20 bucks

Thanks for the suggestion. I probably have one of those lying around somewhere. I don't really like those kind of sharpeners, but it might be the ticket for this application.

The only problem might be that the Ulu only has a bevel on one side, but I will try to find my sharpener and give it a try.

I prefer to use a Lansky for all my sharpening needs, but there is just no way on the Ulu.

Those Knives of Alaska are made right here in Texas. Actually not far from where I live. I've never had one, but people say they are pretty good.

They are great knives, and I wouldn't hesitate buying another.

I got one of these knives free with my RMEF membership. I love it for skinning work. but like said above, 100 different people will like 100 different kind of knives for a given task.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Browning-Cockpit-Com...=item19bd82760e