I have a beat up skinner like the middle one in the first Supercub photo. And a model just like the one in Judman's photo on top, with a partial tang. Both are older knives. Lots of whitetails skinned by both. I got the boat knife, sans sheath , at a gun show by the KCI airport in with a case of odd magazines. The guy sold anything, but specialized in magazines. He seemed happy to get rid of the knife for what I offered. Be Well, RZ.

As they say in big game hunting, "the fun stops when you squeeze the trigger." To make things a little easier, I like to have the best tools on hand for the after-shot chores. For breaking down an animal, I generally use the two knives shown below. On top is a Lionsteel M4 in M390 steel patterned in the super useful drop point configuration. On bottom is a Brad Zinker fillet knife in CPM154 steel.

The M390 steel is crazy hard, and holds a razor edge forever. The steel is so hard, that anything less than diamond hones will require lots of patience to sharpen it. I can clean a lot of animals with it, and still split hairs with the blade.

The CPM154 steel of the Zinker knife is a well know high performer. The fillet style blade is great for carefully cutting out backstraps, and for "cleanly" executing the all important butt-ectomy.

I have a Russell Morseth laminated Cascade Skinner for close to a dedicated skinner and a Russell Morseth laminated Loveless influenced semi/simi skinner a little more versatile and still a real skinner for bigger northern game where a real skinning knife is fun.

Very much agreed that there is no universal best and regional fashions are a useful guide.

I long ago had a brother in law in the piney woods country of Alabama when the whitetail limit was one a day where a Wayne Hendrix -from the days when they were a great bargain before A.G. Russell took them up and the price jumped -.was the perfect all around hunting knife and something to brag about buying as a great value to boot. The Wayne Hendrix is a handy daily use kitchen knife in a way the Cascade Skinner could never be - may be that the Cascade Skinner is better for cutting pizza though.

Ganzer,
I have nothing critical to say about the KOA. I processed 21 animals with that blade before I ever considered it needing a hit on the steel. When the season was over I sent it to KOA for a resharpen. It cost $8 & came home looking twice as good as new. Have been extremely happy with it.

But, I have experienced the condition you mentioned with other premium blades in my bag. I need to check to see what the material is.

I've got some fairly expensive customs and factory blades scattered throughout wilderness areas in WY, MT and ID. These days I have a gerber gator buried in my pack but haven't used it in years, and I suck at sharpening anyhow. I am tired of loosing expensive knives that never were real sharp anyhow.

Havalon Piranta for me.

Thanks Gdub!! He makes fantastic knives. I love your set as well!!!

Count me as a fan of Mr Nunley as well.

Dave

These Buck knives have worked on a number of elk, antelope, and coyotes.

I'd use my frigging teeth, before I used one of those on coyotes......

Not a fan of the Havalon knives?! Huh...odd

What Bark River is that top one? Something they made or did you modify their Canadian Special handle? Haven't seen one with a CBK type handle before.

Hard to beat a Buck 110 IMHO. Got myself a Barry Gouge with the gut hook that works pretty well too.

Just had this one made and haven’t even put it to the test yet but I’m pretty confident my handful of others won’t be seeing a lot of use in the future .....

Good eye ...... I had the CDN Special modified to approximate the middle Russell Belt knife as close as possible. It was a nice upgrade that Bark should have done on the original.

Here's how it looked originally.

Too many knives in the world to have a favorite..

I think the most iconic is the Sharpfinger.

Here’s one my Dad found in the hiking trail, before and after restoration.





Todd

Well most everything shown has not been a skinning knife...I have been on a quest for about 15 years to find the best skinning knife for deer. I have used most of them available from Randall made knives (Alaska Skinner and the Gary Ward model) to cheap knives. I have pretty much settled on the Buck 103 with the Randall a close second... main difference that I have found is the weight of the two and that is why the buck 103 ends up the most used. I did specifically buy a 103 in 5160 steel for ease of sharpening.... My friends laugh at me at deer camp because I have used so many knifes over the years and generally skin most peoples deer at camp... no telling how many I have skinned over the last 15 years or so... With this in mind, I am talking about a skinning knife not one for gutting as they are different blade designs.

For the whole process, I use a dedicated Gut hook to start off... and 90% of the time we never even gut the animal but leave the chest cavity whole.

Don't worry about it. We do too.....

Here’s a dandy skinner my Ol buddy dale howe built me,