Bloody or Collectible?

[Lapedog]

Well the knife mentioned in the OP is a $20-30 knife. Is that cheap? Have you ever seen, or hunted an elk? Have you ever skinned or processed one? Or any animal for that matter? So in my experience doing just that. I can tell you that little tang won't last long. I think you'd be lucky if it didn't break half way threw skinning a large animal.

I was responding to your comment about rat tail tangs in general. I wouldn't want to skin a large animal with a bad knife of any tang type.

I actually live in Canada so aside from elk we have Caribou and Moose up here. While I admit to not hunting. I have many friends and coworkers who have hunted, moose in particular. I know which knives they used though as I have resharpened their knives for them.

For example my friend's buck 120 has skinned many large animals and yet features a rat tail tang.

 

[SkrufKnifer]

So you d

I was responding to your comment about rat tail tangs in general. I wouldn't want to skin a large animal with a bad knife of any tang type.

I actually live in Canada so aside from elk we have Caribou and Moose up here. While I admit to not hunting. I have many friends and coworkers who have hunted, moose in particular. I know which knives they used though as I have resharpened their knives for them.

For example my friend's buck 120 has skinned many large animals and yet features a rat tail tang.

So you don't have any actual experience clean an elk. Your friends have you sharpen there knives. What do they do in the field. I have uses plenty of Buck knives to clean and process game. I would say dear would be the limit as there skin isn't that tough comparably to elk or larger thicker hides of elk and moose. I like bucks but they need to be touched up while processing even deer. A marmont hide with dull that Buck 440 pretty quick. I wouldn't consider using the knife the original post asked about to skin an elk. I say this from my ACTUAL experience

 

[Lapedog]

So you d



So you don't have any actual experience clean an elk. Your friends have you sharpen there knives. What do they do in the field. I have uses plenty of Buck knives to clean and process game. I would say dear would be the limit as there skin isn't that tough comparably to elk or larger thicker hides of elk and moose. I like bucks but they need to be touched up while processing even deer. A marmont hide with dull that Buck 440 pretty quick. I wouldn't consider using the knife the original post asked about to skin an elk. I say this from my ACTUAL experience

A rat tail or not has nothing to do with edge retention.

Unless my friends are lying to me I believe that they have skinned moose elk and deer with their rat tail tang knives: ie, the buck 120 i resharpened

 

[SkrufKnifer]

A rat tail or not has nothing to do with edge retention.

Unless my friends are lying to me I believe that they have skinned moose elk and deer with their rat tail tang knives: ie, the buck 120 i resharpened

No I am saying you have a greater chance of snaping a rat tail tang than a full tang. Using such a knife on an animal like an elk runs a prettygood risk of snaping. As far as the less expensive 400 series steel you will have to resharpen in the process of cleaning. So so you go with your friends to resharpen in the field since you said you do it for them. I don't know a single hunter that can't sharpen in the field. So since you apparently have no actual experience how can you comment on skinning an elk?
Again I am suggesting not to use the said knife in the original post to process an elk. It may do OK on some thing smaller, but I wouldn't count on it

 

[Lapedog]

No I am saying you have a greater chance of snaping a rat tail tang than a full tang. Using such a knife on an animal like an elk runs a prettygood risk of snaping. As far as the less expensive 400 series steel you will have to resharpen in the process of cleaning. So so you go with your friends to resharpen in the field since you said you do it for them. I don't know a single hunter that can't sharpen in the field. So since you apparently have no actual experience how can you comment on skinning an elk?
Again I am suggesting not to use the said knife in the original post to process an elk. It may do OK on some thing smaller, but I wouldn't count on it

Again, people have been using rat tail tang knives to skin large animals for hundreds of years. Infact you probably ars aware cavemen anscestors skinned wooly mammoth with flint tools.

And no I don't go with them to touch up their edge along the way. Instead they just bring me a dull knife.

 

[SkrufKnifer]

I'd take a sharp rock over a chincy rat tail tang anyday

 

[kvaughn]

I'd take a sharp rock over a chincy rat tail tang anyday

Having hunted and skinned more animals than I can remember over 55+ years of hunting, up to and including several bison. I heartily disagree with your opinion. Rat tail tangs have been put on hard use knives for hundreds of years. Including swords, which I believe would fall into the category of hard use.--KV