- Joined
- May 7, 2012
- Messages
- 4,971
Bump for the new people and current discussions on the skinner.
taken from a description when I first made these
^ It's made for the way I process deer.
May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
I have used a Havalon Paranta for everything from ducks to Elk and it has a very small replacable blade (think scalpel). I think the skinner would work really well and I can't wait to try one out.May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
I couldn’t agree more. A small knife when fishing or hunting, for me, is always better than a large knife. Of course, if you must cut wood or small branches, or even chopping off the head off a duck, a knife like the FK2 is very useful. Or when deep sea fishing, you need a little knife for end tackle, and proper filleting knife for large fish. But when out with a shotgun in my hands, a 3.5” - 4” fixed blade knife will be on my belt. And a smaller folder or similar in my pocket.Just my personal experience ... the DEK1 is a bit bigger than I like for field dressing or skinning. It could be used and would work but for whitetail deer ... even mule deer or elk I prefer a bit smaller knife. I make careful cuts but do a lot of the work with my hands and being able to make very precise cuts is crucial. And larger knives can actually make it more difficult to make the precise cuts without damaging meat or the skins.
The Skinner style knife is one of my favorites for processing any game. From upland game and birds to waterfowl and big game. The blade's short height and length are about perfect in my mind for the way I use a knife to process game. And the handle is somewhat neutral to be friendly to all types of grips and moves well in the hand.
I have not experienced Nathan's D2 but after using his D3V compared to other knives I own in 3V and even other steels the edge stability and the way it holds an edge is a huge benefit in processing game birds and animals. You will hit bones making your cuts no matter how careful you are and a good blade is worth it's weight (and then some) in gold.
I use B&T style knives quite regularly I will have to try to get some pictures of a few of them to post. Many have a resemblance to the Skinner you can tell it was made for that purpose looking at it. It may very well become my most used CPK if I ever acquire one and I currently carry an EDC2 almost daily.
Some will have different preferences this is just what I have found works for me after over 45 years of hunting and trapping.
Totally agree. Which is why it’s so important for a drop point knife to have the steel that holds an edge, a steel that it’s tough to keep a fine point, and not too large to be able to crowd it if need be and to handle it with ease.It seems like most of the skinning knives you see for sale at stores and in catalogs have these wide leaf shape blades and sometimes also gut hooks. to me you want a narrow blade with the belly near the tip that can reach up into a pelvis and disconnect things without clacking around. These fat leaf shaped blades would be awfully clumsy in my opinion.
Also, one of the most critical cuts that a skinning knife makes is the initial incisions and I cannot think of a worse blade shape than a clip point for this. I don't understand the appeal of some of the classic skinners such as the sharp finger and the buck knives with those trailing points. A drop point or perhaps even something like a Kephart is so efficient held edge out, you can just unzip them.
Not a hunter (yet) , but I do own this drop point by another maker
How do you like it?
I've been eyeing this since your post, as well as Mr. David Winston. I don't see my ever attaining a Carothers D2 skinner, so resigned to looking elsewhere and your Ingram looks very nice.
Thank you.Oyster thanks for the response and your candor. Much appreciated.
Thank you.
This thread is really about Nathan’s work so I don’t want to derail it too much further. As pointed out initially, it seems there are dedicated hunting blade makers that follow a similar philosophy as Nathan (note the hollow vs flat grind issue, though). I can attest to the workmanship (excellent) of the knife I have by this particular other maker, just not to the finer details wrt the quality of the HT or extended use specifically for hunting (hand fatigue etc). Let me just say that it looks as if he is still making them much as he used to and people seem to continue buying them...