I've used a SAK Classic (twice) to clean and dress deer, so I wanted to see how the fixed blade Piggyback would do. My Piggyback doesn't have the factory edge; it's 14 degrees per side with microbevel. It will shave hair. It's also cord-wrapped. The deer is a female whitetail, about three years old. There aren't any photos, as it was night and I wasn't really thinking about it. Let's get started...
The 2-3/4" blade went everywhere it needed to and did a good job. It handled the more delicate tasks (caping, getting the anus, etc.) very well. It went through skin, meat, and fur rather easily. Sure, I got some blood and tallow on the knife and it will have to be re-wrapped, but that's no big deal. I drug it along the bones when cutting the backstraps, just to see if the steel would deform. It didn't. The only thing the Piggyback wouldn't do (and I knew this going in) is get through the ribcage. A SAK Huntsman's saw did that. The 5Cr13 steel did a surprisingly good job; I expected it to dull before I was finished. The knife wouldn't slice paper afterwards, but touched up nicely on a ceramic stick and strop. I'm really surprised (in a good way) at the quality of this sub-$10 knife.
Photos to come: making venison lasagna, prepping venison stew with leeks.
The 2-3/4" blade went everywhere it needed to and did a good job. It handled the more delicate tasks (caping, getting the anus, etc.) very well. It went through skin, meat, and fur rather easily. Sure, I got some blood and tallow on the knife and it will have to be re-wrapped, but that's no big deal. I drug it along the bones when cutting the backstraps, just to see if the steel would deform. It didn't. The only thing the Piggyback wouldn't do (and I knew this going in) is get through the ribcage. A SAK Huntsman's saw did that. The 5Cr13 steel did a surprisingly good job; I expected it to dull before I was finished. The knife wouldn't slice paper afterwards, but touched up nicely on a ceramic stick and strop. I'm really surprised (in a good way) at the quality of this sub-$10 knife.
Photos to come: making venison lasagna, prepping venison stew with leeks.
