favorite steel for knife used to gut, skin, etc deer

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48woody

Joined
Dec 28, 2012
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Hello;

I see a lot of talk about types and brands of knives they use as a hunting knife to field dress and process deer sized game. I was wondering what type of steel people favor in a production or custom knife. I would think sharpness and edge retention would be important, along with ease of sharpening. possibly what you prefer for blade type and length.

Thanks
 
Benchmade fixed in D2 is what use.
I recommended the Bone collecter fixed in D2 to a friend and he has skinned 10 Deer and some hogs but he does want me to touch up the edge for him!
 
M390 has done particularly well for me. I use a Benchmade 710 in that steel; folder is more convenient to carry for me than fixed. Clip point blade + slight recurve + M390 seems like a perfect combination.

I'm mainly just field dressing and sometimes skinning with it, though; I'm usually able to get the carcass out and do most of the butchering somewhere else. So I've found that I really don't need a fixed blade until the processing actually starts, at which time I can grab something else if I need to.

Edit: forgot to mention, M390 is a great blend of wear and corrosion resistance and I've found it surprisingly easy to touch up, though I've never felt the need to in the middle of a job which to me speaks to the edge retention pretty favorably.
 
N680 Steel Lone Wolf Hardway Caper. Use it to gut and skin. The steel is very corrosion resistant,, holds an edge a long time, easy to sharpen,. For me it's like S30V which i would also like to use for processing deer. This and a hacksaw for me.

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i'd say some wear-resistant steel starting at s30v. mature deer skin with hair can dull a sharp knife real fast. and then there's bone. in my experience you should have a sharp skinning knife and a chopper or axe standing by.
 
Knives of Alaska Elk Hunter in D2. Did 5 deer last season and it was still sharp enough to finish the last one. This includes skinning, quartering, back straps and tenderloins and a few necks. Very impressive knife.
 
For many years it was one type and length of Buck or another. The last few years it's been the Ken Onion Skinner. It maneuvers nicely, holds an edge ok and the grip is comfortable. Think the steel is Bohler 110.
 
The knife that gets used the most for skinning and processing whitetail-deer and wild hogs is the Victorinox 40515 curved, semi-stiff 6" boning knife with black fibrox handle, cost about $15. We use a steel to touch up the knife blade when needed.
Keep in mind this is being done back at the hunt camp where we have a skinning pole and running water to work with. It is not a "hunting knife".... it is a knife used to skin, quarter, and cut-up the animal for the cooler.
 
Something like this skinner works very well for me. It needs good belly, point and grind. With balance a lanyard and good handle grip. It does not necessarily need to be S30V. This one is a 440C blade and cuts for a long time. DM
 
If price is not the top priority, I would personally opt for a premium stainless like ELMAX, CPM-S35VN, CPM-154, or CTS-XHP. With the tasks you are doing, wear resistance, toughness, and corrosion resistance are all important factors. All of these steels fit that bill perfectly. M390 will hold an edge longer than ELMAX, and it has outstanding corrosion resistance, but I believe that the toughness of ELMAX makes it the better choice for your application. (There are quite a few videos showing ELMAX's impressive toughness.)

As all of these steels have excellent corrosion resistance, you can pretty much use whatever disinfectant, cleaner, method you desire without having to worry about oxidation. Given how much of a pain blood can be to get off once it dries, plus its tendency to stain, plus a need to generally disinfect a knife used for prep of raw meat, I personally see good corrosion resistance as a big plus, and especially if you use something like Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide (outstanding disinfectant, and arguably the best on the market today).

How hard these steels would be treated to depends on the knife itself, especially the size. As the knife gets larger, I feel treating to favor toughness and ease of field upkeep is optimal (usually at the expense of edge-holding). At a certain point, steels like M4, L6, A2, 5160, 3V, etc. could be more appropriate, especially if the knife will see impact/shock (generally the downsides being a higher price, lesser corrosion resistance, and sometimes less wear resistance).

1095 and 52100 also great choices IMO, especially if it is coming from a custom maker. A competent knife maker can make 1095 or 52100 hold its own with darned near anything. While not often discussed, there are quite a few custom choices in 1095 that have excellent geometry, an excellent heat treatment, and a super-reasonable price.

Another possible option is just a $25 Spyderco Utility Kitchen Knife. Made from MBS-26, it's a good steel for this as well. The quality is excellent and the low price is a benefit when a high quality knife is needed for tasks that tend to be hard on knives.
 
I've been using a Mora for years. It works very well, it's inexpensive, easy to replace, easy to sharpen. If you wanna define a hardworking knife, look at the merchant marine, or fishing vessels. You will see a ton of mora/frost knives and many others. These knives are treated like a rented mule, and they take it. Not that they're overly tough, but they will still take that kind of use, and for a modest amount of $$. I have "nice" knives, but for slicing apart a carcass, I like my Mora. And if it's pretty nasty afterwards, I can put it in the dishwasher, or just hose it off, touch it up, and good to go. The first year I had my 546G, I went through 3 deer with it without sharpening, and it still shaved hair in spots. A few passes on a red DMT diamond on the patio rail, and it was hair-poppin sharp again. Not pretty, but they're definitely a tool. Save your money for the man-jewelry knives.
 
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