Gerber EZ-Skinner review

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eccvets

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I wanted a knife which would keep my fingers safe during necropsies which could double for feild dressing any type of large game. I do mostly horses and usually I use a #22 blade to open them up but the last time I did, I had a hell of a time trying to open up a bloated horse with intestines which were filled with gas as well as trying not to cut off my fingers with the small sharp blade. I knew there had to be a better way and I remembered seeing the Gerber EZ-Skinner the last time I went to outdoor worlds so I went on ebay and found one for cheap. For a while, I couldn't use it as I didn't have a horse I euthanasied which would allow me. Ususally they go to the rendering facility so I can open them up but I had a rash of them which had private cremations, burrials, necropsies at a private lab, and today I even had one which may or may not have anthrax so no friggen way was I gonna open that one up and get a lung full of biohazzard! There was an emergency tonight though which came in and I finnaly got to use the Gerber EZ-Skinner on a big animal. So far I have been using it on chickens and it was plenty sharp to debone one but I never was able to test its ability to get thru heavy skin and avoid puncturing the bowels of a large animal. I decided to shave the animal with a #40 surgical shaver blade which is pretty close and then proceded to cut thru the abdomen in a ventral midline incision. The blade was sharp and the round full belly front side of the knife made it very easy to cut thru the skin. The animal I was cutting thru was fairly fat and had about a 1-1.5 inch layer of fat which was some what hard to see thru so I turned the blade upside down and use the gut hook to make sweeping motions thru the fat until I got down to the lina alba and used the front side of the blade to make a sliver thru it and again used the gut hook to slide thru the peritoneal lining which did not severe any small or large intestines which I was impressed with. It actually worked much better then I expected and if someone wanted a knife to feild dress a freshly killed animal with, this knife would be highly recommended. The thick full belly of the knife edge makes it a snap to chop/slice thru very thick layers of flesh or skin. The way it is shaped, you can easily cradle the entire blade in your hand and have complete control over the knife. It's pretty sharp stock but I think I could make it a bit sharper to be honest. The ergonomics are great and its very easy to use. I'd highly recommend it.

I hate killing animals but when I have to and have to figure out why I did, it's good to know I'll be safe and have a very effective tool which will allow me to get the job done quicker, safer, and more professionally.
 
After I soaked the blade in bleach (which didn't hurt the blade or handle) I autoclaved the entire thing to get it extra clean. I noted that the strap which locks the blade into the sheath shrunk a bit so note to self, don't autoclave the case/sheath! Anyways, I hand sharpen the blade with a lanskey extrafine stone and just a few swipes and the blade is now razor sharp. If I stroped it, it probally would be even sharper but its good right now for what I need it to be. That and I dont have a strope or paste. I would think that this blade can hold its edge but only time will tell. I'll post up again if I get another chance to use it on another horse asap.

Oh, and this blade seems to scare a lot of people for some odd reason... ;)
 
eccvets great to get info from a person that uses the tested equipment in such a severe environment. long enough exposure to bleach solutions will defeat any ferrous alloy. the strongest stainless alloys will succumb to hypochlorite after repeated exposures. peroxide might be an alternative to bleach for pathogen reduction. even so a thorough rinse before the autoclave will reduce the chlorine effects. thank for this info , not many of even get to process an elk rather a horse.
dennis
 
Wow. That's quite a post.

Great information, though. Thanks for sharing.

Was it able to maintain the cutting edge throughout the usage?
Or did you feel a need to stop and touch it up?

It looks like this:
Gerber-E-Z-Skinner-22-48398-350x350.gif
 
It kept the sharp edge thru out the entire process, I just touched it up the next day to get it as sharp as I personnaly like it (so that it can easily wittle thin human hair into at least 3 layers if not more, it's a bit extreme but I believe a sharp knife is a safe knife. If you ever had a dull/semi sharp knife slip and dig in to your arm/hand, you know exactly what I'm talking about). I didn't touch it up right away because I wanted to see how sharp it would do right out of the box. Stock, it's plenty sharp enought to handle skinning an animal. In fact, another board certified surgeon which was standing next to me even commented that the blade was really sharp and she would know seeing as she cuts these guys open all the time with brand new surgical blades (Usually they use two because the hair/skin will dull a surgical blade very quickly but I was able to do the entire process of taking apart an entire horse without sharpening it at all and again, it did keep its edge.). I did rinse it well and the bleach well and it wasn't full strenght (I use the standard 1:32 parts bleach to water solution), it was just because I didn't want to put it back in the sheath right after being in a dead horse. I didn't know I would get to throw it in the autoclave the next day to be honest or I would have just scrubbed it and then put it in the autoclave. It's not like I'll be using this knife on any type of edible food but I like to have it as clean and sharp as possible at all times just in case...


Oh, did I mention that my hands never got tired while using the blade? The way it is designed, you can easily hold on to the knife while preforming other tasks as well as using the knife for extended periods without fatigue. its a good design.
 
Good to hear. Thanks for the report.
 
Just got to use the ez-skinner again today. Took the spine out of a horse and unless you have done this before, you would not believe how much meat there is on there. Once again the EZ-skinner did a beautiful job of slicing thru layer upon layers of meat in a snap with its nice large curved blade. After I had touched up this blade, its cutting better then ever and without it, it would have taken me many times longer to get the job done and I may not have all my fingers. I think the handle makes it so much easier to use for extended periods of times. Blade held the razor edge I put on it the entire time which was nice. Once again, i highly suggest it.

P.S. It only takes about 5 mins to cut the head off a horse with a gerber EZ-skinner... Less if you don't care about preserving the joints for necropsy. I wonder how fast I could cut a human head off haha. ;)
 
I might pick one of those up. That's a great write up on the ez-skinner. I've done my share of gutting deer and hogs, but you should be on that show Dirty Jobs!
 
Planetcat said:
I might pick one of those up. That's a great write up on the ez-skinner. I've done my share of gutting deer and hogs, but you should be on that show Dirty Jobs!
Click to expand...


no doubt; if you have ever had to cut open and dig thru the abdomen of a bloated horse which has been cooking in the 110 degree california heat for 5 days... not to mention being exposed to some of the deadliest disease around on the face of the planet such as anthrax, rabies (Both with in the last 8 months), ect! If you have ever have had radiographs done and are afraid of high voltage radiation, try standing in the back of a 2 year old race horse with a plate and have someone shoot straight towards you with a portable machine which spits out 10X the amount a normal human would get on a daily basis... The least of your worries are the radiation which will give you cancer...

Oh and last night I had to euthanasia the cutest little foal... It's amazing I havn't contracted some deadly disease, gotten my head kicked in by a 1000+lb animal which is a flight animal (scared of everything and everyone) which is pretty much pure muscle, or havn't commited sucide after bringing my work home with me (I use to work at a humane society which would take in 35000 animals a year, only about 5000 animals or less found homes a year...).:confused:
Oh yeah, did I mention the 250k worth of debt with 8% compounded interest I have from school? I seriously make less money then a bus driver! Ahhh good times...
 
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