Gut Hook Knife....which one??

J

jonnyt16

Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
1,281
Okay so I'm looking for a good quality skinning knife with a gut hook. I'm wondering what you guys use? Seems like all I can find are generic brands and Gerber. Not saying Gerber is bad, but are there any medium to high quality gut hook knives out there?? Thanks for any info.
 
Gut hooks are a gimmick, just use a good sharp hunting knife to gain entry and use your fingers on your free hand to guide the knife edge under the abdominal wall to open 'er up. When you get the starter hole open just lift up on the belly tissue and get a bit of air in there to pull up and away from the intestines....you won't hit anything if you keep your knife edge at a shallow angle just under the abdomen wall. Even on a large animal it is a quick thing to open them up and get on to the rest of the work. I think they added gut hooks to knives so hunters would think that they need them but hunters back to before recorded history got along fine without them and flint/stone tools did the job to without gut hooks.
 
wasnt the "gut hook" originally invented to make it easy to lift a pot off the fire ? ..
 
Some people like them and some don't. I don't. But I must have a dozen or more in my collection of Schrade knives. Schrade (U.S.A.) made good knives. They went out of business in July of 2004, their 100th year. But there is still a decent supply and variety to be found on that auction place 24/7/365.

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Guthooks... .... but you should try one, and use it until you need to sharpen it.
 
willseeyalater said:
Gut hooks are a gimmick, just use a good sharp hunting knife to gain entry and use your fingers on your free hand to guide the knife edge under the abdominal wall to open 'er up. When you get the starter hole open just lift up on the belly tissue and get a bit of air in there to pull up and away from the intestines....you won't hit anything if you keep your knife edge at a shallow angle just under the abdomen wall. Even on a large animal it is a quick thing to open them up and get on to the rest of the work. I think they added gut hooks to knives so hunters would think that they need them but hunters back to before recorded history got along fine without them and flint/stone tools did the job to without gut hooks.
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MOCraig said:
What he said. Say no to gut hooks.
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Myal said:
wasnt the "gut hook" originally invented to make it easy to lift a pot off the fire ? ..
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Thanks for all the non-help guys. I know full well how to dress game with or without a gut hook. But obviously from my post, I'm looking to get a knife with a gut hook. For me they work better, faster, and safer. Sorry if I sound negative but I don't want this thread to turn in to a debate because I'm looking to buy this knife really soon and would just like some feedback on some good ones.

Codger_64, thanks, I'll look in to some of those old Schrades.
 
Usually gut hooks are added to knives more designed for field dressing rather than skinning. A hook might be in the way on a skinning knife, something more geared to a swept point and belly. Regardless, as a starting point the Buck Vanguard comes in a gut hook model, I think its would be a good compromise. They also sell a stand-alone gut hook, in the Paklite series. That would really free up your options, knife-wise.
 
jonnyt16 said:
Thanks for all the non-help guys. I know full well how to dress game with or without a gut hook. But obviously from my post, I'm looking to get a knife with a gut hook. For me they work better, faster, and safer. Sorry if I sound negative but I don't want this thread to turn in to a debate because I'm looking to buy this knife really soon and would just like some feedback on some good ones.

Codger_64, thanks, I'll look in to some of those old Schrades.
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Don't overlook the Camillus made guthook knives while you are searching. They were a Schrade affiliate company and went under in 2007. But they made some very good knives. And like the original Schrades, there are a lot of original Camillus knives (both NIB) on the market. And yes, the Bucks.

Sharpen them? A fine rat tail file will do the job. Or a ceramic stick. Not a big step for a stepper. ;)
 
Buck is still making a few models with the gut hook.
There is the Alaska Guide series made by Buck if you like S30V steel with the gut hook.

Have you looked at any Knives of Alaska? They use D2, 440C and S30V and have a few models with gut hooks.

I have never used any of the gut hooks, but from my experience I can say both companies make very good knives for hunting.
 
Just to give you guys an update, I ended up going with the Benchmade/Michael Waddell guthook knife. Seemed like a pretty good deal for under a hundred bucks. Very handsome knife, well built, with great materials and the sheath isn't bad either. My initial impressions are very favorable. Hopefully I'll find out soon just how good she performs!

Here's some quick pics I just took:

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Looks good to me . Hope it works well for you. Benchmade make some nice looking knives
 
I've tried a couple of gut hooks and didn't really care for them. But, I would have recommended a nice deep hook. Some are too shallow (like the Schrade pictured above). So, it looks you made a nice choice. Enjoy the knife. I hope you get to use it a lot!
 
nice pic. I like just a regular knife with no gut hook but i keep a kershaw zipit in my kit for cutting the hide around the knees
 
My friend has a cheap 20$ mossberg knife, with a deep bellied gut hook blade, and a finger hole. you will know it when you see it at the generic sport shop. this summer, he and I killed and processed 4 or 5 animals (sheep and goats from my farm and his) together. I had my schrade sharp finger and a buck 110. my knives seemed to hold an edge better perhaps, but man that hook made him fly through the initial cuts. Im thinking about getting a gut hook, I think it may be called the "buck zipper" or something like that. the one Im thinking about is a ring and the hook, thats it. I think that a gut hook probably doesnt need to be made out of super duper steel, as the edge will pretty much only encounter skin. it seems to me that what dulls a blade in dressing game/butchering is hitting bone, or your work surface, etc. the hook should probably rarely need sharpening. I do not yet own one, though. I probably will soon.
 
I would rather have a regular dropped point knife and a separate dedicated hook tool like a Wyoming knife, Buck zipper or similar.

I have a Remington gut hook my brother gave me and I just can't get comfortable with that sharp edge facing up when using the hook. There's this natural tendency to put your thumb on the 'spine' of the blade...only in this case the spine is the edge and that's a recipe for seeing what your thumb bone looks like.
 
Some of the Buck CrossLocks had gut hooks. They also made a CrossLock model with a small gut hook that was intended for cutting seatbelts in rescue work.
 
I really like the scales on the knife you got. Simple yet very cool looking. Hope you like the knife!
 
outdoor edge has a new swing blade that has a regular blade and a new style of gut hook on the other side. I have been using some form of gut hook for over 30 years and this new style is great. They make the job a lot quicker no matter what the other guys are saying also when it is -40 out you want to get it done fast
 
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