Gutting blade on SAK Hunter

A

Alan R

Joined
Dec 18, 2002
Messages
9
Anyone have practical experience using this blade? Useful or just a gadgety gimmick?? Any input on this knife regarding its use as a skinner?

Thanks.
 
Alan,

Never used it for skinning. Cuts rope nicely though. Needed a bit of sharpening out of the box.

Dan
 
..... I don't think is meant for skinning - it's the wrong shape and curve.

I believe it can be used to make the first "unzipping" cut - making an incision with a pointed blade then get the blunt point under the skin and using the inner curve to cut the skin/hide.

Once the skin/hide is opened/"unzipped" - then a blade with amore pronounced belly should be used for encouraging the skin/hide away from the flesh - so you can see for skinning the inner curve and serrations are entirely the opposite to what's needed......

Victorinox Hunter
53641_l.jpg



Below is a "typical" skinner blade (made by Wayne Hendrix)
model20.jpg
 
Thanks Dan -

I've been on a knife-buying kick lately :^)

I don't own a lock blade SAK and I am curious how useful the blades of the Hunter (locking and gutting) really are in the field. I have an old, Old Timer 250T that I have used off and on for the past 9 years...love the knife but the slip joint blade has collapsed on me while cutting the windpipe on deer...it's an unnerving feeling pulling your hand out and not knowing if your hand is covered in deer blood or your own.
 
Thanks UnKVT -

I need to clarify my initial questions: how effective is the gutting blade at unzipping the belly and inner leg cuts and is the main locking blade useful enough for a skinning blade? Does the steel on SAK's in general take and HOLD a good edge?

Lately, I have used a Helle Veidemann for skinning...a wide belly makes flaying a simple chore.
 
so my input may be not count as much......

Victorinox SAK steel is not the "best" at anythng - a sort of "jack of all trades" - but master of none, for example it certainly isn't the hardest stainless steel - neither is it reputed to have the best edge rentention....

But it is very rust resistant, and seem to be able to be sharpened very well - for general purposes....

So perhaps it is a "Best compromise" blade steel for general/normal usage? :D

Looking at the gutting blade and the fact they've put serrations in the curve - would suggest that the blade should hold up well in unzipping/opening up the hide, allbeit perhaps with more of a sawing action, rather than a "zip"/slit of a very sharp plain edge.

My guess is that it is a good compromise aimed at being able to cope with tough hide - but not as good as a very sharp plain edge for less tough skin.......
 
I used to be a professional game processor and have skinned countless game animals with all types of knives. The last deer I shot in Utah I gutted and skinned with a simple SAK main blade (not locking). It worked well, stayed sharp enough through the whole process, but required some clean up to get it back to where I wanted it in my pocket.

I have a Victorinox "Jumpmaster" (similar to the Fireman but has a Phillips instead of a corkscrew). It has the "gutting" blade (the same blade but called a "shroud line cutter") and although I haven't used it to work a deer or elk over yet, it would be outstanding.

Much of field dressing and skinning game is knowledge of anatomy and technique. I think I could do reasonably well with a piece of broken bottle glass. When you know what you're doing, little effort is required. Buying a specific knife to make up for a lack of knowledge on how to proceed doesn't work very well. People who hunt should spend a couple of hours in a packing house to "sharpen up" their technique -- far less ruined meat.

Luck guys,

Bruce Woodbury
 
Hi Bruce -

Thanks for your opinion and input. I am not buying a specific knife for a "lack of knowledge" of gutting/skinning game. I lack knowledge on lock blade SAK's. I like knives and using knives...practical and useful knives.
 
Alan R., my statement was general in nature, not specific toward you. I'm a little touchy about "Hunting knife" design. I realize a hunting knife can be used for lots of chores besides processing game, but my little pea brain always denotes "hunting" with field dressing and skinning what I was "hunting".

Therefore, many "hunting" knives are designed all wrong. To find a suitable design, just look at what "professional" animal processors use. There isn't one "trailing point" knife on the kill floor of a packing house (except for a "sticking" knife, a long, slender, straight blade to produce the cut to the juguler vein). They use drop point or semi-skinner style blades.

When I was first learning to skin, I took my own Western brand hunting knife (upswept or trailing point) thinking I would have the best knife there. It had plenty of belly for working the hide on elk (deer can almost be pulled off by hand), but it cut too many holes in the hide and my boss gave me a wooden handled sheep skinner (about $2 in 1965) and it worked wonderfully.

Bruce
 
Gents - I appreciate your replies.

UKVT - the Forschner looks like my old green river skinner...it's a good knife and design.

Bruce - you make many a valid point. I do like a trailing point knife for detail work...be it caping or digging out slivers :p I agree, there is no such thing as the perfect hunting knife...a drop point / semi skinner is the best general purpose design.

Maybe I just need to buy a Dozier and be done with it :D
 
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