How many dress & skin with their folders?

M

meliaant

Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
112
Hey folks...I'm curious how many of you here field dress & skin with their folding knives, regardless of getting "gunk" in the lock & mechanism...I'm in the market for a fixed blade for this purpose (Bill Moran by Spyderco, BM Rant, etc.), but if many people here (who undoubtedly know much more than I do) use their folders, I might do the same, if only because I'd like to use my BM Griptilian 551S combo edge for everything, due to my unhealthy love for the thing.
 
Personally, I've always used a fixed blade for skinning. But I don't see why you couldn't use a folder. I remember one fella talking about having skinned a deer with a Case peanut.(and I don't think he was telling tall tales.) If he could do it with that, you should be able to use a Grip.
 
Go for it. A quick rinse and spray with some household rubbing alcohol is all I use to clean my folders. The alcohol disinfects and evaporates quickly to displace the water. As long as there is no "matter" in the mechanism you'll be good to go.

I just got a BladeTech MLEK which looks to have a great blade for dressing. Hoping to get some use out of it this year.
 
I usually use a fixed blade but have used my Buck 110 on occasions. Just clean and oil it afterwards and it will be fine.
 
i usually use a old gerber fixed blade but my dad did his field dressing with a small schrade 3 bladed stockmans knife and did it in roughly half the time it takes me lol, he had done it a few times for sure, and he kept the thing really sharp, i never saw him use a fixed blade for the job FWIW.

the 1st time me and my wife went hunting with him we shot a couple of rabbits, he would take the same knife and slit the rabbits bellys open, grab the ears and snap the rabbit like a whip and inertia would empty out the guts lol, never ever saw anyone else do that, and neither had my wife, it was her 1st hunt and she started turning green, then a big old farm dog ran up and started eating the guts, but bless her heart she didnt barf, said i had better have been glad she was in "hunting" mode though, she was something else lol.

my dad said when he was growing up (depression) they ate a lotta rabbits and he just figured it out as an easier way to deal with the gutting, didnt get his hands as dirty.
 
Just before my first deer hunt ( I was 12 or 13) my Dad gave me a Gerber Flayer and it has served me since on all large game. For small game and birds I have almost always used a slipjoint however. If I were going to use a folder for large game I would probably use my Sodbuster, the blade profile would be good for the task.
 
I've gutted and cleaned animals with both. There is no problem using either one the fixed blade does however offer some advantages when you get to cutting joints etc. The folder would just take a little extra cleaning after the job is done. Quite a few folks just use their trusty Buck 110 for just that job.
 
I"ve used a 110,112 and a case large trapper to skin white tail and had no problems. just wash it out afterward and oil if carbon steel and go on about your business. i prefer a fixed blade but a folder will do quite nicely.
 
Excellent news....I love my BM Grip, and surely want to use it for as much stuff as possible...thanks!
 
I seem to alternate. Last year my Buck 110 custom shoppe with the BG42 blade. Hosed it out before the blood dried too much. This week I will again carry my Harold Corby drop point hunter. I know, I've got to learn how to post pics.
 
I have used many different folders for hunting. It is a pain sometimes getting the gunk cleaned out but it's certainly doable and most of us carry a folder or two anyway. This year I am going to use a new Kershaw Storm because it is so simple to take apart to clean. OH and BTW, it's also easy to put back together. This was important to me because Mr. Murphy is my constant companion, If you know what I mean.
 
Don't know if the combo edge will help or hurt you but my buddy has taken three deer apart with nothing but his Benchmade Rukus plain edge. And it's similar to the Grip... just larger. Especially if you get a ritter grip in S30V... then you're not far off from the characteristics of a Rukus... but if yours is 154CM or D2 I'm thinking your fine anyway. He didn't suggest that only using his Rukus made the task any harder either. He was actually bragging about how much he loved the knife because it just takes whatever he throws at it and it just keeps on going. He works DOT road maintenance so you can imagine that his Rukus has seen some interesting times that most of us do not put our blades through. He thanks me for selling it to him everytime he pulls it out. Before, he had crappy knives like Cold Steel Recons and even poorer quality knives. And he admits that he never knew how much more a better knife could do... He was always one of those (This one is good enough... Why do I wanna get a $150.00 knife when you're just paying for the name or the looks)... He learned that there is fine line between quality and gimmicks. And knowing the difference makes all the difference.
 
A combo edge wouldn't be my first choice, but you can do a whole lot with a folder. I've done quite a few fish and chickens with a Case stockman, and a Boker sodbuster is a favorite camp kitchen knife. Just wash, dry, oil and go.
 
I've done it with folders with no problem. There's nothing involved in dressing or skinning a deer that's particularly stressful to a knife. About the worst stress it will experience is if you decide to slit up the side of the sternum and open the ribcage.

The first several deer I dressed were with the only really good knife with a moderately big blade that I owned, a Gerber magnum folding hunter (USA made from the later 70's). It did the job just fine for years.

I once did a small doe with the clip blade of an Old Timer stockman because it was the only knife I had on me. It did the job---a little more work, but the guts came out just the same.
 
I have gutted and cleaned a LOT of deer with a good ol' Buck 110.

My little brother dropped mine in the snow last year, and I have moved on to bigger and better things (though I picked up another one, just because everyone should have at least one 110).

I think this year it is gonna be the Hairy Carry, or a RC4.

I might even use one of my Busse HACK Bear Cubs for one, just because my little brother makes fun of them. (Damn they are small!!)
 
I used my Benchmade Ares 730 to gut, skin and quarter an elk a few years ago. It made a big enough mess I won't use it again. Switched to a small Dozier folder lockback that shouldn't get so gunked up....
 
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