Opinions on Wharncliff style deer skinning blade?

Running Dog

Running Dog

Joined
Sep 17, 1999
Messages
347


So a fellow comes to me and says he needs a deer skinning knife...

So he starts describing and I start drawing but something doesn't seem right somehow...I'm thinking traditional curved skinner but he's talking extreme drop point with no belly...

I show him a Wharncliff blade and he says Yes! that's it!

So here we go:
http://www.homestead.com/happycamp/WarnHunter.html


I would love to hear any feedback...

What you think about this style of blade for use on game...?

RunningDog

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Running Dog Knife Company
mmurphy@premier1.net

www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
 
Nice work Running dog

As for the style, it should serve fine for basic field dressing. When it comes to skinning, well.... it's just the wrong tool for the job. Interestingly, it may come to usefulness again when you get to working around antlers.

Most important, it's what the customer wanted!
 
How would a sharpened one side false edge look?

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If winners never quit and quitters never win. What fool said quit while you're ahead?
 
The Blade is about 3.5 inches long...

George...
I thought knife needs for deer and Elk were much the same, how do they differ?

Rob! you seem to be saying the same thing, that it's no good for skinning...

What is needed here? I've asked the guy about this non-traditional choice of blade and he says he doesn't do that sweeping cut with the wrist, but hangs on and pulls towards himself in long cuts(?) His words...

I can see some of his reasoning behind this...a curved skinner of three inches or so forces you to curve the knife as you cut, pivoting around the wrist? Is that right? He doesn't do it that way so a regular skinner is not his first choice...

Gutting, skinning, caping, cutting...all with the same blade? Or three blades and don't forget the bone saw...?

RunningDog

------------------
Running Dog Knife Company
mmurphy@premier1.net

www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
 
Nice knife.

I think that is should work great for caping. A small agile blade for small spaces.
Gutting shouldn't be a problem. you can choke up on the blade so you don't puncture intestines ect.
Slicing/cutting should pose no problems that I can see.
The only problem might come up on skinning. That might be taken care of by just changing your technique.
I'd like to see it used/evaluated.

Just my .02


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~~TOM~~
 
Somehow this doesn't surprise me. I talk to a lot of hunters, and far too many of them skin with just the point of the blade. They even hold the blade in such a way that only the point and maybe the first quarter inch behind it can be used.

Your customer is likely one of these, and you'll probably not change the way he skins. You might warn him however, that since he is using so little of the blade to do the work, it might get dull faster than if he used the entire edge. You might also point out that the point is the hardest part of the blade to sharpen properly.

Hopefully, he's a one-deer-a-year hunter and it won't matter that much.

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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
 
Gutting, sure -- skinning, not in my hands. BTW, nice looking knife.
cool.gif


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Cheers,

--+Brian+--

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
The only advantage to an upswept "skinning" blade or trailing point is that it keeps the point back and out of the way as you stroke against the membrane between hide and meat. This makes it less likely to nick the hide with the point, if your stroke should happen to come in at an inadvertant angle. This can happen when you're tired or at an odd angle to the stroke, but with a little care it's really not an issue. When working where you can't see, a trailing or skinning point can be poking stuff you don't want to poke, above and behind what you're cutting. I would think the straight cutting edge of the Wharncliffe style would be helpful in more strenuous cuts where a "bellied" blade wants to slip away, and draw cuts might be more controllable both when working inside the body cavity and when boning out. If that's the man's style, he already obviously knows what he's doing. My own preference is a 4-inch drop point--I really don't care for skinning or trailing point blades, either (after 40 years and several hundred animals).

[This message has been edited by WILL YORK (edited 03-18-2000).]
 
When opening up the abdominal cavity, you choke up on the kinfe and usually place a finger on the spine right right at the point to keep from nicking the stomach or intestines. A false edge would be uncomfortable - a sharpened false edge would be dangerous.

As for Elk and deer, I agree, they are the same job. The difference is that if it's the wrong tool for deer, it's the wrong tool for three times longer with an elk or moose.

Using the belly of a knife for skinning has two advantages. The first is that the edge lasts longer because the wear is spread over a larger area - no significant wrist action required. The second is that it is less likely to poke through the hide.

I think the loveless style dropped hunter is just about ideal for all game tasks with the possible exception of working around eyes and lips where a finer tool is a big advantage.
 
R A Carnigan hinted at a very valid reply, "You could also use it for fishing".

This design is very good for fishing or should I say, commercial fishing. For use as a hunting knife, it would be useful to remove the backstrap of a deer or maybe even deboning but that would be about it in my opinion.

I have made a few knives of this same basic design out of 440C. They have been used by the deckhands on deep sea charter or party boats. A somewhat shorter version, say a 3 inch blade or so, would be very good for catfish.

I let the guys know right off that although it is "stainless", 440C will rust if not cared for properly. If we could only harden 316SS........

C Wilkins
 
When you gut, skin, and clean an animal you are not slicing it up arbitrarily. You are largely trying to seperate tissues along their natural boundaries. A sharp flat or square tip like a box cutter wants to cut in straight lines wherever you put it. Mostly you want an edge that fits the curved boundaries between muscles, hide, bone, and organ.

A fairly ideal blade shape is the Canadian Hunter (the Russell/Grohmann design). The slightly back-tilted blade works well upside-down with the fingers along the blade when opening the abdominal cavity. It also gives you some knuckle clearance (like a back bent boning knife) when you are boning game. The curved tip is good for seperating tissues. I'm not crazy about the handle though.
 
Running Dog you can usually carry a deer out of the bush in one piece, and elk or a moose usually come out in quarters. That is a lot more work for a knife to do beyond simple dressing of a deer.

A moose is the size of a small horse, 1000 lbs or more on the hoof. When you are moose hunting the fun stops when you get your animal.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com


 
Thanks for all the thoughtful responces...

Shappa: We'll find out soon how this knife works...We plan to go into the field this fall for evaluations on the design as well as others...

GaKnife: I think your understanding of how "Bill" is going to use this knife is correct...Bill is an active hunter having taken over 100 deer...that's why I was so interested in his opinion...

Will York: E-mail me...I have something for you. You won a "PUP" in our best dog joke contest!

You bring up the difference between a "Hunter" and a "Skinner" I would tend to use both terms for the same knife...How do you think they differ?


C.L. Wilkins: Sorry to say we don't see many Catfish around here that aren't already wrapped in plastic
smile.gif


I have sold knives to the commercial trade here in the northwest...Most popular was the modified sheepsfoot and a spearpoint utility...We do these in 440C or 440V on request...I'll have to start showing different styles to give people more choice...

Jeff Clark: I tend to agree with you...The Russell style blade is my favorite..Is this based on an old German design I think...Tell me, how would you change the handle?

To everyone, thanks for your comments...

Running Dog

------------------
Running Dog Knife Company
mmurphy@premier1.net

www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
 
George! Thanks for your input...Being from Canada, I'm sure you know more about moose than I ever will (Or is that Moosehead?)
smile.gif


Other than size, the job is the same, right?...Don't forget that chainsaw!

The only moose hunter I ever spoke with showed me the two knife set he uses...Custom Russell style Canadian Hunters, one 3 inch and one 6 inch...Plus a bone saw and lots of help!

Running Dog

------------------
Running Dog Knife Company
mmurphy@premier1.net

www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
 
RunningDog--
I e-mailed you as requested. What a surprise to find I'd won a Pup!!! I'll look forward very much to using such a fine knife.
Thank You.

The only reason I distinguish between a "hunter" and a "skinner" is because a skinning style blade traditionally indicates an upswept or trailing point. I prefer a drop point, which is also an excellent skinning blade if it has a little belly. But the drop point style is not typically considered of the "skinner" family, at least in my experience. I find the drop point to have a more precise feel, because the thrust of the point is more closely aligned with the geometric centerpoint of the blade.
--Will



[This message has been edited by WILL YORK (edited 03-18-2000).]
 
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