What are some of the characteristics of a good big game skinning knife? I’ve used these skinning knives extensively and they work really well. Warning: this content contains photos of butchering animals as part of learning survival skills.
by Leon Pantenburg
Even if you don’t hunt, and have no plans to start, a prepper/survivalist needs a set of butchering tools. Skinning and butchering a large animal is a basic skill our ancestors well understood – and a skill we should all know for long term survival. You can even save big $$ on buying a half a domestic animal and dressing it out. Learn now to process a pig, horse, bison, goat, or quarter of something worth eating. With the correct tools and some basic knife skills, this is not as intimidating as it seems. Without the right knives, that task may become odious and near-impossible drudgery – not to mention wasting good meat.
Our ancestors skinned mammoths and other very large animals with small, sharp rocks. In an emergency, you could probably skin a large animal with a tiny Swiss Army Knife Classic or a pocket knife. But, my Cold Steel SRK survival knife helped skin several deer and elk, and it worked great. But who wants to just get by? Here’s a list of my favorite skinning knives.
Your Butchering Tools Should Include a Skinning Knife
Skinning a large animal merely requires separating the hide from the meat by cutting the membrane that connects them. Generally, the faster you can remove the hide, the quicker the meat cools and the better it will taste.
Every successful hunter has an opinion and here’s what I look for in a skinning knife:
- Thin blade: The knife is not going to be used for bushcrafting and woodworking is not in the plan. A thin blade is more effective for virtually everything.
- Pronounced belly: The belly of a blade is that part from the tip to where the edge straightens out. The belly does most of the work, and a skinning knife will have a large belly with a curve.
- Comfortable handle: A skinner will be used a lot, for extended periods of time. The handle that fits your hand allows you to work comfortably.
- Quality steel: This goes without saying. Choose a knife with excellent steel that holds its edge. A knife that must frequently be re-sharpened will take more time to use. Also, it will dull quicker, making it an unsafe tool. Read this post on choosing a knife with the best steel
- Point: A piercing or drop point will work OK for skinning, but the best is an upswept or trailing point. These help extend the belly of the blade.
- Size: This is a personal choice. I usually take two different-sized skinners in my daypack. I want a five-to-six inch blade on the larger knife and a smaller knife with a two-to-three inch blade. These two knives will be used in different parts of carcass.
- No replaceable blades: You have a high chance for getting in an emergency survival situation when you’re big game hunting in the back country. The replaceable blade knives are not sturdy enough to be survival knives, and finding replacement blades could be impossible. Also, you need to pack out the dull blades. Invest in a quality knife with good steel and you won’t need to be resharpening or switching blades while processing a carcass.
Here are three types of knives I carry for big game hunting in the backcountry.
I can’t test every skinning knife out there nor can I review all the skinning knives I’ve used over the years – But the following skinners are my favorites and have proven themselves at many camp skinning racks. They are listed below in no ranking order – just the best I’ve had.
Number 1: Grandpa’s butcher knife: My grandfather, Leo Wirth, was a farmer and part-time butcher. One of my earliest childhood memories was watching Leo skin a pig at a butchering. During the Great Depression, Leo would travel to other Iowa farms and butcher cattle, hogs, goats or whatever they had. He had a full set of butchering tools, handmade by his brother, John Wirth, who was a blacksmith in Boone, Iowa. John used the steel from a Model T Ford to craft the implements to Leo’s specifications.
Today, Leo’s knives are distributed among his descendants, and most of the blades are still in use. (Leo’s butchering steel sharpener is in my kitchen, and it gets used all the time. That steel ends up at the skinning rack during deer season.) My mom used Leo’s butcher knife for everything, and she maintained the edge with the sharpening steel and by honing it on the rim of a crock. At some 90+ years-old, the old butcher knife still has a lot of years of service left.
2. Russell Green River: A standard of the western fur trade was a do-all utility knife manufactured by J. Russell & Co. and sometimes referred to as a “Green River”. The knives were not called Green Rivers until some time after the heyday of the fur trade.
The J. Russell & Co factory was started in 1832-34 to make butcher and kitchen knives. During the era of the fur trade, close to 60,000 Russell knives per year were shipped to the West. Among the most popular patterns were the scalper, butcher and skinner. These are available today, and are a great low-cost, no-frills working tool. Fur Trade knives
Bark River Mountain Man: This Bark River basic utility knife is a recreation of the old fur trade standby. It combines modern steels and materials and a proven design. Mine gets a lot of use. The latest incarnation of this features the latest super steel Bark River Mountain Man 5″ Magna-Cut and an attractive handle made of the material of your choice.
Bark River Mountain Man Knife Review
Bark River Skinner: “Finally!” was my reaction when I saw Bark River had produced a designated skinning knife. A high quality knife manufacturer has produced an upscale, classic design knife for butchering and meat preparation.
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Bark River Fingerling: This design is familiar to anyone who has ever used an Old Timer™ Sharp Finger. The shape of the blade is excellent for processing the carcass, but is just as capable as an EDC knife.
Casstrom Safari: This small knife works very well as a small game knife. It is also valuable as a detail skinner for caping. While it could be used to skin an entire large game carcass, it wouldn’t be my first choice. On the other hand, the Safari is so small and lightweight, it makes a great backup blade in your daypack. Casstrom Safari Review
L.T. Wright Large Northern Hunter
The Northern Hunter is not really classified as a skinner, I guess, but it sure works well. The belly on the blade works efficiently to separate the hide and the handle design makes using the knife easy.
L.T. Wright Large Pouter
Not a skinner per se, the Large Pouter works well as an over-all hunting knife. The belly on the blade is about right for a skinner, and the knife can do it all on a carcass.
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Bark River JX6
The Grohmann Knives of Nova Scotia, Canada, had definite influence on this JX6 knife design. That design, according to my research, apparently goes back to the original Nessmuk knives. I used the knife on a couple of whitetails and it worked well. I would like a longer handle, but I have to periodically complain about something so people know I’m not writing ad copy!
This is another smaller skinner that is lightweight and handy. It fits well in a hunting daypack.
Honorable mention: These knives are not skinners per se, but they work well as hunting knives that can also be efficient skinners.
Lon Humphrey Minuteman: I loaned this knife to my brother, Michael Pantenburg, with the instructions to “Wring it out.”
He did that a couple of years ago on a Mississippi deer hunt. My cousin, Marion Fitzgerald, shot a whitetail buck. Mike helped him track the blood trail, and they recovered the animal, naturally, in a deep, weedy ravine. Marion went back to get me and the sled.
When we got back to the downed animal about 15 minutes later Mike had it gutted and ready to haul. We went back to the skinning shed, and Mike continued using the Minuteman to take the hide off. He raved about the Minuteman, and gave it a six-star rating out of a possible five stars.
Good friends, especially hunting friends, need good knives, in case you ever have to borrow one. Mike got the Minuteman for his birthday.
Jesse Hemphill Gator Breaker Bowie knife
Skinning an alligator is like skinning a motorcycle tire. When my neighbor brought home an eight-foot long alligator, I jumped at the chance to wring out some knives. The Hemphill Bowie knife proved to be the best knife for the job. My small knife on this project proved to be my Ambush Tundra.
Ambush Tundra: For several years the Tundra was my go-to hunting/skinning/everything knife, and it was used extensively on deer and elk. I have absolutely no complaints about its performance and could happily use a Tundra for the rest of my hunting days.
But. Cutlery nerds are never quite satisfied.
Bark River UP Bravo: I thought the Tundra could be improved for me with that same leaf-style blade and the Bark River Bravo handle. I lobbied Bark River for that combination for a couple years, and apparently my suggestions, whining, complaining and begging were a small part of creating the Bark River UP Bravo and the UP series.
I’ve got to stop somewhere, so I’ll let it go with this. My personal skinning knife choices are not necessarily going to be yours. What works for me may not be the best choices for you. If you are currently using a favorite skinning knife and are happy with how it performs, there is no reason to go shopping for another knife.
But knife people are always looking for an excuse to acquire another cutlery tool – so here you go!
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