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whats a good skinning knife?

7K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  trixie 
#1 ·
i have been recently killing squirrels and ofcoarse eating them, trying different cooking methods and the part i hate the most is getting their pelt off because it takes a couple pinches behind their neck and a couple good slices until you can get your fingers in it and rip it off
the knife i use to do it is my crkt m16-10kz pocket knife
i sharpend it recently and got it almost razor sharp and before it cut pretty good but i just wonder what knife is recommended for skinning
heres a picture of all of my knifes lined up, sorry if its blurry, if i use flash it glares too much and the lighting in my room is terrible

first knife is a winchester collectors edition 2008, second is the crkit m16-10kz, last is a steel warrior whittling knife which is also very sharp
 

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#7 ·
For squirell I have used everything from my Randall model 7 to a Mora and lately it has been a Schatt & Morgan tear drop pocket knife.

This is how I do it.

Make slice through skin on treerats back going across the spine midway between it fron and back legs. The slice goes across the spine not alon it.

Use tip of knife inside the initial incisian (SP?) and seperate enough skin from the tree rats back to get your fingertips underneaththe skin on both sides of the first incisian.

I then pull in both direction at the same time pulling the skin from the squirell. When I get to a spot where the skni does not want to come off anymore I use my knife to free up the skin a bit. When I get to feet,head and tail I cut them off. Once the skin is off I then slice open the belly to remove the smelly stuff. If hair is stuck on the carcass It can be removed by soaking the squirell in some salty water at home before cooking.

Any knife with a 2-4" blade can used on squirells the only time a blade over 2" is reallly needed os for removing the feet,head and tail. It can be done with a smaller blade it just takes a little more elbow grease.
 
#10 ·
nice knifes, i think i will look around for a new pocket knife though because my main blade broke off, if was a cheap little knife anyway, but i still have three more blades on it, but when i sharpen mine i wet my whet stone with water and slice up and down the stone and its really effective
 
#16 ·
This is my first post here, so my apologies for jumping right in. I have to agree that the best blade is a razor blade. There are several pocket knives available that use a disposable razor blade. Also, a couple of years ago, I purchased a three-knife kit from Gerber. All three blades fit in the pouch, and you can wear it on your belt. There is a cleaver, skinning knife, and really small blade for small game. I love it, because it can handle (and has handled for me) anything from squirrel to deer.

"Civilize the mind, but make savage the body."
 
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