Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Create Account now to join.
  • Login:

Welcome to the NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.

Delta Darkness


User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 24
Like Tree23Likes

Thread: Skinning Knives

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    568

    Skinning Knives

    When I was a young it seemed every hunter and farmer had a curved skinner on his belt (this was down on the west coast and I dont come from a hunting family so my observations may be limited.) now days it seems everyone has moved to boning knives or drop points. What was the reason in popularity of the curved skinner back then? Has something changed in the methods hunters use to recover meat out of the bush?
    Danny likes this.

  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    lower hutt
    Posts
    1,048
    maybe that was what was available, my dad had one too, green river

    ask a butcher what knife he uses, they do it all day, so if it didn't work they wouldn't use them
    JRW87 likes this.
    #BallisticFists

  3. #3
    Almost literate. veitnamcam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Nelson
    Posts
    24,745
    Possible reasons, less choice available then, the curved skinner was a doo all knife for everything from cutting a sheeps throat to skinning to gutting to slicing ya roast.
    Very few people carry a whole animal out these days unless close as you no longer can pay for your house(or anything else for that matter) by selling game meat so a small knife suitable for boneing out or quartering a animal on site is more practicle.
    crewe2, Toby, BRADS and 1 others like this.
    "Hunting and fishing" fucking over licenced firearms owners since ages ago.

    308Win One chambering to rule them all.

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    568
    I like victorinox and f.dick knives for meat and in the kitchen but prefer the versatility of a Mora scandi when Im out in about.

  5. #5
    Village Idjit Barefoot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Bunji's Bach
    Posts
    3,896
    I started off with the old 6" curved skinning knife in the 80's and it was the typical knife for my family to use. Never found it that versatile especially when you were gutting etc. When it was stolen I replaced it with a smaller thinner blade that happily did everything. I've never owned one since.
    veitnamcam and JRW87 like this.

  6. #6
    Gone But Not Forgotten Toby's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Wouldn't you like to know
    Posts
    11,099
    It's not the size it how you use it ha!

    I like the Mercator I stole from my dad since my nzhs one I got here snapped on the first animal (me being rough) A knifes a knife as far as I'm concerned try some and you'll find something that suits you.

    I wouldn't recommend fencing staples, I hear they make gutting a couple deer a mission and half
    JRW87 likes this.

  7. #7
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Christchurch
    Posts
    449
    Skinning knives always seem to have the swept back curve...and it does help you make longer skinning strokes. I guess they've changed more towards multi-purpose now and haven't sacrificed much.

    I fell into the whole "need a bigger knife" trap. Bought a Buck 119, and it is really great. But my small Spyderco Delica does just fine and do I really need it? Nup. Now the Delica is the backup though so I guess it's not a bad thing. It's harder to clean a folder too....stuff gets where you can't really get at.

    I remember seeing a youtube vid someone posted of a kiwi guy processing a whole deer in like 5 minutes flat. He was an absolutely machine and the knife he used was tiny. Like a little scalpel basically. Maybe a 2 or 3 inch blade?
    JRW87 likes this.

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    681
    It was a tradition thing, the blade shape is very old and allows for long sweeping strokes and reduces the chance of cutting something you don't want to, it's basically a old style butchers knife, and yes every farmer used to have one hanging on his belt or in the shed, and as a bush knife it can also be used to do camp chores, but as time and laws progressed it became less acceptable to be seen with a blade on your hip, and so so smaller knives and folders became more acceptable.

    The drop point has similar characteristics in the way of reducing accidental slicing, and with better steels they would hold an edge for the whole of the processing in a smaller package, which means less weight and fatigue.

    A four and half inch drop point in a good steel, like O1 (or Elmax if stainless ticks your box), with a quarter to three sixteenth inch blade with a micarta or G10 handle and a good leather sheath, like from HGD (kydex not my thing), should be able to skin and process anything you can bring down in NZ, from reds to snapper, cut your bread, peel your orange and chop through some sticks to start a fire in the wet-and do it forever so that you hand it down.

    Of course a great big chopper will look cooler, but like an old polyprop tops, stinks when you are lugging it around in the bush...
    Turehu, JRW87 and Zamkiwi like this.

  9. #9
    Member Zamkiwi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Zambia -waikato
    Posts
    181
    They are good old knives in the right hand .
    My old man kills,skins and guts a sheep like he is flash Gordan ,but then I would not like to count how many sheep he has done after a life on the land .
    But it is what somebody has said already.
    Was not a large choice around and it served all purpose,s so they never changed.
    Knives are a bit like fishing lures ,easy to have too many.
    Gapped axe likes this.
    Love walking my gun

  10. #10
    Gone but not forgotten Gapped axe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Lake Tarawera
    Posts
    4,044
    Bleau Jean was a very popular knife in the day.
    "ars longa, vita brevis"

  11. #11
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    NI
    Posts
    11,849
    Quote Originally Posted by Gapped axe View Post
    Bleau Jean was a very popular knife in the day.
    Yeah, they were neat little knives.
    Have you ever thought of having a go at knife making? You would have the set up I guess.

  12. #12
    Member hotbarrels's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Auck
    Posts
    1,780
    Saw this thread when searching a different topic.

    My grandfather was a butcher during the depression, raising stock on the family farm in the back of Huntly and butchering them for market. My dad was a farmer all his life, moving to Northland at the age of 16. A pocket knife was an essential tool of the trade in those days, as was a Green River skinning knife and a boning knife. Every farmer I have ever known did their own home kill, both sheep and beef for the freezer.

    I can still remember the day when feeding out hay as a kid off the back of the tractor, when my dad handed me his pocket knife to cut the bail strings my self rather than have him pre-cut them. Handing over his knife came with a warning that loosing his knife would result in a fate worse than death! No instructions about "don't cut yourself ......." just "don't loose my bloody knife .....". It was a true right of passage to be given dad's knife to complete a task.

    Another reason for the use of the old style skinning knife was that at one time, the drench companies were giving them away as part of the enticement to buy their particular brand of drench. I think it was Thiabenzole (or something like that) that did a big run on them. Most farmers were using the product at the time so ended up with a few spares in the shed. I know my old mad did.
    I am lucky enough to still have two of my dad's skinning knives, and a couple of his worn out pocket knives, and one of my grandfathers pocket knives as well. They are well cherished due to the memories they bring back.

  13. #13
    Member HNTMAD's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Wairarapa
    Posts
    2,731
    Yeah I used to notice the same on the farm. I use a combination at VC states not alot carry a whole animal and I am one of them so have 3 diff knifes a give turns with out in the bush. A skinner, a drop point and a pointy one too. Depending on what and where is what dictates knife choice.

    Drop point


    Skinner


    Steve wheeler pointy one


    Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
    Hamish
    027 5422 985
    www.hgd.co.nz

  14. #14
    Member sambnz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Christchurch
    Posts
    455
    God damn that top knife is beautiful @HNTMAD. One day I'll buy one off ya


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  15. #15
    Member HNTMAD's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Wairarapa
    Posts
    2,731
    Quote Originally Posted by sambnz View Post
    God damn that top knife is beautiful @HNTMAD. One day I'll buy one off ya


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    Yeah one of my favourite ones to use. Seeing so many knives coming accross my bench you get to handle a few. This was a blade shape I liked but not handle so git knifemaker to change. Only thing I made it in high carbon and would prob go ss n690 now

    Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
    Hamish
    027 5422 985
    www.hgd.co.nz

 

 

Similar Threads

  1. Pocket Knives
    By kiwijames in forum Gear and Equipment
    Replies: 31
    Last Post: 01-06-2014, 06:34 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
Welcome to NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums! We see you're new here, or arn't logged in. Create an account, and Login for full access including our FREE BUY and SELL section Register NOW!!