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Custom knifes versus off the shelf

For butchering I too mostly use fillet knives, but I like one stiff knife with some curve for a technique where I push (not cut) at a silver skin or membrane seam (that I can't fillet) to separate it. It's from a restaurant supply store, which have more knives than you'll need at prices that don't suffer boutique markup.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
I'm with @Iron_llama on this one. I've been butchering my own deer all my life (the only exceptions are when there's warm weather combined with a schedule crunch). I use any knife with a semi-stout sharp blade for skinning and do most of the rest of the job with a sharp fillet knife. You really don't need anything special for effectively butchering a deer. If you can skin them while they're still warm you almost don't even need a knife except around the legs, the skin will mostly just peel off. Once that's done I find a thin fexible blade serves me better for the rest of the work. FWIW I do use a cheap hand saw to cut off the legs and a hatchet to lop off the head at the end of the neck. That covers all the tools I use to cut up a deer.
Click to expand...
I've got a bone saw, but pretty quickly used a set of loppers to cut bones and spines. Until I watched the Outdoor Edge DVD set which showed how to disjoint cervids without cutting the bones, if you figure out how to cut the tendons with your knife you can pull off the forelegs and even skull without getting bone shards or dust anywhere. It can sometimes take a bit, and you might need to touch your knife up afterwards but it's a good skill to develop. Also, a convenient knife sharpener or steel should be part of your butchering kit. I've got one of those cheap ceramic rods things, it works well enough and I can sanitize it in the dishwasher or bleach it or whatever.

ETA: videos on jointing deer without a saw.


Sorry for hijacking. To keep on topic - you don't need a custom knife to do these things. I'd use my skinning or field dressing knife rather than my butchering knives, which are a bit more delicate.
 
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Iron_llama said:
I've got a bone saw, but pretty quickly used a set of loppers to cut bones and spines. Until I watched the Outdoor Edge DVD set which showed how to disjoint cervids without cutting the bones, if you figure out how to cut the tendons with your knife you can pull off the forelegs and even skull without getting bone shards or dust anywhere. It can sometimes take a bit, and you might need to touch your knife up afterwards but it's a good skill to develop. Also, a convenient knife sharpener or steel should be part of your butchering kit. I've got one of those cheap ceramic rods things, it works well enough and I can sanitize it in the dishwasher or bleach it or whatever.

ETA: videos on jointing deer without a saw.


Sorry for hijacking. To keep on topic - you don't need a custom knife to do these things. I'd use my skinning or field dressing knife rather than my butchering knives, which are a bit more delicate.
Click to expand...
Those are great videos. Thank you!
 
By way of explanation.....I have a modest knife collection which spans the gamut, though primarily hunting or EDC knives with a few outliers (a really nice straight razor, CRKT karambit, ulu, butterfly, etc). I have some customs that I got from local knife makers, primarily because of their looks and appeal....interesting blade shape, more exotic handle materials and the like. These days I tend towards high quality manufactured knives and the more exotic steels that are available.....buy once cry once syndrome, since low quality knives are not worth the money. More than a few Benchmade blades in the collection, two of which are daily EDC in my pocket. My history with Benchmade goes back to a really nice butterfly knife that I picked up a long time ago. Bought a new Benchmade mini-bugout just this last Sunday, but that was a birthday prezzie for my kid who turned 29. Figured he needed a "good" pocket knife at this point in his knife to replace the beater Gerber that he's used for EDC for years. Gotta pass on the addiction to the next generation, though he'll inherit my collection when I leave this plane of existence. LOL

So I may not be a good example to emulate. :tearsofjoy: The addiction is real and very pernicious! :oops:
 
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