Recommend knives for butchering/boning?
- Thread starter birdman86
- Start date
I got a Nella boning knife a few years back and have found that it is all I need to cut up a deer. It doesn’t have the hardest edge, but I lick it frequently on a steel as I work and it works well. Are you sure that’s not all that is required with your current knife set?
Victorinox fibrox makes great knives for processing game. Affordable and they hold an edge. I have their boning knives (a curved/flexible and straight/stiff). I use them for fish and meat, pretty much all I need. They do make a skinning knife as well.
If you are concerned about edge retention, you need to choose your knife steel carefully.
There are several steels that rate very high on edge retention.
However, the downsides may be ease of sharpening and initial cost of the knife.
With so many excellent sharpening systems available today, I consider ease of sharpening
a low value issue. Look for M390, CTS 204P, ELMAX, CPM S35VN, and similar steels if you
want good edge retention.
I have a Benchmade in M390, and it is incredible in the field. Dave.
There are several steels that rate very high on edge retention.
However, the downsides may be ease of sharpening and initial cost of the knife.
With so many excellent sharpening systems available today, I consider ease of sharpening
a low value issue. Look for M390, CTS 204P, ELMAX, CPM S35VN, and similar steels if you
want good edge retention.
I have a Benchmade in M390, and it is incredible in the field. Dave.
Victorinox all the way. They are what commercial butchers and processors use. Cheap to buy , take a razor edge easily and are easy to clean and sanitize. No need to spend big $ on things like that. This year I just used my $35 Old Hickory 7 inch butchers knife for my entire deer from field to freezer. Works just fine. Easy to get from amazon.ca
Victorious are good. The yellow handled Henckels from Cabelas are pretty good. In a pinch I bought a knife from the Salvation Army. It says made in China on it and the tip is slightly bent. It says stainless but I'm suspect on how much carbon is in it. It holds an amazing edge. One of my favorite knives. I can do a complete deer with it if I want.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Mostly process our own deer every fall, but have field dressed multiple elk over the years. "Hunting knives" in the field mostly were Buck 105 - once sharp, can dress more than one deer - then bring home, hang in garage and use hunting knife to skin it - usually lasts fine. For cutting up, rob wife's kitchen knife set for the "boning knife" - stiff - 6" or so, and a longer, heavier "butcher knife" for slicing through bigger pieces of meat. Also, get my filleting knife from fishing box - a Rapala, I think - longer, slim and quite flexible - great for removing backstops. For deer, when cutting off rib cage, done with bone saw, not with a knife. Most all joints separated with knife, though. Do not remember "quartering" a deer - but I would use a saw to severe the spine. Our deer meat is all "fillets"- no bone goes into the freezer. I now carry a Swiss Army knife - a locking 4" blade, about a 3" or so saw and a "gut hook" - never have used that last one, but have field dressed and skinned many deers with that little knife. I use the saw to cut the "Aitch" bone - actually cut each side and remove completely - makes removing the rear entrails a bit easier than the way we used to do with knife only. Also use that saw to cut along brisket - right where the rib cartridge is - have seen some do that with a stronger knife.
I have that Henckels set & quite like it, use it for multiple deer and processing about 25 chickens a year for the past 4 years without a professional sharpening.
I inherited a Victorinox butcher set from my father when he passed & they really performed well and held an edge this year. I won't trade them for the Henckels, but I know dad would have wanted them used.
Ryan
I inherited a Victorinox butcher set from my father when he passed & they really performed well and held an edge this year. I won't trade them for the Henckels, but I know dad would have wanted them used.
Ryan
Don't see a lot of shout outs for tramontina. I've had a full set of their knives for 15 years, they get used every day around the house and the boning knife and meat knife have made their way into my hunting kit. Got them as part of a culinary arts bursary from my highschool upon graduation.
My buddy who manages the meat dept at a grocery store uses Victorinox at work. Good combo of price, quality, edge retention, and ability to sharpen.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I have a set of the Henkels yellow handle knives from Cabelas. At $150 for five good knives and a steel, there is no better deal out there. Use them in you kitchen all year and butcher game in the fall. Victorinox are good too of course, as are the Grohmann butcher knives. Losing my good Grohmann was the reason I looked for a replacement and found the Cabelas set.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Yep, they aren’t the prettiest but they work well. It’s what I remember seeing at every butcher shop I went to as a kid, good enough for the pros it’s good enough to break down wild game.
Yellow handled Henkels from Cabelas. If you can catch the set on sale for 100 like it usually is you may as well do it, but honestly you could get by with just the boning knife of your choice and a steak knife. That would only cost you 50.��
Victorinox are also good, I have several. Might just be luck of the draw, but my Henkels cut better than my Victorinox.
As you have already noted, Outdoor edge is junk. Junk is a recurring theme in knives, theres junk all over and price usually has little to do with it.
Victorinox are also good, I have several. Might just be luck of the draw, but my Henkels cut better than my Victorinox.
As you have already noted, Outdoor edge is junk. Junk is a recurring theme in knives, theres junk all over and price usually has little to do with it.
the skinning knife I made for buddy this year was S35vn and stayed sharp on a moose and an elk which is unusual for us. You will NEED a diamond sharpener. I use a high quality dmt plate which sharpens it very easily in the field. It is up to you though, an easy to sharpen steel like 440c (a fav) or a high end steel that is very much harder. For what its worth I go all hard steel now a days.
I have a dogs breakfast of cheap knives that work fine for my needs.
A big curved Old Hickory skinner style that ain't worth a pinch for skinning, but works a treat breaking down the big cuts, and cutting steaks and the like while processing.
I have a unknown Filet knife that is flexible enough to run under bones.
And I have a couple really short blades that are great for their control, both when skinning, and when breaking down muscle groups.
I kinda doubt that I will ever wear them out, or that there is any steel in any of them fancier than plain carbon steel.
I'm pretty fond of my Eze-Lap diamond grit file type sharpeners. Cheap to buy, light weight, and take up about as much room as a book of matches, at least by volume...
A big curved Old Hickory skinner style that ain't worth a pinch for skinning, but works a treat breaking down the big cuts, and cutting steaks and the like while processing.
I have a unknown Filet knife that is flexible enough to run under bones.
And I have a couple really short blades that are great for their control, both when skinning, and when breaking down muscle groups.
I kinda doubt that I will ever wear them out, or that there is any steel in any of them fancier than plain carbon steel.
I'm pretty fond of my Eze-Lap diamond grit file type sharpeners. Cheap to buy, light weight, and take up about as much room as a book of matches, at least by volume...
