Your favorite skinning knif

We are of the Dogleg camp - we buy our knives at the commercial butcher supply. Usually ~$20 for a stamped, Victorinox blade. For more detailed skinning work, we use one of the smallest, paring knives you can find - I think they are Sanelli.
 
If you want to get serious about skinning smaller game, try one of these. They are "work grade" so the scales arent exactly pretty, but the steel and design are excellent. Thousands of trappers across Canada cant be wrong. They're hand made in Canada too.

http://www.postknives.com/Post Fur Skinning Knives.htm

X2 on these. I have four of his knives and they're all top notch. I have done birds, deer and fish. Still working on bagging a coyote and moose to try them on, but I'm sure they'll be just as awesome as they are on deer. I have a drop point hunter, large pelter, small bird and trout type, and a kitchen boning knife. All handmade with ats 34 blades. Awesome knives at very reasonable prices.
 
I keep coming back to my Gerber Bolt Action drop point folder, for skinning (It has a gut hook, but I don't use it).
I recently bout an ESSE-3 clip point, for doing those pesky hocks and armpits, on whitetails.
 
for coyotes I use a $10 mora from peavey mart. For all other game I have used many over the years, Buck makes a good knife. I just picked up a buck vanguard alaskan guide in s30v with a rubber handle a couple weeks ago. I think it's perfect so far, I slaughtered 4 deer with it last weekend and it worked flawlessly and was still very sharp when I was finished. It will be my go to hunting knife from now on. For those pushing the schrade sharpfinger the new ones are made in china or taiwan and are garbage. I'm still looking for a USA production one because I like the blade shape.
 
I've been using an Olfa (snap blade) an awful lot these past years.

I think they are the best choice really, just don't work well for me, because every time I need the knife or new blades, the hunting stuff was stolen and then I was scrambling after I shot something. I find with dedicated hunting knives, this is no longer a problem.
 
Some folks don't like this style, but I've found it very easy and comfortable to use. It keeps a decent edge too.
Not the absolute best steel by any means, but I don't mind touching it up along the way. For me it's more important that it fits my hand so i have good control.




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for coyotes I use a $10 mora from peavey mart. For all other game I have used many over the years, Buck makes a good knife. I just picked up a buck vanguard alaskan guide in s30v with a rubber handle a couple weeks ago. I think it's perfect so far, I slaughtered 4 deer with it last weekend and it worked flawlessly and was still very sharp when I was finished. It will be my go to hunting knife from now on. For those pushing the schrade sharpfinger the new ones are made in china or taiwan and are garbage. I'm still looking for a USA production one because I like the blade shape.

There's a few custom ones on blade forums for a pretty good price as compared to a genuine American made Schrade...
 
I have always been partial to Buck knives, but picked up a few customs for my son. He gravitates to the fat skinner on the left.
Another that I enjoy, SOG Field Pup, wife picked it up at a garage sale for $5, it holds a good edge and is comfortable, but not in the picture.

3 different Maple handles, burley, birdseye and curley. 2 Damascus.

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Don't know why these looked scratched in the photo, they both have a mirror finish.

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My Kershaw Deer Hunter would be my favorite.
Over time a few have come available like the Buck El Cajon with a gut hook but most gut hooks do not have enough mouth when working on thicker hides.
The swing blade has an interesting feature but cleaning blood out of the knife is not easy.
This came up on House of Knives Black Friday and for $30 with free shipping . . .

https://kershaw.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/lonerock-zipit-pro-bc

Mine does not have the HiViz handle which would be handy if lost in a moose!
 
I have a small drop point on my belt I use but this year I tried something different on my last deer. I gutted and skinned it with a small PC brand paring knife I threw in my knife roll, it worked so well I took out a couple knifes in my roll. It’s light, small and holds a sharp edge. I found it on the roof of my shop last year while I was installing the chimney for the wood stove.
 
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