A camping or hunting day is not complete without a good skinning knife. A professional hunter would never set off to the jungle without their skinning knife. Having the best skinning knife is must so that you can skin your wild hunt.
We have complied a list of deer skinning knives, so that your next hunt would be a fun and you’ve good time skinning your deer or any other animal. So, here we have listed a table of knife having all sort of skinning knives with varying price. Don’t expect all the knives to be perfect, but they are good enough to get the work done.
Best Skinning Knife Reviews
Below, take a look at the table below to compare a variety of skinning knives against one another based on price, size, blade material and more:
| Image | Model | Blade Steel | Overall length | Check on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | OUTDOOR EDGE RAZOR | 420J2 stainless steel | 8 inches | Check Price |
 | COLUMBIA RIVER KEN ONION | HRC 58-60 stainless steel | 8 inches | Check Price |
 | BUCK KNIVES 0691BKG | 420HC stainless steel | 8-1-2 inches | Check Price |
 | BUCK KNIVES 0103 | 420HC stainless steel | 8 inches | Check Price |
 | BENCHMADE HUNT 15001-2 | CPM-S30V stainless steel | 8.73 inches | Check Price |
 | TOM BROWN TRACKER | ATS-34 high-quality stainless steel | 10.62 inches | Check Price |
1. Outdoor Edge Razor-Lite Skinning Knife
- Pros: Razor- Sharp Blade, Handle comes with good ergonomics, Knife comes with multiple blades.
- Cons: Blade will get dull because of chinese stainless steel blade (but you got the extra blades)
Outdoor is edge is a razor sharp blade knife made for hunting and skinning. It’s a folding skinning knife with push-button replacement blade system, comes with 5 extra blades, as you can see in the picture.
Blade Sharpness & Other Dimensions: This knife comes with the blade length of 3.5 inches, and over all length of knife is 8 inches which is pretty dope – not big and not short.
It’s a light weight knife, weights about 180 grams. The blade is made up of 420J2 stainless steel which will protect it from rusting. The blade is sharp out of the box, you can skin a wild hog in half the time.
This is a soft blade knife so it might get dull, but like we said, the knife comes with 5 extra blades so you can change it up or simply sharp it. Those extra blades features guthook at the top of the blade which helps to cut open the belly to pull out the stuff inside the animal.
Handle, Durability & Stability: The knife comes with Rubberized handle which ensures a secure, non-slip grip, even in wet conditions. Blade holds good edge, and remains stable for a long time. You can perform some other hard tasks like cutting cardboard and rope. It’s a good skinning knife for it’s price.
2. Columbia River Ken Onion Knife
- Pros: Good design knife with the nice handle and razor sharp blade. It’s a good deer skinning knife.
- Cons: Poor quality stainless steel (Your blade will show up a few blood spots after skinning).
After going through a lot of experiments this knife become an excellent choice for a skinning knife. It works good for skinning, gutting, deboning, the fine detail cuts preferred by taxidermists, and even kitchen and camp works.
Blade Sharpness & Other Dimensions: The over length of knife is 8 inches, and blade is consist of HRC 58-60 which is a stainless steel. It’s a quarter tang Bohler K110 stainless steel blade with hollow ground and polished satin finish.
The sharpness of blade is pretty amazing and people who bought it stood by these words (on Amazon). It’s blade shape makes it’s a best deer skinning knife. It weights about 3. ounces thus it can be considered as a light weight skinning knife.
Handle, Durability & Stability: The handle of knife is double injected molded which pretty much makes it an exotic handle. The deep finger choil on the handle makes the knife pretty easy to grip, and retains good grip even in the extreme wet conditions.
It’s a fixed blade handle knife, so it’s extremely good for skinning, and it will not break out even in extreme pressure. This is absolutely a good choice for a skinning knife if your budget is less than 50$.
3. Buck Knives 0691BKG Buck Zipper
- Pros: Made of Quality Steel. Guthook Blade for skinning. Durable & Strong Knife.
- Cons: Sheath could have been a little better.
The Buck Skinning Knife 0691BKG is a 6.7 inches straight-back Bowie knife constructed of 420HC which is specially designed for the skinning. This knife is efficient for various outdoor activities.
Blade & Other Dimensions: Buck is a 6.7’’ straight-back Bowie knife constructed of 420HC. Its premium stainless steel, it makes the blade highly durable, less likely to rust and has an excellent wear resistance.
The blade is pretty sharp for skinning. And, it comes with a guthook blade and thus skinning becomes pretty easier with this blade. More than that, the blade is sharp enough to perform heavy tasks.
Handle, Durability, and Stability: The knife comes with a full tang constructed coupled with a textured rubber handle with brass guard, so you’ll get a stable knife that also has a strong grip feature.
The textured rubber handle provides the extra grip, and holds a good grip even in wet conditions. The blade quality is good and made to last for a long time.
4. Buck Knives 0103 Skinner Fixed Blade Knife
- Pros: Razor Sharp thick blade, Quality steel (edge stays super sharp).
- Cons: Blade could be a little better.
Buck knife is one of the top knife brands, and buck has been making all sort of knives since very long. Buck Skinner 103 is a fixed blade knife, and comes with the leather sheath.
Blade & Other Dimensions: The blade length of knife is 6 inches, and overall length is 8 inches. The blade is consist of 420HC steel which makes skinning pretty smooth without putting a lot of efforts.
It’s a thick and nice shaped blade. The knife is so sharp out of the box that could even cut the leader sheath if you don’t pull it out carefully. It’s a medium weight knife, 6 oz and does pretty good job.
Handle, Durability, and Stability: This knife comes with one of the classical looking handle, consist of Cocobolo Dymondwood handle with brass guard. It’s pre-sealed wooden handle. The blade makes good grip since it’s made of wooden material.
The handle material comes handy in splitting logs and various other outdoor activities. The knife is stable and you don’t need to worry about those blood spots, but you can use an oil after skinning the deer, hog or any other animal.
5. Benchmade HUNT 15001-2 Saddle
- Pros: Razor Sharp blade with a nice handle.
- Cons: Looks a little old school skinning knife.
Talking about knives and Benchmade doesn’t make to the list, it’s impossible. Benchmade 15001’s blade is designed for easy skinning game. The tip is narrow, while the curved belly aids gets through thick layers. It is made in the USA.
Blade & Other Dimensions: The knife comes with the S30V Blade which is excellent for corrosion resistance and edge retention. The overall length of knife is 8.73 inches.
The blade is extremely sharp. You can do skinning very easily and also do some chores like cutting ropes without any hassle. It’s definitely a top class blade made of quality steel which will not let your knife down any day.
The knife has got amazing skinning blade shape. It’s a thick blade, and it’s pin drop point makes the skinning fun. You will have some good time with this knife, for sure. And, not forget that it comes with a leather sheath.
Handle, Durability, and Stability: This knife comes with the Dymondwood handle for a tight grip and long lasting beauty (so that color of handle don’t fade away). You can expect a good grip even when you’re wearing gloves.
This is a top profile blade with awesome steel so it doesn’t require frequent touch ups after the skinning work. The durability of knife is solid. it’s made in the USA, you don’t have to worry about its quality.
6. Tom Brown Tracker
- Pros: Best Quality Steel Material. Razor sharp blade and stays sharp for long time. A handle with good ergonomics.
- Cons: Sheath is not as good as for its price.
If you’re professionally into the hunting, and skinning, then you need this knife, brown tracer 3. This knife is designed as a survival tool and can scrape, split, hammer saw, chop and more. It is designed by a noted survivalist.
Blade & Other Dimensions: The overall length of this knife is 10.62 inches so it’s definitely not an Everyday-Carry knife, it’s big and tough skinning knife. You can use this knife for multiple camp holidays, hunting trips – It will hold up to all the tasks without any problem.
The knife is consist of notched saw blade on the top edge and performs extremely good for notching, if you are preparing dead-fall traps or even weakening larger tom brown tracker notching wood branch pieces of wood so they can be broken.
The blade is made of ATS-34 steel which is a high-quality Stainless Steel. The jagged teeth on the top of the blade helps to cut the bones and joints of the game quickly.
Handle, Durability, and Stability: The knife comes with a Finger grooved black linen micarta handle. Micarta is made from canvas or lined – it makes the handle extremly tough, but at the same time light weight.
It’s a hands down handle. You’ll feel so comfortable while holding it and yeah it makes a strong grip. It’s a super durable knife. The knife remains stable in the hand while chopping and sawing. It’s an awesome outdoor knife with a lot of potential and quality.
Skinning Knife’s Buying Guide!
Here we have shared the information about skinning knives. In case, you don’t know which knife would be the best for you, then make sure you read it.
Folding Blade Knife: Folding skinning knife features a folding blade mechanism which you can carry with you anywhere, because of it’s small size. Folding Knife is a good choice if you want to use your knife for multiple purposes, but it might not be a good choice if you want to use it for hardcore stuff.
Fixed Blade Knife: Fixed blade knives are not EDC knives, because they just don’t fit in your pocket and even if they do, then it might make a cut on your body. However, these knives are good for hardcore work, because these knives can bear a lot more pressure than folding knives.
Gut Hook Blade: Gut hook is special edition to the fixed blade knives. This feature is specially added for the skinning purpose. It helps to open the animal’s abdominal area quickly without slicing through the organs. Gut Hook makes the work easier and better if you want to skin a deer or any other animal.
So, Whats The Best Skinning Blade Knife?
- Sweeping blade design.
- Curved tip for better and easy skinning.
- Stainless steel (carbon steel knives) for durability and to edge the knife better when needed.
- Light weight skinning knife.
How to do skinning of a deer with the skinning Knife
- Strong Ropes for hanging the deer.
- Removing organs.
- A container to keep the organs and waste.
- Cold & Fresh Water
Hanging The Deer: To start the skinning, first you need to hang the deer, and for that you need to use a solid rope. To lift up the deer you can use a tree branch, tractor or a metal frame – it demands a strong rope.
Deer Skinning Knife: To remove the organs from the deer’s body like intestine. Start off from the bottom of the deer and use the pin drop tip of the knife. If you’ll use full blade, then it will cut the cut the intestine and stomach of the deer.
Container: A container is must, because you need to pull out the body parts, i.e., organs from the body of the deer. Without a container it will be all messed up on the floor/ground.
Remove The Anus: Make a 1 inch circle around the anus and cut it off slowly, and then dispose it off. After it, you’ll be done with with the skinning part of the deer.
Cold Water: You’ll spoil the meat if you wrap the meat just right after the skinning, because of the extra heat. So make sure you use cold water, and store it at 34-48°F, but make sure the meat doesn’t get freeze.