New inexpensive skinning knife

B

Brian

Active Member
If anyone is in the market for an inexpensive skinning knife I would recommend you look at Ganzo. My daughter gave me a FH923 for Christmas and while I liked the blade shape (I learned to clean deer with a Schrade Sharp Finger) I was dubious because of the reputation of chinese made knives. Since then I have cleaned a small doe and a 125# pig and it will still shave hair on my arm. Its D2 steel so it may be beyond my sharpening skills when it does dull unless I invest in some diamond hones. I've never been this impressed with a $25 knife.


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I’ve never seen one in a store but pretty easy to find online - check powercutlery.com or even Amazon
 
Brian said:
If anyone is in the market for an inexpensive skinning knife I would recommend you look at Ganzo. My daughter gave me a FH923 for Christmas and while I liked the blade shape (I learned to clean deer with a Schrade Sharp Finger) I was dubious because of the reputation of chinese made knives. Since then I have cleaned a small doe and a 125# pig and it will still shave hair on my arm. Its D2 steel so it may be beyond my sharpening skills when it does dull unless I invest in some diamond hones. I've never been this impressed with a $25 knife.


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It looks like a nice knife, but I'd suggest buying the 440C version, that D2 steel is going to be hard to sharpen. I bought a Gerber US Assist S30V knife and was all gungho about it until I went to sharpen it, the time it takes with diamond stones by hand to get a good edge on it isn't worth it, and I liked the knife so good I bought the version with a 440 steel blade instead, and the S30V stays in the drawer. He's what the knife guys online have to say about D2 vs S30V;
"S30V is a higher-tier knife steel compared to D2. It has higher corrosion resistance, toughness, ease of sharpening, and edge retention. It’s a really well-balanced steel, but it’s more expensive. D2 is cheaper, but not as good as S30V as it rusts easier and is harder to sharpen". I find S30V to be a major pain to sharpen, even with diamond stones, and they are saying D2 is even worse...
https://www.amazon.com/Ganzo-Firebird-FB7651-Folding-Survival/dp/B07S8VFH35/ref=sr_1_10?crid=J9QXZJGAMHYX&keywords=ganzo+fh923+knife&qid=1643805568&sprefix=Ganzo+FH923,aps,60&sr=8-10
 
D2 steel was used by Buck knives. Don't know if it still is. Japan formulates so of the worlds finest crucible steels. They are master blade smiths for centuries. I personally prefer the harder steels for their edge retention . IMO the softer 440 edge rolls over too easy. Who doesn't use diamond hones? Lots of great steels out. I have a Bench Made that's hard as wood pecker lips. Got an old Marbles I like a lot. It's not that hard to sharpen a knife,IMO.
 
Doe Shooter said:
D2 steel was used by Buck knives. Don't know if it still is. Japan formulates so of the worlds finest crucible steels. They are master blade smiths for centuries. I personally prefer the harder steels for their edge retention . IMO the softer 440 edge rolls over too easy. Who doesn't use diamond hones? Lots of great steels out. I have a Bench Made that's hard as wood pecker lips. Got an old Marbles I like a lot. It's not that hard to sharpen a knife,IMO.
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I don't know about D2, but I've got diamond hones, and S30V takes almost as long to sharpen as it does to make dull again. I was doing a lot of box cutting with my EDC knife in the normal course of work, and couldn't understand why my S30V blade was always in need of sharpening, then I did some research and discovered that it's actually not a good choice for cutting cardboard, cardboard is just abrasive enough to remove the hard carbon particles embedded in the softer nickel alloy. I'm going through a stage of new appreciation for 440 stainless.
 
I've made a lot of tools out of D2, been making tools out of A2 lately. D2 is a higher carbon steel than A2. I made my knives out of A2. It is the rockwell hardness that determines most all.

G
 
Doe Shooter said:
Isn't cardboard cutting what utility knives are for:).
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When you are a farmer type person who carries a folding knife in your pocket most of the time, you don't go looking for a utility knife to open seed bags, mail, when Amazon brings a box, to cut a sandwich, a watermelon, or cut the cheese. It's called an edc knife for a reason. For a building contractor, there's just a lot of cardboard in my life, and it's not all in the shipping room with the box cutter laying beside it. Its one thing to use a knife several times a year to dress a deer, but edc is a whole different use. If those crucible steels work well for someone else for an edc that's great, they're just not working for me.
 
Mennoniteman said:
I don't know about D2, but I've got diamond hones, and S30V takes almost as long to sharpen as it does to make dull again. . . . I'm going through a stage of new appreciation for 440 stainless.
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I know 440 doesn't get much love from the "knife knerds" on bladeforum, but I've found 440c to be a good balance between hard enough to hold an edge but not too hard to sharpen, particularly for a hunting or skinning knife. I have a set of Kodi-Pak knives from Outdoor edge in AUS-8, another mid-range steel that falls in the same category and I can easily get it hair-popping sharp. Although I'm enjoying the D2 skinning knife my daughter gave me I may change my tune when it finally comes time to sharpen it! I guess its all about compromises and trade-offs, but a knife that "takes almost as long to sharpen as it does to make it dull again" isn't worth the trouble to me.
 
I was doing so much meat cutting I eventually ended up using what the butcher shops use. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/de...boning-knife-with-white-handle/332372313.html The reason most professional butchers use a knife like this is that they only cost $7, they have a High-Carbon Stainless Steel Blade and a comfortable handle, are easier to wash, and they sharpen easy and fast to a razor edge. I have 8 of these and sharpen the whole pile at a time, then swap them out as they dull from cutting meat. I still use my fancy knives to carry for field dressing, but once we had these they quickly became the go-to in the shop and nobody wants to use anything else. They are available in multiple blade styles and lengths, but the 5" straight "stiff" is about what everyone prefers for multi-purpose general skinning and deboning.
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The more important thing is to have a $100 F. Dick 14" Sapphire Cut Round Steel. If you have this sharpening steel you can quickly and easily make this $7 knife sharp enough to shave with, only needs an occasional grinding, and it will hold that edge long enough to debone a hindquarter https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/...6AlY39Z2YPISW2VyrJTdNhbnxakUgbORoCzL0QAvD_BwE

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I generally use a Mercer Culinary M14412 12" Ceramic Knife Sharpener for the grinding part before is use the sapphire steel on these high carbon knives https://www.webstaurantstore.com/me...rpener-with-black-nylon-handle/470M14412.html
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We use the small carving knife for skinning and capeing when we did 100 deer a day,best part easy to sharpen.I buy mine at Waltons butcher supply
 
Mennoniteman said:
I was doing so much meat cutting I eventually ended up using what the butcher shops use. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/de...boning-knife-with-white-handle/332372313.html The reason most professional butchers use a knife like this is that they only cost $7, they have a High-Carbon Stainless Steel Blade and a comfortable handle, are easier to wash, and they sharpen easy and fast to a razor edge. I have 8 of these and sharpen the whole pile at a time, then swap them out as they dull from cutting meat. I still use my fancy knives to carry for field dressing, but once we had these they quickly became the go-to in the shop and nobody wants to use anything else. They are available in multiple blade styles and lengths, but the 5" straight "stiff" is about what everyone prefers for multi-purpose general skinning and deboning.
1078437.jpg


The more important thing is to have a $100 F. Dick 14" Sapphire Cut Round Steel. If you have this sharpening steel you can quickly and easily make this $7 knife sharp enough to shave with, only needs an occasional grinding, and it will hold that edge long enough to debone a hindquarter https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/...6AlY39Z2YPISW2VyrJTdNhbnxakUgbORoCzL0QAvD_BwE

7598135-z.jpg

I generally use a Mercer Culinary M14412 12" Ceramic Knife Sharpener for the grinding part before is use the sapphire steel on these high carbon knives https://www.webstaurantstore.com/me...rpener-with-black-nylon-handle/470M14412.html
472079.jpg
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I use similar boning knifes for home butchering made by Victorinox. Great boning knives are 1) inexpensive and 2) sharpen easily.


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