Hand Forged Skinning Knife, Carbon Steel Deer Skinner with Ram Horn Handle

A skinner is for the work after the hunt, when the job is hide. The blade is short and broad with a deep rounded belly, so the cut runs along the curve rather than the tip, and the low point stays clear of what lies underneath. This one is hand forged 1095 high carbon steel with a 4 inch blade, full tang through a ram horn handle, and a tooled leather belt sheath.

Specification

The blade

1095 takes the sharpest edge of anything we run. The 4 inch blade is forged under the hammer, so the flats keep the marks the work left, and the bevel is polished mirror bright. The belly is deep and rounded because skinning is a sweeping cut drawn along the curve, not a stab, and the point sits low so the tip does not catch. The trade is rust. Plain carbon steel darkens to a gray patina and wants drying after use, and it comes back on a stone in minutes.

The handle

The handle is ram horn in banded cream and amber, 4 inches of it, held by brass pins through a full tang. The steel runs unbroken from tip to butt, so no thin stub hides inside the scales. Horn gives a little under the hand and does not pull the warmth out of your fingers on a cold morning. The surface is not glassy, so a wet palm still finds grip. No two pieces of horn are marked the same.

The leather sheath

The sheath is vegetable tanned leather cut for this knife, not a pouch it happens to fit. A wide belt loop is stitched to the back so it rides flat, and a strap crosses the handle with a snap to keep the knife in place while you walk. The edge is welted, so a strip of leather sits between the stitching and the blade and the edge never reaches the thread. It is stitched by hand, and the face is hand tooled with a barbed wire pattern inside a carved border.

Who it suits

This is a working knife for people who take their own game apart. The 1095 is the reason to buy it, because it sharpens easily in camp, and the ram horn is why it looks like nothing else on the belt.

• Deer hunters who field dress their own animals
• Anyone who likes a carbon steel edge
• Someone shopping for a hunter

What comes in the box

• The skinning knife
• The tooled leather belt sheath
• A care card
• A free laser engraving quote on request

Every piece is different

Each knife is forged, ground, heat treated and sharpened by hand in small runs. The color and banding of the horn, the hammer marks and the tooling on the sheath will vary from the photographs. Yours will be its own piece.

Looking after it

Wash it by hand and dry it right away. Never the dishwasher, since that damage voids the warranty, and never left wet in a pack. The gray patina it takes on is normal and protects the steel. Sharpen on a whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side, then strop. No pull through sharpeners. Oil the blade before storage, and never put the knife away wet inside its sheath. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade. Around 30 characters fits on a blade, and a longer message sits better on the sheath. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. Clean line art engraves well, photographs do not. Free on orders of 10 pieces or more. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is a skinner for? Taking hide off an animal with the curve of the edge, not the tip.

Why is the point low? It keeps the tip from catching under the hide.

What is a ram horn handle like? Natural banded horn, warm to hold and grippy when damp.

Will 1095 rust? It can if left wet, so dry it after use and oil it before storage.

Is it full tang? Yes, unbroken steel from tip to butt.

How long until it ships? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days with USPS.

For the same shape in wood, see the hand forged skinning knife with a rosewood handle, or the Damascus skinner with a burl wood and resin handle. More sit in skinner knives, the steel runs through high carbon 1095, and the season is in hunting knives.