Rossi Rifleman

Some years ago when i all but stopped hunting I put all my larger hunting knives away and of course now that deer season is upon us I have no idea where they got put. As a result I've been looking at knives, lots and lots of knives no mater where you look all over the price spectrum.

What I wonder about are these that have replaceable blades as opposed to sharpening, I really don't find sharpening a lot of fun . Anyone have experience with any of these?

Make smoke,

Most of the ones I've seen aren't exactly designed to stop sharpening but more designed to change blade profiles or from fine edge to serrated.

I've never found sharpening to be too much of a choir but a good part of that is IMO is having a knife that will hold an edge to start with and touching it up from time to time.

Agreed those thin replacement blades I don't imagine hold up well while dressing big game if you start knocking hard bone. I used to always carry a stone with me to do a touch up hone before a dressing or if I got sloppy n was hitting bone alot. Not that my old timers weren't good enough. Just I was concerned. I just wonder about those new fangled razor bladed dressing knives holding up is all. Imagine trying to switch a blade with hands covered in blood in failing light n the cold.

Oh knives! Until about 6 years ago I wasn't a "knife person." I inherited my grandfather's and father's small knife collections.

For several years I used a small (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch) lock blade Buck knife that I found in the mud in front of my apartment to gut and skin about 20 deer. This little pocket knife was great for splitting open the deer to the rib cage, then I'd have to cut around the diaphragm muscle and reach up into the rib cage to cut out the esophagus and trachea to pull the lungs/heart out. Messy business but it worked. I was heart broken when I lost that little knife in the field.

This deer season I had 5 knives with me: my Buck Lite, which is my go-to knife for everything game cleaning task; a Benchmade with half serrated blade, which is great for zig-zag cuts between the ribs and sternum for opening up the rib cage; a mini-ulu which is folding knife and custom made caping knife (I used the mini-ulu and loved it.) and a 70's vintage Western sheath knife that lives in my truck.

Next season I plan to replace half serrated Benchmade with a full serrated bladed knife.

The long and short of it is, I could and did for 10 years, every deer cleaning task with my Buck Lite. But, I've become a "knife person" so I enjoy have specialized knives for specific tasks.

Pick a knife that you think you'd like. Read the reviews on and don't stress it. Remember the Native Americans skinned tons of big game with a sharp piece of flint.

Very true moon, and so well written as well

Inexpensive cutters with breakaway razor blades have their pros and cons.

When the razor blade is first exposed, you know you're starting with a very sharp cutting instrument.
But they do get dull.

Breaking off the dull blade requires care.
It's good to have a prearranged place to put the used blade.

The cutting area on a razor blade cutter is very small.
For that reason, I just ordered a Dexter Russell 5 1/4" Sheep Skinner with a high carbon steel blade.
Someone else on this site had previously recommended Dexter Russell knives.

The version of the Sheep Skinner pictured below appears long on function and short on aesthetics.
If it works on sheep, maybe it will work on deer and hogs.

For a hundred years the plains dwellers used simple carbon blade knives that were put to good use. With a smooth "steel" handy for the quick "touch up" about every 20 cuts the work went fast.
In my pack is a large thick bladed knife for busting the pelvis and ribs. The rest of the work is done with a Gerber folder leather pouch knife ( I forget the #) that has been with me a long time.