I’m sure this has been covered before, but I’m curious to hear about everyone’s knife choices for skinning. How many different knives do you use? Do you use certain blades for certain animals? What type of blades for those certain animals? Do you like your edges perfectly sharp or a little dull?

Beyond the knife choices, what’s the preferred method for sharpening?

Serrated pelter… all you need is a steel to touch them up every now and then

Did not expect a serrated edge to be a “do it all” option. Very interesting. Did it take some trial and error before you got to that knife?

… used to use case trappers but the serrated pelters are better around the skull … takes more to dull them

Blue handle skinning knife can’t remember the name have several

If I could only have one knife it would be a serrated pelter.

If I get two it’s a serrated pelter and a Wiebe beaver knife.

I use a mix of Victorinox and Caribou's knives except on the dry, coyote hindquarters. On their hindquarters I used ceramic paring knives so I didn’t pull that one thigh muscle with the hide. With all skull-work I use the Victorinox “rabbit” knife.

I have a handful of old retired butcher knives that I acquired. I have certain ones I use for certain things.

I still like using by old timer two blade pocket knife even if its a bit on the large size , I've got serrated skinning knives also but at times my hands don't like holding the smaller knife handles .
To sharpen them I like my diamond oblong sharpening steel or my smooth F. Dick steel over anything else , as they don't remove a lot of metal off of the knife blades .

I like a hooked utility blade for opening cuts, a serrated victorionox ? paring/pelter for cutting around the head and ringing legs...

I've got several knives I use on a beaver, otherwise I usually skin everything from elk to marten with my pocket knife, a Buck 112. I actually have about three of them and my favorite is an old one I have semi-retired. I've had it about thirty years and the tip was broken off a time or two when I was younger (knives don't make good screwdrivers) and ground down to a drop point again, it has been sharpened so much that closed you can see over and 1/8" of air between the the edge of the blade and the folding handle. But that tip has been shaped by my sharpening over the years to just how I like it for skinning, unfortunately the brass has cracked in the handle and it flexes so much that it no longer locks. Due to it being nonlocking I have retired it to sharp spare status and have been breaking in a new one the last couple years. I've also got another one that I found probably 25 years ago, laying in the road (as I did the first one, only the latest was bought) and it is kept sharpened and in the glovebox of my truck as a spare.

Oh, and I like an old two blade Oldtimer that I have for weasel/ermine, and I've went to using a scalpel a lot when skinning out feet.

I use a Lansky sharpener.