Scalpels?
 

Anyone use scalpels as their skinning knife?

Scalpels are too small,thin and don't hold an edge very well.Dave

I use a scalpel to cape out my deer or whatever it is I decide to get mounted. I use scalpels all day long at the taxidermy shop and a scalpel will hold an edge as long as my Schrade skinner and I am faster with the smaller blade. But to field dress a deer the Schrade is my go to blade because the scalpel gets gunked up faster with the belly fat and hair.

The reason I still use my Schrade is because I have used it for many, many years. The handle is worn smooth and grooved from my fingers but it still holds a super sharp edge.

Your Knives are nice looking Dave. Curious, what would the 7" Friction Folder Damascus knife #3223 cost? You could send me a PM.

My experience in using a scapel was doing leatherwork and it's tough on blades.Dave


4evrhtn-pm sent

Havalon makes good knives that use a scaple blade.

Where did you get your scalpels? Whats the brand name?

Allot of people use regular hunting knives for skinning. When i killed my elk this year, my buddy laughed at me when i pulled my knife out. He grabbed a new knife he started using this year, havalon knives, and started hacking away at my elk. It was unbelievable how sharp the blade stayed and that if it got dull, he carried replacement blades in his pack. They worked like razor blades, and one blade did (skinned and deboned) my whole elk and skinned the skull.

This is why we started carrying them, it might not be something you are interested in but they are fair priced, blades are cheap for as long as they can be used and it is really nice not to be able to not have to spend a whole night sharpening it. Needless to say, i replaced my heavy knife with one of the new lightweight havalon.

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http://www.bugsnbullets.com/Havalon_...g_mid_102.html

I bought a scalpel handle for 8 bucks and 100 blades for like 13 bucks on amazon.

I am very interested to see how they perform. I will definitely update you guys on how they perform.

scalpals....
 

use them exclusively for cutting off the "silverskin,suet, cauls," whatever you decide to call the slick white membrane that covers the meat before I package it for the freezer. I make the cut of meat I want, then put it in the freezer for about an hour, or until the suet freezes and then I shave it off. I've taken deer to a processor that didn't do it before, and never again. Tastes great, but time consuming. Worth it for me and my family!

Scalpel, no
 

I have used them on cysts, though.

One time showing off, after forgetting a skinning knife, I skinned a deer with a pocket knife. Bout as small as I got.

I used a Havalon for the first time on my latest deer. Worked pretty good on the gutting/skinning part. One thing I don't like about them is the mechanism that holds the blade in place gets all gummied up with blood and guts and makes it hard to clean. But I suppose you're supposed to replace the blade each and every time (which would help with the cleaning part).

I have a Havalon and used it to clean a javelina and it did the whole thing just fine. And I used it this last time I went duck hunting to debreast them it cleaned 14 to 15 birds smoothly, and then was used in the kitchen by my mom because it beats all of her knives. And the same blade I used this last time will be used again when I go duck and hopefully crane hunting this weekend. If you cut through the sternum though when cleaning the blade is to flimsy and there is a good chance of breaking the blade.