The first knife given to me when I was a kid - from my dad, for hunting, was a Buck 118.



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I pretty much disagree with your selection of skinning knives...the Buck 118 and the one your father used are far superior....skinning knives need an upswept blade... I already know we differ in opinions, but I have skinned enough hogs and deer to trust my past teachings and experience...

One thing we can agree on, is that Buck's can be very difficult to sharpen.... their steel early on was very hard....but once you got an edge it would hold up well...later years it was much easier

The best gut opener and skinner ever made is the Wyoming knife.... you may disagree...but thats okay... It has a gut hook, and a short upswept blade.... I can skin a deer or hog faster with that knife than anything else I have ever used....and believe me, I have used a bunch... quartering, butchering, de-boning, etc.... are better left to those knives you depict.... but for gutting and skinning.... sorry, I humbly disagree...

YMMV

Doc