D2 drop point Hunter/Skinner, Nathan's early work.

Nathan the Machinist said:
taken from a description when I first made these





^ It's made for the way I process deer.
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This is what knives are truly all about. Thank you for the detailed writing. The one point where I see it somewhat differently is when it comes to the lanyard hole. I hunt often along rivers and often have things to cut by the side of the canoe or dugout, so I prefer a piece of string to keep my knife from falling accidentally overboard.

As a matter of fact, there is a place I visit lately where I fish for tarpon and snook in the morning, and at noon move on to shoot ducks. The PERFECT knife for those occasions would be the Skinner knife (in my case with a small lanyard hole).

Sorry, I’m a newcomer here, I don’t know the story of CPK, but I’d be truly thankful if you, Mr. Carothers, would make that little knife again. I’d take two, please. For what I do, and where I do it, that’s a PERFECT knife. Thank you for allowing me to be here. Please take good care.
 
May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
 
jlauffer said:
May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
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Just my personal experience ... the DEK1 is a bit bigger than I like for field dressing or skinning. It could be used and would work but for whitetail deer ... even mule deer or elk I prefer a bit smaller knife. I make careful cuts but do a lot of the work with my hands and being able to make very precise cuts is crucial. And larger knives can actually make it more difficult to make the precise cuts without damaging meat or the skins.

The Skinner style knife is one of my favorites for processing any game. From upland game and birds to waterfowl and big game. The blade's short height and length are about perfect in my mind for the way I use a knife to process game. And the handle is somewhat neutral to be friendly to all types of grips and moves well in the hand.

I have not experienced Nathan's D2 but after using his D3V compared to other knives I own in 3V and even other steels the edge stability and the way it holds an edge is a huge benefit in processing game birds and animals. You will hit bones making your cuts no matter how careful you are and a good blade is worth it's weight (and then some) in gold.

I use B&T style knives quite regularly I will have to try to get some pictures of a few of them to post. Many have a resemblance to the Skinner you can tell it was made for that purpose looking at it. It may very well become my most used CPK if I ever acquire one and I currently carry an EDC2 almost daily.

Some will have different preferences this is just what I have found works for me after over 45 years of hunting and trapping.
 
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jlauffer said:
May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
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I have used a Havalon Paranta for everything from ducks to Elk and it has a very small replacable blade (think scalpel). I think the skinner would work really well and I can't wait to try one out.
For me the DEK is a little big .
 
jlauffer said:
May be a stupid question, but I've never skinned anything so don't have any point of reference, but looking at the Skinner, I wonder if the DEK1 would be able to adequately perform that role?
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Up here, more and more people are using the disposable scalpel type knives. Actually almost everyone is. I think it’s because most commercial HT big box store knives are less than ideal. Most people don’t know how to properly sharpen. So this seems like a great solution. Dull it and toss it out. Cheap too.
 
It seems like most of the skinning knives you see for sale at stores and in catalogs have these wide leaf shape blades and sometimes also gut hooks. to me you want a narrow blade with the belly near the tip that can reach up into a pelvis and disconnect things without clacking around. These fat leaf shaped blades would be awfully clumsy in my opinion.

Also, one of the most critical cuts that a skinning knife makes is the initial incisions and I cannot think of a worse blade shape than a clip point for this. I don't understand the appeal of some of the classic skinners such as the sharp finger and the buck knives with those trailing points. A drop point or perhaps even something like a Kephart is so efficient held edge out, you can just unzip them.
 
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JJ_Colt45 said:
Just my personal experience ... the DEK1 is a bit bigger than I like for field dressing or skinning. It could be used and would work but for whitetail deer ... even mule deer or elk I prefer a bit smaller knife. I make careful cuts but do a lot of the work with my hands and being able to make very precise cuts is crucial. And larger knives can actually make it more difficult to make the precise cuts without damaging meat or the skins.

The Skinner style knife is one of my favorites for processing any game. From upland game and birds to waterfowl and big game. The blade's short height and length are about perfect in my mind for the way I use a knife to process game. And the handle is somewhat neutral to be friendly to all types of grips and moves well in the hand.

I have not experienced Nathan's D2 but after using his D3V compared to other knives I own in 3V and even other steels the edge stability and the way it holds an edge is a huge benefit in processing game birds and animals. You will hit bones making your cuts no matter how careful you are and a good blade is worth it's weight (and then some) in gold.

I use B&T style knives quite regularly I will have to try to get some pictures of a few of them to post. Many have a resemblance to the Skinner you can tell it was made for that purpose looking at it. It may very well become my most used CPK if I ever acquire one and I currently carry an EDC2 almost daily.

Some will have different preferences this is just what I have found works for me after over 45 years of hunting and trapping.
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I couldn’t agree more. A small knife when fishing or hunting, for me, is always better than a large knife. Of course, if you must cut wood or small branches, or even chopping off the head off a duck, a knife like the FK2 is very useful. Or when deep sea fishing, you need a little knife for end tackle, and proper filleting knife for large fish. But when out with a shotgun in my hands, a 3.5” - 4” fixed blade knife will be on my belt. And a smaller folder or similar in my pocket.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
It seems like most of the skinning knives you see for sale at stores and in catalogs have these wide leaf shape blades and sometimes also gut hooks. to me you want a narrow blade with the belly near the tip that can reach up into a pelvis and disconnect things without clacking around. These fat leaf shaped blades would be awfully clumsy in my opinion.

Also, one of the most critical cuts that a skinning knife makes is the initial incisions and I cannot think of a worse blade shape than a clip point for this. I don't understand the appeal of some of the classic skinners such as the sharp finger and the buck knives with those trailing points. A drop point or perhaps even something like a Kephart is so efficient held edge out, you can just unzip them.
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Totally agree. Which is why it’s so important for a drop point knife to have the steel that holds an edge, a steel that it’s tough to keep a fine point, and not too large to be able to crowd it if need be and to handle it with ease.
 
Not a hunter (yet) , but I do own this drop point by another maker who I believe has quite a good reputation with hunters. I purchased this before I became a member of the forum and learned about CPK. It’s in D2, has a narrow blade, and a belly near the tip. (It is not, however, a hollow grind). While not a Carothers, it seems to follow the same general philosophy espoused by Nathan.
The purpose of sharing this here is to show a knife by a maker who, as I understand it, is focused pretty exclusively on hunting knives and appears to reflect the same considerations as Nathan regarding his version of a hunting/skinning knife.
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IakpEDW.jpg


Used this setup on a elk last week and tonight on a little animal that killed all my chickens.

I have used the gut hook on elk to put a slice up the legs when I’m quartering them sometime and really just to save my other blades from getting dull. It’s saved a little time I think.

Just about all the hunters I know are using some type of blade changer. Ive had a Havalon for over twenty years now. Had my taxidermist order me one before They were used for hunting. They are great if you don’t know how to sharpen a knife and trying to pack real light.

I would love to have a couple CPK skinner knives. The handle is what I think would help me. My hands get really tired skinning elk if I don’t get much help. My hunting buddies would really enjoy a skinner too as long as i sharped it for them.
Getting a Roosevelt elk out in the middle of the night with one or two good friends is a awesome experience. It also feels really good to get done. A 1200 pound animal a couple miles from the road in the middle of the night on step side hill in a thick brush patch. There is not going to be a lot of talk about this method or that. Or even what knife is better. You just have to get it done however you can.
 
benchrest308 said:
How do you like it?

I've been eyeing this since your post, as well as Mr. David Winston. I don't see my ever attaining a Carothers D2 skinner, so resigned to looking elsewhere and your Ingram looks very nice.
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o_O Ugh... I wish I could offer some more useful input :( This is going to make me look/feel pretty foolish...
This was one of my first blades when I got into knives several years ago. At the time, I knew next to nothing about the different blade steels, blade shapes, or their uses and stumbled upon Ingram purely by chance.
Because I am not a hunter myself, I quickly moved to other makers producing more bushcraft/edc-type blades. So, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I can’t really speak to its qualities wrt to edge-holding or ergonomics (as a result of multiple moves, it currently resides in a box in a storage unit so that I am unable to quickly pull it out to reacquaint myself with it and compare it to my current users). I can say that the f&f is outstanding (so much so that - as a knife newbie at the time - I hesitated to use it) and that Gene was extremely pleasant to deal with. His knives show up on BF occasionally and I believe there are a few reviews if you do a search. I don’t know how long his current waitlist is. Also, I am not sure if he only does flat grinds or also does hollow grinds if that is important to you. Give his website a look to see his current models and give him a call. Another maker with a very similar esthetic and steel choice is Charles May - I have never owned or even held one of his so can’t comment on his work but it looks to be very similar.

Edit: Mine was one that he happened to have available at the time - perhaps a cancelled order. Generally I believe all his knives are custom orders.
 
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benchrest308 said:
Oyster Oyster thanks for the response and your candor. Much appreciated.
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Thank you.
This thread is really about Nathan’s work so I don’t want to derail it too much further. As pointed out initially, it seems there are dedicated hunting blade makers that follow a similar philosophy as Nathan (note the hollow vs flat grind issue, though). I can attest to the workmanship (excellent) of the knife I have by this particular other maker, just not to the finer details wrt the quality of the HT or extended use specifically for hunting (hand fatigue etc). Let me just say that it looks as if he is still making them much as he used to and people seem to continue buying them...
 
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Oyster said:
Thank you.
This thread is really about Nathan’s work so I don’t want to derail it too much further. As pointed out initially, it seems there are dedicated hunting blade makers that follow a similar philosophy as Nathan (note the hollow vs flat grind issue, though). I can attest to the workmanship (excellent) of the knife I have by this particular other maker, just not to the finer details wrt the quality of the HT or extended use specifically for hunting (hand fatigue etc). Let me just say that it looks as if he is still making them much as he used to and people seem to continue buying them...
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AFAIK Nathan’s D2 HT protocol is widely used now. If other makers are using it, you would be closer to CPK performace without it being Nathan’s design than you would be with Nathan’s design without Nathan’s HT. If that makes any sense.
 
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