Has Anyone Used a Spyderco Folder for Field Dressing?

[Urkilnmesmalls]

I have only used my benchmade crooked river as far as folders go, but I think I will use my shaman this year if I get the chance. I didn’t think it was terribly hard to clean the crooked river, and it’s a far more fiddly knife to tear down than the shaman.

[Foehammer]

Interesting replies, thanks everyone! I think I will use one of my Pm2s just to see how it does, I’ve got a lot of cutting experience with that model so I’m fairly proficient with it id like to think. Cleaning shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll just rinse in hot water and blast it out with a compressor.

[akapennypincher]

Once an animal has given its last full measure, it's all about how you treat your meat. You can field dress a critter with just about any knife, but the proper tool makes things easier. Pointy blades can puncture things you don't wanna taste come dinner time so if you use a pointy blade, protect that point with your finger tip.

You are right & back in history before people had many tools, knives, firearm etc.

You used what you had at hand, and made it work.

Serverl years ago I decided to make a Cane out of Diamond Willow Branch I found some place in travels.

Did not have assorted knives, chisels, or a dremel tool to make the job easy.


Use glass from several beer bottle I broke in a Wal-Mart plastic bag.

Did all my scrapping & shaping with the pieces of glass.


Finish the project off with sand paper of various grits. Came out well.

[Bill1170]

Once an animal has given its last full measure, it's all about how you treat your meat. You can field dress a critter with just about any knife, but the proper tool makes things easier. Pointy blades can puncture things you don't wanna taste come dinner time so if you use a pointy blade, protect that point with your finger tip.

You are right & back in history before people had many tools, knives, firearm etc.

You used what you had at hand, and made it work.

Serverl years ago I decided to make a Cane out of Diamond Willow Branch I found some place in travels.

Did not have assorted knives, chisels, or a dremel tool to make the job easy.


Use glass from several beer bottle I broke in a Wal-Mart plastic bag.

Did all my scrapping & shaping with the pieces of glass.


Finish the project off with sand paper of various grits. Came out well.

Name checks out. Love the resourcefulness!

[ed9957]

I use the Stretch and Gayle Bradley. The GB is almost as strong as fixed blade. I used the GB to cut a moose sternum open while using both hands on the handle. Not many folders could do that..

[Coastal]

A bunch with the C15 Bob Terzuola, and a couple with an early Military. In my opinion, the Wegner is a dynamite folding hunter. But instead, I got an actual Wegner Pro Hunter and, get this, never used it. Instead, I went a different route entirely, spending the last few years of my hunting career with the Browning Big Game folding hunter, which features a trailing-point main blade, a guthook Wharnie combo blade, and a bone saw.

[Surfingringo]

I’m probably a bit of an outlier with my opinions but I cleaned a TON of game with my dad growing up and we never used anything but folding knives. There was no such thing as a Salt knife back then but our folders performed fine and lasted decades. They cleaned thousands of squirrels, rabbits and deer (many thousands) and doubled as our standard pocket knives when not being used for cleaning game…never any worse for wear. I love fixed blades too and though they might have a few advantages for that work, the idea that a small folder isn’t capable or suitable to do real game processing just isn’t true.

I probably clean 50%+ of my fish (some of them pretty big) with my siren. Sure, i grab the waterway when it’s handy but the Siren is always right there in my waistband and is often the closest knife at hand.

I also agree with some of the other posters about small blades being better performers. It all depends on your technique of course but I’ve always preferred smaller blades for both game and fish work. Like Skeeg, I usually have my forefinger on the spine and like to have only a bit of blade extending past my fingertip. That’s actually the reason for the half choil on the waterway. Gives me a place to rest my middle fingertip when I’m choked up with my forefinger on the spine.

There’s a LOT of good options in the Spyderco lineup. The Stretch and Moran are a couple of obvious choices that come to mind. Southfork is a great design too if you like a little longer blade (and can find one). Bow River is a great option. I agree with the Spydiechef recommendation too. And obviously I like the Siren and Waterway since I designed those specifically for the way I clean fish and game.

[prndltech]

As for Spyderco folders, I’ve used both a delica and an endura on deer and hogs I’m sure. I used a stretch on a turkey and something else I just can’t remember…

I recommend using a folding utility knife with a hook blade (for carpet and what not) to run down the hide, it opens em up like a zipper, cuz that stuff is like carpet and dulls a blade faster than anything. Once your inside, anything that’s sharp works. But I’d prefer something smaller like a delica, but preferably a small fixed blade is best.



Oh… and don’t forget the most important part… invite me over for dinner

[Manixguy@1994]

Shannon is a wise hungry man . I do agree 3 to 4 inch is my sweet spot on Deer . Dan

[Evil D]

Grew up around hunting/hunters but haven't done that stuff in a very long time. To date myself a little, the last folder I remember seeing used or using myself was a Buck 110. I can tell ya this much, nobody in the family was a steel junkie or had anything high end, we/they got by with whatever knives we had and if you had to make a few passes on a stone while doing the work then that's what you did. I remember it seemed like everyone I knew owned a Schrade Sharpfinger which probably used one of the 440 steels?

[skeeg11]

I could be wrong, but I figured Schrade+ steel was their version of 420 series. IMHO the carbon steel Sharp Finger was the better version.

[Brookso]

Dressed a deer with a folder couple o'times. Works just fine if you have a blade with a hook. Still kinda prefer fixed blades for field dressing overall. Some good info there on comparison for those two(my fav from https://gunicorns.com/ gun blog)

[standy99]

When the fish in Northern Australia are nearly as heavy as a deer, have used a Pacific Salt on hundreds of big Barramundi over the years.
Few pigs also.

Usually a go a fixed blade…Uinta Hunter V2 (Handmade In Minnesota) is my knife of choice lately.

[JD Spydo]

I’ve cleaned several deer and loads of ptarmigan with a plain ole ZDP Delica. I made it pointier with a dremel and it works great for gutting.

If you are in AK then I'm jealous. I miss it.

The Delica was designed as a hunting folder. Great knife and still my favorite in this size range.

ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?? The Delica was designed as a "hunter-folder"??? Are you sure it wasn't the Endura instead because the Delica is just barely big enough for me to use as a general EDC folder>> and the only one I even liked for that purpose was the ZDP-189 version.

I've never used anything smaller than a Buck 110 or a Spyderco C-36 Military as a Hunter-folder. And White-tail deer are the largest game animals we have here in Missouri. And I would never even try to use a Delica for a job that demanding. I would be interested to know where you heard that from???

I've never used anything shorter than a blade that was at least 3.75 inches long. And there have been times I've opted for a longer fixed blade>> but I would have never used anything as short as a Delica.

[JD Spydo]

When the fish in Northern Australia are nearly as heavy as a deer, have used a Pacific Salt on hundreds of big Barramundi over the years.
Few pigs also.

Usually a go a fixed blade…Uinta Hunter V2 (Handmade In Minnesota) is my knife of choice lately.

I've heard from reading that those "Barramundi" are about as difficult to process as the "Halibut" we have up in Alaska. Because those Halibut are a really tough fish to process ( and dangerous too at times). I just ate my first Barramundi about two years ago and they were delicious. You all have some great eating fish on that side of the globe I hope to try more of them some day.

[Wandering_About]

I’ve cleaned several deer and loads of ptarmigan with a plain ole ZDP Delica. I made it pointier with a dremel and it works great for gutting.

If you are in AK then I'm jealous. I miss it.

The Delica was designed as a hunting folder. Great knife and still my favorite in this size range.

ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?? The Delica was designed as a "hunter-folder"??? Are you sure it wasn't the Endura instead because the Delica is just barely big enough for me to use as a general EDC folder>> and the only one I even liked for that purpose was the ZDP-189 version.

I've never used anything smaller than a Buck 110 or a Spyderco C-36 Military as a Hunter-folder. And White-tail deer are the largest game animals we have here in Missouri. And I would never even try to use a Delica for a job that demanding. I would be interested to know where you heard that from???

I've never used anything shorter than a blade that was at least 3.75 inches long. And there have been times I've opted for a longer fixed blade>> but I would have never used anything as short as a Delica.

A Delica will field dress a deer just fine, and skin one too. A bit short for butchering deer but would work if necessary. And a Delica is plenty of blade for small game. I'm not sure the it was designed as a hunter but it definitely works fine.

[SpyderGrill]

The size of the knife really dont matter unless your splitting the sternum or hacking through the bone between the rear quarters to open it up. Just taking the guts out dont require much. Roll your sleeves up and reach up there and cut the wind pipe and it all pretty much falls out. And a Hook in the blade is not a necessity, might make it easier? But not a must have. I never had one on my blade.

I skinned a deer once with a Case Stockman when my fixed blade was dull.

Today in the kitchen Im more OCD when cutting raw meat. I dont want a folder to trap raw meat and juices to contaminate an apple later on if I cut one for lunch.

I only use Mineral Oil for lube or to prevent rust. Back in the day I would spray WD40 or use engine oil.

A fixed blade is the best choice because its easier to clean, unless your in an emergency situation.

[StuntZombie]

I used a serrated Police model to field dress a deer when I was in high school. It wasn't the best, but it worked in the moment.

[toxophilus]

I've used a Delica (ZDP) to field dress a Muley in the past, as Lance stated you have to have control of how much blade tip is exposed to not puncture the intestines... works great for small game as well!

[pleadnotguilty]

Endura and native. Prefer the native, to clean. Something bigger for butchering though. Both deer and elk