Homestead

Havalon Piranta Skinning Knife

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Great for dressing roadkill

The Havalon Piranta is my favorite skinning knife. It uses replaceable 60XT stainless steel blades, which cost less than a dollar apiece. I like it better than the “Wyoming Knife,” which I used for years. The Piranta is certainly good for field dressing animals and has worked well for me with roadkill foxes, squirrels, bobcats and skunks (once in a while a skunk will be hit in the head by a car and not have time to activate the scent gland, and the skin is beautiful).

There are a number of optional blades in this series. Taxidermists use these other blades because they can be more precise in getting the entire skin. If you are serious about skinning, you might want to check out the Taxidermy Blades and Tools on the Havalon website. You can call the people at Havalon; they are knowledgeable about the whole process of taxidermy and can guide you in choosing the proper knife and blades. 1-800-836-3204. They also have a very good guide to field dressing a deer, which I’ve printed out and plan to use for my next deer.

-- Lloyd Kahn 06/19/15

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