Jarvis Skinning knife is thin, light, curved with scalpel-like SHARPNESS, and fixed to the handle.
The THIN BLADE will help you cut under the hide of the animal. It makes it easy for you to cut along the skin of the carcass without tearing the hide, making it more valuable to animal skin buyers. It also has an intact hide, which is also the standard measure of a master skinner.
The Blade: Not too long- skinning should be done with very arched blade, on a small section, therefore in our (Polish) conditions 8cm. Long is sufficient, but the length of the blade is adjusted according to personal preferences and anatomy of the hand. One person will favor 3 cm of the blade, another will be uncomfortable skinning with a blade shorter than 8cm. With a longer edge, part of the blade would not be used, only increasing the weight of the blade itself. It is crucial because skinning is done for a longer period of time working mostly with your wrist using up and down motions.
The Handle: The tip is considerably elevated in comparison to the line of the handle looking from the side. The point here is to avoid bending the wrist, the hand should be working in the most comfortable, natural position. Moreover the handle is covered with a material that even when its slathered with blood it won’t slip- this condition is usually fulfilled by most of the materials used to made handle such as wood, micarta, antlers.
Additional contributing factor is that thin layer of blood dried down very quickly giving additional, porous layer that prevents the knife from slipping in your hand.