Ridgeback Skinner — 9" Hand-Forged Ladder Damascus Skinning Knife with Ring Pommel

Some knives are made to be admired. This one is made to be gripped hard, in cold weather, with work left to do. The Ridgeback Skinner takes its name from the carved ridges running the length of its handle — cut there so the knife stays put when your hands don't.

The forge

The blade is forged from alternating layers of 1080 carbon steel and nickel, drawn out and folded into a ladder pattern — the rungs climbing the full four inches of the blade. The 1080 does the working: it's a steel prized by smiths for its toughness and the keen, honest edge it takes, an edge you can bring back with a few passes on a stone rather than a workshop. The nickel layers carry the contrast, drawing the ladder pattern out bright against the darker steel. At 2.88 mm thick, the blade has enough spine to resist flex against a hide without fighting you on the finer cuts.

In your hands

This is skinner geometry: a short, broad blade — 4 inches long, a full inch and a half wide — that puts a generous curved belly against the hide, where skinning actually happens. The pointed tip means it doesn't stop there; caping and detail work don't require a second knife. The tang runs full through the carved wood handle, pinned in place, ending in a ring pommel — a place for your index finger on the draw, a lanyard, or a carabiner on your pack. At 208 grams and 9 inches overall, it carries like a tool, not a burden. The fitted leather sheath rides with three snap-retention straps, so it stays shut until you want it open.

The passing

A skinner earns its history one season at a time. The carbon steel will take on character as it works — a patina that records where it's been — and the handle will darken to the shape of the hand that carries it. Knives like this tend to outlast the person who bought them. That's rather the point.

Every knife we sell is hand-forged — pattern-welded steel, shaped and ground by smiths, not stamped from bar stock.