Looking for an inexpensive, rigid knife for wild game processing? Take a look at the Cold Steel Canadian Belt Knife.
by Leon Pantenburg
These well-used skinners all have a similar design. The C.T Fischer Nessmuk is on top; followed by a seven-inch butcher, a five-inch modified sheep skinner and a Cold Steel Canadian belt knife. (Pantenburg photo)
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My appreciation for old stuff, err, I mean antiques, is particularly evident in my choice of cutlery.
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I love the old traditional patterns and it’s nice to wonder what the designer was thinking when he/she came up with something new.
The Canadian Belt Knife is one of those traditional designs. In 1958, Dean Russell, a Canadian cutlery-store owner, designed a knife, according to Field and Stream magazine, and he chose Grohmann Cutlery in Pictou, Nova Scotia, to make it.
He called it the Canadian Belt Knife, and Russell’s knife could gut, skin, or cape. It was comfortable in any hand and could be held in any position, and its pouch-style belt sheath moved with you.
I’d read about the knife in the Herter’s Catalog (Now THAT will date me!) and always intended to add one to my cutlery accumulation.
Several years ago, as is my wont, I picked up a belt knife at the local outdoors store because it was made by Cold Steel, in the case, and the price was right. I’m always looking for inexpensive survival tools that will do the job, and a reputable company name is one guarantee that the product will perform.
Cold Steel Canadian Belt Knife
Here are the stats on the Canadian Belt knife, according to the Cold Steel website:
Blade Length: 4″
Overall Length: 8 1/2″
Steel: German 4116 Stainless
Weight: 2.2 oz
Blade Thickness: 2.5 mm
Handle: 4 1/2″ Long High Impact Polypropylene
Sheath: Cor-Ex™ Sheath
Made in Taiwan
But nostalgia aside, if a knife doesn’t work well, I don’t keep it.
Considering what the Canadian was intended for, which is a general, all-around hunting knife, I put it through its paces. I don’t abuse knives in testing, and I think batoning firewood is overated. (Check out this video, where I demonstrate how to baton firewood with a butter knife).
Starting in the kitchen, I used the Canadian for an assortment of cooking tasks. It is a great meat and vegetable slicer. It doesn’t do very well as a potato peeler. It is a terrible filleting knife – the blade is too short, stiff and wide. But it works well for beheading and gutting panfish.
In the field though, it excels. The handle is easy to hold onto, and the design assures your hand probably won’t slip. It is a fine knife for whittling firewood and wiener sticks, and it is a good all around camp knife.
But probably the knife’s forte is skinning and processing wild game.
I used it to help cut up an elk, and the blade held an edge well. The handle fits my large (glove size) hand, and there was never any danger of my hand slipping.
The knife worked well for skinning rabbits, and helped in the processing of several chukars and pheasants. The Canadian did everything I needed from a hunting knife.
An inexpensive knife has to have some area where there is a compromise. In this case, it appears to be the sheath. It is little more than a thick piece of Cor-Ex material folded into an envelope with a sewn-on loop for carrying on a belt. It is adequate for protecting the blade, and it should be safe except under the most extreme conditions.
Do you need a Canadian Belt Knife?
It depends. It is probably a better all-around design than a lot of other knives on the market, but I don’t think it is the equal of the Mora. But a Canadian is a better skinner than a Mora, and if you anticipate needing a skinning knife some time, this is one choice.
Bottom line: It has to work for you. At about $20, you can afford to get one and try it out.
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