The blade shape will make a good skinner. Not a real big fan of guthooks, but they work if you can keep them sharpened. There really is no such steel(officially) as 420HC...it's a term dreamed up by Buck Knives. The HC presumably stands for High Carbon, which isn't true with this steel....carbon is .4%. I have a Buck Probe(I think thats the name...has the assisted opening) that I was given as a Brithday Gift, and the steel holds a sharp edge, but not for long. Easy to re-sharpen, though. With the aluminum scales, it should be a tough knife, and handle a lot of abuse, if you're one of those dastardly knife abuser persons. Happy Birthday.
