I`ll never own another Chris Reeve knife with a handle like that... VERY uncomfortable.

Well, something like this. Again, I start with inexpensive. You can always upgrade to something that costs more and will work just as well as this one.

Bird Knife

Maybe it was just my relative inexperience, but I found I never had enough hands while skinning so a one-handed "zipper" came in pretty "handy."

No worries. As I say, I would rather have one to use than not.

Let us know what you get.

This one
http://www.kniferus.com/servlet/the-408/158OT/Detail

In my experience any knife with a sharp blade will do. Failing that a piece of flint or shard rock.

The emphasis is on sharp.

I've always found that the same knife I use for gutting - something like a Buck 104, or say a Ka-Bar "Lil Finn" - keep it sharp, and use the "sweep" of the blade. Working with 2 people (one to hold the deer still from swinging on the spreader), I can usually skin a deer in 15-20 minutes with one, and another 10 minutes to have it sectioned, in bags, and ready to go home for final butchering

Golly Big Al, our minds are one...

Is yours an old (American made) or new (Chinese made, post Taylor buyout) Schrade?

If the new, how would you rate the steel and overall quality?

I'm curious, because I can never find an objective opinion on the new models' quality.

I had an original, but my brother stole it. Now I have one of the Chinese models. It is typical and pretty good quality for what it costs. I believe it is a 420 stainless. It holds a decent edge, and I can get the zipper really sharp with my dremel tool with a cylindrical buffer bit. The handle is solid, the blade is full tang, and the sheath is nice and snug without binding. For less than $20, it is a heckuva good deal. This from a guy who owns a good number of knives costing several hundred dollars each.