Mostly decoration when hunting in Africa. But you will find
many on here who are extremely style conscious African hunters. And that's fine. But not my thing. Over there I don't bring a knife. I have been told to not bother asking to help with gutting or skinning. Not that my PH isn't convinced I can't handle a knife (he's seen plenty of photographic evidence confirming I'm sufficiently skilled), but trackers and skinners have status within the safari operation and the community. They are proud of that status ... and they should be. Show them the respect they deserve and let them do their job.
When hunting on this side of the pond, I'm invariably solo. Knife is of course essential for taking care of a downed animal. But I
never wear it on my belt. I always hunt with a daypack and my knife is in there. When bird hunting, I always have a tiny multi-tool in my coat or upland vest pocket. It's purpose is to remove porcupine quills from my dogs, though I have yet to use it for that ... or anything else.
This is my knife, a 1930s KaBar 4.5" drop point. I also always carry a sharpening kit with ceramic sticks in the pack. Not been a fan of folding knives. Difficult fiddling with unlocking the blade in subzero conditions.
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My last safari we dropped by the skinning shed the first night to see a big impala ram a young girl client shot. My tracker was busy skinning my identical impala ram. I turned to my PH and asked him where the tracker got that knife. A client gave it to him. "Well, he must not have been impressed with your guy's work. That dinky Schrade Old Timer skinner is a bona fide piece of junk! I otta know. I had one for years. The only good thing I can say is it's very unlikely he'll cut himself badly with it. Doesn't he have something better?" PH just smiled. Back at the lodge he explained. Several clients have given him much better knives but he prefers to be seen struggling with junk. Ensures future donations. Also a junker is less likely to disappear from the skinning shed. Makes sense. The next day I noticed he was wearing a different knife in the field.
