Like SmotPoker, though, I have considered just bringing a boning knife out with a small diamond sharpener for everything. I think it would work fine—though I don’t like skinning with a sharp, thin knife—but it wouldn’t be as fun.
Particularly when elk hunting during the rut, I want to be able to break down an animal quickly, get those quarters cooling, and take as much meat off as possible. I carry a replaceable blade Outdoor Edge with an European “opener”. I have mixed feelings about the knife, but I love that opener...
My go-to’s are a Outdoor Edge replaceable (I resharpen the blades and get many uses out of them) with that long European gut hook thing along with a folding fillet knife. A little overkill, but they speed up processing an elk for me. I have a Helle Polar strapped to the outside of my pack for...
The fleece-lined Magnum softshell pants at Costco are available online in green in reasonable sizes for $15, shipping included. My message won’t post with the link, so do a search.