I saw a 12 inch kershaw cimeter knife tonight at the sportco sale. I have heard people like these for filleting fish. My question is, how much better is the cimeter than a standard fillet knife. I have been using a 8 inch sani safe commercial grade fillet knife for years. Am I missing something by not using a cimeter.

I have a 12 inch Forschner Cimiter and for fish >8 pounds, there is no better knife IMO. The granton edge reduces suction from the flesh to the blade, and the weight and sharpness allow you to break right through rib bones and maintain a straight, even fillet cut. I prefer to use a smaller fillet knife for smaller fish because the blade is overkill on a small or skinny fillet like a hatchery steelie.... a shorter smaller blade simply suits the job better on the little ones IMO.

You should have seen the locals in Nicaragua go nuts over that knife when I sheared off Snook fillets like butter. Great tool!

Couldn't agree more. Love mine...

I have a 10". My opinion is they work, and they will cut a side off fast. How much flesh you leave on the carcass is basically in direct proportion to how fast you go. If you filet Alaska style and leave a fair amount of flesh on the carcass, but aren't worried about it, they're great. Use caution, you could do a whole lot of damage to yourself with one if you aren't careful.

Mine sits in the drawer, not precision enough for me. I use my $25 folding Kershaw 99% of the time.

Bought one last summer,used it a few times and parked it in a drawer. A lot of guys really like them,I didn't. Back to a regular filet knife for me.

I have one and as SG says love it for larger fish. NEVER us it without a chainmail glove. It could remove a finger in a heartbeat. I saw a guy slip and go clear through a 20 lb chinook backbone in an instant.

Allah be praised!

I have one, pretty much only use it on larger coho or nooks. Absolutely awesome tool.

I've used Forschner knives almost daily for over 30 years.
They are the #1 choice of meat cutting professionals everywhere.
I cannot put a number on the fish filleted or the animals processed with this tool.
Anything else seems wrong in my hands.

All cutlery is 20% off tomorrow at sportco, so I might have to pick up a cimeter knife (and chain mail glove) on the cheap.

Sounds like you could make some Christmas money selling it then, buyer in the crosshairs

IMHO, the deep "belly" of the cimeter rides nice and easy on the spine so you are much less likely to either cut through it or to wander up and leave meat on the carcass like I do with regular filet knives. On the other hand, as mentioned above, they deserve respect and I have a permanent scar on my knuckle to prove it . . .

OTOH, it is kind of a worthless knife for those that butterfly fillet all their fish, regardless of size. Also seems a bit big and clumsy for the surgeons in our group that like to "operate" on their fish and take it apart chunk by chunk! I just don't see Doc liking that knife for how he chooses to hack on his fish. I could be wrong on that.

As F4B pointed out, the folding Kershaw is the "go to" knife for that application. It holds a good edge, it can be folded up for easily packing/travel and even has a little fold out blood line scooper thing. Oh, and they are cheap. I have 6 of them....and buy a couple every time I'm up at Trusty Hardware in Soldotna. On sale, they are about $10 each.

I'd let the style of how one prefer's to fillet their fish dictate what knife to use. As always, one's results may very depending on what they are doing.

I have seen that knife in action by Bucket on a 4-million pound prime rib (or whatever slab it was)! Seemed to do an awesome job on big old slabs of meeeeeet!

I could use one of those......as I love knives..especially good ones.

I have the Forschner 12" & 10" Cimeter with the granton edge in stock w/sheath if anyone is interested.

$75 for the 12"
$65 for the 10"

PM if interested

PS: I only offer these prices to PP & SH.net members.

Not a fan of the big knives for fileting fish. 8" Rapala for me.

I do have 4 or 5 Forschners, and a number of Sani-safes from my prep cook/restaurant days. Each knife has a purpose.

Dexter-Russell for me.

Best tool for the job comes down to technique eh? Curved blades like on the cimiter seem to be pretty slick for the spine down/butterfly method where ribs stay on the carcass. I prefer to cut the filet off of the spine and then de-rib. A straight blade is really the only way to go for that approach.

I like the 9" thin bladed one for kings, and the 8" thicker bladed model for general purpose.

Whole fillet off/rib bones stay with the carc method for me 95% of the time for salmonoids. Also a forschner fan and the 7 and 8 inch as well as the cimitar have their place. The cimitar excells at this as long as the salmon's head is removed first.

A salty Straits chum from Oct pictured with the tools. In this case the 7" fillet knife was used.







The one chum the the rest of the coho from the days catch. All three knives were used.

+1 on the 12" Forschner with the graniton edge. Took down 25lb to 37lb kings with no problem this summer. I wouldn't do any fish smaller than 15lb, made the mistake of doing to small of fish with it.


Got mine on eBay for 61.99 with free shipping then bought the 12" blade tamer sheath.


And a good cut glove is a must. Steel or Kevlar.