Skinning should require a tool

[exeexe]

As we all know harvesting dead animals can be done with bare hands. OK- BUT! When it comes to skinning animals you need tools because you really need to be precise between where the skin stops and where the meat begins. So can it be changed that you can only skin animals if you have a tool?

Btw the old stoneage people used flint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint

[starfighter441]

You can skin and gut a rabbit with no tools at all, just using the long claw on the rear foot of the animal, but I agree with you on the larger animals.  You would need something to at least start the cut unless we are chewing through the pelt.

[hauteecolerider]

4 hours ago, starfighter441 said:

You can skin and gut a rabbit with no tools at all, just using the long claw on the rear foot of the animal, but I agree with you on the larger animals.  You would need something to at least start the cut unless we are chewing through the pelt.

And that's already started for you if you come on a carcass that has been partially eaten by wolves. There's your starter hole. 

[starfighter441]

1 hour ago, hauteecolerider said:

And that's already started for you if you come on a carcass that has been partially eaten by wolves. There's your starter hole. 

True enough, but unless you have interrupted Loopy's meal, you will be dealing with a frozen carcass more likely than not.

[hauteecolerider]

I've thawed out frozen carcasses so I could harvest them. Of course, this was on Pilgrim mode so the wolves stayed away . . .

[starfighter441]

1 minute ago, hauteecolerider said:

I've thawed out frozen carcasses so I could harvest them. Of course, this was on Pilgrim mode so the wolves stayed away . . .

Never thought of that I have to confess, but sofar I've been lucky enough to find either a knife or hatchet faily early into the game.

[hauteecolerider]

5 minutes ago, starfighter441 said:

Never thought of that I have to confess, but sofar I've been lucky enough to find either a knife or hatchet faily early into the game.

I'd rather have a knife or hatchet for the frozen stuff, too . . .

Building a fire, and keeping it going long enough to harvest a carcass with your bare hands is quite tedious.

[SteveP]

6 hours ago, starfighter441 said:

You can skin and gut a rabbit with no tools at all, just using the long claw on the rear foot of the animal, but I agree with you on the larger animals.  You would need something to at least start the cut unless we are chewing through the pelt.

There are many times early on in the game when you don't have a knife or hatchet so as long as the animal is not frozen, they let you get the meat off it. It would be nice to harvest the bones and cut them with the hatchet or hacksaw to make bone soup which is very nourishing. It would greatly increase the caloric value of animals since a significant amount of body weight is bones and marrow. I would let the early game players harvest this since it's difficult enough to get through the starting phase especially for beginners. My games tend to be hard so I wonder if it's as hard as that for everyone or just because I've had other games that last many days?

[TheRealNFK]

I have no actual experience skinning animals (do chickens from the supermarket count?), so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always found it a bit odd that TLD lets you harvest all the meat without having to remove the hide first.

[hauteecolerider]

IRL, you gut the animal first, removing all viscera from the tongue all the way down to the bladder and colon. There is an actual reason for this - these structures, from the mouth to the lungs, heart and digestive system, decompose first. Well, the brain goes first but it's sterile, while the viscera are not. Then you skin the carcass. Finally you butcher the meat. 

But for gameplay purposes I suspect the TLD system is set up to allow for differing play styles. So you skin the carcass to get the meat, but leave the hide where the animal fell. That way you're not stuck lugging a heavy skin around.

[TheRealNFK]

Interesting, so if the game forced you to follow a more realistic procedure, it would be remove gut then skin hide then harvest meat. That would force a lot more wear and tear on knives and hatchets, plus a lot more time spent on each animal carcass. Maybe Hinterland thought that would make things too rigid, forcing you to process the whole animal every time.

Are there any other ways to deal with harvesting an animal IRL? Like, if you are in a hurry or can't carry it all, just cutting off one leg from the hip down and leaving the rest? Or would even a leg have to be prepared a certain way?

[hauteecolerider]

IRL for rabbits you just pick them up and carry them with you. Course you would want to gut them first. 

For larger animals like deer if I don't have a way to transport a whole gutted carcass I would use the hatchet and quarter them the way they do cattle at the slaughterhouse. Chop off the head, split the torso along the spine and sternum (the chestbone on the bottom of the trunk where the ribs come together) and crosswise just below the ribs. Then you can carry the quarters by the legs, which make convenient handles!

[exeexe]

On 1/4/2016 at 1:07 AM, TheRealNFK said:

I have no actual experience skinning animals (do chickens from the supermarket count?), so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always found it a bit odd that TLD lets you harvest all the meat without having to remove the hide first.

I have never tried this but i guess you can take a leg of an animal with the skin, then you cook the leg with the skin. Then you eat the leg with the skin, and what you have left is just the skin which you throw away... so yeah

[TheRealNFK]

But what about the hair (rabbit, deer, wolf, bear)? I don't want to imagine the stink it would cause to roast that over a fire.

[elloco999]

In the old days it was actually a pretty common method of cooking small game like rabbits. You gut them and clean them but leave the skin on. Put it in the hot coals and when the skin has completely blackened the rabbit is done. You peel of the skin that comes off pretty easily now and eat the meat. Using this way of cooking, the skin holds most of the fat in so the meat will be nice and juicy. Or so I'm told. Never tried it myself

[TheRealNFK]

Sounds a bit like Eisenhower's steak grilling method (just chuck it in the coals). It's funny how a game like this makes me realize just how disconnected I am from my food supply.

[exeexe]

59 minutes ago, TheRealNFK said:

But what about the hair (rabbit, deer, wolf, bear)? I don't want to imagine the stink it would cause to roast that over a fire.

Well there is always the eternal battle between the pros and cons when it comes to making food as illustrated here in all its complexity
Pros and cons of making food

[TheRealNFK]

3 minutes ago, exeexe said:

Well there is always the eternal battle between the pros and cons when it comes to making food as illustrated here in all its complexity
Pros and cons of making food

Ok, I lol'd.