Locking Folders
I have a few.
I have several slipjoints, and that's mostly Steve's fault, but the first pocket knife I ever owned was a four-blade scout-style Imperial Officers Ulster given to me by my dad.
I learned fairly early on that the sharp side goes away, that your fingers and hands should never be in line with the edge, and that the main blade really sucks as a leather punch. Got a couple of scars out of the deal, but I carried that knife for twenty years.
I finally went to a lighter, slimmer knife in 1982 -- the Gerber Silver Knight -- a little single-blade lockback with a two-inch blade, and carried that for twenty-five years.
I now carry a Case Peanut or a Case medium stockman or a Buck Cadet or a Kershaw Double Cross or (most recently) a Paul Presto, along with a Swedish SAK (yes, really) and a Leatherman Wave.
I don't rely on the lock.
I think if I were skinning a deer, and I had to use a folder, I'd probably prefer one with some kind of lock. No, that's not a license to do stupid things, but when you're working in a less-than-optimum environment, like a hillside maybe, in the snow, away from civilization, a little more safety probably isn't a bad thing.
In my book, if you're hunting, unless there's a compelling reason to do otherwise, you're carrying a fixed blade of some kind for that work, 'cuz why make it harder than it has to be?
CAN I use my Case Folding Hunter or the Changer for that? Sure. I'm confident that I could use a shard of glass wrapped in tape if I HAD to. Perhaps if I were the star of some cheesy reality TV show and they were paying me an obscene amount of money to show off what can be done with primitive tools . . . sure, why not? But with no camera man? Alone in the woods? Just me and a fresh carcass? I be whippin' out my small-to-medium fixed blade.
I've taught all my kids the use and care of knives. It hasn't entirely sunk in yet with the younger ones, but my oldest daughter is almost obsessive about blade care and proper use. Won't let anyone that she hasn't personally trained use her good cutlery.
Keeps a Mora knife and a Leatherman in her tools. Carries a little Case knife I gave her.
Makes me proud.