[DaveRuhlig]

Ok guys I need some help. Let me start by saying I know there's been a lot of discussions about the usefullness/uselessness of gut hooks and there are some strong opinions that all they do is weaken the the knife. I used to share those same opinions - untill last week. For the first time I saw someone use a guthook the way it was intended and it was amazing. The guy was dressing a buck he has just killed and had it hanging - he made a small cut through the skin between the hind legs, stuck the gut hook in and pulled down to the neck. It split the skin like a zipper saving the edge of his blade from all of the dirt, hair, and tough skin. I've never made a gut hook so this got me thinking about the actual geometry. I've seen a million gut hooks on every style of knife you can think of, but I'm curious what is optimal?

What angle should the hook be at in relation to the spine?
Should both sides be ground or just one?
Should the leading edge be blunt, rounded, sharp?
How wide should the hook be?
How far forward on the blade to you go?
Should the back of the spine be level with the front or should the front be higher?

Any imput from you guys would be helpful!!
-Dave