As a kid I never gave it a thought but as I have aged I always wear nitrile gloves and keep alcohol on hand . I like ADC'S set up kinda goes with the orange dip worm he knows what he's talking about .

Kevlar glove with nitrile glove on my non knife hand. I wear a nitrile glove over the Kevlar glove to keep it clean. I've nicked my self too many times skinning critters and there is no faster way for pathogens to enter the body then then thru a cut. Also, I'm really careful on those coyote neck areas. I've had sprayed blood get into my mouth and eyes from those veins when they were cut.

What "Trapper Gunny" said.. You want a 5000ppm solution. If its good enough to sterilize a lab setting it's good enough for us. There is very little that will survive that solution.

I use nitrile gloves on some animals,keep some dettol on hand for cuts or washing hands,and bleach for cleaning tools and surfaces in the skinning shed.
Bleach water in a spray bottle is handy when brushing canines etc that could have dried fecies in the fur,especially wolves and coyotes.
If I had coon I would use the bleach spray on the fur also before brushing.Dampen the fur down well with the bleach water spray before brushing
Hydatid disease can be contracted if you breathe in dried fecies dust when brushing fur.

Used to work in a fur house and handled probably 10s of 1000s of animals. Got cut and stuck with the knives from time to time. Also rarely wore gloves. Sometimes the fur buyer would bring in cheese burgers and I would put down what I was skinning. Wipe the grease and blood off my hands with some paper towels and eat - never thought twice about it. In all that time I never got any thing. Would I do that nowadays- no way in the world.

When asked why I set my sandwich down on a dead beaver?.........because it's the cleanest place in the boat!

I stabed my finger one time skinning wolverine. My whole hand swelled up had to medivac to the hospital in Inuvik to go on iv. They finally just cut it open filled it up with iodine and it eventually got better. Common in Nunavut they call it seal finger.
Good tip on keeping Dettol handy Boco.

I hate getting a squirt in the face from an eyeball popping, but I am not about to wear a face shield.

I wear 9 mil gloves over cut resistant butcher gloves. I also wear a face shield to keep anything from hitting me in the eyes, mouth, etc.

I used to eat dirt as a kid to build my immune system....lol.

Must have worked as I skin bare-handed a lot...no problems...lol

we need pics lol

im right there with swamp wolf i skin bare handed all the time have cut myself many times over the years. i do wash my hands if i cut myself and go right back to skinning after a papertowel and elecrtical tape around it. never had any problems. i also never get sick other than maybe a runny nose.

with that said i wouldnt recommend bare hand skinning to a kid. in fact my 10 year old i make him wear gloves.

I wear nitrile gloves they are inexpensive for a box of 100. When it’s cold I have a bundle of cheap white cotton gloves that go on the rubber over those to help keep my fingers warm in my unheated garage.
Lot of good tips in this thread. Thoroughly wash out any cuts on your hands and bandage them up. Use a good antibacterial soap and also an antibacterial like neosporin on the cuts.
Keep your knife sharp too. I get less injuries from not trying as hard with sharp knives than forcing a dull knife to do the work.
Jim