I carry cheaper knives because I'm afriad that I'll lose an expensive one I've been carrying a Gerber EZ out for the past 10 years or so, but intend to switch to a Morakniv companion soon. The fixed blade knive take up more room in my pack, but they're easier to clean up gutting a deer.
A Buck 110 and Ol' Rambo!! Who's "Rambo"?? A replica of the Modified Bowie knife Stallone used in "Rambo III"!! I use both knives all year long and Rambo is the best hunting knife I've owned I believe!!
And since you showed yer rifle, Here's a pic of what I'm packing, My 500 with the vertical shoulder holster..
Since I do my own skinning/gutting and processing at home. My knives are in the truck or at home. Mostly I use one or two big QUEEN folders for the skinning and disassembly. Absolutely NOTHING beats a sharp fillet knife for deboning and making choice cuts. I use Rapala. Any deer I shoot is from 15-45 minutes from the house and cooler. After about 3-5 days in the cooler I'll break out my cuber/grinder/process and freeze.
I only carry one knife and it's either one of these plus a small hand axe.
When field dressing a deer I think more like a doctor and not a butcher I really don't need a large knife for that just a sharp one...
I'll be carrying the top 2 and my daughter will be carrying the bottom 1. Mine are Sambar Stag and hers is Stabilized Giraffe Bone. I'll also have my Buck 395 folder in my pocket.
I've relied on a pair of Bob Dozier knives for several years now. Love what he does with D2 steel.
The two in the pic below have field-dressed, skinned and deboned numerous deer and a few elk in the years I've had them. The top knife in the 2nd pic got the scales scuffed up pretty bad when I slid down a scree slope on a hunt in Colorado a few years back.....didn't do much for the looks of the knife, but its honest wear.
I took a knife making class in Adult Ed at local high school and have made several so my commercial knives have been retired in favor of ones I made myself.