I've tried the air compressor method of skinning a hog twice now, and haven't figured it out yet. It seems the air goes between the hide and the fat, but when I skin them I cut between the meat and the fat. I never find the part that the air has sepparated.

Should I be leaving all the fat on them?

What about the "shield" up around the shoulders, is that just fat or is it different?

I dont even skin my hogs out when I clean them any more. Clean them from back to belly, cut down the back starp so you can just pull the hams, shoulders, and straps out from the top of the pig.

Could you both go into more detail please....I need this info

+1 This is what I do, but half the time I just take the straps.

yep, same here. cut right down the spine from neck to butt. then skin down on each side from this slit a few inches to expose both backstraps. cut the backstraps out. then, cut the hams off. cut a slit at the achilles like for a gambrel, and then hang each ham from a stout branch. skin each ham out while hanging, cut off at the knee.

that's what i do with my hogs. backstraps and the two hams. i don't bother with the shoulders.

i have never heard of air skinning a hog.

Never tried it on a hog, but seen it done on yotes.

Here you go...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO6xV_YC7pU

ive used a truck to skin deer

I skin my hogs the old fasion way, pull skin and cut. The fats are different; a hard grizzle fat and a greasy soft fat. The fat on the back and shoulder blades (shields) and other spots is a hard grizzle fat, you can see and feel the difference between them even when raw. The hard grizzle don't tase bad it just stays chewy like grizzle when you cook it. I remove or leave the grizzle fat with the skin. 20% fat makes for a lean sausage.