Hunting Knife - Choosing The Right Hunting Knife

Choosing the right hunting knife can be a difficult challenge. If you choose wrong you end up with a paperweight that is more likely to end up in your junk-drawer than on your hip when you need it.


First ask yourself a few questions: What kind of hunting do you do? Do you go after big game or small? Do you trophy hunt or do you meat hunt only? What is the largest animal you envision using the knife on? The smallest? How often do you hunt, are you looking for a knife you can easily carry when you are not hunting?
Seems like a lot of questions but if you don't know what you are looking for, you will never find the correct one for your personal preferences.

Stainless versus Carbon Steel
This is far too short an article to get into the metallurgy of steel composition. Lets just say that some steels are too soft to hold an edge very well. Some are so hard as to be almost impossible to sharpen in the field. Do some research into the various steels and their grades. Sometimes the difference between a carrier and a drawer-sitter is the blade material.

Folding versus Fixed Blades
Let's look at the two basic knife styles: fixed and folding blade. A fixed blade knife is just that, fixed in place. Meaning that the blade is permanently fixed in the open position. Due to this design, these knives normally come with a sheath so they can be carried safely. These knives are normally stronger than the folding variety because the steel of the blade runs into or through the handle.

There are no moving parts with a fixed blade knife so they are very reliable. Several manufacturers also produce hunting knives that allow the user to change the blades very quickly.


Folding knives have a pivot point and lock mechanism which allows the blade to close into the handle. A folding knife without the lock should not even be considered for hunting. These are more for the occasional hunter who may also want to carry the knife for daily use. Folding knives are not as strong as a fixed blade by design. However, they are much easier to carry in a pocket or on the belt in a small sheath.

Blade Styles
The next issue we'll address will be blade style. The four main hunting blade designs are the drop point, clip point, skinning, and caping designs.

Drop Point
The drop point knife is an excellent design for the big game hunter. This design generally features a robust, curved blade of relatively thick steel. These features allow the user to cut the skin off the animal using the entire edge of the knife, rather than just the point. This allows for quick skinning and very little damage to the meat. The design of the drop point also allows for other field cleaning tasks such as gutting and the splitting of the rib cage or pelvis, although a saw or hatchet is the preferred method for the latter two tasks.

Clip Point
Another style of hunting knife is the clip point. The clip point has a somewhat thinner blade than the drop point and has a much more defined point. Most bowies are examples of clip point knives. The flatter blade is more utilitarian in nature and will fit the needs of the majority of hunters, especially those wishing to use the knife as a general duty work knife and not a dedicated hunting knife. The clip point design will perform all of the tasks the drop point will, only not as efficiently. For the occasional hunter this is the perfect design.

Skinning
The skinning knife is designed to aid in the removal of the skin of big game animals. They tend to have a highly sweeping blades that are designed to effortlessly separate the flesh from the skin. A dedicated skinning knife can be a real time saver for those big game hunters that do the butchering themselves. An added bonus is that the skinning knife can do most of the other game cleaning chores as well as the clip point or the drop point designs.