How to find the best hunting knives

1. How to pick the perfect hunting knife? of uses for a good knife in both domestic and outdoor scenarios, but the purpose of this article will be picking a good outdoor hunting knife. The best tool for any avid hunter or general outdoorsman is his knife. There are hundreds those gargantuan knives with the compass and half a dozen items tucked into the handle? While those types of knives make for great action movies, many hunters in today's world find them impractical. Mainly due to the fact no one wants to carry a ten-pound knife that’s half as long as a sword while maneuvering through dense trees or forests or the occasional briar patch. So for those of us that want useability and practicability, let's examine some things we should look for in a perfect outdoor knife. How many times did we watch Rambo or Crocodile Dundee as a child and want one of •Blade shape This is probably the most overlooked factor in picking a knife by most hunters. We have to keep in mind that the shape of the blade is conducive to what you will be doing with it. The three most common types of outdoor points are the clip points, drop points and spear points. Clip Points - have the appearance of the lower third of the blade clipped and can be very useful in small precise cuts like cleaning fish, widdling, debarking trees, and other things where a full-width blade is utilized only part-time.

2. Drop Points - have the appearance of one smooth taper along the spine or top of the blade starting wide at the flange and then coming straight out to a point. Very useful in situations where you may be picking or stabbing at something repeatedly Spear Points - A spear point blade is a symmetrically-shaped blade with a point aligned with the centerline of the blade's long axis. It’s the strongest of all three blade designs and is found in a lot of thrusting knives like daggers. In a spear point, often the thickest portion of the blade is in the center, and many of them will be double-edged. Their durability make them a good choice for a lot of hunters who specialize in “roughing it” for long periods and don’t want to risk the knife breaking. •Material What good is a sharp knife that will rust or wear out on you in a few uses? The material used to make the blade is as important as the craftsmanship placed into the blade. The two most common materials used in knife blades are carbon steel and stainless steel. Each one of them has their strengths and weaknesses. Carbon steel is harder and can hold a better edge than stainless, but it's brittle. Stainless steel is corrosion resistant and able to withstand years of the elements with little or no wear. There is a process that combines the best of both worlds called Powder Metallurgy Steel, which allows the carbon steel to adapt some of the corrosion-resistant properties of stainless, making the knife tough and resistant. Look for that type of blade if possible.

3. •Functionality Are we looking for something to carry in your pocket or your backpack or maybe in a sheath on the side? Most of your best hunting and outdoor knives are going to be in the third category. Let’s face it; we are not dealing with everyday utensils here. We need something big or small enough to get the job done, but almost every good hunting knife is going to be “fixed blade” and not particularly the kind to be carried in your pocket unless you want to cut your pocket. Of course, there are some fine “lock blade” knives out there that will serve the purpose, but safety is the main concern when you are in the middle of nowhere. Go with the fixed blade and save yourself a lot of headaches with lock blades wearing out and folding in or not being sturdy enough to get the job done. In closing, for the perfect hunting knife, you need a combination of durability and functionality and also something that is somewhat attractive to you and the others who are at your party. Never! Buy a knife just because you think it's cool. I have personally been in a lot of situations where the cool looking knives were the first to malfunction and break, and the unattractive, ugly knives survived like champs. In wrapping up, here are a few of my favorite knives and the place to get them. My #1 Pick ESEE Knives 6P Fixed Blade Knife w/Molded Polymer Sheath

4. My #2 Pick ESEE 3P Survival Fixed Blade Knife, OEM Sawtooth Handle Design

5. My #3 Pick KUBEY KU231 10.4in Fixed Blade Hunting Knives with 5.4in Trailing Point D2 Blade and G-10 Handle for Outdoor Survival Camping and Bushcraft, w/Kydex Sheath