Hunting Knife, there is no one who loves traveling or camping and never heard of it. Hunting knives are different from the regular cutting knives and our kitchen knives.
As these knives are used on special situation and places they are forged and manufactured differently. In this post, we are going to discuss the best hunting knife options for outdoor activities.
Top Picks
| Image | Product | Details | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | KA-BAR Becker BK2 Campanion Fixed Blade Knife | ✔ Heavy duty field knife suited for camping chores ✔ Made in Olean New York, U.S.A ✔ Comes with a hard shell black nylon sheath. | Check Price |
 | Ontario Knife Co RAT-5 1095 Knife | ✔ Made of 1095 Carbon Steel ✔ Fixed blade knife ✔ Great for hunting & camping ✔ Glass breaker tip ✔ Length is 10.5 inches, weight 11.5 ounces | Check Price |
 | Buck Zipper Fixed Blade Knife | ✔ Made in the USA ✔ 8-1/2″ Overall Length, Weight, 6. 6 oz ✔ Made with 420 carbon steel | Check Price |
 | Elk Ridge ER-052 Fixed Blade Knife | ✔ 3CR13 mirror polished stainless steel blade ✔ Fixed Blade Knife, Full Tang Construction, Brown wood Handle, Includes Genuine Leather Sheath ✔ Dimensions : 9.5 x 2 x 1 inches; 3.53 Ounce | Check Price |
 | Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife with Carbon Steel Blade | ✔ Fixed blade outdoor knife with 4.1-inch high carbon steel blade ✔ Lifetime manufacturer’s warranty; Made in Sweden ✔ Blade length: 4.1 inches (104 mm); thickness: 0.08 inch (2.0 mm); Weight w/ sheath: 3.9 oz. (110 g) | Check Price |
 | LoneRock Large Fixed Blade with Gut Hook | ✔ Blade length: 4.25 in. (10.8 cm) -Overall length: 9.4 in. (23.8 cm) -Weight: 5.6 oz. (158.8 g) ✔ Fixed blade; Hunting knife; K-Texture for extra grip ✔ Glass-filled nylon, K-Texture grip | Check Price |
 | KA-BAR BKR7-BRK Combat Utility | ✔ Made in USA ✔ Sturdy, lightweight all-purpose utility knife ✔ Weight: 1. 74” Length: 16. 1” Width: 4. 8” Height: 2. 6” ✔ Easy-to-sharpen 1095 Cor-Van steel blade | Check Price |
What is a hunting knife?
By definition hunting knives were simple. They are sharp in one side. A little bit curvy on the top sharp side. Generally used to skin the game after hunting. It’s more like a tool to prepare your meat for cooking.
In recent times, hunting knives are pretty versatile in terms of functioning. We may no longer use it for skinning or cutting meat only, we use it as a camp knife, and most cases sharpening tool.
Traditionally they are made to cut things, not stab things. This is why only one side is sharped.
Kinds of Hunting Knives
In general, we divide hunting knives as fixed and folding.
Fixed blades knives are a bit larger and stronger than the folding ones. While most people are comfortable with the folding knives as they are less likely to cut you accidentally, but in most cases, we recommend the fixed blade knives.
Fixed blade knives give you more control and strength while cutting and skinning animal skins.
In terms of safety, you can choose the folded blade knife. You can shut it off in your bag or pocket without any problem. Folding knives are lighter and safer to carry.
Most fixed blade hunting knives come with a knife holder to secure it in your belt or ankle. They are ready to use and faster to do the tasks.
Depending on the blade style hunting knives can be classified into three categories.
- Clip Point
- Drop Point
- Trailing point or Skinner
Clip point knives are here for a long time. They are most probably originated from the bowie style. This style blade got the name because it looks like a part of the blade is clipped off.
Generally, the clip point knives are smaller and thinner. The super defined pointy head is good for puncturing and well-shaped blade for skinning. It’s an all-rounder hunting knife. We recommend this type of knives for the first time knife users for its versatile use.
Unlike the clip point knives, the drop point knives are not that much popular among the hunters and campers. Although they are now a standard model and for better grip and control people are linking the designs.
Drop Point knives have a curvier blade style from the spine to the tip. Good for skinning the game and less likely to puncture the meat for the tip style.
The skinners are designed perfectly for skinning big animals. They have curved sharp side going all the way top and the opposite the curve goes downwards to the spine. Perfect balance for making the skinning job faster.
The perfect selection of hunting knife depends on your hand size and the purpose you want it to serve.
Top Manufacturer of Hunting Knives
Hunting knives have a long history with us. After the stone age when humans started to hunt, it might have occurred from that time. At that time they have stone sharpen knives with wooden handle now we have steel blades and the alloy made knives.
Although modern-day hunting knives are far better and accurate with the job they do. Modern-day hunting knives are shaped from 19th and 20th century. We also know Egyptians had good quality hunting knives in their inventory.
In past, these knives were mostly used for killing and stabbing animals, but now we optimized the knives for skinning and cutting rather than killing or stabbing the game.
Enough talk, let’s name some the best brands in today’s market. Buck Knives is one of the most popular brands and their knives can outrank most of the hunting knives in style and uses.
Then there is ESEE, Ka-Bar, Cold Steel, Gerber, Havalon and Benchmade. All these are top brands with good quality hunting knives.
Best Hunting Knives in the Market
We want you to know some details of the hunting knives before you choose your one. We think you have now a general idea about the hunting knives and what to choose. Now we are going to share you some of the best hunting knives from the top brands.
This list is not exclusive, but we can assure you all these knives are field tested and have very good user ratings.
01. KA-BAR Becker BK2 Campanion Fixed Blade Knife
Ka-Bar has a great collection of good quality hunting knives. They are made in Olean New York, USA. Designed by Ethan Becker.
We choose this one for its design and multi-purpose use. Good for people with camping chores in mind. It also has a glass breaker tip at the hilt. The blade is made with 1095 Cro-Van steel.
A great quality Grivory handle for gripping and comes with a hard shell black nylon sheath. This hunting knife is designed to survive and multi-tasking. Easy to sharp and carry.
02. Ontario Knife Co RAT-5
This is our second choice on the list. Made of 1095 Carbon Steel. It’s a fixed blade knife with a plain edge. The length is 10.5 inches with a weight of only 11.5 ounces. This lightweight knife is pretty good in handling tough situations.
Ontario knife company has a good reputation for creating such beautiful blades over the years. They are one of the suppliers for US military.
RAT-5 has a good canvas-textured Micarta handles for better grips. The design is pretty simple and great for hunters and campers alike. This knife is perfect for everyday use also. Good design, good quality blade and comes with glass breaker tip as usual.
03. Buck Knives 0691BKG Buck Zipper Fixed Blade Knife with Guthook
Now you, might start to think where is the buck knife in our list? Here it comes.
Some of our test users believe that Buck Knife has the best knives available in today’s market. We choose the Buck Zipper Fixed blade knife for its strength and intelligent design.
You can easily see that mostly we like the fixed blade knives. This is because they have less moving parts and very unlikely to give you a problem when you need to use the knife faster.
This particular knife has excellent strength, edge retention, and corrosion resistance. You do not need to worry about getting rust in the blade easily.
It’s a drop point knife with gut hook included for field dressing. The Buck Zipper is 8-1/2″ in length and Weight 6.6 Ounces. Lightweight, strong blade and made with 420 carbon steel makes it one of the best choices for serious hunters and campers.
When gutting animals it can be hard to maneuver some knives, sometimes the grip gets slippery. Buck Zipper contains a rubbered grip for a situation like this. The maneuvering with the lightweight blade and better grip will make your task easy.
Although we are not fully satisfied with the sheath quality, it’s not bad. The heavy-duty sheath has a belt loop to hang it in your belt safely.
- Include Guthook Blade
- Made with 420C Steel
- Weighs only 6.6 Ounces
- Full-Bellied Design
- Rubber Handle for better grip
- Brass Butt Guard
- Lifetime warranty
- Not much.
04. Elk Ridge ER-052 Fixed Blade Hunting Knife
This is a beautiful hunting knife with good craftsmanship. Elk Ridge ER-052 has straight edge hawksbill blade made of 440 stainless steel. The handle is covered with pakkawood overlay. It is a full tang handle with silver bolster.
The length of the knife is 9.5 inches and the blade is 4.5 inches. It comes with a high-quality leather sheath.
As it is a hawksbill blade this is better for piercing guts or skin. We are not a great fan of the wooden overlay on the handle. It can be made more compact in the joints, where wood and metal finishing can be greatly improved.
Overall this is a budget hunting knife for anyone. Easy to carry, lightweight and stylish. There are several other same quality blades that can cost you 3X more the price than this one.
Cheap Hunting Knives Option
Cheap blades are not fun to use. We do not recommend to buy a copy or cheap hunting knives. Yet there are several budget option from the top manufacturers. Let’s see some of the best options we have got.
01. Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife
If you are looking for a cheap option for your camping and outdoor activities then the Morakniv Companion Outdoor Knife is a good choice. Budget-friendly, yet durable fixed blade knife with good user ratings.
Don’t get fooled by its price, this is still one of the top companions of the hunters. The stainless steel is much sharper and hard enough to skin or cut in wet or cold condition.
The blade is 4.1 inches (104 mm) in length, the thickness is 0.1 inch (2.5 mm). The overall length is 8.6 inches (218 mm) with handle. Weight is sheath: 4.1 oz. (116 g).
The knife handle is patterned with rubber grip. Its ergonomic design gives a better control and grip while using. One of the best budget-friendly fixed blade outdoor knife.
02. Kershaw 1896GH LoneRock Hunting Knife
Kershaw has a good reputation for creating budget-friendly knives. The Kershaw 1896GH LoneRock is a large fixed blade hunting knife with Gut Hook.
The blade is made of 8Cr13MoV steel, easy to sharp and lightweight for maneuvering. The sturdy glass-filled nylon handle gave it a good grip in wet condition. The hunting knife comes with a nylon sheath.
The blade is not small for pocketing. It’s big enough to use for larger or smaller animal and gut hook gives it an easy skinning option.
Why do you need Hunting Knife?
You might think that you can go for camping or outing with a regular knife, but this is not recommended by top travelers. As you can see, the technology for creating knives has changed a lot in recent years and we have specific knives for specific jobs. It’s an essential gear for traveling, camping, hiking etc.
If you take a regular kitchen knife during your camping trip, you might not find it as useful in the jungle as it is in the kitchen. In the jungle environment or tough terrain, a good quality hunting knife can save your life and time both.
Hunting knife has versatile uses than other regular choices. A good quality hunting knife is made of steel and lasts a lifetime with proper care.
What to look for When Buying a Hunting Knife?
When you are choosing your first hunting knife go for the user reviews first. People don’t tell lie, the advertisements can.
Folding or fixed blade?
This is a difficult choice. We recommend the fixed blade knife as they have less probability to malfunction or close on your hand. Although there are now several high quality folding hunting knives from the top manufacturers, we still believe a fixed blade knife is a better choice.
The grip, maneuver, and ease of use all can be obtained in a fixed blade knife.
Price is not a definitive factor in choosing a hunting knife. There is both cheap and pricey option. You should go for the blade size, weight, and the grip quality.
Stainless blades are good and corrosion resistive. Whereas carbon steel is easy to sharp and maintenance.
Choose a knife that can be used for several tasks other than the main purpose. Most people do not carry a secondary knife. The knives we have listed are both good for campers and hunters. Let us know your preferred choice and we can add them to the list.
