Need Help Finding A Reliable Hunting Knife For Sale?

Every hunter needs a knife by their side. No matter what tools you plan on using to hunt, a good knife will help you break down and field dress whatever you bag. If you are trying to find a reliable hunting knife for sale, we have plenty of high quality options available. When it comes to choosing the perfect hunting knife, there are a lot of factors to consider. Today we will be looking at a few factors that we recommend our customers consider to help find the hunting knife that will meet their needs.

The Basics

Before even looking at our various hunting knives for sale, you need to understand what traits that all hunting knives should have in common. While folding knives do have their place, they just cannot stand the same level of heavy duty work as a fixed blade knife. We recommend choosing a fixed blade option as your main hunting knife, though having a folding knife as part of your hunting kit is always a good idea. There is no such thing as being too prepared on a hunting trip.

Typically hunting knives are all going to have to tackle the same list of tasks. Hunters will have to skin game, field dress game, and occasionally hunters will have to break down larger game animals. This might mean having to cut through tough cartilage and muscle around joints. When you have to tackle some of these more difficult cuts, then you will benefit from having a fixed blade knife made with quality steel.

How You Hunt

The game you are after is going to play a huge role in what kind of hunting knife you will want to bring along. You are obviously not going to need a huge blade to break down a rabbit, but sometimes you might want a smaller blade by your side to perform delicate cuts while dressing a deer or other large game animal. This means that size is not everything when it comes to finding a reliable hunting knife.

While a good general purpose survival knife could have a blade as long as 6 inches in length, a hunting knife will rarely clock in at more than 4 inches. If you plan on getting one general purpose knife for both hunting and camping, then a larger blade could be a great choice. The key is to have a knife that you can control. The longer the blade, the more difficult it will be to control how the point cuts without choking way up on the blade. Because hunting knives will regularly have to deal with some messy tasks, you will want a knife that provides you with a lot of control while you work.

Blade Materials

The next thing to consider is the composition of your hunting knife. It takes quality steel to make a quality knife, and there are a few different options that you will find when you browse our selection of hunting knives for sale. There are different types of steel including carbon steel and stainless steel alloys. Each of these types of steel have their own advantages.

●Carbon Steel - High carbon steel alloys are going to be one of the most common options for hunting knives. As the name suggests, these steel alloys contain at least 0.6% carbon. 1095, one of the most popular carbon steel alloys, has a carbon content of roughly 0.95%. With its high carbon content, this steel alloy is both rigid and strong. Carbon steel knives also have the advantage of taking an edge easily and holding it well. This means that hunters will have to sharpen their knives less, while still enjoying the convenience of having a sharp blade. Carbon steel knives will have to be maintained to avoid corrosion, but it usually takes some pretty serious neglect for rust to occur on a steel hunting knife. Clear coated and powder coated knives are a common option and these coatings help to provide an extra layer of protection against oxidation.

●Stainless Steel - You should also consider stainless steel knives. As the title implies, stainless steel alloys are designed to resist corrosion. This is achieved using certain levels of elements like chromium which help to form protective films on the surface of your steel. While stainless steel blades are great for resisting corrosion, they have their own maintenance requirements. Stainless steel takes a little longer to sharpen and the edge typically will not hold quite as long as the edge of a high carbon steel blade.

Knife Design

Once you know what you value in your steel, it's time to think about what kind of design you want for your knife. We have a wide variety of hunting knives for sale in all sorts of shapes and sizes. A lot of the reasoning for choosing a different blade design will come down to personal preference, but there are some practical issues to consider when choosing what knife style will be the best fit for you.

●Drop Point - The drop point is probably one of the most common blade designs because it is so versatile. The spine of a drop point knife curves slightly downward to meet the tip. This gives drop point knives a well defined point and a nice wide belly for making slicing cuts. Drop point knives offer a lot of control over the point for making delicate cuts while still being sharp enough for piercing tasks. The ample belly is also perfect for slicing through meat or skinning.

●Spear Point - A spear point knife is usually completely or nearly symmetrical. Typically only one of the edges is sharpened, retaining the thick and sturdy spine needed to provide powerful cuts. They also have a nice, sharp point that is perfect for piercing while still retaining a slicing belly. Spear point knives are a great choice for hunters who want a knife that can offer a lot of utility around the campsite as well as on the hunting grounds.

●Nessmuk - This knife design is probably one of the least common options, but the Nessmuk knife is truly an amazing design. This traditional knife design is focused on being an efficient slicer. The spine traditionally slopes upward from an offset handle and the belly is also deeply sloped. This creates a wide blade with plenty of slicing power, but without a pronounced point.

●Clip Point - One of the more classic hunting knife designs is the clip point knife. These knives have a spine that starts straight and then curves down to meet a tip with a slight upward point. While the thick and sturdy blade of a clip point blade is perfect for tough campsite chores and the tip is perfect suited for piercing or fine tasks, these knives are not always the best choice for hunting. Most clip point knives have a smaller belly, limiting their slicing ability.

Handle Materials

Obviously your knife’s blade is going to be doing most of the hard work, but it’s important to not overlook your knife’s handle scales. The handle is the point of interface between the user and the knife. You can really make or break a well designed blade by throwing poorly designed handle scales on it. Luckily most brands do extensive work to perfect the ergonomics of their handles, so choosing a good handle all comes down to materials. You will either need to pick a handle made from a natural material or a synthetic one. This choice may seem purely aesthetic, but it can have a major impact on your knife

●Natural Handle Scales - Some of the most attractive handle scales are constructed from natural materials such as wood, leather, horn, or bone. These materials are often attractive and distinct. Many natural materials can also be textured to provide a secure grip. They are also usually treated in order to protect them from water damage. Because natural materials are all somewhat porous, they may have to be maintained. This is especially true when knives are not frequently used. Despite these facts, natural knife handles have been used for thousands of years and they continue to be a popular option for hunters.

●Synthetic Handle Scales - Recently a number of synthetic handle scale materials have become popular with knifemakers. Almost all of these materials are made by layering sheets of paper, fabric, or other materials with epoxy resin. Once cured under pressure, the resulting material is hard but workable, meaning it can be easily textured and shaped into handle scales. Synthetic handles are inherently water resistant and strong enough to resist cracking. Layers can also be colored to create unique patterns in the finished handle scales. Micarta and G10 are two of the most popular handle materials.

Choosing The Right Sheath

No good knife is complete without a sheath. Sheaths not only help to protect knives from the elements, but they also protect users from their knives. Leather sheaths are definitely the most popular option for hunters, but nylon, plastic, and Kydex sheaths are also a popular choice. If you like a more tactical look, you may want to go with a synthetic sheath over the more traditional leather option. Aesthetics aside, each of these sheath materials has their own pros and cons.

●Leather - Like we mentioned above, a leather sheath is going to be the most common option. There is a good reason for this, leather is strong, flexible and easy to work with. It is also one of the most traditional options. A good leather sheath may be relatively plain or decorated, but they all are soft enough to protect your knife and relatively quite. Leather can dry out and stretch with continued use, but a well maintained leather sheath can last a lifetime.

●Nylon - Nylon sheaths are made with a woven synthetic material and they are fairly similar to leather in terms of performance. Nylon is soft on the blade, but is difficult to cut. These sheaths are usually not formed to fit a specific knife, but are just sewn strips of nylon that may feature an additional strap in order to offer an extra secure hold. Nylon sheaths can stretch over time, but they are perfectly suited for resisting the elements.

●Kydex - Kydex was originally designed as a thermoplastic material to be used in the production of airplane interiors. This hard plastic material can be heated and molded around a blade. Once cooled, the two sides of the sheath can be riveted together in order to provide a strong and secure sheath. These sheaths can usually be used with MOLLE sheath systems, giving users plenty of options. Because these sheaths are hard and rigid, they can be a little louder than other sheath systems.

Hopefully this little overview will help you find the perfect knife for your next hunting trip. If you need any more help narrowing down your options, you can find plenty of great hunting knives for sale in the “Hunting Knives” category in our store. You can also use our exclusive Knife Builder tool to put together your own custom hunting knife package. If you have any questions about any of the knives that we carry, you can always reach out to one of our knife experts by sending an email to sales@theknifeconnection.com. We are always happy to help our customers find the best knives to meet their needs.