For hunting, you will need various equipment that deserves your attention. This includes for example clothing, backpack, binoculars, but also the thing you will be perhaps using most often - yes, it is a hunting knife. Such helper will be your every day companion. If there is something which should be high-quality, it is definitely your knife. Since there are many types of knives on the market, let´s talk about how the hunting knife should look like.
What to focus on when choosing a hunting knife ?
Hunting knives are a popular tool that you will use both for preparing a snack, but also when working with shot game. Skinning and related work is closely linked to the overall construction of the knife, its handles, but also the blade.
The first question, just as with other types of knives, is obvious – folding knife or fixed blade ? There are different opinons on that. However, we can say that the best option for hunting is a fixed blade knife. Folding knives can offer more blades (each for different work), but on the other hand, the fixed blade knives offer something, that the folding knives can never provide. The multiple durability and confidence between you and a knife. Can you imagine skinning game with the folding knife ? You could easily hurt yourself. That is why you should choose fixed blade knife such as Full-Tang or similar. For rougher work, the Full-Tang is again better, which has the same thickness of steel along the entire length. With the other designs, the handles could become loose.
What is the best blade shape for hunting knives ?
In addition to high-quality design and well shaped handles that provide excellent grip, it is mainly the blade you should pay attention to. There are many blade shapes on the market. You should focus on Drop-Point or Clip-Point.
Drop-point is a style of knife blade that slopes on the spine of the blade from the handle of the knife to the tip of the blade. This allows the spine of the blade (where the blade is thicker, and thus stronger) to continue forward to the tip of the blade. The clip point is one of the three most common knife blade shapes used (the others being the drop point and the spear point). Clip point blades have the appearance of having the forward third of the blade "clipped" off. The clip itself can be straight or concave. These qualities make this blade shape popular amongst the hunters. It all depends on your personal prefences what shape of the blade you choose. This, however, can not be said about the types of blade edges.
You should forget about the combo blade with dominant serrated edge. Serrations could damage skin as well as meat, which is definitely not a feature you are looking for. Thickness of the blade is highly important when it comes to durability. It should never be less than 4 milimetres. The last question is the blade length. That differs - it can be 10 centimeters but also 17 centimeters. With a smaller blade you can be more skilled. The longer blade should feature Choil for better handling with the knife.
How to choose a hunting knife ?
Choosing a knife does not necessarily have to be a problem. Stick to the above mentioned tips and you will be able to make a good purchase. However, another thing you could be interested in, is the material.
Knife grips are subject to a certain traditional convention, therefore mainly wood is used, but you can see other materials too. The blade of the knife is a chapter itself. Practically, it can be any modern material that will have good anti-corrosion properties. In the end, you can choose knife sheath. Most often you will see leather, which has been part of hunting knives forever, but modern non-slip materials have their advantages too.