McGowan's Firestone Electric Sharpener quickly hones kitchen and sporting knives to a short functional hollow ground edge. The Firestone works well on utility grade knives commonly used for kitchen prep, but save your finest blades for the whetstone. The angle this machine sets works efficiently but doesn't match up to ...

Designed by Bill Moran, one of the founding fathers of the American Bladesmith Society, Spyderco's Bill Moran drop-point, fixed blade knife provides adventurous knife owners with important modern features seldom found in traditional belt knives. Also find Moran's signature etched in the blade.

This 8-1/16-inch-long hunting and survival knife ...

This ornate two-handed longsword represents the sword of King Solomon. The Medieval Crusader Knight's sword is constructed in the style of weapons that a medieval knight might have used during the Crusades. The 440 high carbon stainless steel blade shows intricate laser-cut etchings and a false edge in a quality ...

If you own United Cutlery's LOTR Movie Replica Sword Glamdring -- the personal weapon of Gandalf the Wizard -- you'll need a good scabbard whenever you take the sword down from the wall. That high-quality replica sword has the feel of a real weapon and will require some ...

Since today's pirate cutlasses are usually part of a costume rather than battle weapons, you'll want to consider the Pirates of Caribbean Cutlass Sword with Basket Guard. This cutlass is clearly an accessory rather than a fighting cutlass, but it does offers some good features at a reasonable price.

The Cutlass ...

First, out of respect to the height-challenged Hobbit race, I will have to point out that the Lord of the Rings Sting Dagger is actually a sword. The Sting may be a little short by human standards, but any true Tolkien fan should know that the Sting was the ...

The Celtic Dress Sword from General Edge includes modern interpretations of the old features of this ancient European blade. The result is a display sword with a good overall look.

The crescent moon motif that forms the sword's hilt and pommel fits the modern idea of what a Celtic sword ...

The Buck 279BK Folding Alpha Hunter offers the best features of the Alpha Hunter fixed blade in a drop point folder style. If you've dressed out enough game in your life that you don't need a gut hook, skip the Buck 278 and get this one -- the same ...

The Buck 179 Mayo Hilo, designed by Tom Mayo, took inspiration from the surf and the sharks of the Hawaiian coast. The Hilo is all about sleek lines, light weight, and shark-tooth efficiency.

The bead blasted finish may have been intended to simulate sharkskin, but you'd probably not make that ...

Suppose you ignored the standard logic about what makes a good hunting knife and started out with fresh ideas -- if you looked at what materials are available today and what the typical hunter's needs really are, you could come up with the Buck 693BK Alpha Hunter Guthook.

This ...

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Remington went a little ways past the good idea that inspired the Sportsman Series Tectonic CTi. To make a full-sized skinner blade with the lightest materials possible is a reasonable project, but there's a lot about this knife that just seems ...

Buck explains the 183CM Camo Alpha Crosslock (PBS) as a Portable Butcher Shop. Although the small size of this knife also works well for small game, the bone saw blade makes field dressing larger animals like deer possible as well. If you hunt quail, you'll need Buck's regular bird ...

This heavy fighting knife -- drop forged from one piece of high carbon 440C stainless steel -- has good balance, although the green canvas micarta handle doesn't do much for its looks. A full tang build including a heavy forged bolster and hand guard give the Schanz Integral Dagger ...

Since I don't spend much of my time in high rise buildings, I don't see many firemen's axes -- though in many places, they're a standard part of the landscape right next to the fire extinguisher in the hallway. The AMPCO Fireman's Pick Head Axe could provide that same level of ...

Being able to cut a 2x4 at a perfect right angle with a handsaw is always one of the marks of a skilled carpenter -- with the European style of saw most of us know, accurate cuts take years of practice. With Shark's 12-inch carpentry saw, an improved version of ...

The Skeleton Chaser Fantasy Axe from General Edge could have dropped from the hands of a fallen orc warrior. Though the handle is aluminum, there's plenty of high level sharp stainless steel in this twin-bladed fantasy battleaxe.

If you haven't seen this axe up close, you may expect a larger ...

Buck's calls the 192BK Vanguard the company's classic field knife for big game hunters. If the biggest thing you hunt is a deer, the Vanguard works just fine for that, too. Buck combines a 4-1/8-inch-long hunter/skinner hollow ground blade with both traditional and modern materials and comes up with a ...

Shark's flexible Fine Cut Saw gives us the traditional Ryoba joiner's saw with a modern improvement -- pushbutton blade replacement. This double-edged saw style has been standard in Japan for centuries but is relatively new to Western woodworkers. One side bears shark-tooth shaped teeth for crosscutting and the opposite ...

With one of Smith & Wesson's easiest assisted opening systems, the S&W Military Police M.A.G.I.C. Scooped Tanto offers both tactical and emergency rescue features in a highly engineered but economical package. Manufactured to Smith & Wesson specifications in Taiwan, the knife is a good choice for anyone who needs ...

The Shark Dowel/Dovetail/Detail Saw cuts one of the thinnest kerfs possible, but even though it's a great crosscut saw for tenons and tricky detail work it isn't the only saw you'll need for dovetailing.

The Shark Detail Saw is so thin and flexible that it's a little tricky to use. ...

Fiskars doesn't claim that the Pro Chopping Axe is unbreakable, but it does give the axe a limited lifetime warranty against defects in worksmanship, covering both head and handle. Most owners of the Fiskars Pro will not take it past its limits, which are set pretty high anyway. In one ...

Snow and Nealley's "Our Best" Single Bit Axe chops kindling, splits stove wood, shears branches from downed trees, and works equally well for any number of light chores around the woodlot or farm. This 3.5-pound axe isn't out of reason for a group backpacking trip, either, provided people ...

When craftsmen of today try to recreate the work of previous generations, there's a good chance they'll just end up wondering how those old-timers did that. Modern tools were designed for modern materials and often don't fare well on traditional challenges. The Gransfors Bruks Swedish Carving Axe is one ...

The Mini Hatchet from Gransfors Bruks qualifies as the sporting blade you didn't know you need. Carrying the belt axe or tomahawk is an option many people don't even think about today, but it used to be standard equipment on the frontier. Lennart Pettersson, one of the smiths at the ...

The Gerber Prodigy scales down the design of Jeff Freeman's tactical fixed blade, the LMF II. Still a large knife by civilian standards, the 9-3/4-inch Prodigy provides more than 4-3/4 inches of strong Sandvik 12C27 high carbon stainless steel. The combo edge serves well for quick cutting of straps and ...

Shark's Trim/Detail Ryoba combines a thin double edged spring steel blade with an old handle design that's not so great. The 19 tpi ripping edge and the 24 tpi crosscut edge otherwise would be a perfect combination for dovetailing and other tricky feats of joinery.

With a finer tpi ...

This very nice Damascus Bowie Knife has a traditional rustic build combined with fine filework on the spine of the laminated Damascus steel blade. It shows the beauty and unique flaws of natural materials and simple methods along with very modern refinements. The brass finger guard and ...

If you need a knife heavy enough for chopping wood, the Ka-Bar 14-1/4-inch Bowie could be a match. The tactical black high carbon 1085 steel blade is flat ground and tempered to Rockwell 55 to 57 -- it's a strong edge that will even hold up to rocks without ...

Smith & Wesson's Military Police Magic Assisted Tanto shows good quality in an American-sponsored imported design. The Taiwanese makers of the Military Police Tanto put together good features and good materials. Tactical users may be tempted and anyone who needs a good urban survival knife should take ...

A 3-3/8-inch knife with a 2-3/8-inch blade probably shouldn't be referred to as a folding hunter, but the Buck 55 comes very close to living up to that standard anyway. The Buck 55 is actually the pocket knife version of the Buck 110, which is the largest folding ...

Flexcut Tool Company's SK108 20-Piece Carving Starter Set gives artisans a selection of 17 blades, two interchangeable handles, and the basics of a sharpening system all in one compact case. This collection of good tools is not the traditional approach, using light spring steel blades instead of heavy forged patterns ...

The 11 Piece Carving Set from Two Cherries includes tools for both relief and chip carving. A good choice for beginners and for expert carvers who need to replace tools or expand collections, the Two Cherries set features forged blades of high carbon tool steel hardened to Rockwell 61 ...

The Two Cherries 5 Piece Palm-Handled Carving set includes five high quality tools for detailing and small scale relief carvings plus a five-pocket leather pouch for storage.

These small carving tools show some of the same features of full-sized gouges and chisels intended for heavier work. Forged bolsters and ferruled ...

The large oval thumb loop in the Gerber EZ-Out DPSF S30V technically makes this a knife you can open with one hand. Though that's possible, most people will continue to use two hands when unfolding this 8-inch lockback. The four-inch combo serrated high carbon stainless steel blade ...

The Case Old Red Bone Baby Butterbean knife has been around since the days when pocket knives were essential tools of everyday tradesmen. Still popular with today's professionals, this 2-3/4-inch folding knife has no frills beyond quality materials and high standards.

According to Case, the high carbon stainless steel blade ...

Ka-Bar's Black Cutlass Machete reaches back to the roots of both designs, coming up with a new approach that works well for modern campers and adventurers. The 16-1/2-inch rat tail tang knife -- with 11 inches of 1085 high carbon steel cutting edge -- chops brush, slashes rope, and in ...

Available in 60, 65 and 75-centimeter lengths, the Mountain Axe by Omega Pacific follows the principles the company set for itself years ago in its effort to produce high quality climbing gear at an affordable price. High tech manufacturing procedures and top quality components lower the cost but ...

Case's practical pocket knives are some of today's best choices for everyday use. Case knives gather few concerned glances if pulled out discreetly for some minor emergency at the restaurant table or bus stop. Made for work rather than tactical situations, Case's older styles like this 3-1/2 ...

Master knife designer Steve Tarani partnered with the experts at 5.11 Tactical to develop the C.U.B. knife series, and the 5.11 Tactical C.U.B. Master Knife is just one of the interesting results. The claw -style cutting edge of the 2-3/4 inch blade -- made from S30V crucible steel -- ...

DMT's W4F Diamond Pocket Whetstone has the fine grit matrix you most often need when touching up a blade edge at work or far from home. This 4 by 7/8 by 3/16-inch sharpening stone weighs only a little more than three ounces, including the neat stitched leather sheath. Ultralight travelers ...

DMT's Coarse Grit Diamond Whetstone quickly restores accurate bevels to badly worn blades of tools and knives as well as materials no ordinary whetstone will touch. The diamond impregnated plastic body of the stone is faced with a perforated layer of nickel-coated steel embedded with diamond grit. The combination ...

The Kershaw Alaskan Blade Trader System avoids combining all the blades you need for skinning and butchering big game by offering three interchangeable blades which fit to one handle. Instead of a massive hunter style with saw tooth back and gut hook tip, the Kershaw system provides separate blades performing ...

Sadly, this small fully automatic tactical knife is only for law enforcement, military personnel, and a very few other special groups. An automatic knife would always be in my pocket if that were not so -- the difference between an automatic and a fixed blade is something like ...

Jim Wagner's Reality Based Rescue Knife, manufactured by Boker of Germany, drastically revises the design of the usual rescue blade. The result is actually more tool than knife, with some real advantages if emergency rescue work is the main thing you intend for the RBR.

Many rescue knife designs build ...

Since the styles are so similar, I'm immediately tempted to compare this to the Buck Folding Hunter series -- but when I do, I'm a little bit disappointed in Buck. Every time I compare something American to what should be the same knife from Puma of Solingen, Germany, I ...

The 4-ounce Case Trapper #0783 has been a popular and dependable choice for ranchers, farmers, and the rest of us for several decades. The Trapper's spey and clip blades, slightly under 4 inches long, close to a folded length of 4-1/8 inches. Red bone handle slabs could be ...

This plain edge version of the Boker Magnum has a solid feel even though it's only 3.5 ounces in weight. The machined aluminum handle gives it considerable strength, and the action is smooth and accurate. The top locking system uses a plunge lock button that won't release until solidly ...

I most appreciate the knives that take thought to comprehend, and the Cold Steel Espada V is a great example of a knife you won't completely get the first time you see it. Cold Steel continues to take chances and express some good ideas. This one is ...

The Coast Grandpa knife -- made by Coast Knives of Portland, Oregon, but designed by Zweibruder (Puma Knives) -- shows the classic American Bowie pattern as influenced by European weaponsmiths. More a piercing weapon than a chopping blade, the upswept point and false dagger edge would be at home ...

There are Bowie-style knives, and then there are real Bowie knives. The Coast 14-inch Bowie Knife is a real Bowie -- maybe a little small by frontier standards, but still big enough to perform the way the originals did. With nine inches of one-quarter-inch-thick 440C high carbon stainless ...