Fixed Blade Knives (2)

Though it's better known for its many styles of fantasy and replica weapons, United Cutlery also designs knives in a tactical style. Imported from China, the practical offerings from United Cutlery include the M48 Kommando Fighter Knife. With the makers and most of the technical specifications somewhere on the other ...

Although some very well-known carvers use pocketknives exclusively, a pocketknife was actually designed for occasional use. Where hours of work are involved, other styles work better. The carving set from Flexcut of Erie, Pennsylvania, offers four specialized carving knives meant for the long haul.

The problem with pocket knives ...

Designed by Alan Folts of Greenville, N.C., the Folts Minimalist neck knife produced by Columbia River Knife and Tool friction-fits in an inverted sheath worn around the neck. Grasp the deep finger grooves of the handle or the braided nylon fob hanging from it and pull the knife free ...

Built for the trophy hunter, the Outdoor Edge Dark Timber Combo knife set places a full-sized skinner knife and a smaller caping knife in one double-pocket leather belt sheath.

Well designed for skinning and caping trophy deer, elk, and moose, the Dark Timber set offers pakkawood handle slabs in dark ...

With the bulletproof features you need in a good survival knife, the SOG Creed is more than a sharp camp tool. Built of tactical quality materials and well designed for a wide variety of uses, this modified bowie knife also does well as a full-sized hunter and ...

Cold Steel's Nightshade Karambit is just one of ten models of both classic knives and strictly Cold Steel inventions now available with absolutely no steel. Instead of high carbon steel blades, the Karambit and its counterparts are constructed of a new fiberglass reinforced plastic called Grivory, with grips of reliable ...

Designed by Jim Hammond, the Operator's Model A.B.C. (All Bases Covered) knife adapts Hammond's popular fixed blade diver's knife design to land use. With full-length cutting edges both plain and serrated, this rugged outdoorsman's knife covers every situation.

The four-ounce knife of AUS8 high carbon stainless steel incorporates a modified ...

Since I saw this boot knife from Kershaw discussed in a recent issue of Blade Magazine I had to take a look. Apparently, runners and hikers in southern California are carrying the Kershaw Military Boot Knife as defense against mountain lion attacks. Honestly, even though this is a decent ...

Gerber re-introduces an old Gerber design, the Steadfast, this time with modern materials and reliable but venerable ideas. The modern Steadfast matches the old pattern superficially but isn't quite what it used to be. In old-fashioned high carbon steel, this was a much better knife.

Now made in China, this ...

This SK-5 high carbon steel fixed blade from Boker of Germany matches one of my favorite survival knife designs. Recreating a style commissioned by General Curtis Lemay of the Strategic Air Command, this knife competed successfully against models from Randall's Tree brand and for years was the standard pilot's ...

Some knives look too good to use, and this 8-1/2-inch full-sized skinner (with a 4-1/4-inch hollow ground high carbon stainless steel gut hook blade) almost crosses the line into the collector's zone. Fortunately, like the other knives Buck makes, it was built for work.

The brass butt and finger ...

The smallest knife in Cold Steel's tanto series, the Master Tanto with a six-inch blade of VG-1 San Mai III high carbon stainless steel, varies only a little from the classic tanto in visual terms. In materials, there's a considerable difference between Cold Steel's model and the classic backup ...

Designed for Spyderco by Fred Perrin, a world-ranked martial artist and ex-French commando now making knives in Paris, this small fixed blade incorporates some excellent military ideas but still fits civilian use well. You'll find the sheath equally handy.

With a 3-1/2-inch clip point blade of VG-10 stainless steel and ...

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 ...

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 Gut ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 weapon smiths. More a piercing weapon than a chopping blade, the upswept point and false dagger edge would be at ...

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 ...

Thanks to a reader here I now know the history behind this combination Scottish Regimental Dirk and mess kit. This replica dirk isn't of the best quality, with fittings of cheap pressed metal and faux cairngorn of real colored glass. The matching knife and fork tuck into small pockets ...

First produced by Ka-Bar in 2006, the U.S. Army version of the Vietnam Commemorative Knife is the real thing, with a little added decoration. The 7-inch bowie style blade and stacked leather handle match the well known Ka-Bar fighting knife pattern that has been standard issue for American military since ...

Survival knives usually try to do everything with one tool and wind up not being very good at any of it. The Schrade Extream Survival Knife is a better knife than most all purpose blades but has a few weak points.

The Extream is large (12.5 inches overall length) and heavy ...

The thick bolster makes this light skinner look heavy, but in the Buck Gen-5 Skinner Fixed Blade knife, Al Buck's old ideas have been updated and streamlined. Josh Buck -- the fifth generation of the Buck family to design fine hunting and skinning knives -- included all the ...

Smith & Wesson's updated version of the Ontario Knife Company M9 Bayonet, the SW3G Special Ops M-9 includes the essential features that survival knives in a technological age should have. Similar to the knives issued to military helicopter pilots in Vietnam, the M9's saw-toothed spine can cut through ...

The collector's version of the Buck Gen-5 Skinner series designed by Josh Buck, great-grandson of the company founder, the Gen-5 Guitar Skinner with Cocobolo hardwood handle is a limited edition of 1,000 numbered knives. Each purchase includes a Certificate of Authenticity verifying the knife's place in the series.

The basic ...

Two beautiful and rare woods form the handle of this full width, full tang hunting and skinning blade from Boker of Germany. Shaped to match the stainless steel bolster and finger guard, two small slabs of Brazilian rosewood fill the forward section of the Elk Hunter's bolster. ...

Finally, a serious boot/neck knife from Cold Steel -- previous offerings from that renowned self-defense company were not always up to Cold Steel's no-nonsense standards. This tanto-style knife, designed by Barry Dawson, is one of seven blade styles available and probably also the most sensible. The tanto blade was ...

The Buck 103 Skinner's "turned-down" point blade resembles several famous Puma styles of hunting knives. With a forward-weighted blade that puts more cutting edge up front and more steel behind the point, it's a sensible design but very different from American bowie patterns. For more efficient piercing, you may ...

The knives from Puma's Solingen, Germany, factory always look more like weapons than the average factory-made knife, and the Puma Stag Skinner knife holds true to that. The 5-inch blade of the Puma Skinner may be technically a Bowie style, but it has the flair of a European dagger. ...

This hunter skinner knife from Boker of Germany will need more upkeep than blades with higher grades of steel. Made with 440A, the knife could be an excellent choice for fisherman, especially those who go after saltwater prey. One of the most corrosion resistant stainless steels, this alloy will ...

United Cutlery says the Dragon X-10 from the Steel Apocalypse Collection took inspiration from the genre of science fiction and futuristic weaponry rather than any particular movie or gamer blade. Creative minds looking for their own inspiration need go no further in their search for a good story. This ornate ...

The frontier look of the Buck Special dates back to the days when Buck Knives was a two-man shop. This striking bowie pattern evolved from one of the most popular knives made by Hoyt and Al Buck when they built every knife themselves by hand. The blade is a ...

Since the Buck Pathfinder only weighs 4.5 ounces, it's hard to argue that there's no need to take a full-sized knife with you on your longest walks. The Pathfinder's streamlined design puts a 5-inch high carbon stainless steel hollow ground blade in your hand with less overall weight and more ...

The eight piece Ninja Warrior Sword from United Cutlery makes an interesting display piece even though the nondescript black cord wrapped handle and black scabbard aren't designed to attract attention. Though this compact weapons set isn't combat quality steel, it's good enough to be both functional and entertaining.

The 23-inch sword blade ...

Obviously designed for advanced martial artists, the Tiger Hooks in this set from Tiger Claw match the form of the old weapons but not the function. Built of chrome plated mild steel with lightly wrapped handles, these Tiger Hooks will suit those who want a simple wall display or a lightweight ...

One of the most interesting of the old Chinese weapons, butterfly knives originally were carried concealed beneath the robes of monks. Old accounts say that only the tips were sharpened, allowing monks to use the double short swords in self defense without killing their opponents. Original movements designed for the ...

Cold Steel's San Mai III Gurkha Kukri may be the heaviest kukri produced today -- with full tang VG-1 high carbon stainless steel construction and a thickness of 5/16 inches, that's certainly possible. Designed by Lynn Thompson, the president of Cold Steel, the San Mai III Kukri varies only slightly in ...

Nowhere in the Puma lineup is the difference between the International Puma (IP) brand and the original quite so obvious as in this knife. This stripped down version of the famous Puma White Hunter -- the Puma IP White Hunter with stacked leather handle -- is clearly a very ...

Natural stag handles which vary in shape and pattern from knife to knife give each Puma IP Scout Bowie the unique look of hand craftsmanship. Manufactured in Spain, the Puma IP line uses modern technology to produce knives in the tradition of the parent company's German craftsmen. Though fewer hand ...

I've always wondered about the story K-Bar tells of the trapper who killed a wounded bear with one of their Bowie knives. I've felt that it probably wasn't one they make now. If they made this knife, their company story would be a lot more believable -- but the Damascus ...

The Blackjack Trailguide, a full-sized skinner, offers collectability as well as practical value. The wide Bowie-style blade with false double edge is designed well for the piercing and slicing work necessary when butchering big game. A long nickel silver finger guard gives full protection for heavy levering and twisting. The overall length ...

This 10.83-inch black combat dagger from Puma IP -- the international production branch begun in Spain in 2003 -- sports a double-edged 6" blade of 440C alloy high carbon stainless steel. Coated with black Teflon to prevent glare and increase corrosion resistance, the dagger is a no-nonsense concept for the ...

The stag-handled Wapiti follows the Puma Knives' tradition of simplicity and excellence. This old Solingen, Germany knife-making firm has made sporting knives, survival knives, and military weapons since the mid-1700's and tailors its products to local consumer demand. The drop point skinner Wapiti offers American hunters one of the most popular ...

With the backing of the famous Italian firearms makers Beretta, this Bob Loveless drop point skinner design offers the essence of the Loveless 522 at an affordable price. Without the gold filigree of the original but holding onto much of the beauty, this sturdy hunting knife still qualifies as a limited edition ...

This interesting display Bowie by Maxam Knives of Dallas, Texas, was created as a canvas for the hand painted wolf themed artwork on the blade. The knife itself still has a limited lifetime warranty, but wasn't intended as anything other than a piece of modern folk art. It's ...