Designed to never need sharpening, the knives in this block set from Chicago Cutlery feature thick stamped high carbon stainless steel blades with serrated edges. The set is a tempting mix of good values and troublesome ideas.

The Basics 25-piece Wood Block Set, made in China to Chicago Cutlery's specifications, includes ...

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 ...

United Cutlery made the Black Ronin Ninja Sword good enough to actually use, though it's an odd blend of jungle machete and wakizashi. Like the Black Ronin Tomahawk, the Ninja Sword looks like a fantasy weapon until you get up close. Then it's surprisingly real.

Made from one bar of ...

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 ...

This strong metal 36.5-inch walking cane features a cast metal grip in the shape of small sketetal arms with a decorative screaming skull in poly-cast resin at the forefront of the handle. Unscrew the handle from the cane sheath and reveal a wicked 15.5-inch high carbon stainless steel sword ...

This ten-piece block set in the Classic Chef pattern from Chicago Cutlery does not represent the best that China offers today. Out of this large assortment of imported standard kitchen knives, only the wooden knife block gets an honorable rating.

Serrated knives -- and all knives in this set are ...

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 ...

This eight-piece bamboo block set from Shun offers knives from the Shun Classic series, with the focus on chef's knives rather than santoku. If you prefer the traditional European cook's knife style but also want the superior steel and cutting ability of Shun's Damascus blades, this set was designed ...

The Classic eight-inch cleaver from Wusthof of Solingen, Germany, may be finding a place in more kitchens now that chefs are looking for ways to reduce costs. If you're willing to buy larger cuts and do your own chopping, it's still possible to save a little money, but you'll need ...

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 ...

If I ever need a replacement for the Buck 110 that's in my pocket right now, I'll probably go for the upgrade: the Buck 110FG Folding Lockback Hunter with Finger Grooves. I hope the Buck Company stops trying to improve this knife beyond that minor change, because it's an idea ...

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 ...

Remington's Barlow Bullet pocket knife adds decorative special features to this new version of a knife style that has been a part of American history since its import from England in the 1600's. Both the company name and the Remington cartridge logo are integrated in the design as an ...

If you like Forschner cutlery but prefer the natural beauty of rosewood to the company's black indestructible Fibrox, the Rosewood Utility knife offers users the same economy and quality with traditional styling. With only slightly more care, the rosewood-handled utility knife should survive kitchen duty just as well as the ...

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 ...

Kershaw's Whiskey Gap Lockback Folder has a nice look about it, with some of the old functionality of the Barlow popular in America's early days but cleaned up a bit with subtle modern refinements. The single clip point 2-1/4-inch blade of AUS6A high carbon stainless steel lifts by the thumb ...

The slip joint style pocket knife -- like the Puma Stockman Stag -- used to be the standard pocket blade for ranchers, farmers, and outdoorsmen. Three blades covered most common purposes no matter what the profession, and if the tip broke off one of them, it also counted ...

Shun Cutlery's Classic Carving Set brings that company's famous VG-10 Damascus style stainless steel to the dinner service. The look is the same as that of Shun's other chef's knives, with an elegant and simple ebony-style pakkawood handle and a forged stainless steel blade.

Both knife and fork provide ...

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 ...

The Open Mouthed Dragon Claw Katana from Sword Demon is another interesting sword for the collector who finds inspiration in fantasy weaponry and is unconcerned with practical issues. The stainless steel blade comes unsharpened and was never intended for actual combat or even real-world cutting practice.

The cast metal fittings ...

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 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 ...

The Buck 303 Cadet condenses the blade selection of the Stockman series to a more convenient size for the pocket. The same three blades selected for the popular rancher's pocketknife are featured here as well. With the Buck 303, you get a 2-5/8-inch clip point main blade plus a ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Folding Powerglide Tanto from Smith & Wesson uses some of the basic concepts of the balisong or butterfly knife, but modifies the system enough to qualify as a two-handed pocket blade. Though the action is slower than the traditional Philippine version, the Powerglide still provides the same compact ...

The Cold Steel Paradox operates smoothly but differently from the traditional balisong or butterfly knife. The modified design was created to put this knife in the same category as folding pocket knives. Any truly one-handed opening knife is subject to legal restrictions, and the Paradox is not a one-handed ...

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 sawtoothed 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 Cocobola 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 fingerguard, two small slabs of Brazilian rosewood fill the forward section of the Elk Hunter's bolster. Full ...

Cold Steel intended the Voyager series to be both lighter and better than any of the competition. The Voyager does succeed in many ways -- getting used to a large knife this light may take a while. Even with a five-inch-long tanto blade of VG-1 high carbon stainless steel, the ...

The Cold Steel Voyager Medium Tanto covers a wide range of everyday needs -- good for camping, fishing, hunting, and handyman work, although the tanto point traditionally was the mark of a combat blade. If one-handed opening is an essential feature you need, consider the strength of your hand. ...

The Buck 112 Ranger already was a sound knife design for anyone who needs a rugged blade for hard everyday use -- and a dependable hunting or fishing knife for that impromptu getaway. In fact, I was skeptical of the changes that created the Buck 112FG -- it's ...

Although it doesn't greatly resemble its predecessor, the Buck 278 Folding Alpha Hunter is the upgraded version of the very popular Buck 110 Folding Hunter. The Buck 278 with Guthook is different enough to be a whole new knife. If you see traces of the 110 here, you're ...

Buck's small pocket clip folder, the Buck Rush in ATS-34 high carbon stainless steel, features the assisted opening system called ASAP. Buck claims the knife will be safer for pocket carry than a fully automatic knife and open with speed that's competitive with a standard switchblade.

When closed, ...

Thick laser-cut steel and a cutting edge ice-hardened by J.A. Henckels' Friordur process makes the Twin Meat Cleaver strong enough for any tough chopping job in the kitchen. This is not a lightweight vegetable cleaver -- the blade of the Henckels chops through gristle, joints, and even heavy bone and ...

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 ...

Let's talk tackle boxes before bringing up the Buck Protege. If you fish, you probably do have a knife tucked away in the bottom compartment where everything gets wet and nasty. Not every knife will hold up to that, and probably you've stashed something cheap under the extra reel ...

A light but strong plain-edged knife well suited to everyday use, the Kershaw Scallion clips to your pocket and stays within reach. If you find yourself too busy to free both hands, the Speed-Safe feature designed by Ken Onion lets you open and close the stout blade with one ...

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 ...