micarta Knives, Swords, Blades

Without being too critical of what is clearly a well-made knife, I wonder what exactly the Alaskan Survival Knife by Gil Hibben was intended to do. I also wonder why it was endorsed by the Alaskan Professional Hunters Association, because to me it looks like a fantasy blade from United ...

Al Mar's Falcon Ultralight Folding Knife does not have the stripped-down look of minimal back country knives. This pocket clip folder works like heavier counterparts with extra features you'd not expect in a knife that weighs only 1.25 ounces.

The Falcon's overall length of just over 7 inches includes ...

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 chorls of the handle or the braided nylon fob hanging from it and pull the knife free ...

Cold Steel jumped into the artistic pool with knives like the Talwar Folder, built in cooperation with designer Lynn Thompson. Called a pocket sword rather than a pocket knife, the Talwar combines the style of old Spanish weaponry with the usual invulnerable mechanics of Cold Steel products.

You'd expect ...

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 ...

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 ...

Tactical knives come and go, some great ideas and some wanna-bes. I admit I'm skeptical when I see that knives are advertised as "in the hands of top field agents right now!" That's an easy claim to make and tough to back up. The biographies of the founders of TOPS ...

With the Tacticos Corto, Boker of Solingen, Germany, brings a tactical design into the world where the rest of us live. Many modern special ops blades have features that limit their use in the private sector, but this practical military model will fit the needs of civilians as well as ...

The clean ergonomic curves of this tool steel full tang sheath knife give stress free efficiency to an old and reliable hunting design from the 1960's. The Upland Special from Bark River Knives, a well respected upstart company producing quality cutlery since the 1970's, adds ...

The Bark River Golog brings the traditional machete of Indonesia to the North Woods of America. One pound in weight, the 17 5/8" bushcraft knife has been reduced in size but not in strength--it's forged from chrome vanadium tool steel nearly a quarter inch thick. ...

The wide strong 3" long tool steel blade of the Woodland Special from Bark River Knives of Michigan is a step back to the quality and practicality of frontier days. The Woodland is designed for a full sized grip and feel, with the same micarta slab canvas textured handle as ...

Inspired by the Italian made blades of wiseguys and "made men," the American engineered Protech Godson brings the practical beauty of this efficient European classic to American pockets. If the laws governing the use of automatic knives were relaxed, they'd overwhelm the marketplace; as it is, only a select few ...

Nice to see that someone out there hasn't completely shifted over to stainless steel, and it doesn't surprise me to find that among the last to resist that impulse is Microtech, producer of high quality military blades. The D2 tool steel Microtech favors is corrosion resistant, needing a minimum of ...

Bud Nealy is a professional musician turned master knifemaker. He began knifemaking nearly thirty years ago, as a hobby, and has made knives his fulltime job for the past two decades. His designs are renowned around the world, and he is perhaps most celebrated for his innovative MCS System ...

Boker's Bullfrog is a bead blasted 2" plain-edge, drop point, lock-blade knife. The manufacturer's specs say 440 stainless steel, which probably means 440A, which is not a fantastic steel, one generally considered barely good enough for the Bullfrog's proclaimed design intention as an "every day knife." It's higher carbon ...

Buck pocket knives are an American classic, the evolutionary result of a Kansas blacksmith's search for a better tempering method, about a hundred years ago. Now that stainless steel has taken over the market, tempering probably isn't the pinnacle feat of the industry any longer, but back in the days ...

Small enough to carry as a pocket knife, stout enough to be useful as a hunting knife, this update of Buck's 1964 invention, the lockback, is a smaller variation of the knife I've carried on backpacking trips for more than ten years.

The lockback style solves the primary issue of a ...

Spyderco has discontinued the full-sized Persian, but this Mini Persian is a nice replacement. The full-sized knife had a lot of fans, but was also considered a bit bulky.

The mini weighs in at 3.5 ounces, measures 6.8 inches when opened and 3.9 inches closed. That's a nice compact pocket-sized folder and may ...

Looking for a small, sturdy bushcraft knife? Something convenient to keep with you on the trail that'll cut through numerous types of materials and hold up for years on end?

The RC-3 knife will do exactly that, and more. It features a 3.38-inch 1095 carbon steel blade (unbreakable, scratch resistant, and extremely resilient) ...

Bark River is known for their attention to detail and the quality of their ergonomics. Their knives have a devoted following and for good reason.

This knife is from their Professional series and has all the characteristics of a great bushcraft knife.

The blade is made of high-carbon A2 steel and is ...

Ontario Knife has gained a reputation for making top-notch military and tactical knives. Their RAT-3 knife meets all of our requirements for a good survival knife.

The blade is appropriate for those who want a slightly shorter blade. It measures 3.9 inches, about 1.5 inches shorter than its cousin, ...

The Model #14 Attack and the #15 Airman are so similar, they almost don't deserve their own model numbers. The only real difference is the blade length.

The 15, with its 5.5" blade, was designed especially for airman survival and was developed in co-operation with the USMC equipment board. And ...

Randall Made Knives you probably already know. Makers of quality knives for seventy years, their models have become highly sought-after collectibles due to their heritage and quality. Want to know more about Randall Made? Check out the Model #17, Model #18, and this comprehensive book about nothing but ...

Navigating the world of knife-making materials can be daunting. The scale, or handle material, is in some ways the easiest choice. Once you've decided on a type of knife, a blade material and manufacturing process, the handle can almost seem like an afterthought.

But materials range widely -- common ones include almost any kind of hardwood (walnut, cherry, teak, etc.) as ...