Looking for a knife that opens with one hand, won’t fold back on your fingers under a heavy load, and requires almost no maintenance? The easiest and best solution is the oldest — not the automatic or the lockback folder, but the old-fashioned fixed blade. Wear it in a belt sheath and it’s there when you need it.
OK, maybe you’ll get some strange looks in town and it might not be entirely appropriate attire in all situations, but on the farm or in the woods this knife style makes perfect sense. Fixed blades don’t fail and they come in all sizes, made for all conceivable purposes. Full tang versions are either ground or forged from one piece of steel stock — you can see the steel core of the knife on top and bottom of the handle and all the way to the butt. Some good modern fixed blades extend the tang a little beyond that for use as a glass smasher.
Rat tail tang fixed blades aren’t weaker, just made differently, with a slender inner core of steel running through the handle grip and usually capped with an end bolster of brass or steel. Many of the best combat knives use this construction. In either tang style you’ll find much of a maker’s best work in the fixed blade knife, with less mechanical challenge and more art.
Our choice for the best fixed blade knife is the Fox River from Bark River Knives. Bark River’s attention to detail has always earned them a ton of praise
Proven to be one of the best knives ever made, the Ka-Bar Combat Bowie was field tested in every war since 1942 — this is the Vietnam Commemorative version.
The Boker Tacticos Corso is a fine tactical knife even civilians can carry.
Not many knives get as much public product testing as this Promate Titanium Diving Knife. Watch the survival episodes Bear Grylls filmed in Costa Rica and the Pacific Islands, and you'll see this rugged knife put to hard use.
In saltwater conditions, titanium outperforms stainless steel, offering edge retention and blade ...
Many freshwater fishermen will find this 7-inch Fillet Knife from Kershaw to be all the knife they need. Take good care of it, and you'll have money left for other important gear.
At 12 inches in overall length, this is about as much knife as you'll want to ...
The Kershaw Fillet Knife with 9-inch blade offers functional quality and a price appropriate to a knife which usually gets the worst treatment possible. A little maintenance keeps it in good shape.
This version of the Kershaw fillet knife is 14-1/4 inches long with enough flexible, slender fillet blade to ...
The True Flight Thrower from Cold Steel combines common sense materials and good design. This balanced throwing knife also cuts and could be a good survival knife choice.
The True Flight's wide spear point holds up well to the extreme stresses of poorly executed throws. The knife's 5mm thick ...
Years ago, any hunter looking for a good field knife expected something this good. Today, the Cold Steel Search and Rescue Knife passes all the old tests and a couple more. Standard issue for Navy Seals undergoing underwater demolitions training, the Cold Steel SRK fits in just as well ...
The ideas behind this unusual and very practical urban tool resemble a knife design from Becker Knife & Tool, now a part of Ka-Bar. The Boker Plus Cop Tool uses concepts similar to a tactical tool Becker designed for police SWAT teams. It's more tool than knife and makes ...
Made for cleaning larger fish, the Berkley Breaking Knife includes an advanced blade coating to extend blade life.
The ten-inch Breaking Knife is intended for butchering and is most useful for the largest dividing cuts. The high carbon 5CR13MV stainless steel blade flexes but is firm enough for straight ...
Combining quality with lost cost, Cold Steel's Pendleton Lite Hunter counters the idea that to get the best, you pay more. Cold Steel's budget fixed blade hunting knife won the 2010 "Best of the Best" Hunting Knife award from Field & Stream magazine.
Designed by custom knife maker Lloyd ...
Here's a throwing knife that doesn't skimp on quality. Cold Steel's Perfect Balance Thrower has enough weight for a satisfying hit and construction tough enough to withstand the battering any throwing knife takes.
One thing you don't want to do with most knives, whether they're fixed blades or folders, is use ...
These modern ninja throwing knives are much more complicated than real shuriken but do actually work. Made by Ninja Generation, these inexpensive throwing knives stick best in styrofoam. If sharpened, they'll also penetrate harder targets.
One-piece construction from blackened high carbon stainless steel includes shaping of the edges ...
The Swamp Rat Knife Works Hairy Carry was designed as a high performance fixed blade in a size matched to everyday uses. Made to wear on the belt, this full tang knife features the rugged design details of Jerry Busse's tactical knives.
The Hairy Carry's 154CM high carbon stainless ...
If you've not practiced with shuriken -- thrown weapons which ranged from darts and knives to multi-pronged throwing stars -- you might prefer something cheap. If you're good enough to appreciate the real thing, consider this set of six shuriken from CAS Hanwei.
Made from tempered steel, these blackened throwing ...
The M6 isn't part of the Swamp Rat Knife Works current production but is sometimes available in new or used condition as a pre-owned knife. Made from SR101 high carbon steel, the M6 has the superior edge-holding ability of older carbon tool steels and makes up for lower corrosion ...
Mad Dog Knives makes the Pygmy ATAK knife in two versions, distinguished by different thicknesses of the high carbon tool steel stock. Originally designed for military users, the smaller size of the Pygmy ATAK makes this model popular with outdoorsmen who want a lighter knife with the best performance characteristics.
Overall ...
Mad Dog Knives produced the Para Raider knife for elite members of the Dutch military, but a few pieces did find their way to the civilian marketplace. This full-sized knife meets tough standards and provides the essentials you'll need for either urban or wilderness survival.
Military versions of the ...
Bowies large enough to suit Crocodile Dundee were common on the American frontier but are much harder to find now. Today, if you're shopping for a Dundee knife, you might have to settle for a cheap movie replica or something practical but smaller. Fortunately Down Under Knives, a knife company ...
The Panther from Mad Dog Knives was built to military standards but literally with a Crocodile Dundee flair. Mick would feel right at home in any desert, swamp, or urban jungle with the Mad Dog Panther in hand. Maker Kevin McClung even included a Dundee sling for outfitting the Panther in ...
Ancient Celtic blades inspired the design of the Cold Steel Boar Hunter, but modern tactical materials make this new hunting knife better than the old battlefield blades. Lynn Thompson of Cold Steel Special Projects built the Boar Hunter for real hunters and field-tested the design on real Australian wild ...
The Berkley Extreme Duty Knife puts together nearly every high-tech good idea available to manufacturers of rugged fixed blades. The result is a little strange in appearance, but everything about the knife works.
If you're looking for something traditional, you'll skip by this garish knife with its hard plastic sheath, and ...
Made in Olean, New York, the KA-Fillet Fishing Knife requires minimal care. Built for the roughest working conditions, the knife is strong enough for tougher jobs than filleting fish.
The stamped high carbon stainless steel fillet blade seats in a large black Kraton handle which completely encloses the tang and ...
This heavy, fixed-blade Bowie knife from Trademark holds much more than a sharp edge with two different compartments of gear and even an extra skinning knife.
The 14-inch-long survival knife fits in an injection-molded plastic sheath with slots for the skeletonized skinner and a portion of the survival kit's gear. ...
Myerchin's Model A500 Offshore Knife developed in response to requests from Coast Guard sailors and divers in southern California. These professionals wanted a knife specially designed to cut through heavy rigging quickly and stow away with a low profile. No one made a rigging knife that satisfied that need until ...
The 6-3/4-inch Becker Necker, now produced by Ka-Bar, seems a bit much to hang around the neck. Though it's better suited for fixing to gear or hanging on the belt, the BK11 outshines many neck knives by simply being enough knife to actually use.
The Necker's 3-1/4-inch flat ...
Designed by Bob Dozier and produced in collaboration with Ka-Bar, the Ka-Bar Bull Dozier knife shows the forty years of knife-making experience Mr. Dozier has acquired. The Bull Dozier could work as a combat knife, hunting knife, or survival knife -- strong enough for any rough task and ...
The Uzi EK Battlefield Commander does have an interesting high-tech look but comes up slightly short in durability. Balance the trendy blood groove against the knife's good features and make up your own mind.
It is hard to go completely wrong with a fixed blade of good quality, and the UZI ...
Gil Hibben designed the 11-1/4-inch Double Shadow Knife specifically for United Cutlery in 1991. Part of Hibben's Fantasy Knife Series -- an exclusive property of United -- the Double Shadow shows the sci-fi style that eventually won Hibben a place as the designer of Klingon weapons for Paramount Studios.
The ...
Master Knife Maker Gil Hibben's HTF Recon Knife, produced by United Cutlery, intends to cover both the tactical needs and hunting needs of any owner. Much less fanciful than some of Hibben's creations, the HTF Recon still has the trademark flair of a Hibben knife and does manage to ...
Many cheaper versions of this knife are available, but the Black Sentry Spear Point Trench Knife is the least you should consider. If a combination knuckle duster and dagger fits your lifestyle, you need at least this much knife.
This knife concept evolved from a knife used in trench warfare ...
The Pathfinder Combat Tactical Knife from United Cutlery might be a better choice as a camp tool or an emergency knife for the car trunk. It's big and impressive, but it's heavy. The compass comes up to military standards, but only if you're into WWII surplus.
For the price, you might consider ...
Crown's Right-Handed Marking Knife has the low price, high quality, and practicality that I love to see in hand tools. Getting all three of those in one tool is increasingly rare.
Crown Hand Tools, Ltd., of Sheffield, England, makes this knife -- it's a simple and extremely useful woodworker's knife that ...
Since 1984, Myerchin has made modern rigging knives for the modern professional sailor. The Myerchin A200P is one of the strongest Myerchin professional models, carried by sailors aboard hi-tech yachts, Coast Guardsmen aboard rescue and patrol boats, and even crewmen working the decks of river tugboats.
The Myerchin system puts ...
The Ranger 0121 Fixed Blade from Kershaw U.S.A.'s Zero Tolerance line won't win beauty contests, but you also don't find many smaller backup knives as tough as pry bars. Keeping it strong and simple, the ZT Ranger won't fail.
At only eight inches in overall length and 9.1 ounces in ...
The Lone Wolf Kelly Trailmate knife looks simple enough, but there's an unusual idea included. This traditionally-styled fixed blade includes a leather belt sheath built for horizontal carry.
The Trailmate, designed by knife maker Steve Kelley, is another example of the fine detail and craftsmanship that's standard for the Lone ...
Cutting roughly a third of length and weight out, compared to the large version of the SOG Woodline, the Woodline WD02-L still provides plenty of knife. In fact, you may not miss that extra inch of blade at all.
Overall length of the small fixed blade Woodline is 8.7 inches, ...
SOG's Woodline knives put the company's tactical quality to work for the hunter and fisherman. Built for practical camp work and survival needs, the Woodline knives skip the military features civilians don't require.
There's no tactical black coating, and you won't find a dagger point built for stabbing. The ...
Bear Grylls, British SAS veteran and outdoor survival show star, collaborated with Gerber to produce this interesting and very capable survival knife and kit. Unlike some survival knife combos which try to provide too much and wind up with little that works, everything here is functional. You get just the ...
Knife designers Chris Reeves and William W. Harsey Jr. collaborated on the technical details of the Gerber LHR Urban Combat Knife, but Matt Larsen -- an expert in close quarters combat -- also contributed some unusual ideas. Larsen studied hundreds of actual combat encounters before finalizing the LHR concept. ...
If you're looking for a heavy duty camp knife, hunting knife, and survival tool, stop here. Look no farther than the Ka-Bar Adventure Potbelly Knife. The Potbelly's seven-inch, hollow ground blade of 1095 Cro-Van steel has enough reach and enough weight to do the work of a camp axe as ...
One of three Adventure series knives released by Ka-Bar in 2010, the Ka-Bar Adventure Baconmaker satisfies anybody who likes a knife with great style but treats their tools a little rough. This pigsticker can take it.
Adventure series knives developed from a partnership with knife designer Steve Johnson, the field editor of ...
The Becker BK3 Tac Tool, now made by Ka-Bar, resulted from a collaboration between Ethan Becker of Becker Knife and Tool and John Benner of Tactical Defense Institute. The original purpose of the Tac Tool was to provide emergency entry into locked or barricaded rooms. Even though the ...
First produced by Ka-Bar in 2005, the Desert Fighting Knife came about because many military personnel serving in the Gulf region wrote the company to request a desert version of the famous Ka-Bar fighting knife. Ka-Bar's Desert Fighting Knife incorporates handle material and sheath in desert tan.
A combo cutting ...
This Extreme Fighting Knife from Ka-Bar works some important improvements into the classic Ka-Bar Marine Corps fighting knife design. If you liked that one, you'll love this one too.
Components show more attention to appearance and are no longer just the most rugged parts possible. The finger guard isn't a ...
The Ka-Bar Becker BK2 Campanion brings back an older survival knife that became a collector's piece after the original manufacturer -- Becker Knife & Tool -- shut down in 2007. Ka-Bar holds true to the original concepts of the Campanion, and the new version still comes close to the ...
One of a series of hunting and caping knives designed for Columbia River Knife and Tool by Alaskan hunter and guide Russ Kommer, the 2760 Chugach Range Utility Hunting knife is such a good-looking blade that it's a shame to call it a utility knife. With a beautifully styled ...
This Ontario Knife Company design issued to pilots during the Vietnam War and now offered by Rothco would make a dependable survival knife for anyone. Designed to aid pilots in escaping wreckage as well as surviving jungle and combat, the Army & Air Force Issue Survival Knife isn't fancy. ...
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 ...
The Kershaw Whiplash is certainly an intriguing idea and does have some good things going for it, but it's an unusual concept not everyone will love.
The Kershaw Whiplash is a full tang fixed blade, but your first thought when you see it might be that it folds. In order ...
If not for the half-serrated cutting edge, the Bear & Son 444SR Gut Hook knife would be a serviceable and economical knife for deer and smaller game. Because the serrations will be tough to keep sharp without professional help, it's a much better choice for the boat ...
The Rothco version of this official U.S. Army Aviator's knife became standard issue for Army flight crews when introduced by the Ontario Knife Company in 2003. A good choice for traditional field uses by hunters and farmers as well as an excellent emergency knife for civilian pilots, the military ...
Although it's a massive hunting and survival knife, the Jungle Master from Trademark Global does have some weak points. In spite of that, it could be a real bargain if you don't require tactical quality.
This imported knife's Bowie-style blade offers 10-1/2 inches of plain hollow ground cutting edge plus a ...
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