“Outdoor knife” is active in a wide range of outdoor scenes such as cooking, chopping wood, and survival camp. There are various types of blades such as sheath knives, folding knives, and tool knives, and it is difficult to select various blade materials such as stainless steel and carbon steel.
Therefore, this time, we will introduce recommended outdoor knives by type. We will explain in detail the types and characteristics of outdoor knives, how to choose, and recommended brands, so please check it out.
Types and characteristics of outdoor knives
Sheath knife
The sheath knife does not have a folding function, and the blade is stored in a sheath and carried. Since the blade and handle are integrated, it is sturdy, strong against impact, and has excellent durability. It has a long blade length and is a little lacking in portability, but it is popular with beginners because it has a simple structure and is easy to handle. Maintenance is easy, such as easy sharpening even if the sharpness drops.
If you want to use it outdoors such as survival camp or bushcraft, we recommend the sheath knife called “Full Tongue”. It consists of a single piece of steel from the tip of the knife to the end of the handle. The handle and tongue (core in the handle) have the same shape and are fixed so that they are sandwiched between the handles, making them more robust.
Folding knife
Folding knives are foldable knives, and the feature is that the blade can be stored in the handle part. It can be stored compactly, has excellent portability, and is attractive because it can be carried safely.
Its more complex structure than a sheath knife makes it less maintainable and sturdy, but it is sufficient for cutting twigs and ingredients. The rope can also be cut depending on the shape of the blade. In addition, to use at campsites, it is also recommended for sea fishing aimed at mountain streams and medium-sized fish.
In addition, since the folding knife has a movable blade, most models have a locking function to fix the blade. There are various models such as “Lockback type” with an unlock button on the back of the handle and “liner lock type” where the liner inside the handle moves inward to support the blade when the blade is opened.
Tool knife
A tool knife that is also called “Swiss Army knife”, “Totoku knife”, or “Universal knife”. A wide variety of tools such as bottle openers, can openers, and screwdrivers are integrated and can be used not only in outdoor activities such as camping and mountain climbing but also in a wide range of situations such as at home and in the garage.
It is inferior in sharpness and toughness to sheath knives and folding knives, but it is attractive to be able to carry various tools compactly. Recommended for outdoor activities such as camping and mountain climbing where you want to reduce your luggage as much as possible. Keeping one at home for disaster prevention is useful even in an emergency such as a disaster.
How to choose an outdoor knife
Choose the knife that suits your needs
Full-scale outdoor activities and survival
Outdoor knives are essential items for full-scale outdoor activities such as “survival” and “bushcraft” that you can spend in nature with the minimum equipment. To live by using things in the natural world, you need to make your tools. Since it is expected to be used hard such as chopping wood and carving pegs, we recommend a sturdy and durable sheath knife.
Also, for hard climbing such as climbing, an outdoor knife with a jagged wave blade is perfect. It is useful for rope work such as cutting ropes and making discarded ropes. Folding knives and tool knives with wavy blades are convenient because they can be carried compactly.
Cooking and processing of ingredients
Folding knives are recommended if you want to use outdoor knives in a well-equipped campsite. Not only can it be used to cut ingredients and process fish caught, but it is also fully functional for cutting twigs.
It’s foldable and compact, so it’s not bulky and is perfect for camping where you tend to carry a lot of luggage. A stainless steel blade with excellent durability and corrosion resistance can be used without worrying about rust when cooking raw food or washing with water. It is more convenient to have a tool knife with a can opener or bottle opener as a sub knife.
Chopping wood and processing wood
Even if you don’t have an ax or hatchet, if you have an outdoor knife, you can break firewood with a technique called “buttoning.” The blade is placed on top of the firewood, and the back of the knife is hit with firewood or wooden stick to break it, making it difficult to miss the target, and you can easily split the wood without using extra force.
In addition to chopping wood, it is also used for wood processing such as “feather sticks” that thinly scrape the surface of the wood to make it fluffy like a bird’s feather and make it easier to ignite, and carve wood to make pegs. Both are hard to use, so we recommend the more robust full tongue of the sheath knives.
Check the material of the blade
“Stainless steel” and “carbon steel” are the main materials for the blades of outdoor knives. The feature of stainless steel is that it has excellent corrosion resistance and durability. It is not as sharp as carbon steel, but it is durable, rust-resistant, easy to clean, and easy to handle, so it is recommended for beginners.
Carbon steel is easy to rust, so it requires frequent maintenance, but it is a hard material and has good sharpness. It is easier to sharpen than stainless steel, and the point is that the blade can be sharpened in a short time. Choose stainless steel for ease of maintenance and carbon steel for sharpness, depending on your usage and purpose.
Check the shape of the blade
The sharpness of outdoor knives depends not only on the type and material but also on the shape of the blade. The hollow grind with the blade constricted inside is thin and light, so it lacks strength, but it is characterized by being able to maintain a thin blade and maintain sharp sharpness even after repeated sharpening. It is suitable for light work such as cooking rather than hard use.
The flat grind with a flat cross-section has a good balance of strength, sharpness, weight, and ease of sharpening, and is attractive because it is easy to use. It can withstand some hard use, so it is also recommended for survival. The Sanji grind is a type that is straight from the center of the blade to the tip. It is popular with bushcrafters because it is strong and easy to handle.
The convex grind, which is also called a Yamaguchi blade, is the opposite of the hollow grind and is characterized by its side bulging in an R shape. Although it is heavy and inferior in sharpness, it can be chopped with wood because it is sturdy and has the shape used for axes and hatchets.
Choose a grip with a non-slip shape and material
The ease of use of outdoor knives varies depending on the shape and material of the grip. Things that are slippery and difficult to grip are not only difficult to apply force but also lack safety, such as being completely pulled out of your hand, so be sure to check carefully when choosing.
As for the shape of the grip, if it is a thing that curves gently according to the shape of the hand or a thing with unevenness, it is hard to slip and you can grip it firmly, so you can get a stable feeling of use. In addition to products made of non-slip materials such as rubber, we also recommend models with anti-slip processing such as embossing on the grip surface.
Recommended brands of outdoor knives
Mora knife
Sweden’s long-established knife brand “Mora Knife” with a history of more than 130 years. It has been certified as a purveyor to the Swedish royal family due to its high quality, and is also called “the best practical knife in the world”. Not only outdoor knives, but also kitchen and carving, etc. have a rich lineup and it is easy to choose according to the application.
Mora knives outdoor knives are attractive because they are sharp and durable, yet affordable and easy to obtain. We mainly handle sheath knives, and most models use rubber as the grip material. It has a simple structure, is easy to handle, and is easy to grip, so it is also recommended for beginners.
GERBER
“Gerber” is an American knife maker founded in 1939. It is widely known for the logo of Excalibur, a sword stuck in a rock that appears in the legend of King Arthur. It features a wide range of products such as knives, tactical pens equipped with glass breakers, defenders that are convenient for managing small items, and trail kara tori.
Gerber has a wide variety of outdoor knives, so it’s easy to choose according to the scene. As it is adopted by craftsmen and the military, it is robust and practical. It is also recommended for hard use such as survival and bushcraft.
OPINEL
French long-established knife maker “Opinel” with a history of more than 120 years. Not only its functionality as a knife, but also its design is highly evaluated, and it has been selected as one of the “100 Most Beautiful Products in the World” by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The feature is that we are developing knives that correspond to a wide range of genres such as art and cooking as well as the outdoors.
For outdoor knives, we mainly handle folding knives. Most of the products are equipped with a safety lock function, and we also offer highly safe products such as knives with rounded cutting edges, so it is also recommended for beginners. In addition, many models use natural wood for the grip, which makes it easy to fit in your hand.
Summary
For full-scale outdoor activities such as bushcraft, we recommend the sheath knife, which has excellent robustness, and for portability, the folding knife is recommended. Tool knives are highly versatile and can be used in a wide range of situations, so it is useful to have them at home. Please refer to this article to find an outdoor knife that suits your needs.
Subscribe to Shieldon(knife manufacturer) channels and we will share useful articles every week.
https://www.facebook.com/ShieldonCutlery
https://www.instagram.com/shieldon_knives_and_tools/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Dz–HODWHFY4AaUF0z11Q
https://twitter.com/Shieldonknives1/
https://shieldonknivesandtools.tumblr.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/72285346/
https://www.pinterest.com/shieldonknivesandtools/
More video introductions：
EN 
EN
ES 
FR 
RU 
PT 
KO 
ID 
MS 
IT 
DE 
TL