Which knife should you buy? The answer will differ听for every person听and every scenario. Here are听three questions to ask yourself as you鈥檙e shopping to help you arrive at exactly听the blade you鈥檙e looking for.
How Are You Going to Carry It?听
So you want a knife to take camping. Something that鈥檒l get your听fires started听and fend off ManBearPig right? I think we can all agree that a chainsaw would be better for such听tasks, but听chainsaws don鈥檛 fit in your pocket. Because the entire point of a knife is to give you a multipurpose tool that鈥檚 always on hand, the most important thing a knife needs to do is to be easy to carry.
The first consideration听is听the outright size of the knife. A big听six-inch fixed blade will span large pieces of wood better than a small folder. But that small folder will work better than nothing if it鈥檚 all you can bring along.
For knives that I鈥檓 going to carry in a pocket or on my belt, I find that the sweet spot in blade length is between three and four inches. Is that a compromise? Yes. But you鈥檙e going to tote听a knife more than you鈥檙e going to use听it.
You carry a folding knife in a pocket, using a clip. The location, design, and quality of that clip should therefore be considered primary factors in choosing a pocketknife. Where the clip is determines how the knife rides in your pocket: whether the blade鈥檚听tip is up or down, and whether the听blade鈥檚 spine is facing听front or back. My own preference is tip up, spine rearwards, positioning听the handle in my grasp in such a manner that I can reach for the knife and flick it open without the additional step of altering my grip. I鈥檓 right-handed and carry my knife in my right pocket, so I like my knife clips to mount to the rear of my knife鈥檚 handle, on the right side. Lefties may want their clip to ride on the left side. Some knives may let you reposition their clips, while听others allow only a single configuration.
when planning to carry a knife in public. For purposes of both retention and concealment,听a clip that allows the entire body of the knife to ride under the top of your pocket should be preferred (personally, I prefer a knife that doesn鈥檛 scream knife!). You also want a clip that pinches a pocket tightly, doesn鈥檛 protrude unnecessarily, or include parts that are sharp. This arrangement helps prevent your knife from snagging on things like seat belts, doors, or bags, helping ensure that the knife doesn鈥檛 fall out of your pocket. A slimmer knife will be more comfortable to carry than a thicker one.
You carry a fixed-blade knife in a sheath. Just like the clip on a pocketknife, that sheath should be considered the primary determining factor in your purchase. Note that it鈥檚 possible to commission a custom sheath for a fixed-blade knife from a variety of leatherworkers or Kydex molders.听Just allow plenty of lead time to have one made. Logger turned author turned knife designer Robert Young Pelton gave me 听over a year ago, but I have yet to actually use it for anything, because he hasn鈥檛 added sheath designer to his list of careers, and it鈥檚 taken me that long to have a custom item produced for it.
Quality knife sheaths come in one of two materials: leather or Kydex. Consider leather if you plan to wear your knife hanging vertically down from your belt. Leather looks nice and lasts a lifetime, but it can鈥檛 retain a knife with the security of Kydex, a type of plastic that鈥檚 heat-molded to fit the exact contours of a specific knife model. Because Kydex can snap around the blade鈥檚 rear and the handle鈥檚 contours, the material can be used to retain a knife in a variety of positions, including upside down, while still allowing you to quickly deploy it using a single hand.
If you plan to carry a fixed-blade knife on your belt, you鈥檒l want a sheath that positions the pommel at or below the top of your belt. Sheaths that position a knife鈥檚 pommel higher than your belt line cause that pommel to dig into your side or back as you move, which may result in injury should you fall. If you want to carry听a backpack with a hipbelt听while wearing a knife on your belt, you鈥檒l need a sheath that drops the pommel below your belt.
A more comfortable solution for wearing听a fixed-blade knife along with a backpack may be to fasten听the knife to the pack听using a Kydex sheath. This arrangement requires some sort of mount other than a simple belt loop. Some sheaths include holes in their perimeter, allowing you weave paracord through them to create easily customizable mounts. Other solutions may involve using a or similar universal mount. A small fixed-blade knife can be attached upside down听to the front of the shoulder strap opposite your strong hand. Larger blades will need to go on the sides or rear of a pack. But keep in mind that a听major disadvantage of pack carry is that you鈥檒l be leaving the knife behind if you take your pack off.
How Are You Going to Sharpen It?
A sharp knife is a useful knife. Because it will take less pressure to cut through a given substance, a sharp knife is also a safer knife. Without exception, knives require regular maintenance to retain their sharpness.
First, figure out what kind of steel is used to construct a knife鈥檚 blade. All of the blade steels are competing to strike an ideal balance between edge retention听and ease of sharpening. Googling the names of different steels will lead you to a technical analysis of their various properties听and听user experiences with them. There鈥檚 no one approach that will be applicable to all people or all uses. You need to figure out which steel is most appropriate for your budget, your expectations, and the听sharpening equipment, experience, or services you may have access to or find most convenient.
A blade steel that prioritizes ease of sharpening will likely be more affordable听and is appropriate for occasional, light-duty use. The steels used in picnic knives, like those made by Opinel or Victorinox,听are good examples. They鈥檒l slice apples and cheese with aplomb, but if you use one to try and cut up a pile of cardboard, it鈥檒l be dull by the end of that task. However, you can bring them back to sharpness with just a few strokes along a sharpening stone.
A blade steel that prioritizes edge retention can stand up to harder use over a longer period of time. But听getting it to peak sharpness after dulling it may be a task best left to a professional.
In all cases, maintaining an edge鈥檚 sharpness with frequent touch-ups will be easier than trying to restore a dull edge. I perform a quick one听on my most frequently carried pocketknife at least once a week. I sharpen my fixed blades after each use.
Manual sharpeners like the 听($74)听are ideal for any sharpening task you may want to perform on a cheaper blade steel. They may be adequate for touch-ups on steels that prioritize edge retention, but they will likely prove frustrating or inadequate if you are trying to bring the edge on one of those steels back from the dead. Beware of sharpening services that specialize in kitchen knives: their heavy-handed grinding can destroy the fine properties of more expensive steels. Employ power sharpeners carefully, and only after consulting their instructions, for the same reason. Your best bet is sending knives made from more exotic blade steels off to their makers for sharpening by their in-house specialists. If that sounds like a hassle to you, do not buy a knife made from a steel that is hard to sharpen.
What Are You Going to Use It For?听
Finally, consider the tasks you plan to ask your knife to perform. This will help you arrive at an ideal size, shape, thickness, and handle configuration.
A thinner blade will pass through whatever is being cut more easily, with less damage. Think of a tomato: cut one using a sharp, thin blade, and you鈥檒l produce uniform slices; use a thick blade, and you risk squashing the whole thing. Alternatively, a thicker blade will not only be stronger than a thinner one听but can help wedge difficult materials (like wood)听open with more force.
The shape of the edge is another factor. An edge with a larger angle (20 degrees is typical for outdoor knives) will be stronger听and more compatible with available sharpening systems, but it won鈥檛听cut with the fineness of a smaller angle. A flat听or saber-ground blade will likewise prioritize strength at the expense of cutting ability. A concave blade will easily make big cuts through softer materials. Use a broad angle and grind for wood processing听or other brute-force tasks and听a narrow edge and concave grind for meat processing听or other slicing duties.
A folding knife is easier to carry, but a听fixed blade is stronger. Folding-knife mechanisms, like assisted-opening and blade locks, may prioritize either听convenience or strength. Those two merits are typically mutually exclusive. A fixed-blade knife鈥檚 strength is determined by how much of the blade stock continues through to the pommel undiminished. A knife that simply bolts handle material to the outside of full-width, full-length听blade stock will be virtually unbreakable.听One that attaches only a small length of blade material to a separate handle will not be as strong, but it will be lighter and smaller.
Blade shapes that sweep smoothly toward听a point offer broad versatility for a variety of cutting tasks. Ones with straight or angled edges, or those that听feature hooks or unconventional shapes, specialize at the expense of that versatility. Serrations are designed to cut rope or cord听but also reduce the portion of a blade that can be used to perform other cutting tasks, and they鈥檙e听difficult to sharpen.
The answer to all of these questions is going to look different not just for each person听but听each task you need to perform. There is no听universal recommendation that could be appropriate for most people. Start with these questions, analyze the ways in which your current knife does or doesn鈥檛 work for you, and either modify it听or buy different ones over time. A knife is a tool, and the right tool is determined by the job you鈥檙e asking it to perform.