What Type of Hunting Knife do You Need for Survival?

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Scott Moses of TheSharpestEdge.net. Please visit his site for articles on knives, reviews of knives, a sharpening guide, and more.

What type of hunting knife do you need for survival?

When it comes to thriving in the wilderness, you’ll want a hunting knife that will help increase your chances of survival – not something that looks nice or something that makes you feel cool.

In this article we are going to cover some key points to look for when you buy your next knife.

Should you go with folding blade or fixed blade?

While both have their advantages, we are going to look at this from the perspective that of a hunting knife that will last a long period of time and needs minimal maintenance.

First off, most modern folding knives have a spring to help you unfold it faster.

If you have any experience with springs, you’ll know that at some point they tend not to “work like they used to” and will need to be replaced.  Normally, this would not be a big deal, however in a situation where you need to survive; anything breaking would not be good.  This is an issue fixed blades do not have.

Folding blades also have less support than fixed blades. Check out the photo below for “tang details.”

As you can see from the photo above, the fixed blade is a single piece a metal and less likely to break while the folding knife is supported by the spine of the handle. Simply put, the more complex something is, the more likely it is going to fail in a desperate situation.

Okay, but what type of fixed blade knife should you get?

Another issue worth brining up is that not all fixed blades are made equally. Although the quality of knives has gone up considerably in recent years, you still have to be careful with the type of tang constructed on your knife.

Check out the picture below to get an idea of what other types of tangs are available on the market today:

As you can see from the photos, the full tang is by far the most reliable.  The lowest quality would be the rat tail, this is the type of tang used in cheap steak knives. To give you an idea of how unreliable this type of tang is, you should keep in mind that modern sword makers DO NOT make this as a real weapon. Being that it breaks too easily, they are TOO DANGROUS to use in combat and are mainly constructed for display purposes.

What type of handle should you consider getting?

There are lots of high end knives on the market today, however they may not be the best options for real life survival. Usually hunting knives are used to skin game. You want a knife that is comfortable to handle and will not slip out of your hands.

Typically mid ranged knives are the best for this type of scenario. The reason being is that they often used rubber or another more ergonomically friendly material.   Rubber is a lot easier to shape, allowing designers to play with designs that are easier to hold and use.

It also is less slippery.  Once you start skinning your game, you will at some point run into blood.  When the blood gets onto your cutting hand, the blade will be harder to handle. With wood or bone handles, this would be slightly dangerous and sometimes frustrating to use.

What should you take into account when picking out the blade?

Blade design is something you will want to take into account as well. Many hunters will recommend getting a “gut hook” on your blade. Although it is not required, it certainly is a very helpful tool.

Gut hook is a blade that will contently help you peel away skin and not accidently puncher any organs that could bleed into the meat.

When you are alone in the wilderness, it might take you weeks before you finally catch a big game. Accidently cutting into organs could be the difference between life or death.  The extra few dollars for a knife with built in gut hook might be worth it.

Final thoughts and considerations:

Before you pick out any type of weapon or knife you have to take into consideration “what do you NEED it for?  Do you need something you can conveniently clip onto your pants for a short hiking trip or do you need a tool for survival?

When you are looking for a survival tool, you need something that will last and will not break down under pressure. Always pick something that doesn’t have a lot of moving parts and is constructed well.