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I like a small, light sheath knife. It is always open and “get-at-able,” ready not only for skinning game and cleaning fish, but for cutting sticks, slicing bread and bacon and peeling “spuds.” It saves the pocket knife from we and messy work, and preserves its edge for the fine jobs.

– Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft, 1906

I enjoyed knives long before I got started in marksmanship. When I was a boy scout long ago, I used to linger over the pocket knife counter at the local Army-Navy store with my dad. It was a wonderful moment when he gave me my first real Swiss Army knife.

I still have it to this day, tucked away with my other memories of him.

Since then, I’ve built up quite the collection of blades. While hiking the Appalachian trail in 2005, my father sent me on my way with a USMC Ka-Bar as a field knife. In hindsight, that was a little silly, but I was damn proud to have that leather sheath dangling off my belt. Other hikers along the trail kept asking me if I was expecting to fight a bear along the way.

In 2007, I purchased a folding Benchmade Griptillian from the base exchange. It accompanied me on many a hike and trip out to the field. I later replaced it in 2010 with a Leatherman Skeletool, a gift from my then girlfriend (now wife). I still carry that Skeletool with me every day.

several examples of a field knife stuck into a log
A selection of my fixed blade knives, starting with my recently acquired ESEE Junglas-II, a classic KA-BAR, a Becker BK10, Becker BK-16, and a Silver Stag Sharp Forest knife with antler crown handle

There’s something special about a knife.

On the one hand, it is such a simple and ancient tool. It’s merely a chunk of metal with an edge. Yet, it is simultaneously one of the most useful things we can carry afield. Mankind has employed edged tools for nearly as long as we’ve existed.

Like rifles, there is a knife designed for just about any situation. Also, like rifles, we must be considerate of how much we are actually able to carry with us into the field. With that in mind, most of us are served by carrying one or two “general purpose” blades.

So what does that type of all-around knife look like?

Field Knives vs Tactical Knives

To be honest, there’s a bit of controversy here. A lot of folks in the bushcraft and knife enthusiast community think that “tactical” knives are just an excuse to use inferior materials and workmanship. “It’s all in the mind,” they say.

While that may be true for a lot of inexpensive “tactical” blades on the market, especially the ones you might find at a gas station, there are some definite characteristic differences between a fighting knife and a field knife.

A fighting knife has a primary purpose of piercing and slicing soft tissue. I happen to have a good example in my collection, a Spartan Blades Breed Fighter/Dagger.

spartan blades fighting knife dagger
Spartan Blades “Breed” fighter/dagger

This blade is relatively thin and narrow. The double-edged spear point is great for cutting or stabbing. Such blades shapes were ideal for dispatching sentries by inserting the knife between the ribs or bones to cut the mushy bits beneath. The weight balances towards my hand, which makes it quick handling and fast to deploy.

In contrast, let’s look at a dedicated field knife. My Becker BK-16 is a handy blade designed to do work. The blade is somewhat short but thick and strong. The back side is flat for pounding with a baton or pushing with my off hand. It’s isn’t terribly long or “pointy” but it does the job. This kind of knife is great for woodwork, use as a digging tool, or prying apart objects. The weight balances towards the blade for more control during chopping or carving tasks.

Becker BK-16 field knife
Becker BK-16

What you’ll find as you go down this path is that, like rifles, things become compromises. You start looking for certain features that work better for this situation but don’t hurt as much in that situation.

Dedicated field knives have a variety of uses:

  • Cutting/Slicing
  • Digging
  • Splitting wood
  • Food Prep
  • Shelter Building
  • Fire Making
  • Prying Tool
  • Hammering

The classic USMC KA-BAR is actually a nice compromise example. It has a bit more balance towards the hand for quicker handling in a fight, but the blade profile is long and strong with a flat backside for doing field work as well. The clip point, the name for the downswept look towards the point makes for a strong and piercing tip.

So let’s talk about the ideal field knife.

What to Look for in a Field Knife

I’ll be the first to admit that while I’m an enthusiast for the topic, I’m not an expert. Luckily, one of our readers knows a lot more about the subject than I do.

I reached out to Mark Cutright, of Cutright Knives, to help fill in some of the blanks. Mark has been making knives for over 15 years and started working within the bushcraft realm in 2008. As he developed an interest in firearms, he came into contact with teams training at a facility local to him.

These folks came from a variety of backgrounds including Army Special Forces, Navy Seals, Marine Force Recon, the CIA, and various other reconnoissance units. Everyone showed interest in his work and offered their input.

Mark’s takeaway was that knives are a highly personal thing. Everyone has their preferences for tip style, grind, size, and profile. But they did share some common attributes.

But the thing these groups have in common is high quality and no-nonsense in design and materials.

– Mark Cutright

Basic Attributes

Since knives are an ancient tool, there’s been a lot written over the years concerning the qualities of a field knife. I opened this article with a quote from Horace Kephart, one of the great American outdoorsmen and “father” of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Kephart, like George Washington “Nessmuk” Sears before him, was a fan of the trinity system. In other words, he preferred a moderately sized fixed blade knife, a small hatchet or axe, and a large folding knife. Between these three items, he could accomplish all the camp tasks he needed, to include making more tools.

Kephart designed his own knife and asked local blacksmiths to produce it for him. This was his description:

Its blade and handle are each 4¼ inches long, the blade being 1 inch wide, 1/8-inch thick on the back, broad pointed, and continued through the handle as a hasp and riveted to it.

The handle of this knife is of oval cross-section, long enough to give a good grip for the whole hand, with no sharp edges to blister one’s hand. It has a ¼-inch knob behind the cutting edge as a guard, but there is no guard on the back, for it would be useless and in the way.

This knife weighs only 4 ounces. It was made by a country blacksmith, and is one of the homeliest things I ever saw; but it has outlived in my affections the score of other knives that I have used in competition with it, and has done more work than all of them put together.

– Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft

This seems like a good start for a description. In another portion of the book, Kephart mentions that the blade should be about the width of your palm. This typically works out to between 4″ and 5″ of length.

I asked Mark Cutright about his preferences, and he came up with a similar list of criteria:

  • Blade length of about 4¼”
  • 1/8″ to 5/32″ thick
  • Either clip or drop point, so long as the tip is centered
  • Single finger guard without a choil
  • Full tang construction

Let’s look a bit more closely at some of the construction trade offs.

Full Tang vs Rat Tail

Full tang blades are very popular right now. If you aren’t aware, a full tang means that the steel portion of the blade remains the full thickness from tip to the bottom of the handle. This is the “ultimate” in strength and durability. There isn’t really any weak points where the steel becomes thin. The handles, or “scales,” of the blade are simply bolted or riveted to the sides.

Becker BK-10 survival knife
My personal Becker BK-10, you can see the full tang construction as the steel portion sandwiched between the micarta scales. You can even see that the tang extends below the handles for use as a smashing tool. The BK-10’s 5.5″ blade is a little too large for a classic field knife but serves as my do-all compromise when I’m only carrying one fixed blade on a battle belt.

A rat tail construction, on the other hand, means that the steel under the handle narrows significantly so that the handle fully encompasses the tang. Today, we see this as inferior and weaker. But that’s not necessarily true.

This rat tail configuration appears in medieval swords, the famous KA-BAR, and even popular bushcraft knives like the ever-popular Mora (not the Garberg line, though, which uses a full tang).

Your primary tradeoff here is weight. A full tang blade is heavier but stronger. A rat tail is lighter and probably strong enough for most tasks.

I still prefer a full tang, though.

Field Knife Thickness

The thickness of a knife has a lot of effects. The thinner it is, the better it is for slicing, carving, and doing detail work. The thicker it is, the stronger it becomes for putting up with abuse like splitting wood, chopping, and prying.

This is why you often see experienced outdoorsmen carrying more than one tool. Kephart and Nessmuk carried relatively thin blades for doing their detail work because they also carried small axes for doing the heavy chopping and splitting tasks. Neither were a fan of using “big knives” for those tasks.

What do I mean by a big knife? Two great examples are the Becker BK-9 and the ESEE Junglas. I happen to have the Junglas II.

ESEE Junglas II field knife
The ESEE Junglas II, the epitome of a “big knife” that bridges the gap between knife, axe, and machete as an all-around outdoors tool.

The theory here is that you can carry a large knife for doing double duty at tasks usually reserved for axes as well as things you might do with a machete, such as brush clearing. This really depends on a lot on your environment. Such blades are typically fairly thick to put up with the abuse.

Again, the tradeoff is weight. The thicker the blade, the heavier it becomes and more difficult it is for detailed tasks like carving.

The Pointy End AKA Knife Tips

There’s really three options here: drop point, clip point, and spear point.

Drop points are classic and are what you see on my Junglas II and BK-16. The advantage here is that you have more area at the front of the blade for applying pressure. If I’m batoning through a log, I can beat on that portion of the blade and not chip up the baton.

kabar field knives
Examples of different tip designs. The BK-16 on the far left is a drop point, while the BK-10 in the middle and KA-BAR on the right have variations of a clip point.

Clip points, as seen on my BK-10 and KA-BAR, were made popular with the classic Bowie Knife. This design is aesthetically pleasing but ultimately weaker. The primary advantage is that it is slightly “pointier” for stabbing, which is useful in a defensive knife.

The spear point is less common. You might typically see these on fighting knives, like my Breed dagger. They have strong points great for piercing and stabbing but give up slicing power and control. The characteristic here is that the fattest part of the blade is right down the center axis, with the edge curving inwards on both edges symmetrically until it reaches the point. To me, the primary drawback here is that I wouldn’t use this type of knife for batoning or detailed carving work where I might want to put my thumb on the back of the blade.

Keep in mind that there’s a bit more to the point that just the style. A spear point, for example, can be very “pointy” like my dagger, but may also be a little curvier. That gets us to the shape of the edges and grinds.

Field Knife Grinds and Edges

You’ll come across a lot of different styles of grinds.

knife grind shapes
A simple diagram of blade grind shapes Waerloeg at Wikipedia. Each number corresponds to the list
  1. Hollow – concave shape that leads to very sharp blades (think razorblades), but a relatively weak edge
  2. Flat– Tapers from the spine to edge on both sides, common for wood crafting knives. You’ll see this on my BK-16
  3. Sabre – Similar to the flat grind, but the taper starts further down the blade and leaves more mass in the knife. my BK-10 and KA-BAR use this.
  4. Chisel – Only a single edge bevel for a very sharp cutting edge 
  5. Double Bevel – Uses another bevel angle before approaching the edge. Really, this can be a combination of other grind types.
  6. Convex – The bevel curves outwards rather than inwards (like a hollow grind). Great for splitting tools like axes.

The truth is that most knives on the market are some variety of double bevel. Even if the main part of the knife is a full flat grind, for example, the cutting edge may shift to a hollow grind. I asked Mark about his preferences.

Just like a hammer is to drive nails and pound stuff, so to is a knife specific to the task at hand. 

These days, you can get just about any kind of geometry you want on a knife even from a factory produced blade. With that being said, I really prefer the full height flat grind for the majority of my blades. Like all things in life, there’s a compromise, but a full flat grind in the appropriate thickness really delivers a lightweight blade for a given style.

Sometimes you want some heft though, or maybe you need extreme toughness. For that, the saber grind is great. It’s more like cutting with a splitting maul compared to a full height but it’s tough and offers the additional weight.

The hollow ground can accomplish a lot depending on how deep or shallow it is. It’s near the bottom of my list as I do a fair amount of batoning wood, but for a hunter its great.

I used to make convex grinds exclusively but stopped for the most part. They’re hard to sharpen using traditional methods and most people don’t feel very confident sharpening their own blades. In addition, and I need to be clear that I’m speaking of the primary grind (the main bevel, not the cutting edge), it’s a reliable but less efficient grind. Its use depends entirely on how wide and thick the blade is as to whether I would use it or not.

I would definitely convex the cutting edge though. It can increase the strength of a cutting dramatically, even on thin edges.

The takeaway here is that selecting your grind is a balance between the strength of the blade to put up with abuse and its slicing ability.

Field Knife Steel Selection

Like choosing a steel alloy for your rifle barrel, you have to choose the material for your knife. There are a lot of alloys out there, but the choices boil down to two categories:

  • Carbon Steel
  • Stainless Steel

There are different additives added to steel blends to generate different qualities. You might recognize several of these from rifle barrel alloys.

CarbonUsed to increase hardness of the metal
ChromiumImproves wear and corrosion resistance; a major component of stainless steel
MolybdenumImproves tensile strength, corrosion and pitting resistance
NickelImproves toughness and corrosion resistance, often used in stainless steels and dive knives
VanadiumPromotes finer grain structure, which improves wear resistance and strength

Carbon Steels

Within this realm, you have O1, 1075, 1080, 1084, 1095, 80crv2, and others. The 75, 80, 84, and 95 in those numbers roughly correlate to the amount of carbon found in the alloy. O1 is another variety of tool steel common for knife making. 80crv2 is related to 1080, but has a bit more chromium and vanadium

Don’t worry so much about the actual alloy of carbon steel you use, these all make good blades. The benefit of carbon steel is that it’s very tough, takes and holds a very sharp edge well, and is easy to maintain yourself.

The downside is that the lack of chrome in the metal means they are more prone to rust. The upkeep on a carbon steel blade is higher.

Stainless Steels

There are a lot of varieties here, such as S30V, BG-42, AUS8, and so many others that it’s really outside the scope of this article. The Knife Center did a fine job getting together some information if you want to learn more.

The big thing here is that stainless steels include more chromium and nickel. This helps prevent rust and makes your maintenance easier. However, the lower carbon content also means that the blade is not quite as tough, is harder to sharpen, and harder to keep sharp than carbon steels.

I don’t know if it’s an indicator of anything, but a lot of companies that manufacture nice stainless blades would rather have you send your knife back to them for sharpening than try and do it yourself.

Choose Your Knife

ESEE Junglas II on a map

Alright, we’ve covered a lot here. The truth is that most of us are probably going to go through a lot of knives over time while we figure out what works for us. It’s kind of like buying guns, except cheaper.

Well, usually cheaper. I’ve seen several knives that cost more than nice handguns out there.

The first step is really thinking about what you need your blade to do with you. This is what Mark had to say.

f you think you need a sharpened crow bar for rescuing your family from a burning vehicle, I’d probably recommend a folding knife that features a carbide glass breaker and a serrated edge with no point to cut the restraints from them.

So where does the rubber meet the road for most folks? For a fixed blade, it’s a blade that’s 3-3/4″ – 5″. Peoples preference for ergonomics really vary, however for long term use I would avoid anything with too much of a sculpted handle. Too cool of a looking knife usually doesn’t work out for too long and it’s because our eyes tell us “Look at that beautiful knife made with 100% awesome sauce!” and after getting over the shiny newness of it all, it goes in a drawer because it’s not really much of a tool to keep. There is a good reason slip joint pocket knives like those made by Case are still around.

The key thing here is a good design, with quality materials, a company with a good reputation that they have earned by making good products and don’t skimp on the sheath. These exist at every price point.

If we’re talking about field knives, you need something that isn’t so long as to be unwieldy, cuts well, puts up with abuse, sharpens easily and holds and edge, and you’re comfortable using a lot.

So it all comes back to Kephart’s original recommendations. My personal field knife that meets these requirements is my Becker BK-16. Ethan Becker, an accomplished outdoorsman and knife designer, said this was the blade he wished he had for all the years he was fidgeting around with other designs. He’s also the only person I know who actually own’s an original copy of a Kephart knife (the other is in a museum).

Becker BK-16 field knife
My BK-16

Field Knife Recommendations

I asked mark about some of the other blades he recommends for field knives, and this is the list we came up with:

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t include Mark’s own field knives. I’m quite fond his Model 1 and Model 2 designs. If you want to support a member of our community here, definitely check out what he has to offer!

Over to You

I realize that talking about a fixed blade field knife is a bit outside of our normal subject matter. But when it comes down to it, this blog is dedicated not just to the shooting sports, but to being self-reliant. Carrying an edged tool when you go afield aids you in that endeavor.

I’m curious if you have any knives you find yourself picking up for those journeys out there. Or perhaps you have a story to share. Let me know down in the comments.

Picture of Matt

Matt

Matt is the primary author and owner of The Everyday Marksman. He's a former military officer turned professional tech sector trainer. He's a lifelong learner, passionate outdoorsman, and steadfast supporter of firearms culture.

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17 Comments
Oldest First
Newest First
Sunshine_Shooter
Member

I’m glad to see you using a Skeletool. I’ve had mine riding shotgun in my pocket for 3 or 4 years now. A dozen or more sharpenings and re-tightening of the screws and she’s no worse for wear. I’ve been gifted ‘better’ multitools since I received the Skeletool, but those new ones just sit on my dresser, unlikely to ever be carried regularly. It’s just so darn useful.

Tony
Tony
Guest
Replying to  The Marksman

Another Skeletool fan here. Mine is carried and used daily. 🙂

Tony
Tony
Guest

On the topic of tangs, one thing that is important to note is that in cold regions with a full tang knife, your hand will necessarily contact metal parts of the knife. This can be quite unpleasant if the temperature is cold enough. Makes me a bit annoyed that full tangs are so popular – makes finding the kind of knife I want more difficult.

David, a new listener/reader
David, a new listener/reader
Guest
Replying to  The Marksman

Hey Matt, I am commenting here because I couldn’t figure out how to comment elsewhere. First, to the cold full tang comment, I generally use an SP-46, it has the molded “plastic” handle so that you aren’t in contact with the tang. Secondly, and the main thing I wanted to pass on is this: I have chosen carbon steel as my steel. I hated the rusting issue. I then remembered my dad teaching me to paint my car after wrecking it. After sanding it, he pickled it with acid. So I thought of trying that on my carbon steel knife. I boiled white vinegar and placed the hot vinegar and knife blade in a large glass until the bubbling essentially stops. It worked perfectly. I have now done this process on 3 knives. I have not had rust on any of them. The only downside, for some, is that the blade doesn’t look as nice, which is highly subjective.

Jayclimber
Jayclimber
Guest

I’m another fan of the traditional field knife design! My larger blade is a Cima 1(Esee 3 clone) and I carry the Condor Mini Bushlore on a neck knife sheath rig. Both have seen quite a bit of use and I’m not disappointed one bit in their performance.

The Cima 1 is pretty close to what you list as a perfect field knife and for the price it is comparable in quality to the popular bushcraft names.

I like your BK 16 and that’s probably the knife I’d get if I was going to go a step larger.

Nice article!

Ken
Ken
Guest

Great article.

Ursus Americanas
Ursus Americanas
Guest

I’ve noticed 7 inch blades seem to be a sweet spot where you can break down anything you would reasonably fell while not hauling around a lot of unnecessary metal. My Ontario RAT-7 will baton through anything and isn’t too pretty to use.

Alex Schwan
Alex Schwan
Guest

One of the best and well thought out articles I’ve read on field knife use .

JTL
JTL
Guest

Hey Matt, this is an excellent and very helpful write-up on field knives. In the spirit of Nessmuk Sears and Kephart’s trinity system of blades, what parameters would you recommend for the “large folding knife”?

Pieter
Member

I carried a West German Field Knife for most of my time in the Army. Mine was made by Puma but they were all decent knives. It has a 5 inch spear point blade with plastic scales a simple guard and a metal sheathe (that seemed really important for airborne jumps). Its way more of a field knife than a fighter.

Today I have others maybe better, certainly more expensive blades. Im particular fond of the Al Mar SERE fixed blade version and some of the early Colt Steel offerings. One issue I neve see discussed is knife sheathes. Far too many good knives have junk for sheathes. A poor sheathe makes a good knife un-carry-able crap.
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