Getting a suitable hunting knife for yourself can be quite personal. After all, hunting knives do come in various shapes and sizes and that in itself can be make selecting one a major challenge. Join us as we go through some of the different styles, blade types and options of hunting knives which will help you make the right decision.
One of the first thing to consider when getting a hunting knife is understanding the purpose of it. Is the hunting knife meant for putting meat on the table or used to get a hunting game specimen in your den? These may sound like trival questions but the truth is, the blade style and type of hunting knife will inadventently affect the knife you require.
There are basically 2 styles of knife : folding or fixed blade. The folding knives tend to be good enough for basic camping, hunting or even fishing needs. You can often find either the lockback or pocket knives. The lockback selections have a mechanism that holds the blade in the open position when released. Once it is in that position, it pretty much possess the reliability and strength we often find in fixed blade knives. One can easily clean fish or dress the game with one hand. The pocket version are pretty similar except that they tend to be slightly smaller and compact. Which in turn makes it easier for carrying around. However, since it can easily be closed while you're working, some people feels that it's not as safe.
On the other hand, fixed blade hunting knifes tend to be more rigid. It appear more rugged but are actually easier to maintain as compared to the folding type. However, because of it's size, it tend to be bulkier and heavier thereby making it a more dangerous tool if mishandled.
Both the folding and fixed blade knifes can be different style of blades. Generically, there are 5 types : the drop point, clip point, skinning, guthook as well as the fillet blades. The drop point blade undeniably is the most popular. It's called drop point because it has a curved blade which literally drops off to a point to give added strength and resilence to the tip of the blade. Because of its unique design, the knife's edge can be fully utilised during the cutting procedure instead of just the point.
The clip point blade, being flatter and thinner grants the user better control over the cutting and makes the slicing procedure a much easier one. The skinning blade, on the other hand has a round and blunt shape. This makes it very suitable for gutting and skinning the animal as chances of damaging the meat or skin of the game is lower. For those hunters who wants good control when it come to slicing through the game's abdomen, the guthook blade is something that they usually use to prevent accidental damage to the bladder, intestines or stomach.
Last but not the least is the fillet blade. As its name suggest, this balde is great for cleaning or filleting fish as it has a long, flexible thin blade.
Author Resource:-
James writes in his free time. For more selections on fixed blade hunting knifes, check out http://www.fixedbladehuntingknife.com/
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