10 best brands of hunting knives

Hunting knives are one of the main attributes of any hunter, designed to perform a number of important functions. Despite the general idea that they are used primarily for fierce melee fights with a predator, they rarely take part in such actions. The main purpose of these knives is all aiding a person in the framework of being in a natural (wild) environment. They will be indispensable in case of need for skinning of prey, quick finishing of wounded wounds, as well as for performing a number of tourist and field kitchen tasks.

According to the purpose, hunting knives can take various forms, varying dramatically from compact folding versions and multitools to large daggers or sword cutters. Hundreds of world-wide companies are involved in their development (often with a bias in one mold extreme), but only a small part receives a lot of support from consumers. Having carefully studied this topic and the presented product, we have compiled for you a rating of the best manufacturing companies whose products meet the criteria of diversity, quality, reliability and visual appeal.

Top 10 best brands of hunting knives

10 Mora of Sweden

Mora of Sweden is a product of the merger of two very old companies: Frosts Knife Manufacture and KJ Eriksson, opened in 1891 and 1912, respectively. Possessing an enormous stock of developments on both sides, the newly-fledged brand instantly acquired individual traits, putting at the center of the compromise between value and quality indicators.

Judging by the reviews of some consumers, loyal fans of Mora of Sweden are sure that nothing exists better than these knives. The only problem is that the company doesn’t have enough on the territory of Russia - other users call it nothing more than good-quality. And still draw a hunting model of knives here. For example, Mora 2000 NeverLost Edition, designed specifically for hiking and the needs of the mining of production. The hardness of the blade made of Sandvik stainless steel is 57 HRC - not enough (relative to competitors), but this has little effect on the quality. The second order can be identified Mora Knife Clipper 860MG, with the same default indicators of hardness, but with a much more extensive database of actions.

9 Helle

The Scandinavian firm Helle was founded in the 1930s in the small provincial town of Holemdal, from which it later moved to the capital of Norway (Oslo), and later captured more than 80% of the country's knife market. Its products did not have any distinctive distinctive features - at first everything that was produced could be confused with Finnish and Swedish knives that had the same Scandinavian features. However, after a considerable period of time, Helle did manage to come to the only right decision, sending ordinariness and ideas about the Nords in the right direction.

Not trying to continue to invent something outstanding, the brand began to place particular emphasis on the severity of the Scandinavian features, using, for example, deer antlers as a material for the hilt, to artificially age and give the blade a more “evil” shape. As an illustrative example of the company's hunting knives, you can highlight the BraKar H-90 model with a blade length of 12.6 centimeters, as well as the stylet Fiskekniv H-62, whose length reaches a good 15.5 centimeters.

8 Cold steel

Cold Steel is a company founded by the notorious martial arts master, cold weapon expert and knives designer Lin Thompson. A good start in the form of a competent manager gave the company a clear advantage among start-ups of that time, thanks to which it managed not only to survive in a competitive environment, but also to show significant growth (even against the background of eminent competitors).

The main advantage of Cold Steel knives, judging by user feedback, is the ability to withstand large overloads without provoking a break in the locker mechanism (in the case of folding knives), bends and destruction of the blade part, as well as the handle. As an inexpensive model of a hunting knife, domestic consumers often use the tactical model TRUE FLIGHT THROWER, which has a convenient nylon woven handle and a long tanto blade with a hardness of around 58 HRC. But in the premium, preference is given to the folding TALWAR 5.5, nominally tourist, but suitable for performing all the functions in the hunting process.

7 Ka-Bar

The official name of the combat knife, developed by the American company Tidioute Cutlery Company, gave the name to the whole brand, specializing in the release of this model. Actively bought up by lovers of military subjects and hunting, with up to a dozen different variations of the geometry of the cutting part, the length of the blade and the configuration of the handle.

In terms of origins, the standard Ka-Bar has:

• blade length of 178 millimeters;
• blade thickness and width of 4.2 and 32 millimeters, respectively;
• elliptical typesetting handle (wooden or with leather lining);
• banded thin guard;
• round (in user versions - hex) heel on the handle.

Such a knife is made as usual of steel with a hardness within 60-64 HRC, which is an excellent indicator. Considering the various options here does not make much sense. Whatever the intention of the industrial creator, this is all the same Ka-Bar - with low cost, excellent ergonomics and unforgettable features of the legendary weapon.

6 Gerber

The company, whose history began in the 1939th year, was one of the most motivated for the selfless and, of course, good goal - to produce knives of extra high quality sharpening. Actually, everything for the implementation of promising ideas from the ideological founder - Joseph Gerber - was then. And even more: along with the nominal quality, consumers appreciated the artsy design, which, at that time, was served in knives in abundance.

Balancing on the verge of creating advanced and not oversaturated models, the company began to conquer America, and then the rest of the world. The start was given to the isolated Gerber Bear Grylls brand, which produced tourist and specialized hunting knives (as an example, SURVIVAL PARACORD KNIFE with a fabric braid, holster and blade of steel 5Cr15MoV), small titles, machetes and marvelous walking axes. The main branch received more freedom in the production of knives for the masses, suitable both for domestic use and for hunting needs. One example of such a model is an EVO LARGE knife with a tanto blade, which has a low weight (85 grams), excellent balancing and a very high-quality selection of steel for the blade part (7Cr17MoV).

5 Silver stag

The company Silver Stag is not so noticeable in the circles of such giants as the conventional Kershaw, Spyderco and Benchmade, but supplies the market with some of the most worthy models of hunting knives. All of them are made exclusively by hand, bypassing even the harvesting conveyor stages, because of which (like any other manual work) have a very high cost. However, this is not the only feature of knives from Silver Stag: the most interesting thing is that in the manufacture of handles, the masters use only deer horns.

Since the company does not differ in scale of production, in Russia their products can only be found in specialized stores (or ordered on large trading floors). As for illustrative examples, one can cite an infinite number of hunting knives as these, since the number of series and models exceeds all expectations. We note two equivalent samples: Damascus Dagger with the original pattern on the blade part, as well as the Gamer Elk Stick, created in the image and likeness of fast-moving melee knives of the original form.

4 Kizlyar

The domestic company "Kizlyar" was founded in 1998, continuing the policy of continuity in the manufacture of cold weapons of old models. In addition to knives for domestic use and defense, they develop souvenir products (checkers, sabers, daggers, etc.), separating them from almost 60% of the total number of manufactured products.

The main feature of the Kizlyar hunting knives is the presence of an engraved (or etched) pattern on the blade part. In addition, the finishing of models always borders on the concept of “rich”, and consists in the use of very high-quality materials. In addition to high-strength stainless steel (with a hardness of 57-60 HRC), hard and very expensive types of wood are used, as well as genuine leather for the manufacture of holsters. As worthy examples we can cite the “Berkut” model (with the blade design and without it at the choice of the consumer) and “Isma X12MF”, which belongs to the category of cold arms.

3 Benchmade

The award-winning manufacturer of folding knives, who managed to earn the fame of the most reliable for the negligibly small (by the standards of the market) time in the segment. Founded in the 1988th year, this production enterprise at one moment gained global popularity, in which the high quality of the materials used and fundamentally new blade fixing mechanisms played a significant role.

Initially, under the Benchmade brand, only butterfly knives (the tribute to which is fully reflected in the logo) were released, but the market trends tempted the young manufacturer to start producing folding models. The result of this decision was the appearance in the world of such famous knives as GRIPTILIAN and PARDUE AXIS SPEAR POINT FOLDER, which are successfully used in the field of hunting. In both cases, 154CM steel with a hardness of at least 60 HRC was used as the blade material. Both models are quite expensive, but they completely pay for the time spent on service.

2 Buck

The first mention of Buck was dated back to 1902, when a talented blacksmith student Hoyt Buck was able to modernize the steel hardening and made the first knife under his modest name. Much later, in 1965, this company was able to make a major breakthrough, becoming a full-fledged international corporation. Today, Buck is famous for producing a huge number of knives for various applications in a wide range of price categories.

From the hunting series from Buck can be identified over a dozen knives, at various times achieved the title of bestsellers of the market.Now, as an illustrative example, let us pay tribute to the models 536 Open Seasons and Customizable 110 - very convenient folding knives, designed for cutting mining and solving elementary tourist problems. A remarkable feature is that when ordering from a dealer, the user can assign the material and the appearance of the blade part. It is worth such a custom upgrade is not too expensive - however, like the knives themselves. By default, on all models, without exception, there are blades made of 420HC steel - not bad holding a sharp cutting edge, but from time to time requiring sharpening.

1 Spyderco

Spyderco is an eminent American manufacturer that got into the rating due to a purely original approach to shaping the blade part. Actually, this moment became a full-fledged business card of the brand - it is simply impossible to confuse its products with any other.

As for the opinion of consumers, the Spyderco leaves only positive emotions, associated primarily with the correct ratio of high quality and low prices. They like to take them specifically for hunting, which is explained by the high level of comfort during use, as well as by the magnificent appearance (and the concomitant internal confidence). Leaving aside the more “monumental” models, we give as an example of their products the Police folding knife (VG-10 steel with a hardness of 62 HRC), as well as a fixed wide-blade RONIN 2 cutter (the original Carpenter CTS steel - BD1 with a hardness of 60 HRC). They are inexpensive, ergonomic and will be an ideal tool for performing tourist operations, skinning prey and knife hunting for large prey.

Popular vote - who is the best manufacturer of hunting knives?
We vote!

Mora of Sweden

Spyderco

Benchmade

Buck

"Kizlyar"

Ka-Bar

Cold steel

Gerber

Silver stag

Helle

Total votes: 44

Vote results