Knives 101

The knife is probably the oldest and most used tool that has been invented and in some respects, the design has changed little over the millennium.  A blade and a handle are the basics of a knife.  Surgeons have actually performed surgery with excavated stone-age obsidian blades. The stone still had the razor sharpness of modern scalpels!  And, they could be re-sharpened by rescaling the flint or obsidian.

Modern knives vary by type, hunting, fishing, kitchen, survival, or pocketknife. Blade material, and handle materials vary, and the workmanship can vary from very poor to excellent depending on the materials used and the experience of the knife maker   as with most things, price usually determines the quality.  Don’t expect to get a great hunting knife for $1.50, but you don’t have to pay $150.00 to get a good quality knife either.

There are some basics you need to know about knives:

1 – What are you going to use the knife for? 

-          Is it for every day use such as cutting open boxes, cutting string, etc.?

-          Is it for hunting or fishing?  Maybe camping or climbing.

-          Is it for survival?

-          Or just for a little of all of the above.

2 – What type of knife and what features do you need?

-          Do you need a folding blade, a fixed blade, a lock blade, a saw blade, assisted opening blade?

-          How important is weight?

-          How well does the knife retain its sharpness?

3 – What is the knife made of?

-          What type material does the blade need to made of?

-          What material do you need or want for the handle?

Basically, a knife consists of a blade and a tang, or in the case of folding knives, base to mount the handles on.  For everyday carry, I would suggest a good-quality folding knife such as a Case, Buck or any other quality name brand knife.  There are literally dozens of good quality, name brand knives; Hen and Rooster, Puma, Schrade, Boker, Gerber, and the list goes on.  I would suggest that you choose a knife that is the size and weight you like, is made of good metal that will retain its edge, and is pleasantly appealing to you.  If weight is important several knifemakers offer knifes with aluminum bolsters to lighten the weight. 

Quality Knife Makers

All of the name brand, quality knife makers offer pocketknives, fishing, and hunting/survival knives.  For hunting, you may need a folding knife with a regular blade and a saw blade for cutting bone or wood for a campfire.  If you are hunting close to home and you will not need to field dress your game and cut it up to pack out, you will probably want a fixed blade. 

In either case, you will want to make sure that the knife has a good non-slip handle material and a good heavy-duty scabbard. I cannot stress the non-slip handle and scabbard enough.  You do not want your hand to slip and cut your self.  No doubt, your hunting knife will be very sharp and have a good sized, heavy blade.  Any accidental cut will probably be pretty serious. Also, you don’t want to stab your self in the leg because of a flimsy scabbard.  (I actually had a friend that was bow hunting.  He was carrying his bow down by his side with an arrow notched.  His foot slipped and he stabbed his self in the calf and cut an artery.  He just about bled out before his friends got him out of the woods and to the hospital.)   This very same thing could happen with a flimsy scabbard.

You will simply need to choose the correct knife for your need.  For fishing, I would suggest a folding fillet knife with a blade for scaling the fish.  For climbing, I would suggest a lock blade with assisted one-handed ability and a serrated blade.  This will come in handy if you need to cut yourself loose while holding on with the other hand and the serrated blade will help when cutting through rope.

Again, if weight is important, several knife makers offer knifes with aluminum components to lighten the weight. 

Taking Care of Your Knife.

To start with, you need to consider the area you live in.  If you live in an area of high humidity, you definitely want to consider a stainless knife.  On German knives, this will say Rostfrei.  In drier areas, I would consider a carbon steel blade.  In my experience the blade will be easier to sharpen and will retain its sharpness longer.  That being said, there is really very little upkeep to a knife.  The most important thing is to keep your knife clean and dry.  The cleaning of the knife should be done on a regular basis and after each use.  The cleaning can be accomplished with a little detergent and water, making sure to rinse and dry the knife really good.  Remember to clean the entire knife, not just the blade.  Keeping the handles clean will prevent deterioration of the handles.  After that, a small coating of a light lubricant will keep your knife in good shape.  Do not get oil on the handles as this could cause damage, but remember to oil all of the moving parts, the locking mechanism, and springs on your knife to retain that smooth opening and closing and to prevent rusting.

Storing your knife.

Regardless of the area you live in you should perform the cleaning and oiling, and store your knife in the original packaging if possible and store your knife in a dry cool place.  If you have any desiccant to place near your knife to help remove any moisture this would be a great help.  The coolness will help preserve your handle material.

Sharpening your Knife

First, never, ever sharpen your knife on a grinder or other powered device.  This can get the metal too hot and ruin the temper, or hardness, of your blade.

Most knives come from the factory with a good sharp edge and a very visible tapered edge.  This edge will most likely be around 15° and this is the approximate degree that you will want to adhere to.  You can buy a sharpening kit such as the Lanksy for around $35.00 that will guarantee the same edge every time.  These are very helpful if you kinda know how to sharpen a knife but want to get that expert sharpness.  These kits come with several grades of grit starting with a rough grit to get the edge down, to a really fine grit to get that true razor edge.

Other than the kits, there are a couple of other options.  You can purchase a diamond stone or a natural stone such as an Arkansas Oil Stone.  The diamond stone, as its name implies, has a coat of industrial grade diamond dust.  These sharpeners will sharpen a knife very quickly and can be used wet or dry.  If you choose to use the wet method, you can just use water, applying a light pressure.  Excessive pressure can cause excess wear on your blade and really isn’t necessary.   Make sure you rinse the stone off after you use it and clean and oil your knife.

Arkansas oil stones are a type of genuine silica indigenous to Arkansas.  They come in different coarseness and are exceptionally suited for knife sharpening.  These are best used “wet” and can be used with water or oil.