Few pieces of a hunter’s kit are as hotly debated as what knife is best for the job. Some folks take it incredibly seriously, keeping their preferred blade-of-the-week at a hair-popping edge, meticulously avoiding running it up on bones, and constantly considering things like edge angle and blade profile. Others are still using the knife their father passed down to them—albeit lovingly cared for—and still others (generally professional guides, who have little time to waste on sentimentality) simply grab a replaceable-blade folder and roll with it.
Given the sheer number of personal predilections that exist, not to mention the myriad tasks for which a hunting knife could be pressed into service, the long-sought-after “best all-around knife” is mythology at best and pointless obsession at worst. Over the course of my time in the field, however, I have whittled down my knife roll to five examples that could handle just about any situation a hunter could encounter. Some of these have been by my side for a long spell, while others are more recent additions; some serve overlapping roles, while others are highly specialized. No matter what sort of hunting knife you’re looking for, I feel confident one of the five below—all made right here in the USA—will suit your needs quite well.
TOPS El Pionero
The TOPS El Pionero leads this list due to its role as my go-to knife for just about any task in or out of the field. It’s a rare day that I pre-order a product, but having followed the career of Ed Calderon—the designer of the El Pionero—and thus hearing about it early, I was forced to make an exception. As soon as I saw it and read its dimensions, I knew this was exactly the sort of knife I had been looking for. With a finger-shaped indexing crescent cut toward the tail of its Micarta handle—which can help you identify the positioning of the knife in the dark, or when out of sight inside an animal’s body cavity—the El Pionero rides comfortably and invisibly under my belt at 11 o’clock in daily life; a perfect weak-hand backup to my pistol. In the field, however, is where the knife truly shines.
A sleek, thin blade and precise swedged tip make this knife perfect for everything from breasting birds, to cleaning turkey and even processing whitetail. Its length hits the perfect sweet spot of never too long and almost never too short, while its pairing-knife profile excels at the sort of long, narrow cuts that would stymie a thicker blade (think freeing up a deer’s rectum, to put it as colorlessly as I can). The blade is constructed from 1095 Carbon steel with a Rockwell hardness rating of 56-58, which makes it easy to sharpen in the field using anything from a field sharpener to sandpaper—just make sure you keep it well-oiled to stave off rust. It comes with a Kydex sheath with a belt clip, though I swapped mine out immediately for an Ulti-Clip I could affix to the edge of any garment—generally the top of my jeans. The knife is 7.63-inches long overall, with a 3.38-inch blade and a 3.13-inch cutting edge. In total, the knife only tips the scales at 2.9 ounces. It may be the most perfectly dimensioned knife I’ve ever come across for a hunter’s EDC. topsknives.com; MSRP: $240
Dull Boy Cuddlefish
I’ve never seen a sharper edge on a knife. Ever. Full stop. I first encountered a Dull Boy blade when my buddy brought his Beekeeper over to help butcher a deer, and I watched it separate skin and muscle groups like it was cutting through air. As such, while Dull Boy makes a wide variety of knives, I knew I needed his skinner. Enter the Cuddlefish. A skinning knife that was tweaked for AIWB carry, it excels at its original purpose like nothing I’ve ever encountered. The knife’s curved handle allows for an incredibly precise grip when skinning an animal, while its full-belly profile permits the knife to deliver pressure exactly where it needs to be, while keeping the tip a safe distance from punching an accidental hole. Its .125-inch thick blade is formed from AEB-L stainless steel with an HRC 58-61 Rockwell hardness rating, which partially explains its incredible edge-keeping potential. A G10 handle with large rock texturing allows for firm purchase, while a sizeable finger guard keeps your pointer finger safely away from the razor-sharp edge.
Now I will say, if you want a do-it-all blade look elsewhere. Check out another knife on this list, or take a look at Dull Boy’s Holwer or Mini Beekeeper. This is not a knife I would use for stabbing cuts, or for detailed work near organs. As a dedicated skinning knife, however, the Cuddlefish simply will not be beat.
These blades are all handmade in a shop in Texas (Dull Boy is part company, part pseudonym for one extremely talented knifemaker), and as such are a little hard to get your hands on. They are released in large batches of a model or two at a time, and generally sell out quickly. If you’re in the market for a skinner to last you a lifetime, though, it’s worth the wait. dullboyblades.com; MSRP: $280
CRKT Soldotna
Headed for a big-game hunt? Grab the CRKT Soldotna, deigned by hunting guide and custom knife maker Russ Kommer. The newest knife to my collection, I added this one specifically to tackle larger animals. With a blade 3.48-inches long and .12-inches thick, the Soldotna yields an excellent balance between length, width and thickness distinctly suited for working on big-game animals in the field. It’s sleek, but not as sleek as the El Pionero, instead opting for a slightly heavier profile which can be pressed into skinning duty more easily. Despite this, a drop-point tip still allows the knife to pierce the skin with precision, and easily unzipper the underside without smelly nicks to the guts. Those looking for a sleeker CRKT design should check out its little sibling, the Kasilof.
The knife is 7.63-inches long overall and weighs 3.3 ounces, with a full-tang and blade formed from Cerakoted 1095 Carbon Steel—a personal favorite of mine for reasons detailed previously. I’ve a feeling this selection is partially due to CRKT’s collaborative effort with TOPS on this particular blade, as the company strongly favors 1095 for just about everything. The handle is Micarta, which is comfortable under normal circumstances but offers even more remarkable grip properties when wet. Further enhancing this on the Soldotna is a pronounced finger guard at the handle's front, and light finger grooves inset into each side. Topping it all off, the knife comes with a thick leather belt sheath with an extremely tight retention strap, allowing it to be carried into the field unimpeded. crkt.com; MSRP: $200
Buck 102+ Woodsman
If this knife looks familiar, it’s because it is. The Buck 102(+) Woodsman is ubiquitous due to its incredibly utility on game big and small, and has stood the test of time and trends since its 1962 introduction. With a little larger size than the El Pionero, I tend to reach for it first when attacking a whitetail (though I generally rely on the Pionero for birds). I’m spoiled for choice, however, and the truth is either blade can handle just about anything from either category. With an integrated fingerguard and an O.D. Green Micarta handle, this is a knife that’s easy to maneuver and keep hold of.
A four-inch, full-tang blade crafted from heat-treated S35VN stainless steel allows this knife to stand up to the harshest conditions the field can throw at it, while simultaneously maintaining a sharp edge for an incredible number of uses. The tradeoff is that S35VN is moderately hard to sharpen (relative to 1095), and it’ll take a little time to return the edge to its former glory when it does dull. The blade has a deep choil at its rear, and an unsharpened swedge along the front of its spine, which tapers beautifully toward the tip. This, combined with the knife’s thin, .120-inch blade thickness makes the tip a precision instrument par excellence.
Were I only able to bring a single knife on a deer hunt, it would be very hard for me not to reach for the Buck 102+ Woodsman; given the number of years I’ve owned this knife, it’s a choice I’ve made more often than not. The knife weighs in at 2.6 ounces with a 7 ¾-inch overall length, and ships with a classic leather belt sheath. Other handle and blade materials are also available. buckknives.com; MSRP: $74.99-$114.99
Montana Knife Company (MKC) Speedgoat 2.0
What a cool freakin’ knife. When I first got the MKC Speedgoat 2.0, I was immediately struck not by its profile or its paracord-wrapped handle, but by its incredible thinness. I don’t think I’d ever seen another knife of its size quite so thin—just .095-inches at the spine. While it is billed as all-around hunting knife, and does indeed excel in the field, butchering is where this knife really shines for me. With its paper-thin profile, perfect-length blade (3 ¾-inches), and beautiful balance between bellied profile and precise tip, this is a knife that can slip between muscle groups with ease, and tease meat away from the spine while sacrificing hardly any backstrap. Indeed, it is able to flex about as close to a replaceable-blade knife as I’ve ever felt (my previous go-to for backstraps), while somehow still retaining impressive strength overall, making this an absolutely invaluable member of by knife roll.
I’ll admit, my love of this knife for butchering/processing has made me reluctant to carry it afield, as I like to save its edge as long as possible, but it would make an excellent field knife were you so inclined. 52100 Ball Bearing Steel was selected for its incredible hardness, allowing the knife to sport such a thin spine while retaining adequate strength. It is protected by a black Parkerized finish which, while I am carful with it, has held up well to scrapes and does a fine job of keeping away rust. The handle is wrapped in a full seven feet of 550 paracord, which is both an effective handle, and could be potentially useful in a survival situation. Beneath, the tang is skeletonized which helps drop the weight to an absolutely shocking 1.7 ounces—this is a knife you may actually forget is there.
The blade has been thickened in high-stress areas to ensure strength, and the lanyard hole has been widened over the original Speedgoat to make it easier to thread paracord. The handle shape also has some minor ergonomic tweaks in addition to its new finger guard. Finally, the knife ships with a custom Montana Knife Company kydex sheath made in-house, with an adjustable retention screw and a reversible, belt-sized Kydex clip. Fast, light and capable, the Speedgoat 2.0 truly does live up to its namesake. montanaknifecompany.com; MSRP: $225
