Read this before buying so you don't miss the important features.
Selecting the best hunting knife is no easy task.
A good hunting knife should manage everything from splitting firewood to field dressing. And everything in between.
We wrote the first guide on hunting knives back in 2016.
It is one of our most read articles. To our great joy, it has also been the main source of inspiration for some of our competitors.
The first specially developed Knv hunting knife was introduced in 2013.
Knife Knv3.
84 mm (3 1/3") hot-forged solid steel drop-point blade that you can cover with your index finger for perfect field dressing. 4.5 mm (1/5") blade thickness that allow you to cut right trough the chest bone of a grown wildboar.
TPEE rubberized handle for maximum comfort during long work and cold weather. Generous finger guard / quillion that prevent slipping even when the hands are cold and smudgy from field dressing.
All functionally carried in a antibacterial Kydex sheath with perfect fit and simplest possible cleaning.
That was our starting point.
Ever since, we have been in a continuous test-driven development process to stay in the absolute forefront.
Every Knv Knife is tested to meet 89 specific performance requirements. It's what makes jaktkit hunting knives apart different from others. You can read more about our performance requirements and thinking in our jaktkit knife philosophy.
Although selecting a hunting knife is much a matter of preference and taste, there are some vital features that you need to consider.
In this guide you will find everything you need to know to select the best hunting knife for you.
Table of Contents
The hunting knife should above all have a well-thought-out blade shape to function well.
Some knives are equipped with special belly openers. However, those are mainly targeted at novice hunters and will limit the knife's versatility and blade durability. Belly openers rarely gives the same fine results as a well-designed knife blade in experienced hands. More often a belly opener is cutting too deep/shallow and creates a mess if and when it's unable to cut trough the chest bone.
Hunting knives should be equipped with an easy-to-grip handle and well-sized quillion (finger guard) so that you can work safely with the knife both when your hands are frozen and when the knife is sticky during game handling.
Knives with handles in G10 and Micarta are sometimes marketed as hunting knives, but as the steel is exposed directly in the hand, they are unsuitable for our Nordic climate.
The same applies to knives with a metal paring bar. Even in normal autumn weather, the cooling effect can be so strong that the hand becomes (temporarily) unusable. It is even worse in extreme cold.
At -26 C, the temperature difference and the risk of injury is as great as when you take a 100 degree oven tray with your bare hand.
Knife handles made of leather, horn, Micarta or other porous and organic materials are equally unsuitable for hygiene reasons.
"Wild" and exotic "game" taste are much talked about among hunters.
What many people do not realize is that it's often due to inadequate meat handling.
In recent years, hygiene in the handling of wild game has received greater attention. This has contributed to both changing field dressing routines and higher quality of the harvested game.
However, what is often forgotten is the hygiene of the hunting knife and the knife sheath.
While more and more hunters use plastic gloves with the same finesse as eminent heart surgeons, they can without reflection pull out the hunting knife from an unwashed leather sheath that has collected old residues of salami sausage and field dressed moose bulls for decades.
Cleaning bullets residue, dressing, butchering in an clean environment and washing hands / using plastic gloves are now standard practice for most hunters.
Fortunately, awareness of the impact of the hunting knife and the importance of the sheath hygiene is beginning to increase. Something we have worked with and informed about for over a decade.
Previously, few people reflected on how much bacteria accumulates in a Cordura or leather sheath from a field dressing in the woods. Nor over the bacteria that result from cutting hotdogs, weekend after weekend during wonderful hunting moments, without proper sheath cleaning.
To some extent, this also applies to folding knives when used for hunting. They are not inherently unsanitary, but the design of the folding knife with many nooks and crannies makes them much more demanding to clean than hunters endure after a long day in the woods.
A good hunting knife should be easy to clean. The same applies to the sheath.
Many "hunting knives" and butcher sets are made with thin blades for cost reasons. It allows the blades to be pressed out of the steel plate, much like gingerbreads, during manufacturing and thin blades requires less costly grinding work for the edge to feel sharp. For a filet knife thin blade is justified, but for a hunting knife it has no advantages.
For the serious hunter, a well-made hunting knife with a robust blade is preferable and makes the knife more durable and versatile.
Few things are as annoying as puncturing the abdomen and destroying meat when field dressing because you broke a too small knife in the sternum or because you have to start looking for a saw in the middle of the process.
Even more annoying if you also forcefully cut your own wrist off on the broken blade, die, and thus miss future hunts.
Then it is difficult to feel any great joy even if the knife was "cheap".
A robust and well-made hunting knife pays off in hunting experience over time. The fact that it's also splits wood for the fire during hunting breaks without hesitation is just a nice bonus.
A thick blade is not enough. A knife blade also requires a high-quality steel that has been properly hardened and tempered for the purpose. Steel is specially heat treated to receive the right balance between hardness and toughness.
Very simply, the heat treatment consists of:
The higher the quality of the steel, the higher the level is raised, so that you can get more of both hardness and toughness. Which ultimately give better durability and edge retention if the heat treatment is done correctly.
Both the manufacturing process itself and the metallurgical composition contribute to giving the steel its specific character.
Therefore, extensive practical testing is required to gain a full understanding of the steel's performance. It isn't enough to just look at steel tables. However, a steel table can give an indication.
Many high-quality steels have fairly generous levels of carbon (C), chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo) which contribute to both hardness and toughness.
Vanadium (V) and Cobalt (Co) are also found in many modern high-performance steels.
A carbon content of 1-1.5% is usually a good benchmark for high performance knives.
If the carbon content is considerably higher, there is an obvious risk that the finished knife will be too brittle, all else being equal.
Budget knives typically have carbon content of 0.4-0.7%. Low carbon content requires less expensive alloys to stabilize. In addition, these softer steels are significantly easier to process in manufacturing, which reduces both manufacturing cost and time. Finally, the heat treatment is less complexity and costly when carbon and alloy content is lower.
That is why budget knives cost less and but performs poorly.
As a general rule: High price doesn't necessarily guarantee high performance, but cheap knives always give you the low performance you are paying for.
You will carry your hunting knife with you in all situations, often together with other equipment. Therefore, it is important that you can easily attach it exactly where you want it and that it sits properly in the knife sheath so that it is really in place when you need it. For this reason look for versatile fixation and a good fit between knife and sheath. Many knife makers see the knife as a stand alone product and the sheath as something you add later with little to no consideration. For this reason you can often judge a hunting knifes true quality by the quality of its sheath.
It all started in Kalmar.
A Swedish city so stony and harsh that its ancient nameincludes both "cairn” [stenröse] and “gravel islands"[grusiga öar].
Its inhabitants. Kalmariten. Harsh, resilient and stubborn.
True iron men whose strenuous daily chores so impressed on medieval Hawaiian traders that they later started endurance races in their name....as the saying goes.
A perfect location for an unconventional knife maker dedicated to break new ground. Welcome to our world!
//Jaktkit
Jaktkit knives follow no trends.
Aren't designed to please.
Yet, jaktkit Knv knives have managed to become favoured tools among frontrunners. Around the world.
You recognize them, they recognize you.
When you put your jaktkit knife in your belt you don't walk alone.
Every Knv knife is tested to meet 89 specific performance requirements.
Small details that make Knv knives different from other knives.
We are truly humble and honoured that our Knv knives have been so well received.
We are allowed to disclose that Piketen - a special operations unit of the Swedish Police - were among the first to select Knv knives for test.
2016 Knife Knv2 received the highest test score among Swedish knives from reputable Dutch Bushcraft, in strong competition with quality knives from Fallkniven (A1, F1 & S1) and Morakniven(Pathfinder & Tactical SRT)
Not loved by everyone, but favoured in test after test.
It’s time. Become one of us.Buy your jaktkit hunting knife here