Hello World! Welcome Friends! If you’re among the 8.3 million people who discovered a newfound love of camping in 2021, you’ll likely want to stock up on some outdoor essentials before your next trip.
Depending on which type of camping you prefer, you may need a tent, cooking essentials, and even some tech gadgets. However, even if you’re traveling in a luxury RV, you’re bound to need a pocket knife at some stage of your trip.
These are the things to consider when choosing the best pocket knife for your outdoor adventures.
Why Do You Need a Pocket Knife?
Apart from being one of the handiest camping accessories you’ll ever buy, a pocket knife is an outstanding general-purpose tool.
They’re small and portable enough to carry in your purse or your pants pocket for easy access, so you don’t need to go hunting for a pair of scissors or a knife when you need one.
Pocket knives are good for daily use like opening packages, snipping string, or tightening small screws. When camping, you can use them for fishing, trimming branches, cutting kindling, hunting and fishing tasks, or even sparking a flame.
Pocket Knife Terminology
Before we get started, it’s best to get some clarity on common terms used to describe knives and their characteristics. This will help you figure out which components you should search for in your ideal knife and whether you need more than one.
There are two main types of knives:
Fixed Blade Knives
Fixed blades are stronger, easier to clean, and more comfortable to handle. They also offer more heft, but they require a safety seat, weigh more, and take up more space than pocket knives.
Pocket Knives
Pocket knives have folding blades, so they don’t take up a lot of space. This makes them ideal for camping and also keeps the sharp edge safely inside the handle of the knife.
These smaller knives offer less comfort and stability when you use them, and you can accidentally fold the knife down on your fingers while using it. Most people prefer pocket knives as they often have extra features included, like bottle openers, corkscrews, and even scissors.
Yet, some multipurpose fixed-blade knives, like the Hori Hori, can double up as a digging implement or bottle opener.
Pocket Knife Mechanisms
To prevent accidents, some pocket knives feature a locking blade. These blades fold down when you’re not using them, but lock in place when you open them up.
You can open one-handed opening blades quickly with one hand. They have a smooth folding mechanism and a notch, stud, or cutout on the blade. The latter feature makes it easy to push the knife open with your thumb.
An assisted opening mechanism engages to fully open the knife. These knives have a safety lock to disengage the mechanism and prevent it from opening accidentally when you close the knife.
Knife Blade Shapes
The shape of the blade determines the most suitable applications for the knife. The most common blade shapes used for going camping include:
Drop-Point Blades
These strong, versatile blades have thick points and spines that drop toward the tip. This shape reduces the possibility of accidental puncturing. They’re best suited to general knife work, including heavy tasks.
Clip-Point Blades
Clip-point blades have a thin, sharp point, created by a crescent drop in the top of the blade. They offer extra control when conducting precise, detailed work and puncturing.
These blades aren’t as strong as drop-point blades.
Tanto Blades
These heavy-duty blades have a strong point and angular tip. They have extra strength suited to piercing, scraping, and prying through tough materials.
Needle-Point and Spear-Point Blades
Both these types of blades have symmetrical points and double edges. They’re well-suited for puncturing and throwing, and a popular choice for survival situations.
Sheepsfoot and Santuko
With a spine that rounds off steeply to a point and a straight cutting edge, sheepsfoot and santuko blades are best suited for food preparation. When you use this type of knife, it’s easy to slice, chop, and cut ingredients without accidentally piercing yourself on a sharp point.
Wharncliffe blades are almost identical to sheepsfoot blades, except the back of the blade starts to curve closer to the handle. They’re also a lot thicker than most blades in the same size range.
Spey Blades
Spey blades have an almost flat edge on top and a sharp curve to the tip. They’re becoming a common style for utility knives nowadays.
Hawkbill Blades
As the name suggests, this blade resembles the curved blade of a hawk’s bill. It has a concave cutting edge suited to cutting cords, stripping wires, and opening boxes.
Gut Hooks
Gut hooks are part of other types of blades. They have a sharpened edge at the end of the curve, which works for skinning fish and game without damaging the meat underneath.
Knife Materials
Knife handles have a texture for ergonomic comfort and improved grip. They are usually made of attractive wood, affordable, waterproof plastic, durable stainless steel, or rubber for extra grip.
G10 comprises fiberglass soaked in resin and then baked. It’s a strong, lightweight material that resists water. These characteristics make it a popular choice for survival knives.
Zytel is an impact- and corrosion-resistant thermoplastic, and virtually unbreakable, while titanium offers lightweight strength.
Most knife blades comprise one of the following types of steel:
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel resists rust and comes in three different grades. The most affordable type is 420HC, followed by the slightly harder 154CM with more carbon. Premium S30V stainless steel has high quantities of vanadium for exceptional edge retention.
High-Carbon Steel
High carbon steel has excellent edge retention and hardness. Yet, it doesn’t resist corrosion like stainless steel does.
Which Is the Best Pocket Knife For You?
The above terms might have given you an inkling about what type of pocket knife you need already, but there are more things to consider.
Number of Blades
Single-blade knives, also known as ”everyday carries”, are a classic option for daily use. Although they’re light and portable, the more blades your knife has, the more versatile it’s bound to be.
Other pocket knives have as many as four blades, although most have only two. A pen knife has a long and short blade on either end. They might provide more options, but multiple-bladed knives are often less durable than single-blade ones.
Swiss Army knives are world-renowned for their many gadgets included in a pocket-knife shell. They feature a few knives with both smooth and serrated blades, scissors, a corkscrew, gut points, and more.
Blade Edges
After the number of blades on a pocket knife, the blade edge has the most impact on its usefulness. When choosing a pocket knife, you should consider the following pros and cons of each type:
Plain Edge Blades
Plain edge blades are best for push cuts. You have better control over the single sharp edge, resulting in cleaner, more accurate cuts.
It’s easy to sharpen these blades without sending them to a specialized facility.
They’re no good for pull cuts, though. Have you ever tried cutting bread with a plain-edged knife? Plain blades work well for shaving things or skinning animals, but they’re not of much use when cutting wood or rope.
Fully Serrated Edge Blades
A fully serrated edge fills in the gaps where plain-edge knives fail. These knives work better for cutting tougher materials.
The serrations provide higher pressure per area and the serrations are often thinner than plain edges, so they cut more effectively.
You can’t perform fine, intricate movements with a serrated edge knife, and you’ll need expert help to sharpen them, but they work a treat for sawing and cutting.
Combo Edge Blades
Knives with partially serrated edges have a mix of both plain and serrated edges along the blades. Thanks to this, you can use the knife for delicate push cuts as well as more rugged sawing.
Make sure you think about your needs concerning the placement of the blades before you buy one of these knives, as you can choose from several configurations.
Combo blades offer a best-of-both-worlds solution for those who prefer a single-blade knife.
Add Convenience to Your Camping Trip
Once you’ve discovered the best pocket knife for your camping needs, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without it. These useful camping accessories come in handy for everyday life, too.
You can use them at home and work whenever you need to snip or trim something, and you can’t find the scissors anywhere.
If you’d like to discover more handy tips to make your life easier and more enjoyable, keep browsing our website.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
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Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
Great Job done ! A complete thought about uses, necessity and importance declared here. Thanks a lot. It’ll be helpful.