Choosing the best knife for hunting

When you are out on the bushes for hunting you must care not only about your weapon and garment but also about your knife; after all it's an essential piece of equipment once you have a catch.

Being such an important tool, it's mandatory to choose the best hunting knife to fit your requirements but with a enormous offer on both internet and shops, it may result overwhelming to choose the right one, especially if we don't know what to look for.

In order to facilitate the choice, here you'll find some useful information to keep in mind when choosing your hunting knife.

First of all, What are you going to hunt? 

Depending of the the size of your catch, you will need a particular knife size; so a 10 inches blade will be useless if you hunt rabbits; on the other hand, a small, folder knife might not be reliable to work with a deer.

Obviously, if you are a prolific hunter going out several times a year for different catches sizes, you'll need more than one knife in order to fit every special requirement.

Another thing to keep in mind is how often you go out for hunting. If you are an occasional hunter, folder knifes may be a good option since they are easy to transport and handle; but if you go out to the bushes very often, perhaps the best choice is a fixed blade knife because such design tends to be stronger and more reliable.

In the case of folder knives the most important feature it's the locking mechanism because fails on the lock are critical and may render the knife useless.

If you decide for a folder knife it will be mandatory to choose an expensive one, built by a reputable company, otherwise your knife will not last longer.

Although folded knives might be easier to carry, fixed blade knives tend to be stronger, cheaper and more reliable, thus it's not a surprise that most hunters make of fixed blade their main choice.

In order to find a good featured, long lasting fixed blade knife, you must consider the following features:

1. A full tang design blade is not the best option but the only acceptable one; on full tang blades both the blade and the handle are made of a continuous piece of steel, making it stronger, durable and virtually unbreakable; so partial tang design must be discarded unless you wish to have troubles with durability.

2. Stainless Steel is the best material since it needs virtually no maintenance; but if you wish a cheaper, strong, rugged, easy to sharpen knife, perhaps you will prefer a carbon steel blade, but remember that carbon steel needs a lot of care and attention if you wish to keep your knife with you many years.

If you wish to have the best of both world, you may decide by a high carbon stainless steel blade which combines the performance of carbon steel blades with the durability of stainless steel ones. The only issue with this kind of blades is the extra cost but if you can afford them, it's a good, long lasting investment.

Finally be sure that the handle is comfortable on your hand and feel heavy; the material ALWAYS must be synthetic because other elements such as bone, wood and leather tend to be more fragile, less durable and slippery when wet.

Now you know the basics, everything else is on you; adding extra features to the hunting knife that best fits your personal requirements.