Fixed Blade Knives

Welcome to  the Fixed Blade Knives website…Whether you are looking for a blade to skin your next 12-pointer, filet a perch, or to deploy on the battlefield, we’ve got you covered.

The functions and advantages of a sturdy fixed blade knife are truly endless, and a single quality blade can perform many different tasks for you.  At the same time, these knives are very specialized, and even within the same “type” of knife you will find many different blades designed for very different tasks.  For instance, in the “Hunting Knives” category below, you will find straight blade hunting knives, bone saws , skinners, gut hook blades, cleaning knives, etc.

You will also find a variety of knife resources on this website as well…If  you are seeking additional information, we have included many links to a wide variety of references and resources to help you find what you are looking for.

Hunting Knives:  Every culture in the world has their own version of the hunting knife, with styles and blade design as varied as their makers and countries of origin.  A hunting knife is by definition an durable all-purpose blade, and is typically used in the field for everything from skinning and dressing game, cutting branches around a hunting stand, and trimming poles and rope for a shelter.

The best fixed blade hunting knifes have a “full tang,” which means that it is forged from a solid peice of steel that runs all the way through the handle.  Look for a blade at least 1/8 ” thick made out of high-carbon stainless or vanadium steel.

Handle construction is an important factor in choosing the right hunting knife for you.  While a knife handle made out of a natural material such as wood, bone, or leather may be attractive and appealing, they may be less durable than a synthetic handle, can also  be hard to grip when wet with water or blood.  On the other hand, synthetic handles  made out of materials such as Kraton, Zytel, and ABS are lightweight, waterproof, economical, and unbreakable.

Fishing Knives:   There are basically two fishing knives that you will need in your tackle box: bait knives and fillet knives.

A bait knife an inexpensive utility blade, usually about 4 inches long.  It should have two edges:  a serated one for scaling and a straight edge used for cutting bait, bone,  and fishing line.

A fillet knife is a long flexible blade made out of high carban high-carbon stainless steel.  A good rule of thumb with fillet knives is the better the blade, the less meat is wasted, so make sure you purchase from a reputable manufacturer.

You will find fillet knives in many different sizes (anywhere from 4 – 9 inches), depending on the size of the fish you are cleaning.  A good “all-purpose” fillet knife is about 7 1/2 inches long — a perfect size to clean bass or trout.  But keep in mind that smaller fish require shorter, more flexible blades:  use a 4 – 6 inch knife for pan fish like perch and bluegill.  Of course, it is much eisier to fillet  larger fish like pike or salmon with a longer, sturdier blade.

Bowie-style Knives:  With it’s large size, distinctive blade shape, and the S-guard handle, this knife was made famous by it’s namesake, Jim Bowie.  The famous frontiersman was reported to have fended off three assasins in 1827 with the knife that he had designed.  Since then, the Bowie knife has enjoyed enourmous popularity not just as a weapon, but a terrific all-purpose tool used for hunting, camping, and fishing.

While the original Bowie knife blade measured 15 inches long, today the name refers generically to any large sheated knife.  The U.S. Army and Air Force even issued their own versions during the Vietnam War version to all helicopter and fighter pilots.  Machined with a saw tooth feature cut into the the back edge of the blade, it was designed to cut through the acrylic canopy in the event of a downed aircraft.

And here’s a “heads up” if you are thinking about purchasing one of these knives:  It is a Class A Misdemeanor to carry a Bowie knife in the state of Texas, where it is still classified as an “illegal knife”

Combat and Tactical Knives:  These knives were originally designed as weapons for the military, and was used for hand-to-hand combat.  However, military tactics have progressed beyond trench warfare in the 20th century, most modern military knives are usually designed for use as a tool (i.e. cutting branches for cover,  uncrating ammunition boxes, clearing foliage, etc.)  rather than as a  weapon.

Having said that, millions of KA-BAR knives have been issue to U.S. Marines, Navy Seals, and Army Rangers since WWII, which is an 11 3/4″ Bowie-style knife designed for close-range combat.

Today, you can find combat and tactical knies in all shapes and sizes.  A fixed blade is the only way to go when it comes to combat knives, and you want one that has been forged from a single peice of steel that extends all the way into the handle.  Also, look for a combat knife with two edges to give you the ability to attack from any angle.

Throwing Knives:  Knife throwing has been practiced for thousands of years as a form of entertainment, sport, hunting, and warfare.  Today these blades are a very specialized type of knife designed for their balance,  proportions, and aerodynamics.  The edges of a  modern throwing knife are usually dull (to protect the thrower’s hands in certain grips), but the point remains very sharp…this is because penetration — and not slicing — is the desired effect of throwing knives at the point of impact.

The art of knife-throwing is a very difficult skill to master.  There are two different kinds of knife throws:  “end-over-end” and “combat style”.  In the first style, the knife rotates during it’s flight, and the thrower must guage the distance of the throw to determine how many rotations the knife will have to reach the target.

In “combat style” knife throwing, the knives are thrown in such a way that they fly straight into the target with no rotation.   This throw resembles throwing a dart, and is even more difficult to master, but is has the advantage of not having to determine how many rotations the knife must travel to  find it’s target.

I hope that you have enjoyed our overview of sheath knives.  Of course, there are many  other types of fixed blade knives that we have not covered yet (each of which could benefit from a dedicated website of their own), including chef’s knives, survival knives, boot knives, neck knives, historical knives, bushcraft knives, rambo knives, and even fantasy knives.

Please feel free to post a comment and let me know if you would like more information on this website about any of these other different  kinds of fixed blade knives.

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