10 Best Camping Knives in 2018

The Morakniv Companion has a 4 inch blade that actually feels much larger due mostly to the solid, high friction rubberized grip and the lustrous 12C27 stainless steel it’s made from. The Companion utilizes a partial stick tang that may some day in the distant future betray itself, but you will have no trouble putting this puppy to work carving tent stakes, clearing bush and hacking firewood. With its affordable price point, true Scandi grind and lifetime warranty this may be the best all-around camping knife value on the market today.

The Opinel Carbon Steel Folding Pocket Knife provides an excellent cutting edge which stays dangerously sharp for a good long time. The beachwood handle looks simplistic but is surprisingly effective from an ergonomic standpoint. And of course all Opinel knives sport the Virobloc safety ring which ensures your fingers won’t fall victim to a blade that closes accidentally. If you want you can purchase a sheath for the knife that will allow you to carry it on your belt. You couldn’t call this a survival knife but for most tasks around the campsite it will do the trick.

The Ultimate Knife has a textured rubber grip that doesn’t let you down when conditions get sloppy. The stainless steel pommel comes in handy when you need to drive stakes into frozen ground and the high carbon steel drop point blade makes short work of everything from trout to firewood. The Ultimate Knife is beautifully balanced with just enough heft to provide it with cutting and hacking credentials. There’s a small emergency whistle lashed to the handle via a lanyard, a flint for starting fires and on the back of the sheath are instructions for transmitting your condition via Alpine rescue signals.

The Gerber StrongArm features a 420 high carbon steel blade with full tang. There’s a rubberized handle for a sure grip even when the weather is close and a striking pommel at the base you can use to break glass or soften up frozen earth without having to ruin your blade in the process. The diamond textured grip never lets you down even when the mercury has plunged and you can barely feel your fingers. The blade has a ceramic coating that keeps corrosion at bay and the serration near the handle helps you hack through the toughest bush.

The Spyderco Tenacious sports an 8Cr13MoV stainless steel blade that will more than live up to its responsibilities and an overall balance that is actually quite good for a folding knife. The blade itself is 3.39 inches long, enough to handle most responsibilities around the campsite, and the knife as a whole tips the scales at a svelte 4 oz. The handle is comfortable and offset to maximize leverage. While inside there are steel liners that work to increase the rigidity of the handle so you can take advantage of that leverage. Great for cutting stakes or cutting steaks.

The S&W 7.1 inch SWA24S Stainless Steel Folding Knife is an aggressive looking device although it doesn’t sacrifice function for some silly notion of looking “extreme”. It’s a beautifully balanced piece of camping kit with a 3.1 inch blade fashioned from 7Cr17MoV black oxide stainless steel. You’ll have no trouble cutting tinder, whittling stakes or clearing brush with this knife. The inner lock on the handle ensures the safety and longevity of your fingers and the light weight of the SWA24S means you won’t tire from using it for long stretches.

The Schrade SCHF36 blade is fashioned from 1095 high carbon, powder coated stainless and is razor sharp right out of the box. That fixed blade is 5 inches in length and sits atop a textured TPE handle that provides the kind of secure, comfortable grip you want with a fixed blade camping knife. Every effort is made to ensure you always have a firm hold of the knife. There is the forward finger choil as well as thumb and finger jimping and a forward quillon, which prevents your hand accidentally slipping forward and engaging the blade.

With the Bushcrafter 162 from Benchmade one could be forgiven for thinking they had grabbed one of their kitchen knives by mistake. That said, the 4.4 inch drop point blade is full tang which means it’s not going to shy away from the more down and dirty campsite responsibilities. The scales on the handle are molded G-10, very comfortable and able to provide a firm grip in any conditions. The flared tubing in the handle is designed to pull the handle material in on the tang and ensure that it won’t come loose following the repeated application of lateral force.

With an overall length of 9 inches you wouldn’t call the ESEE 4P a piece of everyday carry but based on the quality of the knife, the toughness and effectiveness of the blade and the sure, comfortable grip you get from the handle you’d do just fine calling it your go-to camping knife. The blade is fashioned from high quality 1095 carbon steel with a cutting edge 4.1 inches in length. That 1095 carbon steel sharpens up real nice and holds its edge through thick and thin. The 4P comes with a Kydex sheath that the knife slips into easily and snugly.

The Fallkniven F1 is standard issue for pilots of the Swedish Air Force. The blade is a 3.75 inch VG 10 stainless steel beauty with a satin finish and is sandwiched in the handle by dual slabs of 420J stainless. The Thermorun elastomer handle material is a mixture of rubber and plastic that retains the latter’s long term durability while also exhibiting the sure grip qualities of the former. In other words, it’s perfect for outdoor applications. Whereas a folding knife may suffice for the state park, camping in the deep woods calls for something like the Fallkniven F1.