A bushcraft knife is a woodcraft tool first and a cutting tool second. Feather sticks, notches, tent pegs, pot hangers and kindling. That means a blade you can control with a thumb on the spine, a flat grind that bites into wood without wedging, and a handle that fills a hand rather than a fist.
What is on this tag
Camp knives, skinners, bowies, tracker knives, fillet blades and folding pocket knives. Blade lengths run 2.75, 3.5, 4, 5, 7 and 8 inches, with overall lengths from about 6.5 to 13. Steel is mostly Damascus of 1095 and 15N20, forge welded and acid etched, at 58 to 60 HRC, with plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC, a little D2 and a couple of stainless folders. Handles are stag horn, wood, rosewood, buffalo horn, walnut, micarta and stabilized resin. Fixed blades ship in a stitched cowhide sheath.
The size argument
Bushcraft rewards a smaller knife than most people buy. A 4 inch blade does every carving task better than a 7 inch one, because control comes from choking up near the edge and a long blade puts the tip somewhere you cannot see. If you need to split wood, a 5 inch blade and a baton will do more than most people expect. Buy the big knife second, not first. On shape, a drop point or a straight spine beats a clip point for wood work, and the blade shapes guide explains why the belly position matters.
Keeping it working
A bushcraft edge lives or dies on maintenance in the field. Strop it daily rather than grinding it monthly, and carry a small stone. At 58 to 60 HRC the Damascus blades hold an edge a long while and want a proper stone when they finally go, which the whetstone guide covers. The general field blades are in the hunting knives and the pattern welded range in the Damascus knives.
Handle materials in the wet
Micarta is the least glamorous and the most reliable when your hands are cold and wet. Antler is close behind and warmer to hold. Oiled hardwood is fine until it is soaked, at which point it goes slick. Stabilized resin sits in the middle and cleans easily. Pick for the weather you actually go out in.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
