As we enter the holiday season, your list might include the gift of a knife to a friend or loved one, especially one that you already know is interested in knives. After all, for those who appreciate a good knife, getting one for the holidays will be a welcome surprise. Of course, you need to remember certain things when getting your gift, including local laws around knife ownership and what knife best fits the needs of your recipient.
For instance, blade length is a key legality factor of most places, as well as the method for opening the knife, if it is a folding knife or something that isn’t a fixed blade (like a kitchen knife).
Some cultures believe that buying a knife as a gift is bad luck. This is thought to be the case because knives are used to cut things obviously and they are said to sever the friendship. You might want to include a coin with the gift box, that’s why, long before rationality and science started replacing superstition, a tradition began in which those who gift a knife also attach a coin to the blade or include it with the gift. Even a penny will do. The receiver of the knife then gives the penny to the gift-giver, thus “paying” them for the knife and keeping the relationship intact. Before the penny existed, finding any kind of metal seemed good fortune, like a gift from the gods. So, including any kind of coin did the trick with a knife gift. The superstition remains so well known to this day that Masakage, the Japanese knife-maker, includes a five-yen coin in knife boxes. Despite all of this superstition a knife can be a really wonderful gift, especially for the outdoorsman, hunter or angler in your life that you want to provide with wonderful hand made equipment. Let’s go through the decision-making process together and get that person the perfect cutting tool for their hobby or profession.
Budget is the most important consideration, you obviously are paying for the knife, so that’s a concern, but what about usability? A knife user won’t be thrilled to take out a $1,000 handmade blade to cut a piece of cable or dirty rope, that’s just not a good idea. A person will also not be inclined to keep a piece visible in their collection if it doesn’t flow with the other types of knives in the group, so making sure you know the approximate style and quality of the knives that person owns is key.
We could split the groups into three sections, knife collector, practical user, or a hybrid of the two.
Collectors pay attention to things like who the knife maker is, what sort of artistic components are used, what sort of high-end materials are used, and hand-finished aspects of the knife. Knife collectors are also usually interested in a knife with a story, maybe the story behind the shape, the handle materials, or the sheath. If you’re planning on purchasing something like this, plan on budgeting $300 or above. Custom knives made for the discriminating knife owner you might want to look into steels like M390, or even something like a Damascus steel.
Our recommendation: TOP 5 KNIVES for the Knife Collector:
Apocalypse by TRC knives.
Our best selling BEAST! Perfect, robust and super reliable and of course, totally handmade knife.
Suna Raindrops by Olamic Cutlery.
Classic and must have Damascus knife from Olamic. 100% handmade and unique.
Practical users are generally lower budgets and are generally easier to purchase for. These knives might be designed with a specific task in mind like skinning, carving, or gutting of fish. There are obviously also general shaped knives for universal use, that we are more familiar with. These are often made of practical, usable materials such as stainless steel and include an easy to use sheath for protecting the knife and a handle that is shaped nicely to help you use the knife to the fullest extent, as opposed to a beautiful handle. Budget around $70-$180 for this type of knife.
Our recommendation: Top 5 Knives for the Practical User:
Knives can also be purchased for a specific task as stated above. The hobby that the gift receiver has will dictate what is purchased in this case. Things like blade shape, size and weight will have to be considered, especially when talking about hunting. Blade length and shape will be key for a hunter, as something with a more rounded tip, as opposed to a pointy traditional knife tip will be helpful for skinning an animal as well as gutting it. This is done because sharp knife tips can puncture the skin of the hunter as well as the animal, which is obviously not a good idea. For a fisherman, the gift giver may want to find out if the knife will be used for filleting, and if the angler prefers a flexible fillet knife or a forged knife for the process. A flexible fillet knife provides some advantages to a forged knife that won’t be gone over in this article. Also, the blade length is critical and depends on the size of the fish in processing. For instance, a 12” knife is not advisable for smaller fish like salmon.
Our recommendation: Top 5 knives for the Hunter.
All 5 of them are the best sellers in our hunting community.
Many folks have varied interests in the outdoors, and a knife is usually used as a universal tool for everything from prepping food to cutting small wood and rope. Find out what kind of knife length the person is looking for, and the blade shape can be anything from tanto to sheep’s foot, the receiver of the knife will most likely be happy as long as the knife is high quality and sharp.
Our recommendation: Top 5 multipurpose knives.
Knife people are generally interested in something unusual, so don’t feel that you have to spend tons of time getting to know the entire knife hobby if you see a knife that strikes your interest, chances are that the gift receiver will find it interesting as well. You are in the right place at this site, we have unusual knives as well as very practical units. A knife with a history, unusual manufacturer and crazy materials can sometimes be overshadowed by the perfect simple knife or a great conversation piece that just makes folks want to talk about it.
Our recommendation: Top 5 unusual and unique knives:
Take a look at each and see why we think they are unusual...
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