Yes, outdoor-lover, I mean “big” in the sense that EMS sells a big selection of the best brands, as well as “big” because of the notable discounts.  Eastern Mountain Sports is one of the premier outdoor retailers when it comes to selection, value, and customer service.  You can get ready for  all your winter activities and sports — skiing, camping, climbing, snowshoeing, sledding, snowball fights – along with everything else you like to do — biking, running, paddling, hiking, etc.  Keep warm!  Stay dry!  Be active!  Have fun!

Get free 2-Day Air shipping when you join the ShopRunner program at EMS.com:  Click here to join now. 

If you’ve been thinking of getting a better tent, a warmer sleeping bag, a headlamp for your bike so you can keep peddling throughout the winter — NOW’s the time to get it!

Also:  EMS currently offers free shipping on orders over $125.

In general, their sales offer discounts off their already low prices.  Take advantage now.  Click the highlighted text links, the images, or banners to save a bundle on the gear you want…

Mountain Hardware Men's Exposure II Parka

Save on Ski and Snowboard Jackets at EMS.com.

Click to shop for Snowshoes.

See Mens Apparel and Outerwear.

Click for good prices on a large selection of Climbing Gear.

Click for good prices on Tents and Camping Gear at EMS.com.

Winter Tents

See Fleece Jackets & Vests to keep you warm during all your activities.

EMS has Cycling Helmets, Shoes, Apparel, and a lot of other gear.
 

And to be fair, I’ll note that Women’s Apparel and Outerwear is also on sale for good prices.  Get a gift for your outdoorsy XX chromosome pals or sporty signif other.

 
Have fun this winter, dude!

Related posts:

1. Take Advantage of the 72-Hour Sale at Moosejaw to Get the Outdoor Gear You’ve Been Waiting For
2. Father’s Day: Get Something Good for Your Dad (or Yourself)

You’ll have a chance to impersonate a character you admire on October 31 without fear of social ostracism and, in support of that, here are a bunch of high-quality replica swords and knives you might want to equip yourself with in order to increase your authenticity. 

Plus, you know, giving anyone a katana automatically makes them cool.  (Just ask Neal Stephenson.)  And by the way, “replica” does not mean “not sharp.”

The sword was the most important weapon in the world for thousands of years.  Some people still swear by it (you don’t have to re-load a sword and, if you can master that cutting-a-bullet-in-half trick, you’ve got an edge).  I want to highlight two outstanding places to get swords and knives online, both replica and real (by “real” I mean you can use it as a serious tool in battle — should you ever find yourself in a battle).  The best with respect to choice, customer service, and price is True Swords.  And a close second is Swords.com (their prices are sometimes a little higher but they usually have a particularly good selection of serious Japanese swords).  Both sites are enjoyable and informative to read and to shop, and both have top-notch service.  (And I should add for overall broad range of merchandise, Budk.) 

Following are some swords and knives you might want to consider adding to your collection.  And if you don’t have at least one sword, why not?  Every guy can use a sword at some point.  Even if only on All Hallows’ Eve. 

The "Bride" sword

One of the most absorbing, stylish, kinetic, and fun modern martial arts films, Kill Bill is appropriately reverent when it comes to the katana.  And exuberant in portraying the mayhem it can cause.  Pictured at left is “The Bride’s Sword,” used by Beatrix Kiddo to implement her lethal “To-do” list.  This sword is a serious replica of the sword made in the film by Hattori Hanzo (played by Sonny Chiba, at his best), with a tempered high-carbon steel blade, full tang, ray skin and black leather handle, and multiple engravings.  Get it from True Swords for under $100.

Bill's "Demon" sword

On the other hand, maybe you liked Bill’s “Demon” sword, also made by Hanzo.  You can get that one, too, and for less than $60, which is a great price for this well-constructed replica.

Or you can get the two swords (Bride and Bill) as a set, made of stainless steel, with a wooden stand.

And the stylish O-Ren Ishii sword is also available.  And how about the boot-stashed straight razor Beatrix used to cut her bonds in the coffin (might not work that great for shaving, though).

Of course, when it comes to movie swords, we couldn’t leave out a movie with a title like Blade.  Here’s the sword of the Daywalker (Wesley Snipes).  Yes, it’s got that secret dagger in the handle.  Doesn’t come with the wooden stand, though.

Morpheus katana

Another iconic movie franchise that featured cool Japanese and Chinese edged weapons is The Matrix.  Here is the katana Morpheus wielded in The Matrix: Reloaded.  This is a well-made replica sword. 

G.I. Joe "Snake Eyes" katana

A movie that didn’t achieve quite the popularity of those above, but still had some pretty cool swords, was G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  Pictured at left is the katana used by “Snake Eyes,” who took a vow of silence when his master was killed by his arch-enemy “Storm Shadow.”  This replica is a faithful reproduction of the sword used in the film.  It has a high-carbon steel blade, a rayskin and leather grip, a wooden scabbard with full detailing, a display stand, and a certificate of authenticity.  Each one is individually numbered, so this is definitely a collectible.  And you can also get the Storm Shadow katana, with its distinctive white handle and scabbard (not pictured).

And finally to round out this collection of cinematic katanas, we should include the only notable TV katana of late, and that’s Hiro’s sword from Heroes.  The blade is hand-forged carbon steel, the scabbard is hardwood with a glossy piano-paint finish, and it comes with a display stand.  Yatta!

 For a sword from a little older TV show, well, movie, well, animated series, that’s sort of a Scottish katana, check out the Highlander Sword carried by Connor MacLeod, a beautiful 3rd generation version of the sword from the popular saga (not pictured).

William Wallace sword from Braveheart

Now let’s move in a westerly direction.  Thankfully for political freedom everywhere, William Wallace was pretty good at swinging a blade, as well as leading troops.  Here is William Wallace’s sword from Braveheart.  The sword’s overall length is 53 inches and the blade is stainless steel.  It comes with a scabbard.  

Entertainment Earth also offers a high-quality reproduction of the William Wallace sword that is quite popular and sells out from time to time, but click here to check it out – this is about as good as movie prop replicas get.

Black Knight's Rapier

A sword that gets heavy use in films is the rapier, a gentleman’s sword that came into wide use in Europe in the 17th century.  This is the kind of sword you see in movies such as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Princess Bride (both notable for their excellent dueling choreography).  The rapier at left is the Black Knight’s Silver Spiral Rapier.  This is a nice replica sword from True Swords that’s only about $60.  If you want a much high-quality rapier, try the Solingen Rapier from Swords.com.  This is the kind of sword you grab when you want to buckle some swash.

Anduril

Another famous sword with a western heritage — western fantasy, that is — is the sword Anduril from The Lord of the Rings.  This is the sword that was re-forged for Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor.  This is a beautiful replica with 24K gold fittings and it comes with a wall plaque. 

And as long as we’re in a Lord of the Rings mode, you may also want to get hold of Gandalf’s sword Glamdring (another very nice reproduction from True Swords) and Sting, the sword carried by Frodo, the elven-forged blade that turned blue when orcs were near.

Of course, one of the more badass characters in Lord of the Rings was Legolas, who didn’t carry a sword.  He was pretty handy at puncturing things with arrows, however.  And equally as handy with his two knives.  So let’s progress to some knife action and offer Legolas’s twin blades for your weaponry consideration.  These knives feature full-tang construction and sharpened stainless-steel blades.  The handles are oak with elven designs and they’re nicely displayed (when not busy eviscerating orcs) on a handsome wooden plaque.

Rambo First Blood 25th Anniversary Knife

As long as we’re on knives, let’s move on to one of the most famous movie knives in history — the “hunting” knife that Rambo used to take on the town of Hope in Rambo: First Blood.   Get the Rambo First Blood 25th Anniversary Edition Knife from Swords.com.  The blade is stainless steel and it includes a compass and survival kit.  Get this knife and you, too, can take on prejudiced, backwater police.

That's a knife

 And now for the knife used to the most humorous effect ever (for a knife) in a movie:  the bowie knife (on steroids) carried by Crocodile Dundee (“That’s a knife!”). 

Sweeney Todd's razor

We’ll wrap up our tour of cool fictional edged weapons (that have become real), with the instrument used by one notorious fellow:  Sweeney Todd’s razor (the movie version with Johnny Depp), with which he dispatched his unsuspecting victims.

The swords and knives reviewed here are some of the best of all movie and TV replicas.  But there are many more available from a variety of productions, from The Prince of Persia to Predator to Pirates of the Caribbean.  Continue exploring at True Swords, Swords.com, and Budk.

If you have found something interesting or useful here on Best Stuff for Men, please consider making a donation, so others can benefit, too.  Thanks!

Related posts:

1. Father’s Day: Get Something Good for Your Dad (or Yourself)
2. Kitchen Knives for a Lifetime of Cooking Adventures

Here’s a wide variety of Father’s Day gift ideas.  As you go through them, consider nabbing something for yourself.

Wait a minute…  Get a gift for yourself for Father’s Day? Sure.  When it comes to Father s Day gifts, if you get something for yourself, you know you’ll get what you want.  Besides, why not celebrate your own fatherhood?  You can do that even if you don’t have kids.  After all, every mature man is a sort of “father”:  an originator of ideas, shepherd of projects, creator of art, instigator of adventures.  And if you do have kids, if you get a cool gift for yourself, you’ll be able to enjoy it along with your kids’ heartfelt (hopefully), competent (or not) gifts — their attempts to express their appreciation for your love, guidance, and encouragement.

Of course, you want to get a good gift for your own dad for Father’s Day, something that expresses your gratitude for his presence and influence in your life.  I say “hopefully,” because Father’s Day can often be kind of an afterthought when it comes to parents’ days.  Mother’s Day gets most of the headlines.  Father’s Day seems to come in second in the popularity polls.  The cliché of dad always getting a necktie for Father’s Day is a cliché because it’s true.  But your dad deserves some consideration when it comes to gifts, doesn’t he?  To jump-start some ideas, following are suggestions for gifts that don’t suck — things he will actually enjoy and use.

Let’s start with a classic gift idea that can’t miss:  a wristwatch, and for a good price (he’ll appreciate your sensibleness).  Watches are useful, stylish and, when you think about it, cool pieces of technology.  (There’s a reason they’re given on important occasions such as  graduation and retirement.)  Every day, ChronoShark offers a new watch at the absolutely lowest price anywhere.  You only get 24 hours to nab it.

I have a dedicated page to ChronoShark here).  And if today’s watch deal doesn’t do it for you, there’s a good chance that tomorrow’s will — they select from the best when it comes to performance versus price.  You could also try an excellent online retailer of watches:  Discount Watch Store.  They have thousands of watches for men, good customer service, guarantee the lowest prices on the Internet, and offer free shipping on all orders.

Polar FT7

Along the same lines as a watch, but a little more specialized and beneficial — how about a heart-rate monitor?  Here’s a heart-rate monitor that’s well-reviewed:  the Polar FT7.  Outside magazine, among others, recommends it (“intuitive and powerful”).  It has everything you need and nothing you don’t, and the price is right.  Plus it’s cool-looking.  Encourage your dad to achieve his fitness goals.  Find the Polar FT7 at REI or Moosejaw.  And if you want something more top-of-the-line, check out the Garmin Forerunner 110, which adds GPS capability to workout monitoring.

Everybody likes 007.  Whether your dad is trying to get fitter or not, guys appreciate action (even if it’s vicarious), and quintessential manly action has always been carried out by James Bond.  Get your dad a complete set of James Bond movies.  Here’s Volume 1:

You can also find the complete collection of Bond movies on both DVD and Blu-ray at CD Universe, one of the best online sources for music and movies at good prices.

Or would he rather have a TV series?  See my post on the best television series for men availale on DVD and blu-ray (for example:  The Wire and Fawlty Towers).

With regard to relating to women (your mom or whoever), a good cologne is always appropriate (unless she’s got MCS, in which case there’s a whole ‘nother set of things to worry about besides smelling good).  I have found only a few that seem to be universally appreciated by the opposite sex and here’s one of them:  Marc Jacobs for Men.  In my own informal polling, I’ve always had positive responses (I try it on at the store and ask random women if they like it).  It’s also endorsed by the PUA community, and they should know, right?  You can get it for an excellent discount from FragranceX.

Every guy should have at least one multitool.  They’re handy and confidence-inducing.  Here’s one that the editors of Outside endorsed as a practical, everyday choice:  the Leatherman Squirt PS4 (can’t go wrong with anything from Leatherman).  It’s got 9 tools (including pliers and scissors) in a compact form that isn’t annoying to carry around (just 2¼ inches closed).  And it’s only about $40 (or less).  Get it from REI.  Or from Massey’s Professional Outfitters.

The sword of William Wallace

Here is something that is not a multitool.  It’s a single-purpose tool:  William Wallace’s sword from the movie Braveheart.  Of course, this is not an actual battle sword ( for that you need to go to Swords.com or Budk), but it is an impressive 61-inch replica in high-carbon steel — the most accurate prop replica ever made of this sword.  It comes with a display plaque.  Inspire your dad with the formidable weapon that helped establish freedom!

 Guys need a top-drawer pair of knockaround pair of shoes, whether for late-night ramblings along urban streets or stalking across frosty stubble pursuing a great telephoto shot of a wild turkey.  Fortunately, Timberland has a classic pair of chukka boots that fit the bill — the Eastern Standard Chukka (that’s them above) – a vintage style based on shoes that first appeared decades ago, made with premium Horween leather, hand-finished for a rustic look, with coarse waxed cotton laces and a Vibram outsole.  Intended to protect a man’s feet during diverse activities, while simultaneously making him look good.  Get them from Timberland.  Made in the USA.

And if you don’t think these boots are exactly your dad’s cup of tea (or you don’t know his shoe-size), then get him a gift certificate to Zappos and let him choose his preferred footwear.  That goes for all the companies linked to on this page – if you’re not sure about a specific item, get a gift certificate:  it always fits and is totally in style.

Kansas City Steak Company

You get hungry after a day of stomping around in your boots, swinging your sword, and when a man gets hungry, the food of choice is meat (unless he’s a vegetarian — in which case, well, get him a carrot).  Anyway, if you want to treat your dad to a premium steak or other great hunk o’ beef, you can’t go wrong with the Kansas City Steak Company — one of the best online companies for steak and other meats.  And of course they’re offering some good deals now — for example, get 8 Classic Steakburgers FREE with a $100 order (use code ABRG84 at checkout).  And get $4.95 shipping on all orders. This makes a mouthwatering gift…

Savile Row, London

You want your dad to look good and, believe it or not, he wants to look good, so how about getting him a shirt or two from one of the most renowned shirt makers in the world:  Savile Row.  They offer exquisite tailoring, use the finest cottons, and carry a variety of styles (all posh).  Right now, if you buy 2 shirts you can get a third for half price (through June 21st only).   They also carry men’s suits, casual wear, and accessories.  Which means you can get him — yes! — a tie.  But Savile Row ties are pretty cool.  They have a 3-month satisfaction guarantee.  Shipping to the US is only $21 and is free on orders over $175.  And, for the quality, their prices are quite reasonable. Click the banner below.

A laser-engraved flask makes a personalized gift

We’ve handled your dad’s steak needs but what about when he gets thirsty?  I’m not talking about when he needs a bit of agua after running a 10K.  No, I’m talking about when he needs a drop of something a little more flavorful.  For that, he doesn’t want to carry a Camelbak.  He’ll need something a bit more sophisticated:  a flask.  And why not get him one that’s laser-engraved with art or a message of your choosing?  This will be a gift that keeps on giving.  See more flasks than you can shake a stick at at the FlaskShop, including photo flasks, stainless steel, novelty flasks, leather designs, monogrammed, and martini shaker sets (which he can use while unwinding with a Bond movie).

TaylorMade R9 Driver at InTheHole Golf

Your father must have a few hobbies.  Is one of them golf?  If so, my commiseration.  No, just kidding…  My 81-year-old dad plays golf and loves it.  I know he always enjoys upgrading his equipment.  So why not get your dad a new club or something else from InTheHole Golf, one of the best online destinations for everything you need to play the Game of Gentlemen.  Check out the TaylorMade R9 driver — an advanced, adjustable design that is getting rave reviews.  Or maybe he just needs a new golf bag (consider the Ogio Nexos Stand Bag).   Or simply get him a gift certificate.  You can’t go wrong at InTheHole Golf.  Their helpful, informative website will help you choose a great gift.

And, from now until June 20, get 10% off for Father’s Day at IntheHoleGolf — just enter code DAD at checkout.

This is not your dad.

Of course, maybe your dad’s inclination is toward a sport that’s a little more mano-a-mano (as opposed to mano-a-course-o).  How about tennis?  Does he need a new tennis racket?  Then the place to get it for a good price, with a wide selection, is Tennis Boom.  Of course, if your budget is limited you could always just go with a can of balls.

The Daiwa Saltiga Surf Spinning Reel is one of the best

Or maybe your dad prefers the contest between man and fish.  A new rod or surf reel could be in order.  Find a huge selection of fishing equipment, from fly-fishing to deep-sea trolling, at Cabelas, the premier outdoor recreation/adventure outfitter, all offered with excellent customer service.

Utrecht Master's Studio Easel - on sale for over $100 off

Is your dad a visual artist?  Remember how I mentioned that a man can be the ”father” of art?  Well, if your dad fits that category, you can get art supplies and equipment for him at Utrecht.  They’ve been supplying equipment and materials for artists since 1949.

They are currently offering their Master’s Studio Easel for an excellent discount.

Click for exclusive designs at Sunglass Hut

Now that we’re coming into summer, every guy, including your dad, needs some cool shades to wear with shorts and Hawaiian shirts.  You can’t get cooler (or higher quality) than Ray-Ban (and Maui Jim).   See an excellent selection of Ray-Ban models, including one-of-a-kind designer styles such as those done by graphic designer and muralist Matt Moore above, at Sunglass Hut.   A pair of Ray-Bans, whether wayfarers or aviators, is a can’t-miss gift.

Click to see the Droids at Wirefly

A new phone — something he can use to call you or just surf the web.  The new iPhone is about to come out and the Google Nexus One is getting rave reviews.  Those aren’t the only excellent phones out there — the various Droid phones are also top-of-the-line.  Is it about time for your dad to have a cool communication/Web/photo/GPS machine that won’t break the bank?  Find many good selections at Wirefly (such as the Droid Incredible pictured at left, or the featured model in the banner below).

Maybe your dad isn’t much of a gamer.  But he could be, especially when he finds out about the cool sports games you can play on the Nintendo Wii.  Or he is a gamer but he hasn’t gotten around to getting the Wii yet.  Or he’s gotten a Wii but he doesn’t have Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 yet.  In any event, get him one or all of these things and he’ll have fun.  Include Resident Evil 4, too (also find it here).  And don’t forget Super Mario Galaxy 2 (about which CNET wrote:  “…the new standard against which every 3D platformer must now be judged”).  You can also find the Nintendo Wii in black at Buy.com, plus a bunch of accessories.

MEZZI WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase

When you combine style, a cool gadget, and uniqueness, you’ve got an unbeatable combination for a gift.  And that’s what you get with the   MEZZI WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase — a well-made aluminum briefcase with a wood finish and a chrome handle from Mezzi.com.  The WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase was featured on Mission Impossible 3.  (Mezzi has supplied cases for a number of TV shows and films, including all those nifty silver cases on Deal or No Deal.)  This briefcase is made of high-quality aluminum and has chromed corners.  The black interior has 4 compartments, 3 pen/pencil holders, customizable foam, and will securely hold a laptop of up to 17 inches.  It’ll keep your dad’s stuff safe with a dual keypad combination lock.  And he will own the most distinctive briefcase of anyone he knows.  MEZZI makes stylish, durable briefcases at sensible prices.  Check the customer reviews for this case on their site.  You can also read an independent review of another MEZZI case — the LuxSlim Aluminum Laptop case in black — at Gear Diary, if you want additional input about their products.  But really, all you need to know is that, in addition to Mission Impossible 3, the WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase was featured on NBC’s Chuck (one of my favorite shows).

Top 30 Bestselling Signed Books at Abebooks

Does your father like to read?  All readers enjoy having a book signed by the author.  And you can find a whole bunch of signed editions at Abebooks.  Here’s a link to the latest, most popular signed editions at Abebooks.  If you don’t see an author that you know your dad likes on that page, use the Abebooks search function here to search for signed editions by authors you know he’s a fan of.  It makes for a cool, one-of-a-kind gift.  And here’s something especially for Father’s Day:  books by father and son writing teams.

Subscribe for under $12 for a year

Then again, maybe your dad is a reader but he doesn’t like books.  He likes his reading short, practical, entertaining, and with plenty of pictures.  In that case, get him a subscription to a car magazine.  Every guy likes car magazines.  Me, I like Car & Driver best.  But hey, some people swear by Road & Track and AutoWeek.  Also check other titles at University Subscription Service, which is one of my favorite online discount magazine subscription services (along with Blue Dolphin).  You can’t beat the prices and the service is good.  And a magazine subscription is a gift that keeps on giving every month.  And don’t you want to let your father how much your care about him every month?

Happy Father’s Day!

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Administrators for the Boy Scouts in the United Kingdom have decided that Scouts should no longer carry penknives to camp.   

See this article in the Telegraph.

Aren’t Boy Scouts supposed to learn how to function in the woods in the absence of full modern infrastructure?  Not so much anymore, I suppose, at least in the UK.  Boy Scouts used to be able to carry a sheath knife on their belt as part of their uniform.  But that was nixed back in 1968.  They could still carry a pocket knife, though.  (You know the kind – it’s not inconceivable you have a pocket knife with a Scout emblem on it lying around somewhere.)  Scout leaders have now put the kabosh on that as well.  People in Great Britain are worried about knife violence.  So, doesn’t it follow that Boy Scouts should no longer carve wood or split firewood with knives?  I guess they’ll have to make do by using their teeth.  Unless one or two people in Great Britain start biting other people.  Then they’ll probably make the Boy Scouts leave their teeth at home as well.

A Scout spokesperson stated: 

“Scouting helps to prepare young people with valuable life skills, while keeping them safe by not carrying knives.  We believe that young people need more places to go after school and at weekends, where they can experience adventure without the threat of violence or bullying and the need to carry weapons.”

A knife is only a weapon?  So it makes sense that Boy Scouts need to be protected from criminals who carry knives by not being allowed to carry knives themselves.  Very, very logical there, British Boy Scout officials.  And, of course, there’s always the concern about when a Scout will explode into a rampage of knife-wielding mayhem – carving an ashtray or whittling a heart with an arrow through it in a tree or something. 

The next obvious step in the UK will probably be to tell Scouts to just stay at home.  Then they can experience “adventure” completely safely (unless the house is hit by a meteorite).  One never knows what may happen if you step outdoors.   Sitting at home on the couch, the risk of harm will be greatly reduced.

Never mind that humans have been using knives for 2.5 million years  (including Boy Scouts until a few days ago).  That was obviously a risky business.  It’s a wonder humanity has made it this far.  It’s a wonder that anybody is left alive.  Of course, this attempt to reduce danger is in keeping with the spirit of our times.  If it isn’t “safe” — and obviously if criminals are associated with it in any way it is patently unsafe — it must be prohibited, discouraged, abolished.  Who needs doughtiness and resoucefulness, when all you really need to do is go to the supermarket and watch TV?  Who needs to learn real survival skills?

Of course, if you tend to disagree with this stance, you could express your opinion by, say, sending a couple of pocket knives to your favorite British Boy Scout.  Before he becomes extinct due to the lack of respect, sensibleness, and positive practicality on the part of his “leaders.”  Better yet, pay his tuition to knife-throwing school.  Then at least he’ll have something to do while he sits at home alone in his room.

Here’s a link that you might call “ironic”:

Feel like buying a knife?  Feel like cutting something?  Click one of the banners below…

 *Note:  If you click on the Brad Pitt image at top, it will take you to a site where you can see and buy an actual, serious Outrider Bowie Knife  — but it’s not the knife from the movie (that’s a prop).

And if you click on the photo below, you can get tickets to some dangerous movie…

Not Boy Scouts

Related posts:

1. Survival Knives
2. The Basics: Knives – Every Man Needs One or Three (and Multitools)

The single most common use for knives these days is in the kitchen.  If you’re cooking, you will definitely need a knife or two.  So, what are the best kitchen knives?  You will know after reading this review of high-quality knives to accompany your cooking adventures.  Plus you’ll know about helpful cutlery accessories you might want to add, such as knife-friendly cutting boards and sharpening steel.

 Guys are no longer running around the woods chasing down big game with a bowie knife (I’ve always cracked up at Jake Johanssen’s take on “knife season,” (see the 7:30 point…)), nor are most men silently taking out sentinels around a terrorist camp in the dead of night, but we are cooking and eating every day, and for that a good chef’s knife, paring knife, santoku knife, cleaver, and other cooking cutlery is indispensable.  Not to mention cutting boards, knife sharpeners, and cookbooks telling us how to use them.  The best of all these tools for cutting, peeling, slicing, and dicing add a lot to the ease and satisfaction of preparing food.

Click to begin creating your own feast

You’ve probably already got a few knives in your kitchen but chances are that not a lot of planning went into getting them.  For such a commonly-used tool as a kitchen knife, it’s too bad most guys don’t put more attention on obtaining the best.

You may not be a professional chef, but if you cook at all, you’re basically doing what a professional chef does when it comes to cutting up food, peeling vegetables, and slicing meat.  Good kitchen knives can add to the enjoyment of the whole cooking and eating experience.  Plus, it makes the job a heck of a lot easier.

In addition, as I’ve mentioned in my previous posts on knives every guy needs, a well-made knife is simply a satisfying object to own.

Here, in what amounts to “Kitchen Knives 101,” I’ll give some suggestions on how to acquire the best kitchen knives to use for your culinary tasks — knives you’ll be proud to own.  You can buy them all through this post from the best online retailers of kitchen equipment by clicking on the links and images of each type of knife listed below.

The first to thing to know is that you can pretty much meet your need for kitchen cutlery by having just 3 versatile knives.

You can get by with a santoku knife, a good paring knife, and a chef’s knife.  The best models and manufacturers of these types of knives are described below.  You don’t have to break the bank to buy good kitchen knives but keep in mind that a number of the best brands offer lifetime warranties, so that makes them a little more expensive.  Be aware that a top-rated, well-made kitchen knife can last for generations.

By the way, if you end up with knives from different manufacturers, don’t worry — any professional chef’s kitchen has the same diversity of kitchen cutlery and it just means you’re discriminating about your tools…

Santoku Knife

A santoku knife is the “utility infielder” of the kitchen knife team. It does a lot of things well.  After trying a santoku knife, many cooks would not be without one.

The shape of the santoku knife — kind of a combination of a cleaver and a chef’s knife — allows it to excel in the areas of slicing, dicing, and chopping, particularly vegetables and fruits, but it also works well with meats like fish and chicken, which you can slice very thinly with a santoku.

The thinness and sharpness of the blade also makes it easier to mince things (you can make mincemeat of, well, meat). Many santoku knives have a granton edge, which is a pattern of grooves along the side of the blade that creates air pockets so that vegetables and fruit tend to stick less to the blade as you’re slicing. Santoku knives often handle more easily than a heavier chef’s knife. You can get pretty fast with one after practice. About the only thing a santoku knife might not do well is chop through bones. And for slicing bread, a longer-bladed, serrated knife might work a little better.

Below are a couple of top-rated santoku knives.

Rachel Ray helped popularize the santoku knives made by Wusthof and for good reason: they’re excellent knives. For a knife of this quality, it’s also reasonably priced. It has a lifetime guarantee. The blade is high-carbon stainless steel with a granton edge, full tang, and the handle is triple-riveted polypropylene.

The Wusthof Gourmet 7-inch Santoku Knife with Granton Edge has become one of the most popular kitchen knives ever:

Wusthof Gourmet 7-inch Santoku Knife with granton edge

I’ve used this knife myself and particularly like its balance and maneuverability. Many other reviewers have praised this knife as well.

New York Magazine asked chef Masayoshi “Masa” Takayama to evaluate ten of the top santoku knives in the world. He tested them by chopping onions, slicing chicken, and mincing parsley — even slicing parchment paper. Of the Wusthof, he said that it was well-balanced and that “the blade is very thin, but in a good way, and it’s very sharp and cuts well. Ideal for slicing chicken and vegetables.” Cooks Illustrated magazine consistently rates these Wusthof knives at or near the top. Click here to see the entire collection of Wusthof Santoku knives at Cooking.com, including the top-rated Classic and the Ikon.

Below is another variation on the santoku. It is the Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife with Granton Edge. This knife was Blade Magazine’s 2008 “Kitchen Knife of the Year,” so I think it’s safe to say it’s one of the best kitchen knives.  It was also the number 1 knife on Chef Takayama’s list. It is made in Japan by Kai using the Damascus process, which produces a beautiful moiré pattern on the blade. It arrives from the factory exceedingly sharp. (Try cutting a tomato with this baby — it requires almost no pressure beyond the blade itself.)

Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife with granton edge

It has a little more rocker in the blade than many other santoku knives, so for those who prefer a bit of a compromise between the classic santoku straight edge and a conventional chef’s knife, this knife fits the bill.

It has stainless steel bolsters and buttcaps and a high-carbon stainless steel blade. The blade is clad with 16 layers of softer steel for durability, then etched to show the unique “Damascus” finish. The edge is harder than that found on most knives, allowing for extra sharpness.

Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife handle detail

The handle is made of Pakkawood and starts out as thin layers of white birch that are dyed black. The birch sheets are layered between sheets of plastic resin, then fused together under high heat and pressure. The result is a handle that looks and feels like wood but is dishwasher safe. The other unique feature of the handle is the design. The manufacturer calls it a “D”shape but it actually looks more like a tear drop. It has a distinct ridge that goes down the side of the handle that fits perfectly in the hand (for right-handers), as well as stabilizes the blade to prevent turning and twisting.

Though a little costlier than the Wusthof, the Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife is worth it for those who prefer the best. Modern materials (forged VG-10 steel blade clad with SUS410 high-carbon stainless steel) combined with a classic design make this a truly remarkable kitchen knife that will last a lifetime. It may not turn you into a master chef but when you use it you’ll feel like one. Find it at a good discount here.

Paring Knife

No cook can be without a paring knife; you can use them to do everything from peeling an apple to removing eyes from potatoes to de-veining shrimp — anything that requires precision and/or working in tight spaces. The blades are generally in the 3- to 4-inch range.

You can find a cheap-ass paring knife for about $9, but why do that to yourself? The steel won’t be great, you’ll be getting the low end of manufacturing quality, and it won’t last a lifetime. You can find really good-quality paring knives for not too much more.  A worthwhile paring knife will set you back about $40. Moving up, among the best paring knives you can find some that are works of art for double that amount. Below are several models to consider in order of cost and (IMHO) beauty.

Wusthof Classic 3.5-inch Paring Knife

First is the Wusthof Classic 3½-inch Paring Knife. It’s got a lifetime warranty, a high-carbon stainless steel blade, and a triple-riveted handle that is dishwasher safe. The blade has a pointed tip for tasks like digging the stems out of peppers, and a super-sharp, hand-polished edge. A great little knife that you can get for under $40 here.

Kershaw Shun 3.5-inch Paring Knife

Moving up a bit in quality, to the left is the outstanding Shun 3½-inch Paring Knife with a Damascus blade that’s razor-sharp right out of the box, Pakkawood handle, a piercing tip, and stainless-steel end cap and bolster. A knife that you’ll be proud to own and display in your kitchen. This is one you’ll want to hand-wash (as with most of your great kitchen knives, actually — why have them banging around in the dishwasher?). The VG-10 “super-steel” blade is composed of carbon, chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, silicon, and vanadium.Find it here.

Al Mar Paring Knife with Damascus blade

Now here is an exceedingly cool paring knife — the 3-inch Ultra-Chef from Al Mar. With a one-piece, hollow, stainless-steel handle and a blade that comprises 33 layers of steel surrounding a central cutting core made of VG-10 stainless that has been heat-treated to a Rockwell C-scale hardness of 60-62, this is the samurai sword of paring knives. It is exceedingly light and comfortable in the hand.

Each Al Mar knife is hand-finished and hand-sharpened at the factory. It comes gift-boxed from Japan. Al Mar is not necessarily a famous household name in the U.S. (except among professionals), but their manufactured knives rival custom, hand-made blades. Sure, the price reflects that, but for that price you get a work of art. Get one for yourself or as a gift for a discriminating cook here for a good discount. 

Click to see other great knives by Al Mar

Although expensive, Al Mar knives are worth every penny, especially for highly-trained chefs who are serious about what they do. One review posted online states: “It’s the best knife I’ve ever bought. Grade A+.”  Bottom line:  you cannot get a better kitchen knife than one from Al Mar.

Haiku 3.25-inch Paring Knife

Finally, here is a paring knife from Japan that is also quite stylish but in a more rustic — though no less high-quality — way: the Haiku 3¼-inch Paring Knife. These traditionally-styled Japanese knives feature handles made of honoki wood (the wood traditionally used to make the handles of Japanese swords), and have molybdenum/vanadium steel blades. Haiku knives have a bamboo peg (a “mekugi”) inserted into the side where the tang and handle are joined. This adds stability and is the same technique used by Japanese sword makers for hundreds of years. The 2005 and 2007 winners of the Bocuse d’Or (Serge Vieira and Fabrice Desvignes, respectively) were noted for using Haiku knives. This is a charming, mid-priced knife that can be found here for a good price.

Haiku 5-inch Utility Knife

Haiku also makes a fine 5-inch Utility Knife that is a little larger than a traditional paring knife and is suitable for a wide variety of cutting tasks in the kitchen. That’s it to the right. It can be purchased here.

Choosing one of the fine paring knives mentioned here will not disappoint even the most discriminating of cooks. When you think about it, there has probably never been as broad a selection of high-quality knives in the history of the world as you’ll find in the marketplace these days. As with many products, knives keep getting better while the price relative to quality goes down. And we still have the “star” of kitchen knives to consider…

The Chef’s Knife

Next we move on to the “Babe Ruth” of the kitchen-knife team: the burly chef’s knife. This is often the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the typical “kitchen knife.” It comes in handy for a wide variety of kitchen tasks, as well as in cheap slasher horror flicks.

Also known as a “French knife,” the chef’s knife is a general-purpose tool that can be used for slicing vegetables, meat, and cheese, mincing and chopping, as well as disjointing chickens and larger cuts of beef and ham (not to mention buffalo and ostrich). The blade can be anywhere from 6 to 14 inches in length (8″ is common), and features a pronounced curve toward the tip, which allows for a rocking technique when chopping or dicing. There are a lot of good chef’s knives on the market. I have used a number of different ones. Below are three to consider, in order of quality and prestige.

Forschner 8-inch Chef's Knife

Here’s a good “entry-level” chef’s knife that could serve you well for a long time — for a lifetime, actually, since it’s got a lifetime warranty: the Forschner 8-inch Chef’s Knife. It’s also sold under the Victorinox name (yes, the company that makes Swiss Army knives).

This knife was recommended by Cooks Illustrated as a best buy.

The knife is light-weight, with pretty good balance. It’s got a stamped, polished, high-carbon steel blade, and a taper ground with no bolster. Since it’s got no finger guard, you can easily hold it by the top of the blade, if you like that technique. It’s tempered to accept numerous sharpenings. The handle is made of a patented material called Fibrox that gives a good grip, even when wet. It’s certified by NSF International for commercial food service. Customer reviews praise this knife for the quality relative to the cost. It’s a good knife for around $30. If you’re watching your budget, start with the Forschner and you can upgrade down the road to one of the models below.

Okay, you’ve decided that you’re committed to having some of the best kitchen tools money can buy — or you’re looking for a great gift for a friend who’s a serious chef or a recent graduate from cooking school. In either case, consider one of the following two knives.

Shun Classic 10-inch Chef's Knife

First, the Shun Classic 10-inch Chef’s Knife. This is a large knife with a core of VG-10 super-steel clad with 16 layers of SUS410 high-carbon steel on each side, producing a 33-layer blade with the distinctive Damascus look. This knife is made in Seki City, Japan, known for hundreds of years as an important center for producing samurai swords, and you will probably feel like a samurai the first time you pick up this beautiful knife. At the least, you’ll feel like a kitchen pro. The knife features a Pakkawood handle and stainless steel bolsters and endcaps. The blade is sharpened to an astonishingly sharp 16 degrees. Go ahead — break down a whole turkey or split a hard squash, even slice bread; this knife can do it all (including more delicate slicing and mincing tasks). The additional leverage from the 10-inch blade is noticeable. Additionally, it will look impressive up on a magnetic strip on the wall of your kitchen — where any passing food-guy will note it appreciatively. This is the knife preferred by cookbook author and TV host Alton Brown.  Use it carefully — if you have not been exposed to a knife of this quality, you will not believe how sharp it is! For example, if you try to test the edge by running your thumb along it…well, probably not a good idea. Just use it a lot for cooking, treat it well (wash and dry by hand after use and sharpen as needed, preferably professionally). Find it here for a 20% discount. Guaranteed for life by Kershaw Shun. (Note: the handle of the Classic is optimised for right-handers. If you want a more “ambidextrous” knife, try the Shun Elite 8-inch Chef’s Knife. It’s more expensive, but it’s also made from SG-2 powdered steel, which makes for a blade with a state-of-the-art molecular structure.)

Ken Onion 8-inch Chef's Knife with Stand

And then we have the Ken Onion 8-inch Chef’s Knife — the only knife on this page that comes with a display stand. Why? Because in addition to being functional, it’s a work of art. It’s got those ergonomic yet organic curves going on. You won’t want to hide this knife in a drawer (not that you’ll want any of your fine knives banging around in a drawer with the rest of your everyday kitchen implements). If you’ve been reading these knife entries, you’ve probably gotten the impression by now that I like Ken Onion’s stuff. You’d be right. His designs are distinctive and he’s a multi award-winner. This knife is no exception. It was selected “Kitchen Knife of the Year” by Blade Magazine, and won awards at the 2005 Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair. Bon Appétit reviewed the knife and stated that it had good balance, making it easy to maneuver. The blade is VG-10 high-carbon stainless steel with a Damascus finish; the handle is Pakkawood. The handle is designed to minimize arm tension and provide increased safety during use. The shape of the blade allows for “gliding” the knife across the cutting surface and the bolster is angled to create space for your thumb and index finger for an efficient grip.

Ken Onion 8-inch Chef's Knife

In other words, the knife is both efficient and beautiful. Sure, it’s more expensive than other chef’s knives available out there but, aside from its outstanding quality, it’s distinctive and will last you a lifetime. That makes it a good value and a tool you’ll be proud to own. Alton Brown says that this knife has the sharpest straight-from-the-factory edge he’s ever seen. Try it for yourself! Find it here for a good discount.

That will cover the basics of your kitchen knife collection. Begin by getting the knife that will be the most useful — wherever the most glaring “hole” currently exists in your collection. If you’ve got a sort of acceptable chef’s knife, start with a santoku. Then move on to a paring knife. Or whatever you’ll use the most. Acquire one of the above knives every couple of months to spread the cost out over time. Or drop obvious hints before Christmas or your birthday. Eventually, you’ll have a set of kitchen knives that rivals that of a professional chef.

Beyond the Basics

Now, if you’ve already got some pretty good knives and you want to add something really exotic (yet functional) to your collection, consider the following deals:

Titanium Blades

Kasumi Titanium-coated 7-inch Santoku Knife

Just about anything made with titanium is cool. Titanium is light, strong, resists corrosion, and can withstand high temperatures. Who wouldn’t want to use it to make knives? Kasumi, located in Seki, Japan (800 years of samurai sword-making tradition) thought titanium made sense and produced these gorgeous knives that combine molybdenum/vanadium steel with a titanium coating, making for one of the sharpest possible knife edges. Titanium is non-toxic and does not generate the ferrous ions that can give food that “metallic” flavor from conventional steel knives. It’s abrasion-resistant and easy to care for in daily use. The abrasion-resistance also protects the steel, enabling the blade to maintain a razor-sharp edge for a longer time, yet it glides through food easily.

Kasumi Titanium-coated 3-inch Paring Knife

Pictured are Kasumi’s 7-inch Santoku and 3-inch Paring Knives. These lovely blue blades will generate conversation in your kitchen!

Ceramic Knives

Kyocera Revolution Ceramic Santoku and Paring Knives with black blades

And one more exotic set of tools to consider is ceramic knives. Some chef’s swear by them, especially this set from Kyocera — a 5½-inch Santoku and a 3-inch Paring Knife. The blades are made from zirconium oxide, an advanced ceramic second in hardness only to diamond. They are extremely sharp and will hold their edge for years without sharpening if handled correctly. They resist stains and rust and are chemically inert, meaning food acids will not affect them. They are also light in weight and easily handled. They come with a 5-year warranty from the manufacturer. The blades of the knives at left are black, which makes them kind of intimidating (in a good way). Just don’t drop them (they might shatter) or try to chop bones (the blade can chip). Anything else, though — slicing, dicing, mincing, julienning, cutting, trimming, seeding, and peeling — these knives will whip through. Considering their high-tech origin, the price is reasonable. Find them here. Use them only on a wooden or polyethylene cutting board (see below). If they ever need sharpening, you must send them back to Kyocera. These will also be a conversation-starter in your kitchen!

Meat Cleaver

Hardly anyone really needs a meat cleaver. Except maybe a butcher. Then again, you may frequently be cutting up chicken parts for stock or dealing with lobsters, so you might find it handy to have one. What is for sure is that there’s just something satisfying about having a big ‘ol cleaver hanging up on the wall of your kitchen, just sitting there all ready to use, powerful and unapologetically functional. So, for when you feel powerful and unapologetically functional, here’s a premium cleaver for your consideration:

Global 6.5-inch Meat Cleaver

This is the Global 6½-inch Cleaver. The blade is 6½ inches of stainless steel, ice-hardened and sharpened to a 15-degree angle. The three-piece construction — blade and two handle halves — are welded or forged (depending on the Global model) for a seamless, hygienic, uniquely balanced instrument of death. Global knives are known for their innovative design and quality. Cooks Illustrated rated this cleaver at the top. It has been praised by reviewers for its balance — heavy enough to cut without being tiring, light enough for maneuverability. What it does best is chop through just about anything. “Will split bone without chipping,” wrote one online reviewer. Another wrote, “It chops bones, bangs through half-frozen carcasses when necessary and is worth every penny.” Used by top-ranking chefs world wide. Find it here for almost no discount (Global knives rarely get discounted; but…worth every penny, remember).

Chroma Type 301 Cleaver

On the other hand, with regard to usefulness, there is the Chinese cleaver, which some cooks swear by. It’s sort of like a santoku on steroids. Used mainly for chopping vegetables and light meats (some cooks even employ two cleavers when mincing and turn their cutting board into a manual Cuisinart). It also mashes, scrapes, and scoops. Plus the better ones still look impressive. Especially the stainless steel Chroma Type 301 Chinese cleaver with 7″ blade (pictured at right). It was designed by F. A. Porsche (yes, the designer of the 911 sports car) with input from Austrian chef Jörg Wörther. Chef Wolfgang Puck uses Chroma knives in his home. This cleaver is beautiful (not necessarily a word you use often with cleavers) — functional, too, with a hand-ground blade and lifetime warranty. Find it here for a pretty good discount.

Honing and Sharpening Your Knives

It won’t do you any good to have the best kitchen knives in the world if they’re not sharp.  Aside from ceramic blades, knives — including all the steel models listed above — need occasional sharpening and regular honing. Honing — which smooths the blade — can be done at home with a steel.

When it comes to sharpening, many folks send their high-quality knives to a professional sharpener about once a year. You can try to sharpen them at home, but you should know what you’re doing or you may not get the best result.

Wusthof Classic 10-inch Sharpening Steel

Here is a high-quality steel you can use to hone your knives — the Wusthof Classic 10-inch Sharpening Steel (somewhat of a misnomer, since knives are best sharpened using stones and honed using steel). This is a good steel that’s not too expensive. You should hone your knives regularly. See below for a video on how to hone your knives. Remember, there’s a difference between honing (smooths the blade) and sharpening (reestablishes the blade angle).

You can sharpen your knives with a Smith's Sharpening System

Of course, it’s not impossible to sharpen your own knives and it’s a handy thing to know how to do. If you’d like to try sharpening your knives at home, you’ll need a good set of stones (heh). Electric knife sharpeners sometimes tend to not put the right angle on a blade and they also remove a fair amount of steel. So start with this set of hard and medium sharpening stones:  Smith’s Diamond Hone Sharpening System.  There are are two diamond sharpening stones and a medium Arkansas stone.  It includes a sharpening angles guide.   This is one of the best sharpening sets you can get and is suitable not only for kitchen knives but for pocket knives, hunting knives, and other edged tools.

Here’s the video on how to hone and sharpen knives:

Cutting Boards

Of course, when you’re cutting something you’ll need something appropriate to cut on. You don’t want to cut on a granite counter-top, glass, or a ceramic dinner plate (any of which will take the edge off your knives pretty quickly). You’ll want a good cutting board.  Following are several that are beautiful and functional. Since they’re made of bamboo, they’re also environmentally hip. This is the Bamboo Cutting Board Collection designed by bambu — available from Bambeco:

Click to choose from 3 attractive "undercut" design bamboo cutting boards from Bambeco

Bamboo is actually 16% harder than maple and thus more durable. Bamboo is also sustainably harvested and regrows quickly. These cutting boards come in 3 useful sizes and are sold for good prices at Bambeco.

Bamboo and other wooden cutting boards are good for just about any kitchen cutting task, but you might want to add a polyethylene plastic cutting board (also fine for knife blades) for use with meats, poultry, and fish. Unlike the bamboo board, you can stick the plastic board in the dishwasher.

The Gripper cutting board from Architec is a top-rated plastic cutting board

Here is a top-rated high-density plastic cutting board in a cool green color (11 x 14 inches) — the Architec “The Gripper” Cutting Board:

Find this multi-purpose cutting board for a low price at Cooking.com.

Finally, if you want a really stylish and versatile piece of kitchen furniture to use as a cutting surface, as well as for serving, storage, and as a central organizing piece in your kitchen, consider the Professional Bamboo Cart from Totally Bamboo. It’s beautiful and functional, with a 4-inch butcher-block top, a drawer, towel racks, heavy-duty casters, etc. The company, Totally Bamboo, is one of the original innovators of bamboo products and follows some of the most stringent environmental protocols in producing its products. You can find this beautiful cart here.

Professional Bamboo Cart from Totally Bamboo

So, unless you’re one of those guys who just “knows” how to do things — repair a car, invade a city, use a knife — you’ve gotta learn some techniques to get started. Otherwise you won’t get the most out of your collection of fine kitchen knives. You think the greatest chefs in the world came out of the womb knowing how to julienne? Knowing which end of the knife to hold is a start, and here’s a good basic intro video for technique:

After all this talk about knives…

It would be nice to have something to cook, right? What will it be? Bouillabaisse? Meat loaf? Parsnip oven fries with curry dipping sauce? Whatever, you’ll probably want a good cookbook to get some ideas and methods. The movie “Julie and Julia” has done a thorough job of reminding everyone just how good Julia Child’s cookbook is. Some say it’s the best cookbook ever. Put it on your shelf alongside other classics such as the Betty Crocker Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking. Then pick a recipe and start slicing!

Click to purchase from Barnes & Noble

Smaklig måltid!

(What the heck does that mean? It means the same as the title of the magazine below on the right, only in Swedish.) (Say: “Smah-kleeg mole-teed.”)

Click for subscription to Blade Magazine for 66% off!

Click to subscribe at 62% off!

Related posts:

1. Survival Knives
2. The Coolest Movie and TV Swords and Knives

You can handle any knife-related survival tasks with one of the three survival knives reviewed below.  These are knives you can count on in a survival situation.  When it comes to surviving outside the bounds of civilization, simpler is better, so go with one of these tried and true knives.  They are classics.

If you actually find yourself out in the wilderness trying to survive…

…then you’ll want a knife made to handle those conditions — whether you’re lost in the mountains, stranded in the desert, bushwhacking out of a jungle, or marooned on a tropical island.  The right knife can mean the difference between survival and a beat-down by the environment.

There are any number of knives touted as survival knives and many of them are pretty good.  But if you have a choice, why not choose a knife that has stood the test of time?  One that is known to be reliable and practical?  If your bush plane goes down in Alaska in the winter and it’s 40 below and you’re trying to stay alive in the woods, you don’t necessarily care how sexy or fashionable your survival knife is, you just want it to fucking do the job.

Three knives will be reviewed here that will fit the bill (plus a fourth knife that, though popular, might not).  In addition to your wits — which are your single most important survival factor – these tools (plus a few other essential survival tools you might want to carry, such as a flint and steel and some cord or a survival strap) can help you execute a wide variety of survival-oriented tasks, including building a shelter, which is often the most important thing to accomplish first.  Hacking up bushes and cutting limbs is a darn sight easier and more efficient if you’re not trying to do it with your bare hands.

And when it comes to how to use your knife to survive, I’ve included a list of three of the top survival books of all time.  You’ll find these manuals listed at the end of this post, conveniently linked to for purchasing.

But first, the knives. We’ll start with the legendary star of this class…

The Ka-Bar USMC Fighting/Utility Knife

KA-BAR U. S. Marine Corps Fighting/Utility Knife

This is possibly the most famous knife in the world.  It was conceived in 1942, when the U. S. Marine Corps needed a better combat/utility knife to issue to its personnel during WW II.  The Ka-Bar company, in conjunction with military advisors, came up with this design, and it became one of the most popular knives ever, with more than a million manufactured by Ka-Bar during the war alone.  It continues to be used by several branches of the US military today, including the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Underwater Demolition Teams, and remains the personal knife of choice for many Marines.  The design has been upgraded as materials have improved in the 67 years since the knife was first issued.

The Ka-Bar Marine Corps Fighting/Utility Knife can do pretty much anything a knife is supposed to do, plus a few more.  In the war it was used to dig trenches, pound tent stakes, drive nails, open ration cans, and defend oneself, while still remaining sharp enough for the occasional shave.  It is presently in use in Afghanistan and Iraq.  It has also become a favorite of outdoorsmen, adventurers, and survivalists.  In its “How to Survive” issue in 2008, National Geographic Adventure magazine listed a knife as an indispensable survival tool and endorsed the Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility Knife as the only knife you would need.  Of the Ka-Bar, they wrote:  “Drop someone naked in the middle of nowhere with nothing but this tool — and a survival school education — and they’ll be lounging fireside in rabbit fur by sundown.”  This knife is durable, rugged, versatile, and a bargain when you consider its quality.

Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility Knife - straight-edge version with sheath

The 7-inch blade, legendary for its extreme sharpness, is constructed of  1095 carbon steel coated with epoxy powder .  It has a Rockwell hardness rating of 56-58.   The handle is stacked leather (ah, that leather aroma).  The overall length is 11 and 7/8 inches and the weight comes in at just under 11 ounces, so you won’t mind carrying it around.  The butt cap is powdered metal and the guard is carbon steel.  It comes in both straight-edge and serrated versions.  Find the straight-edge version here for a good price.  It comes with a leather sheath. It’s made in the USA.  Online reviewers speak glowingly (even passionately) about this knife.  Go ahead — split wood, gut a catfish, cut barbed wire:  this solid knife can handle it and will keep coming back for more.  Keep one in your glove compartment, tackle box, backpack, snowmobile tool compartment, survival pack, etc.  Just remember, unless you’re in a survival situation, you might get in trouble if you carry it around naked.

Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife

Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife

Next we have a knife named after a fish — the Roach Belly Knife by Cold Steel.  This knife is an excellent value — a tough, utilitarian, light-weight survival knife for a good price.  It’s a multi-tasking fixed-blade knife that you can use in a variety of outdoor (and indoor) situations, especially where lightness, compactness, and toughness are prerequisites.  The Roach Belly design has a long history behind it, having originated in 17th-century Britain.  It was used extensively in the American colonies, particularly in the Hudson Bay region, and was believed to have been named after the roach fish, which had a similar curve to its body as the blade.  The design has stood the test of time, with its pronounced up-curve and versatile piercing tip.  One online reviewer of the Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife wrote that:  “I was able to drill a tiny hole completely through a green piece of sapling [with the tip] and make a broiler.  No doubt it would be great in making notches to start your bow drill as well.  And trap trigger carving would be a breeze.  The fine point held up very well despite the blatant abuse I subjected it to while trying to open up a rotten log to check out a marbled salamander.  I was very pleased with the rigidity and durability of the point…  Speaking of rigidity, despite my anti-baton preaching, I did conduct such a practice with this knife…  I was able to baton [i.e., hammer] this lightweight knife through an extra tough piece of wood with no handle cracking and no abuse to the edge.  Needless to say, I was very impressed.  No white marks on the black handle to show off inner wear, warping or twisting of the polymer handle, and no rattling or clicking either, it held up far beyond that of many knives in its price range, especially in handle rigidity aspect.  The edge grind held up extremely well, too, with no nicks or dings or imperfections to the edge.”

The Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife has an overall length of 8½ inches and a blade length of 4½ inches.  It weighs 2.6 ounces, so you’ll hardly know it’s there when carrying it – making it especially good for climbers, ultra-light backpackers, and kayakers.  The hollow-ground blade is made of 4116 Krupp Stainless Steel, with a hardness of Rc 56-57; the edge is finely-honed and easy to re-sharpen.  It comes with a Cordura sheath.  Some online reviewers were not impressed with the stock sheath and suggested having a Kydex sheath made for this knife.  Various companies will custom-make one for you.  I don’t have personal experience with the following companies, but you can check out a couple here and here.  (If you happen to have dealt with these companies, or you do try them, please leave a comment below regarding your experience.)

At less than $15, this knife would complement the Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility Knife or the Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie (described below).  Or you could buy several to stash in various locations, as well as to carry during outings.  It would make an excellent stocking-stuffer for the outdoor people on your gift list or for anyone who would like a versatile, fixed-blade knife.  In addition, it also makes a good kitchen or barbecue knife.  Use it to cut a hunky chunk of squash, slice salami and cheese, carve up celery sticks, prune a flower arrangement…

Following is a video showing a Ka-Bar knife and the Cold Steel Roach Belly in action in the field.  Ever wonder how to get a fire going with the most basic tools?  Watch and learn…

The Ka-Bar and Cold Steel knives will fit the bill for most situations.  However, they are not necessarily the creme de la creme of survival knives.  If you want the BMW of survival knives, then read on for a review of a really kick-ass knife.   It is the…

Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie

Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie

At some time, every man has wanted a bowie knife.  There is no more significant knife available.  Admit it…if you’re in a hardware store or outdoor supply place and you happen to wander by the glass case with the knives and there’s a bowie knife in it, doesn’t your gaze linger?  Don’t you, if only for a moment, feel lust in your heart?  Yeah, well, you’re supposed to feel like that.  As Crocodile Dundee stated, “That’s a knife.”  There are a number of bowie designs around and the Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master is one of the best.  It’s 14½ inches long overall with a 9½-inch blade made of stainless San Mai III steel.   The weight is 17.5 ounces.

San Mai III steel diagram

Cold Steel explains the San Mai III blade fabrication process by likening it to a “sandwich” with three parts:  the ”meat center” is hard, high-carbon steel and the two “pieces of bread” on either side are the lower-carbon protective sides.  The edge of a blade needs to be hard to maximize edge-holding while the body of the blade must be able to resist impact and lateral stresses.  Otherwise, a knife could be damaged during rigorous use.  Counterintuitively, the softer and more flexible a steel is, the “tougher” it is, but a steel of such consistency won’t hold a superior edge.  So, two different kinds of steel are combined to provide the best of both qualities, sharpness and hardiness.  Is the San Mai Trail Master tough?  You bet.  Is it sharp?  It will shave your arm hair.  Cold Steel claims that this knife will outperform “by a wide margin” any factory-made knife and 99% of all hand-forged blades.  If you spend your hard-earned money on this knife, you know you’re getting one of the best.  It is possibly the most knife for the money ever commercially built.  The blade and the non-slip Kraton grip are virtually immune to water, salt, and the humidity of a jungle environment.

Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master in sheath

You may not believe some of the things this knife will do.  Seeing is believing, however, so check out the following video to see this knife in action.

While it is more expensive than the knives listed above, the Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie is, quite simply, worth it if you ever find yourself in the kind of situation where a good knife can mean the difference between surviving and, well, not.  And really, why be satisfied with lusting in your heart when you can actually possess one of the best bowie knives ever?  Find it from True Swords, one of the best online retailers for knives and swords (excellent prices and customer service) and also from Kennesaw Cutlery, which has a large selection of other survival knives, too (on their site, search on “Survival knives”  — and if for some reason you don’t get one of the knives reviewed here, at least make sure the knife you select has a carbon steel blade).

The San Mai Trail Master Bowie might be the knife Jim Bridger would carry if he was alive today.  I don’t doubt that there’s at least a little bit of Jim Bridger in you…           

You can’t go wrong with the knives reviewed above when it comes to a survival knife you can rely on when the chips are down or to keep around “just in case.”  They will outperform many others on the market and your kids will be pleased to inherit them (after you die in bed peacefully at a ripe old age, having survived many adventures).  However, before we leave the topic of survival knives, I should mention, for the sake of thoroughness, one more thing…

And now for something completely different — a survival knife you actually might not want:  the Tom Brown Tracker Knife

A lot of us have heard of the Tom Brown Tracker Knife due to the movie (which I really like) “The Hunted.”  (If you haven’t seen the movie, hie thee to this site and remedy the situation immediately by purchasing it.  It’ll be a good addition to your collection of man-films.)

Now, I have nothing but admiration for Tom Brown, Jr., who is a preeminent tracker, survival teacher, and author.  He is the modern-day equivalent of an Apache scout.  He once lived in the wilderness for a year with nothing but his bare hands.  And his Tracker School is probably the best-known tracking and survival school in the nation, if not the world.  Knifewise, he was a consultant on the movie “The Hunted” (check out the interesting material about Tom on the featurettes included on the DVD).  So it stands to reason that he would choose to feature a knife in that movie that he had a hand in designing.  In fact, the movie is kind of an extended commercial for the knife, as well as knife skills in general.  But does the blade actually live up to the hype?  And the high price?

Some say no.  The knife is relatively heavy to lug around (28 ounces), for one thing.  (A Ka-Bar knife and a Gerber Back Paxe together would weigh only 2 ounces more and you’d have money left over to buy fishing tackle.)  Despite  the weight, the “multi-purpose” blade  is only 6 inches long (4¼ inches according to the TOPS website, but that specification is in doubt).   Some say it tries to offer too many functions  in too short a space.  It looks cool, at least, and it has that Tommy Lee Jones/Benicio Del Torro cachet, but is it worth nearly $300?  You can decide for yourself.  Some people seem to love it more or less for the idea of it.  But would you want it over other knives in a survival situation?

Check out the following video from Nutnfancy for a thought-provoking review.

If you still want the burly Tom Brown Tracker Knife you can find it here.  Sometimes an item will speak to you, regardless of its comparative utility.

That’s why there isn’t just one of  everything.

May all your challenges be survivable — and, if not survivable, a hell of a lot of fun.

More Essential Info Relating to Edged Implements and Surviving

How do you get that “survival school education”?  In addition to schools such as the Tom Brown Tracker School, check out the following outstanding books.  They’ll tell you how to put your knife to good use, among a lot of other things:

This is the revised edition of a classic on survival — SAS Survival Handbook:  For Any Climate in Any Situation, by John “Lofty” Wiseman.

Wilderness Survival (2nd. ed.), by Gregory Davenport, a former USAF Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) instructor, covers most survival basics.

The Ultimate Guide to U.S. Army Survival Skills, Tactics, and  Techniques, by the Department of the Army (Jay McCullough, ed.) covers not only multiple survival scenarios in depth but combat contingencies as well.   Quite thorough.

I’m a fan of multiple sources when it comes to learning how to do something.  Of course, it takes more than reading books to learn how to survive.  Then again, as mentioned at the top of this post, your most important survival tool is your brain.  Add some hands-on practice, and you’ll be fine.

To see a huge variety of additional survival knives and find more in-depth info, check the sources below:

Field & Stream is the classic outdoor/adventure magazine.  There’s a reason it’s been around for 100 years…

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Blade is the godfather of knife magazines…

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Related posts:

1. Kitchen Knives for a Lifetime of Cooking Adventures
2. The Basics: Knives – Every Man Needs One or Three (and Multitools)

Mankind’s oldest tool is the knife.  Don’t neglect to own a good one.  Plus a multi-tool. 

Unless you’re out in the forest, naked, eating grubs (and if you are, how can you be reading this?), you’re constantly using tools.   Whether awake or asleep, technology is entwined in human existence.  (A bed is pretty good technology, isn’t it?  ”Technology”… from the Greek, meaning “to read and follow the manual.”)   No society of Homo sapiens exists without its tools.  And the tool that has been the most important to humanity for the longest amount of time is the knife.  We’ve been using knives for over 2.5 million years.  For much of that time, that meant something that looked more or less like this:

Simple though a stone knife seems, from the moment that some alert fellow figured out that he could apply a sharp piece of flint or obsidian to the severing of vines, whittling a point on a stick, carving meat and bone more easily than using his teeth, humans began to live a little more effectively and efficiently in the world.  Every other development of civilization followed  (including silly string, Metal Gear Solid, the space shuttle, and Mandy Moore).

But it took awhile.  Some bright individuals figured out roughly 10,000 years ago how to use copper to make blades.  5,000 years following that, steel was invented.  Each advance resulted in our edged tools improving.  As knives improved, so did civilization.  As civilization improved, so did the materials for making knives. Now, with carbon fiber, titanium, and zirconium oxide ceramics added to the mix, knives are better than ever.

Probably every man should own and carry a great blade or three.  Yet for many of us, life has become so easy that we no longer feel much need for our most indispensable tool (except perhaps in the kitchen).  But keep in mind what Tom Hanks missed the most in Cast Away –a knife (well, yes, along with Helen Hunt).  Unlike Tom, you can’t always count on coming across a pair of ice skates in a survival situation.

When Forbes magazine published an article on the 20 most important tools in human history, the knife was number one. And five other tools on the list (the scythe, sword, saw, lathe, and chisel) were simply variations on the knife. Knives are more versatile than any other tool. They can be used for basic survival (cutting vegetation for shelter, making spears, digging up roots, dressing game, signaling an airplane), for cooking and eating, for defense and attack, for surgery, for everyday tasks from cutting rope and cutting down boxes to prying open a can and crunching a walnut. Divers can use them to fend off moray eels.  They can carve bone, wood, horn, soapstone, and pumpkins, and even have significance in many spiritual traditions (Sikhs, for example, always carry their kirpan, symbolizing the incisiveness of an enlightened mind).

Some of the Best Knives for Everyday Use

Knives come in two basic configurations:  folding and fixed blade.  For everyday use, a folding knife is the most convenient and easy to carry (not to mention legal — in many cities of the United States a blade can’t be longer than 3.5 inches and most fixed-blade knives are longer than that; to be safe, check your jurisdiction). If you want a folding knife that is good for everyday use yet robust enough for more demanding tasks, look for a folder with about a 3.5-inch blade. My personal favorite for the last couple of years has been the Kershaw Ken Onion Vapor II:

Ken Onion Vapor II

It comes in matte silver or black (the black looks badass).  The blade (3.5 inches) is 410 stainless steel and the handle is AUS6A stainless.  It is tough, extremely sharp, and compact when closed (4.5 inches).  The handle is narrow, so it doesn’t make much of a bulge in a pocket.  The handle is gnurled on the top and bottom so your thumb and forefinger don’t slip.   Not only does the drilled-out industrial design look cool, it helps reduce weight (4.5 oz. total).  The knife can be opened one-handed with a stud on the blade.  With practice, you can open the blade partially with your thumb then snap your wrist and whip the blade into place.  It has a pocket clip.  (Update on 1/19/10:  Hey, did you notice on this week’s episode of Chuck, that the kind of knife the Ring agent (played by guest star Angie Harmon) was going to throw at Chuck near the end of the show was a Vapor?  Apparently they think it’s cool, too.)   There are many good folding knives out there, but I tend to like Ken Onion’s designs for Kershaw.  He has created many notable knives.  For example, his Black Chive folder with Speed Safe technology was Blade Magazine’s 2001 American-made Knife of the Year.  The Black Chive is now available with a beautiful damascus blade — a steel created in layers and known for its ability to hold a sharp edge.

I generally carry the Vapor II for outdoor activities.  For the average workday, it’s generally easier to carry something a little smaller – a knife that will fit unobtrusively in the pocket of dress pants, something you can take to the office.  For that purpose, I like a lightweight knife from Gerber called the Mini Paraframe.  Closed it is just 3 inches long, but when open the blade is slightly over 2 inches, so you get a good-sized blade in a compact profile that weighs just over 1 ounce. As you can see below, the skeletonized handle is cool.  The handle is stainless steel and the blade is high-carbon stainless.  It has a pocket clip.  For the low price, it’s a nice little knife:

Gerber Mini Paraframe

These two knives will fit the bill for most everyday use.  They are reasonably-priced and will easily handle most daily tasks.  And they will make your girlfriend’s eyes widen when you pull them out (especially if you learn that wrist-flick opening with the Vapor II).  However, if you want something that’s a little more radical and edgy, something that will make an impression on your friends when they see it, check out the Kershaw E. T. Knife:

Kershaw E. T.

“E.T.” stands for ”External Toggle” and this design allows a multitude of ways of opening the knife.   In fact, the knife comes with a video showing all the ways you can handle it.  The E.T. received an award for the most innovative design of an American-made knife from Blade Magazine.  It has become popular with collectors.  It features a 3.25-inch Sandvik 13C26 stainless steel blade and an anodized aluminum handle.  It has a carabiner clip for belt-loop or backpack carry and a pocket clip.  And, just in case, it has a bottle opener.  The reason to carry this knife is the same reason that certain Jordan basketball shoes are made with patent leather.

Unless you intend to knap your own obsidian knife, I recommend that you consider one or more of these high-quality knives.  They are, after all, the end-result of 2.5 million years of technological evolution. Having one in your pocket gives you certain advantages.  (Remember how you felt when you got your first pocket knife as a kid?  It feels the same.)   And you’ll be confident that, should you wind up on a deserted island, you won’t have to depend on finding ice skates.  They also make good gifts for your knifeless friends.

Multi-tool Versus Swiss Army Knife

So that takes care of your pocket knives.  But you may be wondering:  why not carry a Swiss Army Knife for all-around use?  Aren’t they more versatile?  My experience has been that the typical Swiss Army Knife is bulky to carry; the blade(s) aren’t as robust as a single-blade folder; and I really didn’t use the other tools enough to justify them.  I like to keep weight and bulkiness to a minimum and the Swiss Army Knife does not fit that bill.  If you really feel you need a few extra tools, I recommend carrying a multitool instead.  They come in a variety of configurations and you can find some that have a good blade, a few useful tools, yet are still lightweight and non-bulky.  For example, the Leatherman Micra is recommended by Men’s Journal as a fine multitool for use around the home or on the trail:

Leatherman Micra in blue

It’s got a clip-point blade and  9 other tools in a size that fits on a keychain (2.5 inches closed).  It includes scissors, tweezers, nail file, 3 different screwdrivers, a bottle opener, and a ruler, all crafted from stainless steel engineered to the optimum hardness for each tool.   The scissors are spring-loaded and quite sharp, as is the blade.  When the blade is open, closing the handles activates a ”Posi-Stop” feature that keeps the blade from closing.  Leatherman offers a 25-year warranty on this tool.  Dare I say it makes an excellent stocking-stuffer?

If you would like to carry something a little more substantial in the multitool line — a bigger blade and additional useful tools — then look no further than either the Leatherman Freestyle CX or the Leatherman Skeletool CX.

Leatherman Freestyle CX

Leatherman Freestyle CX closed - 3.45 inches

The Leatherman Freestyle CX is designed to act as a “go-to” pocket knife without giving up the functionality of a multitool.  The premium 154CM blade holds its edge three times as long as traditional stainless steel and is accessible from the outside for one-handed opening.  The overall tool features DLC coating (diamond-like carbon) for scratch and corrosion resistance and includes combination needlenose/standard pliers, and wire cutters.  The handle has a carbon-fiber insert for additional strength.  The Freestyle CX is a little lighter than the Skeletool.

The Leatherman Skeletool CX adds screwdriver functionality (standard and Phillips), a “gate” style loop for carrying on a belt loop or rope and a bottle opener.  It also has a carbon-fiber handle, which keeps the weight down:

Leatherman Skeletool CX

Reduced weight is a good thing for backpackers, fisherman, and other outdoorsmen, or for anyone who wants to carry this tool on a daily basis.  While many such tools have multiple options, their features often bog them down with more capabilities than are regularly used.  The Skeletool strikes a nice balance between the functionality of a good knife and the essential tools you need to make  necessary adjustments.  The length is 4 inches closed; it weighs 5 ounces.  In addition to the carbon fiber handle, it’s constructed of stainless steel, tungsten DLC coating, and 154 CM.  Included screwdriver bits are Phillips #1 and #2 and flathead 3/16″ and 1/4.”  It’s a good tool to have around if you need to make an adjustment on your Chris Craft runabout, P-51, or  Aprilia.  Get it here.

Here’s a video that compares the Leatherman Freestyle CX to the Leatherman Skeletool.  As you’ll see, both are desirable in their own ways.  You really can’t go wrong with either.

So far we’ve just scratched the surface with respect to knives.  Check back for upcoming posts on Kitchen Knives and Survival Knives.  And click the banners below to shop for a huge selection of edged tools, including all types of knives:

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