Gifts for Outdoorsmen Who Already Have a Knife They Like

The man who spends his weekends outside already has a knife. He has probably had it for years, it is probably a factory blade, and he probably likes it. That is the whole difficulty. You are not filling a gap, you are competing with something he trusts.

The way through is specificity. Not a better version of the knife on his belt, but a blade for one job he does badly with the knife he has: skinning, splitting kindling, clearing a trail, opening a fish. A hand-forged tool for one task gets carried on the days that task comes up, and that is how it earns a place in the truck.

Why forged steel and not the outdoor-store gift

The multitool is already in his pocket. The headlamp is a consumable. The camp chair is fine and he will never think of you when he sits in it. The gift card to the big-box outdoor store is the honest admission that you did not know what to get.

A hand-forged blade in 1095 high carbon or Damascus steel is the one thing at the campsite that gets handed around. It holds an edge, it sharpens on a stone he already owns, and it looks like it was made by a person, because it was. The trade-off is real and worth saying up front: high carbon steel rusts if it is put away wet. If he is the type who cleans a rifle, he will look after it. If he is not, see the section at the end.

Under $100: the one-job blades

• Skinning Knife, Damascus Steel, $69.99. A dedicated skinner with a deep belly. For the hunter who has been field-dressing with a pocketknife and pretending it is fine.
• Skinning Knife, Damascus, Natural Handle, $79.99. The same job, plainer handle, and the one to pick if he prefers wood to bone.
• Survival Knife, 10", D2 Steel, $89.99. D2 is a tool steel that holds an edge for a long time and shrugs off abuse. The knife for a man who batons wood with whatever is in his hand.
• Folding Pocket Knife, 8", Damascus, Bone Handle, $89.99. The everyday carry, in a steel that makes people ask about it.
• Hatchet Axe, 16.5", 1095 Steel, $99.99. One-hand kindling and tent stakes. The most-used tool on this list at any campsite.
• Tracker Knife, Damascus, $99.99. The tracker profile does chopping at the heel and fine work at the tip on one blade. Bushcrafters have strong feelings about it, all of them positive.

$100 to $150: the belt knife he will actually carry

• Bowie Knife, Outdoors, Damascus, 12", $119.99. The American camp knife. Twelve inches overall, which is the size that does everything without being a burden on the hip.
• Tracker Knife, Outdoors, Damascus, $129.99. The heavier tracker, for the man who will use the chopping edge more than the tip.
• Large Hunting Knife, 17", D2 Steel, Buffalo Bone, $129.99. Big, tough tool steel, and a handle that fills a gloved hand.
• Jungle Hunting Knife, 13", Damascus, $139.99. A wider blade for clearing and cutting. Between a knife and a machete, which is where most trail work lives.
• Hunting Knife, 16", D2 Steel, Rosewood, $149.99. The long hunting knife in tool steel with a rosewood grip. The one that looks like a gift and works like a tool.
• Bowie Knife, 17", 1095 Steel, $149.99. Seventeen inches, so it is a small machete as much as a bowie. Camp, brush, firewood.

$150 to $250: the tools that get handed down

• Gurkha Kukri, 15", Damascus, $169.99. The forward-curved Nepalese blade that chops like a hatchet and slices like a knife. If he has never used one, this is the gift that changes what he carries.
• Bowie Knife / Machete, 16", Damascus, $169.99. A bowie profile at machete length. Trail clearing with an edge that holds.
• Viking Axe, 21", 1095 Steel, $179.99. A bearded axe at a length that works one-handed or two. Firewood, and it hangs in the garage between trips.
• Large Gurkha Kukri, 21", Damascus, $189.99. The full-size kukri. For the man whose property has brush that needs an opinion.
• Splitting Axe, 32", Damascus Steel, $199.99. Two hands, full size, and a patterned Damascus head. The splitting axe that becomes the one he reaches for at the woodpile.
• Viking Throwing Axe, 21", Damascus, $199.99. For the backyard with a target on a stump. Pattern-welded Damascus, so it is a wall piece on the days it is not thrown.
• Woodsman Bowie, 14", Damascus, $249.99. The top of the bowie range here. The one for the man who has earned it.

For the man who makes his own handles

Some outdoorsmen would rather finish a knife than receive one. A blank is a forged Damascus blade with the tang left bare so he can fit his own scales from a piece of wood off his own land. Skinning Knife Blank, 7", Damascus, $59.99, and the larger Skinning Knife Blank, 9", Damascus, $99.99. It is the cheapest gift on this page and the one most likely to become his favorite knife, because he made it.

The custom route

Customize Your Knife, $149.99, lets you pick blade shape, steel and handle, and put his name or a date on the blade. Engraving and etching are done in our own Illinois workshop. Build Your Own Axe, $199.99, is an assembly kit with a 5" iron head and a 17" handle he puts together himself.

Timing, said plainly: the knife and axe builders run four weeks or longer, and custom builds ship unsharpened unless the sharpening option is selected. Inside four weeks, buy from stock and add engraving.

Finish the gift

A knife handed over loose is a knife. A knife in a Knife Gift Box, $29.99, is a gift, and the box is where it lives in the off-season. High carbon steel should go back in the box dry with a wipe of oil, and that one sentence is the whole care routine.

When to buy something else

• He will not maintain it. High carbon and Damascus steel rust if put away wet. If he is the type who leaves tools in the truck bed for a month, buy him the D2 survival knife at $89.99, which is more forgiving, or buy him something that is not steel.
• He backpacks ultralight. A man counting grams does not want a 21" kukri. A skinning knife or the 8" folder is the right weight. Everything else here is for the truck, the cabin and the campsite.
• He needs stainless for food. Some hunters insist on stainless for game processing because it wipes clean without care. That is a reasonable position. These blades are high carbon and want to be dried.
• The recipient is under eighteen. Blades ship to adults. For a young outdoorsman, the gift box and a knife bought by a parent is the route.
• You are inside four weeks and set on custom. Buy from stock. Late is worse than plain.

Also worth thirty seconds: blade laws vary by state and city, most stock blades ship sharpened, and nothing here goes in carry-on. Ship to a home address.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good gift for an outdoorsman who has everything?
A hand-forged blade for one specific job he does badly with the knife he has: a skinner at $69.99, a hatchet at $99.99, or a kukri at $169.99.

Is Damascus steel good for a hunting knife?
It holds an edge well and sharpens on a normal stone. It is high carbon, so it needs to be dried and oiled after use. For a man who looks after his gear, it is the better knife. For one who does not, D2 tool steel is more forgiving.

What are good camping gifts under $100?
The hatchet at $99.99, the tracker knife at $99.99, the survival knife at $89.99 and the skinning knives from $69.99.

Can I have a hunting knife engraved?
Yes. Engraving and etching are done in our own Illinois workshop: a name, a date, a line of text or a logo on the blade, or on the sheath.

How much should a hand-forged hunting knife cost?
$69.99 to $150 buys a full tang forged blade in Damascus or D2. $150 to $250 buys the larger kukris, axes and the woodsman bowie. Below about $60 you are usually looking at a stamped blade, not a forged one.