The Best Hiking Knives of 2021
With warmer weather comes a great opportunity to get outdoors! The best hiking knives balance the need to be lightweight while being large enough for a solid hold and the ability to make a difference when you really need it.
From Swiss Army Knives to ultralight folders to sturdy neck knives, there are a lot of options to choose from, so we rounded up some of our favorites below, some of them starting less than $50!
Featured Knives
0:00 The Best Time to Consider a Hiking Knife
1:20 Victorinox Swiss Army Camper:
3:56 Opinel N08:
5:37 KA-BAR Dozier Folding Hunter:
7:36 Buck 110 Slim Select:
9:31 Spyderco Native 5:
11:23 Benchmade Bugout:
13:45 Morakniv Basic:
16:05 Cold Steel Pendleton Lite Hunter:
17:59 CRKT Mossback:
19:54 Old Hickory Bird and Trout Knife:
21:09 ESEE Izula:
23:51 Becker BK11:
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Lets see some edge retention testing . Because most knives have the Walk N Talk , but the blade steel is ???
Wot ? No real Steel Luna Lite D2
I hade an opinel when I was in high school. Shittyest knife ever. Poor materials and crapy sistem. Now I use a victorinox outrider or a Izula 2 combined with a victorinox card for the tiny tools.
If you want ultralight – Opinel no. 6. Weighs less than an ounce, still has the lock. If you want an Izula and have large hands, get the Izula 2.
Loose my pocket knifes constantly anything lite and under$30 works for me
Definitely go with the colored Opinel. The non-colorama Opinel’s don’t come with the leather lanyard which I find useful when fishing it out of my pocket or pack since there’s no pocket clip.
in my opinion always carry a more than adequate knife!! If you must cut weight find other places to do so. A good sharp knife will save your life in the woods and cities!!
Whenever someone tells me a hidden or stub tang are not very strong I just tell them that they must think Katana swords are weak. Mora is a hidden tang as you can buy just the blades without handles or guards and make your own. I bought one back in the 70s to take backpacking up in the Sierra before it got crowded.
I found myself wondering why everyone was saying they are so great. To sharpen the damn things by hand you have to hone off the whole doggone bevel.
“Even though the tweezers aren’t a super heavy duty pair, they can get you by in a pinch.” Nice wordplay sir.
A friend of mine who is really into trekking and hiking swear by the lionsteel m1, he says that the thing is awesome to have in the trek and basically indestructible. I have the lionsteel m4 so I'm thinking about it, too bad for the price though 160 euros is a lot of money for a small knife.
That bugout knife is seriously garbage and won’t last if you plan on actually using it.
What about the White River Backpacker? It’s much nicer than the Izula.
The Opinel is a one hand opener
I can endorse Kabar's Dozier folder. It's very lightweight and its lockback is secure and confidence inspiring.
another I could suggest is the Kershaw Skyline… I lost it one time in my backyard and found it a week after (this is during spring so lots of rain) and I found very very minimum rust. It's lightweight. and I even used it to break open a car window to rescue someone out. The G10 handle is no joke.
This is my favorite show by a knife company. Simple and to the point. I use a Fallkniven F1 for my day hikes. In the sheath it hides under a fleece top.
Hiking knives?????? Oh, they need money I see
Hi- I think the Mora Eldris would
Make a good hiking knife as well.
you guys make the best knife vids. a lot of my knife decisions as of late have been because of the knowledge I gained from KnifeCenter. thanks and keep up the good work
Best knife for hiking! Accept some weight and take a larger more versatile knife. A day hike can turn into much longer if something goes wrong. Better to have it and not need it.
I use a Rainer knives fastpak for my backpacking knife. For $100…the quality of the knife with excellent Elmax heat treat and the kydex can’t be beat.
from begining talking about easy of use. not small, good grup etc … then picked up victorinox 😀
Oh that's a great idea, I hadn't thought of using a corkscrew as a marlinspike! Nice.
Going walking and doing small hikes with my Dogs everyday made me appriciate the difference in knife weight! I have a good belt, but if i carry my favourite large Spyderco, Leahterman and other EDC essentials my pants do start to sag after walking for a while!
Spyderco Salt 2 in LC200N (ffg) should absolutely get metioned here..
BUUUGOUUUUUT
Can’t think of a better design than the M1 Backpacker in S35VN. However, as a hiker and backpacker who travels more than 10 miles at a time I have never been able to perceive the weight difference between 2 to 5 oz. I certainly wouldn’t look to my knife first if I was trying to cut weight either. That being said, I also really like the new mini-Adamas in CruWear for this purpose. Under 5 oz. and highly capable as a folder.
Gave it a like right away for the corkscrew knot-untying tip. Thanks DCA! Stay handy~ 👍😉