Find the Best Pocket Knives!
Welcome to Kniferating.com! We currently have 1196 knives listed and 1974 knife reviews! The purpose of this site is to provide a venue for knife reviews that is free from the bias of any one person. Whether you are a backpacker looking for the best survival knife, an LEO looking for a good tactical knife, a boy scout trying to choose the best folding knife or multitool, or just an average joe looking for the best pocket knife for every day carry, we have you covered. In addition, we also discuss fixed blade knives, hunting knives, combat knives, machetes, self defense knives and a whole lot more! Please take a few minutes and help your fellow knife enthusiasts by writing a review of one or all of your knives!
Below is a chart showing the best knives on the site as reviewed by users. Each of the following knives is absolutely top quality and gets our highest recommendation. Keep in mind that there are many more great knives out there, but if you can't decide on a knife after searching the site, choose one off this list and we promise you'll be happy!
Top Rated Knives
| Model | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Spyderco Sage
|
$98.75 | 9.9 |
Kershaw Tyrade
|
$39.00 | 9.9 |
Spyderco Endura 4 Emerson Opener
|
$70.60 | 9.8 |
Benchmade 15030 Bone Collector Axis Mini Folder
|
$94.00 | 9.8 |
Ghost Knives Banshee D2
|
$69.00 | 9.8 |
Benchmade 940 Osborne
|
$188.80 | 9.7 |
Spyderco Delica FFG
|
$56.15 | 9.7 |
Spyderco Caly 3
|
$112.50 | 9.7 |
Recent Knife Reviews
Ontario TAK 1
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year
Comments:
The TAK-1 is one tough blade.BLADE- The FFG blade has a cutting edge of 4.3inches long with a very strong tip and good belly on the blade. Making it a great slicer.
HANDLE- The micarta handles are well designed and more comfortable in my hand for extended use then my RAT 5. The handle design is not good for tactical use because it does not offer good traction went stabbing.
SHEATH- The nylon sheath is pretty bad. Checkout the SPEC OPS line of custom sheaths that will fit the TAK-1 and many other Ontario knives.
CONCLUSION- This knife makes a very tough reliable lightweight camp/survival knife. Not recommended for soldier as a tactical blade.
ESEE ESEE-5
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year
Comments:
The ESEE 5 is an overall tough, very high quality, tactical/Survival knife. The sheath is perfect, and the .25inch thick spine is indestructible. The problem I have is the ergonomics. The handle is thick and blocky and not as comfortable for long use compared to the Ka-Bar BK2. The handle is not designed well for chopping either, the knife wants to fly out of your hand when chopping even with a lanyard. All in All the quality is there and the tough blade is great, the handle is where I have my only complaints.
Comment by MountainMan 03/15/2014
The user needs to use a lanyard around his wrist when chopping with the ESEE 5. You hold it more toward the back of the handle which increases your leverage and ability to use a snapping action. Yes, a hatchet or axe is far superior to the ESEE 5 for chopping tasks, but this is the way to get the most from this knife's design when chopping.
The user needs to use a lanyard around his wrist when chopping with the ESEE 5. You hold it more toward the back of the handle which increases your leverage and ability to use a snapping action. Yes, a hatchet or axe is far superior to the ESEE 5 for chopping tasks, but this is the way to get the most from this knife's design when chopping.
Buck Thug
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
The BUCK THUG is the big brother of the BUCK REAPER. The 5160 steel blade of the THUG is a better steel then the 420HC of the REAPER. The THUG is a great chopper and can carve really well. The handle is not very ergonomic compared to the REAPER or the TOPS KNIVES D.A.R.T. This would make a good blade for the outdoors if you like the blade shape. If you really like the modified kukri shaped blade and you don't mind spending over $100, skip the THUG and go with the TOPS KNIVES D.A.R.T.Buck Punk
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
Ok, let's start with the bad first to get it out of the way. The sheath gets the job done for the Punk, but it is too big for the size of blade and it weighs almost the same as the knife. Ok, now to the blade. This is a fantastic lightweight wilderness blade. Knife only weight is 7.5oz!! It has a 5in. cutting edge made out of 5160HC and is 3/16in. thick with a FFG. I put this knife through hell and back and it held an edge very well through batoning, chopping, and carving it is extremely strong. Handle is thin, but I found it doable for extended cutting tasks. Great for someone wanting a strong reliable blade, but is counting all their oz.Buck Sentry
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
This is Buck's attempt to give us a USA MADE SOG SEAL PUP. The specs and design are very similar. The Sentry is best suited for Utility/Tactical use. It is not the best Survival/Wilderness. As of right now in 2013, they only come with serrations. The 420HC that Buck uses holds its edge well and is easy to resharpen. The sheath is a little big and noisy for the knife but works well. All in All a Jack of all trades master of none. This knife is best suited for soldiers or your bug out bag not for camping, survival, and bushcraft. I would take a plain edge SOG SEAL PUP over the Buck SENTRY for camping, survival, bushcraft. If I was picking a blade for Tactical/Utility then the SENTRY is just as good as the SEAL PUP.SCAR Blades Crusader
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 1 year
Comments:
Scar Blades is a rather new company. This design is ideal for lightweight wilderness/tactical.Blade: The cutting edge is 5in. long made out of 1095HC with a hollow grind. The blade chopped very well for 10.5oz. and cut extremely well. The tip is somewhat thin so hard prying could break the tip. The thin tip is great for stabbing in a tactical situation.
Ergonomics: The finger choil is great for choking up on the blade, and the micarta handle scales makes it fell amazing in your hand for extended carving tasks.
Sheath: The kydex sheath is one of the best on the market. Holds the knife very security and will last a lifetime.
I for see scar blades becoming as popular as TOPS KNIVES or ESEE.
SOG Tech Bowie
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
The SOG TECH BOWIE is an upgrade to the original SOG BOWIE 2.0. It's Kraton handle give plenty of grip in wet conditions. The handle guard in partnership with the finger choil makes it easy to choke up on the blade for close up carving. The 0.24 inches thick spine, makes it very tough and good at batoning. The blade shape is ideal for wilderness and tactical use. It is a great fighting knife. The Kydex sheath is an overall good design, the AUS-8 is very good for a stainless steel and holds its edge about the same as ESEE or Ka-Bar 1095HC steel, the AUS-8 is just harder to resharpen. Overall, good for tactical, good for batoning, good for carving, but not good at chopping.Swamp Rat Knife Works Rodent 3
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months
Comments:
overview: a excellent EDC/small camp knife knife that can take some punishmentUses that i have had good results with: cleaning fish and cutting bait,EDC,fire making,bushcraft,camp chores
ease of use: for me (i have med. sized hands) i am able to get a 3.5-4 finger grip. the micarta handles are grippy even when wet and don't look bad in the aesthetics department either
steel: SR-101 steel is a very good tough steel that can take a fine edge and hold it for a good amount of time. think the ease of sharpening of rowen/esee or kabar's 1095 but with more edge retention if that makes sense
company/warranty: swamp rat knife works is part of the bussekin family which includes busse knife co. scrapyard knife co. and swamp rat knife co. swamp rats have a unconditional lifetime warranty or directly from the website; "lifetime guarantee. All Swamp Rat Knives are covered against any and all unintentional major damage for life. Period." the consumer service department is also very polite and easy to deal with.
Sheath: the sheath is not included but you can get a good quality custom sheath from any of the excellent sheath makers out there
added note: the knives are made to order and take 2-4 weeks to ship but you could go on one of the many forums see if they are on sale
Comment by Paul'ie 07/30/2015
Say Heah Peoples, My first Swamp Rat was the Ratmandu, after researching alot of knives for a camp/field knife, I got it and no regrets, the second knife was the Rodent 9, awesome knife, surprising thing about a knife that big is I can 1knife carry it if I had to., but I wanted a small knife to combo with the other two, and again I researched because it was between two knives, the Rodent Solution and the Rodent 3, the pictures showed the Solution had a longer handle and the fact I wore large glove size the Rodent 3 looked like the handle would be too small and on a lightning bolt handle the bump might be in the wrong place, had I only known, well I also opt for the fact it was a convex and I felt and was told a convex would slice better (feathersticks), I was so impressed with my then 3knife carry, when I decided to go lighter I got the Rodent 7 and the Rodent 4, bingo, an excellent lighter set, anyhow I got a Rodent 6 but I had it thinned down and the top gaurd taken off because I didn't want a tactical looking knife for the bush (not that there is anything wrong with a tactical bush knife) but I use it with my Wicked Tough Saw and the 2Hawks Double Bit Hatchet, All I needed now was the Rodent 3 and the Rodent 5 to complete a whole line of the newer Rodent knives, and I already had the Rodent Rucki as my Summer Long Knife (awesome), I worried about having redundant knives and felt I was better off to get other knives, as it turned out the Rodent 5 is alot different than the 1/4" difference on the blade, the handle style is very fluid on tge Rodent 5 and for a heavier knife it actually feels lighter to me go figure, and now the Rodent 3, WoW, that's a nice start, Yeah, I worried about how short the handle looked on the picture, and from past experience how this birds beak felt on my pinky finger that I hesitated to get the Rodent 3, but once I fondled it, the robust handle just filled my hand perfectly, no hot spot pressure because even the bump is in the right place on the lightning bolt handle, the way the blade is, it's almost as if the tip belong on a longer knife, and that alone makes it a great carver, I'm very happy I got my new Rodent 5 and Rodent 3, sort of lucky, and I can prove it, I just got my new knives earlier this week, and the Swamp Rat website has the Rodent 5 as SOLD OUT, WoW is that Lucky ?
Say Heah Peoples, My first Swamp Rat was the Ratmandu, after researching alot of knives for a camp/field knife, I got it and no regrets, the second knife was the Rodent 9, awesome knife, surprising thing about a knife that big is I can 1knife carry it if I had to., but I wanted a small knife to combo with the other two, and again I researched because it was between two knives, the Rodent Solution and the Rodent 3, the pictures showed the Solution had a longer handle and the fact I wore large glove size the Rodent 3 looked like the handle would be too small and on a lightning bolt handle the bump might be in the wrong place, had I only known, well I also opt for the fact it was a convex and I felt and was told a convex would slice better (feathersticks), I was so impressed with my then 3knife carry, when I decided to go lighter I got the Rodent 7 and the Rodent 4, bingo, an excellent lighter set, anyhow I got a Rodent 6 but I had it thinned down and the top gaurd taken off because I didn't want a tactical looking knife for the bush (not that there is anything wrong with a tactical bush knife) but I use it with my Wicked Tough Saw and the 2Hawks Double Bit Hatchet, All I needed now was the Rodent 3 and the Rodent 5 to complete a whole line of the newer Rodent knives, and I already had the Rodent Rucki as my Summer Long Knife (awesome), I worried about having redundant knives and felt I was better off to get other knives, as it turned out the Rodent 5 is alot different than the 1/4" difference on the blade, the handle style is very fluid on tge Rodent 5 and for a heavier knife it actually feels lighter to me go figure, and now the Rodent 3, WoW, that's a nice start, Yeah, I worried about how short the handle looked on the picture, and from past experience how this birds beak felt on my pinky finger that I hesitated to get the Rodent 3, but once I fondled it, the robust handle just filled my hand perfectly, no hot spot pressure because even the bump is in the right place on the lightning bolt handle, the way the blade is, it's almost as if the tip belong on a longer knife, and that alone makes it a great carver, I'm very happy I got my new Rodent 5 and Rodent 3, sort of lucky, and I can prove it, I just got my new knives earlier this week, and the Swamp Rat website has the Rodent 5 as SOLD OUT, WoW is that Lucky ?
TOPS Knives Back Bite
-Used for Self Defense
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
Enter the Tops Back Bite. When I unboxed the knife, I had distinct mixed feelings - something between "This doesn't look like the pictured on Internet" and "What the hell!". My first Tops knife was a Tom Brown Tracker 2 which I picked up at Beautiful Blades in New York. Bill Malloy who owns the establishment is a great guy, he kept his shop open for a whole hour longer to allow me to browse when he heard that I hailed from Africa. Then he gave me a great discount on the TB Tracker and threw in a carry case. I have had the Tracker for several years and I still remain highly impressed by this smaller, thinner, lighter, sharper, more versatile version of the "original". Enter the Back Bite which I got from another great guy, Anton du Plessis, who imports Tops knives into South Africa. Unfortunately, the Back Bite really disappointed out of the box and continued to disappoint me for many months more. The blade was as dull as a spatula, even after I touched it up with some 1000 and 1200 grit. It will cut but with some effort. It now cuts paracord like a Swiss Army Knife knock-off. If you're used to shaving sharp knives that will make paper twirls shaving through paper then this knife is not for you. The curved secondary edge if significantly worse than the straight edge, it won't cut crap! But I supposed that this can be expected from a super thick chisel ground tool that isn't very wide. I was really starting to regret buying the Back Bite. The sheath of the Tracker worked well, but the sprung metal rotating clip on the Back Bite sheath was simply crap - so I got rid of it, attached a cordura belt loop and now can carry it IWB. The retention on the sheath was so weak that I wrapped the top 1/4" of the kydex sheath in dacron cord and expoxied it down - don't have retention issues anymore. In retrospect, I should've just heated the sheath to sort out the retention issues, but guess I was just bored. My resolve the knife's cutting issues I considered by getting the Back Bite reground by Gareth Bull (Gareth did a great nightmare regrind on my NSN Strider DBL) but then I discovered the true strength of the Back Bite - it's astounding ability to punch deep, gapping holes in things. Severe penetration and massive gaping holes in stacked cardboard, plastic refuse bins, sidewalls of tyres - this thing punctured material with ease. I removed the black coating and polished the "blunt strike face" and it punctured even better. So the Back Bite was eventually never reprofiled - it's a fancy shiv and does what a shiv does best - poke gaping holes in things and rips material equally well, but slice a tomato it never ever will. Great shiv!ESEE Laser Strike
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
I own the ESEE 4 and the ESEE Laser Strike, I will tell you the if you are looking for a lightweight wilderness blade the Laser Strike is a much better option then the ESEE 4. The handle is much more ergonomic and longer the the ESEE 4. It has an awesome kydex sheath, and the heat treatment on the 1095 is great. I would recommend this blade to those looking for a companion to large blades or as a stand alone bushcraft/hiking knife.
Comment by throwback 03/20/2014
How did you come to the conclusion that the heat treating on the blade was great ?
How did you come to the conclusion that the heat treating on the blade was great ?
TOPS Knives DART
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months
Comments:
I am seeing this design of knife becoming more popular in the last few years. The D.A.R.T. is made out of 5160 High Carbon Steel with a modified kukri blade shape. This blade design gives it more chopping power than a 15oz. blade would normally have. The sheath is the only draw back, it barely gets the job done. Overall this is a great tactical/survival knife that will carve and chop better then a lot of other knives. If you are wondering between the Buck Thug or the D.A.R.T., go with the D.A.R.T.TOPS Knives Lite Trekker
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months