A Blade for Every Reason

For those times when you’re eating beans from the can again, a blade simply won’t do. The Camo Caliber Hobo from Case knives offers a knife, spoon and fork to make any hobo—or hunter—content at least until the gravy’s gone. ($81; wrcase.com)

Gerber’s Myth Field Dress Kit includes a 3.75-inch bladed knife with a gut hook and a 3.25-inch blade that’s perfect for caping. Both have rubber-coated handles for grip even when bloody. The molded polymer sheath holds both knives and has an integrated sharpener. ($84; gerbergear.com)

Little dirty birdy feet do not go over well in most dishes these days. Lop them quickly with the Crossover Shear. It includes a bone notch, grill cleaning groove, screwdriver and bottle opener. Most notably, the shears unhinge to form an all-purpose knife. ($49 w/leather sheath; crkt.com)

When unfurling a letter from the IRS, you should demand the ultimate in reliability. For this nefarious task, we suggest Bear and Son’s Letter Opener. Its abalone handle and exultant blade make severing even the reddest of tape joyful. Just kidding. ($149;bearandsoncutlery.com)

The Revelation Titanium knife has LEDs on both sides of its blade so you needn’t clinch a Maglite between your teeth and drool on everything just to avoid cutting yourself when it’s dark. Its rubberized handle and 440 stainless steel blade make it a great all-around hunting knife. ($59; realavid.com)

For most of us who do not live in our own little fantasy worlds, we have to work and shower regularly. For us, there’s the ultra-sharp NRA Stone River Ceramic Switchback knife that’ll do nearly any task, including cleaning the fingernails while at the office. ($99; nrastore.com)

The TSA is moving to allow pocket knives on planes again. Not big ones albeit, but any knife will make us feel less naked. Victorinox’s classic Swiss Army knife—the one with the knife blade, file, scissors, tweezers and toothpick—is TSA’s example of a “legal knife.” And now for the modern traveler the Signature Slim adds a 4GB flash drive and a pen. ($39; victorinox.com)

Many times in camp, or while building a treestand, or while cutting shooting lanes, or while dressing a moose, or while amputating your buddy’s leg …  a knife just won’t cut it when you need a saw. SOG’s Folding Saw gets it done. ($26; sogknives.com)