What Are You Doing With That Knife?!
How to Knife, Part 2
Despite, or perhaps because of, being one of the simplest tools, knives perform a wide array of functions.
Beyond the obvious slicing, chopping, and stabbing, knives can also poke and pry, whittle and carve, scrape, shave, mark, draw, and a hundred other uses. There is no, "proper," use for a knife, other than that which causes harm, and even, "intended," use only really matters to the maker.
Far from an exhaustive examination, this is simply an exploration of some of the more common uses for knives.
Points
The most defining property of a knife, the shape of the point largely defines what functions a knife is capable or optimal for.
Standard/Straight - A single that curves up at the tip to meet a straight spine, this is a fairly versatile shape seen in many if not most kitchen knives.
Trailing - Similar to the straight point, the spine of the trailing point also curves up to a sharper point, excellent for slicing.
Drop - The spine of a drop point curves down to meet the edge for a strong, broader point. A general purpose blade.
Clip - Similar to drop point, it has a straight, sharpened portion of the spine angled down to meet the edge for a sharp point, suitable for skinning or gutting.
Tanto - A sharper curve or angle that results in a flat front edge; Japanese tantos tend to have a sharp curve, while American tantos are angular. Functionally similar to drop point.
Wharncliff/Sheepsfoot - The opposite of straight, these have a straight edge with a spine that curves or angles down to a sharp point that allows very precise cuts.
Spear/Needle - The standard double-edged blade, the spine is the middle of the blade, and the point is symmetrical for stabbing.
Hawkbill - A forward-curved blade with a very sharp tip, this is a throat-slasher.
Spey - Even blunter than drop point, this is a good point for skinning.
Blunt - Common to many emergency and outdoor knives, there is either no tip, or a blunt tip, in order to avoid accidental injury.
Kukri - More of a blade shape than point, it is normally a kind of drop point, it has a thick, curved leading portion of the blade for chopping power.
Guthook - An accessory to other point shapes, this is a sharpened hook on the spine of the blade.
Kitchen Knives
In many ways the least interesting variety of knives, as the use is so banal, they are nevertheless the most commonly used knives, even discounting the oft-maligned Butter Knife.
Paring Knife - A small knife for small fruit and vegetables.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Paring Knife: https://amzn.to/40Nw66e
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Paring Knife: https://amzn.to/3GfJ5E0
Utility Knife - A slightly larger knife for processing more or larger items.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Utility Knife: https://amzn.to/49Pyopi
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Utility Knife: https://amzn.to/3MW97jE
Chef's Knife - The standard knife for preparing a lot of food.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Chef's Knife: https://amzn.to/40Nov7s
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Chef's Knife: https://amzn.to/3QOcNFg
Carving Knife - A slicing knife for meats.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Carving Knife and Fork: https://amzn.to/3QJK2cK
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Carving Knife and Fork: https://amzn.to/49NK6Rj
Bread Knife - A serrated knife for soft foods.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Bread Knife: https://amzn.to/3QNXkVx
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Bread Knife: https://amzn.to/3RdzhRC
Fillet Knife - A thin, flexible knife for portioning meat.
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Fillet Knife: https://amzn.to/46voC94
Deboning Knife - A heavier knife for separating flesh.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Boning Knife: https://amzn.to/49KywGJ
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Boning Knife: https://amzn.to/47J5WDL
Cleaver - The heaviest kitchen knife, used for sectioning animals.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Cleaver: https://amzn.to/3QSFYal
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Cleaver: https://amzn.to/3SRDMCz
Steak/Place Knives - Individual knives for cutting meat at the table.
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet Steak Knives: https://amzn.to/3RbgLt5
$$$ Wüsthof Classic Steak Knives: https://amzn.to/3QPvUi7
Sets
$$ Wüsthof Gourmet: https://amzn.to/46rOnXY
$$$ Wüsthof Classic: https://amzn.to/3ut8uaX
$$$$ Wüsthof Ikon: https://amzn.to/3MYOUtp
Everyday Carry Knives
Pocket knives, hunting knives, camp knives, Balisongs (butterfly) knives, "automatic" (switchblade) knives, "Out The Front" (OTF) knives, multifunction "Swiss Army" knives... sometimes it's just handy to have a knife on your person without it getting in the way.
Classic Pocket Knife - A stylish and elegant item with a connotation of harmless functionality.
$$ Buck 112 Classic: https://amzn.to/47KZD2u
$$$ Buck 112 Ranger: https://amzn.to/47lpuyv
Modern Pocket Knife - Sleek and attention-grabbing, these knives are a little less acceptable in some quarters.
$ CRKT Squid: https://amzn.to/3MQMoFy
$$ Cold Steel Rajah 2: https://amzn.to/3RavjsH
$$$ Benchmade Bugout: https://amzn.to/47pEJGD
Assisted Opening Knife - A spring-assisted folding knife for one-handed opening in places where the laws forbid automatic knives, these still have the characteristic {snikt] sound that some people find alarming.
$$ Buck 262 Hexam: https://amzn.to/3Gbv3Uc
$$$ Gerber Gear: https://amzn.to/3GcPsbw
Multifunction - Swiss Army knives, Gerber Leatherman, and a hundred other shapes and styles for an incredible variety of functions.
$$ Gerber Gear: https://amzn.to/47TjAo9
$$$ Leatherman Wave: https://amzn.to/47tPXKd
Hunting Knife - A fairly broad category, in theory most kitchen knives would work, except that they are normally used on stable surfaces and so can be thinner because they don't need to be as strong.
$$ Gerber Gear Freeman: https://amzn.to/3uEO8vd
$$$ Buck 657 Pursuit Pro: https://amzn.to/46veJZ4
Camping Knife - Another broad category, but again, tending towards larger, thicker blades for chopping kindling and other camp chores.
$$ Gerber Gear Strongarm: https://amzn.to/3Gd7f2e
$$$ Buck 105 Pathfinder: https://amzn.to/3Rha3Sm
Fighting Knives
Rule #1 of knife fighting: Don't.
Generally speaking, I oppose the use of knives as weapons, beyond a distaste for unnecessary violence (and it should always be unnecessary), for a very simple reason: For defensive purposes against another human being, literally anything else, even your open hand for grappling, is likely to be superior to any reasonably-sized knife that one might be expected to carry around. A big stick or a fist-sized rock (throw it and run; "defense," remember?) are certainly better. A gun, obviously, is best, but any knife less than 5-6" is unlikely to easily inflict immediately-disabling wounds by a panicked and inexperienced combatant, and anything larger than that tends to draw the attention of law enforcement. A telescoping baton would be my second choice, after a firearm.
Simply put: They are not good defensive weapons.
That being said, they are cool-looking, and in the odd chance that an intruder into my home catches me away from a firearm, a large knife may, in fact, be useful in that situation. Note that the superficial similarity to many kitchen knives, i.e. the intended use being to cut meat, is belied by the fact that kitchen knives do not expect the meat to fight back.
Here are some examples of common fighting knives:
Seax - Traditionally referring to any of a number of different large single-edged knives or short swords with little or no guard, the modern usage generally refers to the "broken-back" seax with a long wharncliff point.
Cold Steel Chieftain's Seax: https://amzn.to/3SXUPCR
Bowie - An American icon, the Bowie knife was born out of legend, and maintains both a mystique and ambiguity to this day. Generally speaking, they are medium-sized (6-12" blade), clip-point knives with a crossguard, although neither of those features existed on the original.
Ka-Bar Fighting Knife: https://amzn.to/49VJMAm
Kukri - Described above, Kukris originated in South Asia as chopping tools for heavy brush, but the forward weight makes them formidable weapons.
CRKT KUK: https://amzn.to/47qVelC
Tanto - Originally a particular size of Japanese blade, it has come to refer to the shape of the tip rather than the curve of the blade, and American tanto points have much sharper contours than their progenitors.
Cold Steel Master Tanto 3V: https://amzn.to/3sFwrve
Dagger - Most any small-to-medium-sized, double-edged blade, the defining property is the intended use of stabbing as opposed to cutting. Many daggers hardly have and edge, at all, other than at the tip.
Cold Steel Nightfall 3V: https://amzn.to/3sQDDoc
Karambit - A forward-curved blade with a very sharp tip, this knife is specifically a slasher, ideal for cutting throats, but too fragile for most other work.
Cold Steel Tiger: https://amzn.to/3sIxD0S
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.