Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pocket Knives

Miss Lynn, the knife pictured above is one of the best choices you can make for a Serious Social Purposes pocket knife. I carry its twin in my right front pocket at this moment, as it happens, and I did not choose it at random.

One must take into account the intended purpose of the knife, first thing. Is it intended to go everywhere and do everything, such as sharpen pencils, open packages, pry up staples and the like, occasionally gut a fish or field-dress a squirrel or pheasant? Then a thin-bladed single-blade folder such as PatPowell's Case knife is probably the answer. But if it's a knife intended to be carried for potential life-threatening occasions, it needs to be something a bit beyond the simple Buck or Case folder.

Folding Social Purposes pocket knives are a compromise... much like carrying a J-frame revolver, really. The best true combat and multi-purpose knives are fixed-blade designs with longer, heavier blades, and while you can get some that are small enough to carry in a pocket, a defensive knife should have a blade of 3-4". A folding knife allows you to carry an acceptably long/heavy blade in a package not much over 3-1/2". But they aren't as quick to deploy as a fixed blade, and most folders have the annoying and potentially crippling habit of folding back on the user's hand when put to use in Serious Social situations.

There are several reasons for carrying a Benchmade Griptilian or one of its sibling designs. Like many other premium (not to say custom, which is a whole 'nother animal...) knives, the steel, workmanship, and versatility of Benchmades are top-drawer. Add to that the ergonomic handle design which makes the knife very secure in your hand, even when wet, even when bloody (note the serrations on the edges of the handle and the deep checkering).

What separates the best Benchmades from all the others is the Axis lock (that's the silvery-looking thingy in the slot on the handle. This patented lock design locks the blade out very securely, i.e., it makes it impossible for the blade to fold back on your hand "accidentally" during use.

This knife is also available with a partially-serated blade, which I favor over the straight blade, but that's a minor quibble.