When you are choosing a camping knife for cooking, it’s not the same as a pocket or EDC knife. Here are our top selections for the best outdoor knives for cooking.
Best Cooking Knives For The Outdoors
Things You Should Pay Attention To
Camping knives for cooking are a little different because you are not looking for the most durable material or the coolest design, but you should focus on what is more practical and better suited.
The Handle
The best type of handle for cooking is something that is made out of rubber with a good grip or any other type of material that allows for a comfortable grip.
Rubber is a good choice is because it’s waterproof, so when you need to wash the knife afterward, it’s easy to clean it. Also when you are cutting something, it firmly stays in your hands without slipping.
Steel or Wood is not necessarily a good choice because steel/metal is bulkier and heavier. Cheaper types of wood smell bad after prolonged use and when you get food on the handle.
The Edge of The Blade
You may think stainless steel is a good choice, but it does not necessarily have to be. If you don’t care about the extra weight or bulk, you can choose a cooking knife with a steel edge, but for camping purposes, maybe a ceramic knife is the best choice.
You can read about different types of edges for cooking knives: https://finoak.com/articles/types-of-kitchen-knives-materials
Why is ceramic better?
Because ceramic is lightweight, portable, more durable without losing its edge, and overall easier to clean and maintain as it is rust-proof and water resistant. However, they are prone to chipping and have a brittle nature, so try not to drop them.
The Sheath
Camping knives with sheaths do look cool, but for cooking knives, you don’t necessarily need to pay attention to the sheath as much. As long as the sheath keeps your knife relatively safe, and clean, without having it lose its edge, it’s good enough.
Your usual plastic or generic sheath is perfectly fine for camping purposes.
Portability
It’s better to have a fixed-blade cooking knife when camping outdoors because non-fixed blades are more prone to breakage and snapping in the middle than fixed blades.
While cooking knives for camping are not as portable as EDC or pocket knives, you still want to keep them portable enough for an easier camping trip. Hence why we recommend ceramic-edged knives.
