If I was forced to pick just one style of knife to use for everything, it would probably be a Scandinavian style fixed blade with somewhere between a 3.5 and 5 inch blade and a Scandi grind. After a lot of years of using and testing knives, that’s the size and grind I’ve found I prefer for most general purpose work.
I own a number of traditional Scandinavian knives, but I’ve always liked modern interpretations of the design too. They retain the simple, practical nature of the originals while taking advantage of modern steels and materials. Cold Steel has played around with Finnish influenced designs for nearly two decades now, and I’ve owned most of them at one point or another.
The latest is the Finn Hawk II, and Cold Steel has taken a different approach with this one. Rather than another inexpensive working knife, the Finn Hawk II takes the basic Finnish inspired formula and upgrades it with premium materials and a much more substantial build.
I wasn’t familiar with the original, but I do agree with Tim’s ideal knife parameters listed above. Maybe something with more of a saber grind for better sliceyness, but that is getting pretty specific. There isn’t much you can’t do with a good 3.5-5 inch fixed blade.
Read the whole thing at ShootingNewsWeekly.com