The Most Cutting-Edge Knives From the 2022 SHOT Show

If there is a single tool that every hunter or outdoorsman needs, it is a knife. Knives come in all sorts of sizes and shapes because they are designed for all sorts of different applications. Hunters need certain blades to take care of game in the field and different blades to process the meat. Outdoorsmen, of course, also need general utility knives to take care of the multitude of chores they are faced with on a daily basis. Here is a collection of the best new knives for 2022 that cover every application from EDC to a toolbox you can wear on your belt.

1) CRKT Catchall

Columbia River Knife and Tool is known for their uniquely designed blades. And the new fixed-blade Catchall from CRKT definitely falls into the unique category. This new knife, with its 5.51-inch high-carbon 8Cr13MoV stainless steel sheepsfoot blade, gets its name for being able to perform a wide array of tasks. It’s ideal for general camp chores, could serve as a utility field knife, and is right at home prepping meat. The 10.25-inch, 7.5-ounce Catchall has a durable and lightweight contoured glass reinforced grip with a nylon overlay to enhance user interface. It also comes with its own thermoplastic sheath that has a nylon belt loop. The Catchall has a suggested retail price of $60.

2) Leatherman Bond

Some modern multi-tools are better described as toolboxes. Not only do they house a dozen tools you do not need, but they are also bulky and heavy—just like a toolbox. The Leatherman Bond is a callback to what original multi-tools were, mostly because it has been molded after Tim Leatherman’s original design. The Bond is lightweight and pocket friendly and it provides 14 essential stainless-steel tools, including pliers, a 420HC knife blade, and a set of standard screwdrivers. This is the multi-tool that every outdoorsman should have on their belt or in their pocket every day. This is partly because it has the tools you are most likely to need and partly because at only $49.95 it is very affordable.

3) Ka-Bar Camp Turok

A camp knife is a tool, just like an axe, that no hunting camp should be without. And a camp knife is not a little knife. It should be big enough to cut brush, bad enough to make kindling, and wicked enough to fight off a black bear. The Ka-Bar Camp Turok is all those things. Manufactured in the USA, it has a flat-ground, 1.75-inch wide, 8.0-inch long, drop-point blade made from 1095 Cro-Van steel. The handle is brown Ultramid, and the knife comes with a hard plastic, MOLLE compatible sheath. Overall length is 13 inches, and the knife weighs less than a pound.

4) Case Kinzua

Case is a vaunted knife brand that’s been around for a long time. The Case brothers began making knives in 1889, and sold them along a wagon trail in upstate New York. When most think of Case knives, they imagine bone handled, multi-blade, folding pocketknives—knives like your grandad carried. But Case also offers more modern knife designs. Their new-for-2022 Kinzua is a perfect example. This is a one-handed flip-opening knife, and is an extension of Case’s modern EDC pattern. It is available with an OD green aluminum handle, with either a Tanto or spear point blade. Spear-point blade versions will also be offered with red, blue, or black handles. The suggested retail price is $150.

5) Benchmade TaggedOut

Have you ever been field-dressing a big game animal, laid your knife down, and then not been able to find it? Well, that will be nearly impossible to do with the Benchmade TaggedOut. This hunt-inspired Bugout-like knife has a blaze-orange Givory handle with blaze orange spacers. The knife’s handles are so orange it almost hurts your eyes to look at them. This knife is impossible not to see. It comes with a mini, deep carry pocket clip and features the Axis lock mechanism. The 3.5-inch clip-point blade is made from CPM-145 water-resistant stainless steel, and it has a stain finish. Closed, the TaggedOut measures 4.63 inches long, open it stretches to 8.13 inches, and it weighs only 2.10 ounces. It has a suggested retail price of $190.

6) State & Union OSF Folder

This State & Union knife, which is a division of Ka-Bar, was designed with Ka-Bar’s traditional leather stacked fighting knife in mind. This explains why the blade has a fuller or “blood groove.” The OSF (Old School Folder) is a flipper, so it can be immediately opened with one hand. The 3.75-inch-long, 1.45-inch-wide, flat-ground spear blade is made of S35Vn steel and is 0.156-inch thick. It features caged bearings, titanium hardware, and a reversible pocket clip for tip-up or tip-down carry. The knife also has a frame lock, measures 8.625 inches open, and weighs less than a half-pound. For generally utility, this is a fantastic blade. But at $450 it is also an expensive pocketknife.

7) Outdoor Edge Razor Cape

The newest addition to Outdoor Edge’s wide array of Razor hunting knives is the Razor Cape. This knife features interchangeable 420J2 stainless steel blades and comes with two caping blades, two drop point blades, and one gutting blade—all with a Rockwell hardness of 55-to 56. Packed in a single Kryptek sheath is everything you need to field-dress, skin, and cape any big-game animal while in the field. The interchangeable blade holder is also made of 420J2 steel but has a black-oxide coating. The handle is Grivory with a bright orange TPR insert to make the knife easy to find when you lay it down in the leaves or grass. A stainless-steel pocket clip is standard, and the Razor Cape has an price tag of just $53.95.

8) Tecovas Field Knife

Tecovas is well known for manufacturing excellent, handmade, direct to consumer cowboy boots, and for 2022 they have added a fantastic little field knife to their offerings. The Tecovas Field Knife is 7 inches long and the 3.5-inch blade is made from 1095 HC coal-fired steel. The knife features a polished maple handle and comes with an ultra-rugged harness leather sheath with a brass snap closure and belt loop. This fixed blade knife could serve the outdoorsman or hunter well, whether it’s being used for small camp chores, cooking, or field-dressing and skinning.

9) Alaskan Awful Teeny

Not all knives are CNC machined with alloy steels and plastic handles. There are still a few craftsmen making knives with their hands using steel and bone. Two of those are from Kodiak, Alaska. Alaskan Awful only builds about 200 knives per year, and each knife is hand-forged by a father-daughter team from pure carbon steel. The Teeny is their newest, and it features a 2.75-inch carbon-steel blade forged from an old hay rake. The bolster is poured pewter and the one-piece handle is made of deer antler. Each knife ships with a handmade sheath and is guaranteed for at least as long as its makers are on the good side of the sod. Part of the proceeds go to the Horse Program at the Kodiak Baptist Mission. Made on order for $185.00.

10) Knives of Alaska Professional Boning Knife

This is another knife made specifically for rendering meat and it is one that should live at your deer camp. The Professional Boning Knife from Knives of Alaska features a D2 steel blade with a hardness of between 59 and 61. It has a 5.0-inch-long blade with a 18- to 20-degree bevel, and the knife only weighs 4.2 ounces. It is available in both a flexible and semi-flexible option, with a substantial Sure-Grip handle for maximum control and comfort that has an integral lanyard hole. This knife is made in the USA and has a suggested retail price of only $54.

11) Diamond Blade Chef Knife

What would deer camp be without good cooking? And how can a deer camp chef cook well without a good knife? Well, they can’t, and the Diamond Blade Chef’s Knife is a blade that might should be in every hunting camp—if not in your home kitchen. This 12.5-inch knife has a 7.25-inch, D2 high carbon-steel blade. The blade is made with a friction-forging process developed in conjunction with the Mechanical Engineering Department at Brigham Young University, and they claim it provides the sharpest, longest lasting, and toughest edge available on a knife. The handle is made from black G-10, with a molded Boltaron guard, and total weight is only 7.0 ounces.

12) Benchmade Meatcrafter

For hunters, field-dressing and skinning big game is one thing. Processing the meat is another. Both tasks require a specific blade, and for 2022 Benchmade is offering a knife to make what might be the most important part of big game hunting, easier. Featuring Benchmade’s SelectEdge technology, the Meatcrafter has a 6.08-inch CPM-S45VN premium trailing point blade with a 60 to 62 hardness (HRC) and a blaze-orange Cerakote finish. The handle is made from carbon fiber, and the knife only weighs 4.52 ounces. Total length is 11.06 inches, which is about ideal for a boning knife. The Meatcrafter would be great for use in camp, but it also comes with a matching blaze orange sheath in case you need to bone your buck in the field.