Outdoor Edge Knives

What Outdoor Edge makes for hunters and campers

Outdoor Edge sorts its own catalog into two big groups: replaceable-blade knives under the RazorSafe name, and conventional fixed and folding knives. Its site splits those further into hunting, game processing, pocket knives, fishing and camp tools.

On this site, the grid covers two product types, fixed-blade knives and folding knives. Inside those, the Outdoor Edge lineup falls into five groups:

• RazorSafe fixed-handle knives: RazorMax, Razor APX, Razor HTX, RazorPro G
• RazorSafe folders: Razor-Lite, RazorLite EDC, Onyx EDC, RazorBone, RazorPro Double Blade
• Conventional hunting knives: Zip Blade, WildSkin, Swingblaze
• Small fixed blades: the Pivot, in two blade shapes
• Kits and processing sets: two-knife pairs up to six-piece sets

The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about the groups and what separates them, not how many are listed this week. Most values in the grid come from Amazon listings and are marked that way.

How the RazorSafe system works

Most Outdoor Edge knives in the grid share one idea. The handle holds a blade holder, and the cutting edge is a separate blade that clicks in and out. The maker describes the swap in one line: press the blade release button, remove the dull blade, and snap in a fresh one.

What the maker says about the blades:

• Steel: Japanese 420J2 stainless, heat treated and hand finished
• Sizes: 2.2, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 inch, a 3.0 inch utility blade, and a 5.0 inch blade
• Fit: each blade and each holder has a numeric code on the back (220, 250, 300, 301, 350, 500), and the codes must match
• History: the about page dates RazorSafe to 2013

The code system is the practical part. A 350 blade fits a 350 holder. Write the number from your holder on the inside of the knife box, or on a strip of tape inside the sheath, and you'll never stand in an aisle guessing.

Here's the thing about replaceable blades: the knife is never dull for long, and you never learn to sharpen. Both are true. If you like a stone and an hour on a Sunday, a conventional blade suits you. If you'd rather be done skinning before supper, the swap is the point.

Lineup notes: the Outdoor Edge fixed-blade hunting knife

RazorSafe fixed-handle knives

These are fixed handles that take replaceable blades. The listings describe:

• RazorMax: a 3.5 inch drop point plus 5 inch boning and fillet blades, a belt sheath and a detachable blade carrier, in black or orange
• Razor APX: 2.5 inch and 3 inch drop-point versions; the 3 inch listing includes gutting, caping and saw blades
• Razor HTX: 3 inch and 3.5 inch drop points on a fixed handle
• RazorPro G: a replaceable skinning blade plus a fixed 3.1 inch gutting knife, in one tool

The difference inside this group is blade size and what blades come in the box. A 2.5 inch blade is a caping and detail size. A 3.5 inch drop point does body skinning. The skinning knife page covers those shapes across brands.

RazorGuide Pak

The RazorGuide Pak is a kit, not a single knife. Its listing describes two replaceable-blade knives and a folding saw in a waxed canvas roll pack, with no sheath. The roll is the carry. It's built for the truck or the pack, not the belt.

Conventional hunting knives

Three knives in the grid use fixed, sharpenable blades:

• Zip Blade: a 4 inch blade in 420J2 stainless with a rubber (TPR) handle and a nylon belt sheath; its listing calls it a skinning and gutting knife
• WildSkin: a 4 inch gut-hook skinner with a camo nylon sheath
• Swingblaze: two blades that rotate on one handle, a 3.6 inch skinning blade and a 3.2 inch gutting blade, in AUS-8 stainless, with a nylon sheath

The Swingblaze is a neat trick of a design: one handle, two edges, and its listing describes the blades as rotating, so you turn to the one the job needs. More about the type across brands is on the hunting knife page.

The Wild Game Boning Knife

A 5 inch boning blade in 420J2 stainless with a full tang and a non-slip TPR handle, per its listing. This one is for the butchering table, not the field. The fixed blade knife page lays out how fixed blades differ by job.

The Pivot

The Pivot is a small full-tang fixed blade in two shapes: a 2.6 inch Wharncliffe (a straight edge with a tip that drops down to meet it) and a 2.5 inch drop point. The listings describe a sheath with a rotating clip for vertical, angled or horizontal carry. It's sold as an everyday-carry knife more than a skinner. Small-blade carry across brands is on the everyday carry knife page.

Lineup notes: the Outdoor Edge folding knife

Razor-Lite, RazorLite EDC and Onyx EDC

Three folders with 3.5 inch replaceable blades. Per their listings:

• Razor-Lite: lockback, rubber handle, six blades and a nylon sheath
• RazorLite EDC: a pocket clip, sold in a blaze orange version with six blades
• Onyx EDC: lockback with a pocket clip, three blades

The choice is how you carry it. The sheath rides on a belt; the clip rides in a pocket. Folders across brands are on the pocket knife page.

RazorBone

A folding knife with replaceable blades in three styles: boning, gutting and skinning. Its listing names 420J2 stainless, a glass-filled nylon handle with rubber inserts, a clip and sheath, six blades and a blade box. One handle, three jobs, depending on what you click in.

RazorPro Double Blade

The listing describes a folding knife with a gutting blade, a replaceable RazorSafe skinning edge and a bone saw called the Flip N' Zip, in a camo nylon sheath. It's the most tools in one handle in the folding group.

Lineup notes: Outdoor Edge kits and processing sets

Several listings bundle more than one knife. Per the listings and their piece notes:

• WildPair: a gut-hook skinner and a 2.5 inch caping knife, full tang, in one nylon sheath
• JaegerPair: a drop-point skinner and a gutting knife in 420J2 stainless, full tang, with a nylon sheath
• WildLite 6-Piece: three knives plus gloves, a sharpener and a case
• Wild Roll Pack: a gut-hook skinner, a caping knife and a boning blade, plus a two-stage sharpener, in a roll pack
• VANTEX 4-Piece Roll Pack: drop-point, boning and caping knives plus a sharpener
• ErgoMax 6-Piece: a game processing set with caping, boning and skinning knives

A kit covers the whole job from the field to the freezer in one purchase. A single knife covers one stage of it. If you already own a good skinner, a boning knife alone may be all the kit you need.

How to choose within the Outdoor Edge lineup

Replaceable or sharpenable first

That's the choice the brand is built around. Replaceable blades come off sharp every time, and the maker says the swap is tool-free. Conventional blades need sharpening, but you never run out of them in the field. Either way, carry a spare: a blade pack for a RazorSafe knife, a small sharpener for the rest.

Then the blade size for the job

Outdoor Edge's own skinning guide makes the split simple:

• 3 to 3.5 inch drop point: body skinning, the ring cuts at the hocks, the leg seams
• 3 inch caping blade: a fine clip point for the head, ears, eyes and antler bases
• A drop point alone skins the whole deer if you aren't saving the cape

The same guide says that if you might mount the deer, you stop body skinning at the front shoulder line. Always. That's one rule I'd tape to the cooler lid.

Then fixed or folding

A fixed handle is always ready and has no lock to think about. A folder fits a pocket and closes over the edge. My one opinion on this page: for field dressing with wet gloves, take a fixed handle. AKTI notes a folding blade is spring-loaded to snap shut partway through the close, and slick gloves are the wrong time to test that. For a knife that rides along every day, the folders and the Pivot are the place to look.

Then the sheath, clip or roll

How the knife rides decides whether you bring it. The listings describe nylon belt sheaths on most hunting knives, clips on the EDC folders, a rotating clip on the Pivot, and roll packs on the kits. Rule of thumb: put it on the belt you'll actually wear in November, over the coat you'll actually wear, before opening morning.

Safety and care that apply to the whole lineup

Cut away from your body and away from anyone near you. On a folder, keep your fingers out of the blade's closing path, per AKTI's safety guide.

Replaceable blades come sharp from the pack. Handle a loose blade with care, and change blades on a table, not on your knee.

The Cornell Wildlife Health Lab recommends:

• Dedicated field-dressing knives, not the ones you butcher with
• Gloves while dressing and handling game
• Washing knives and tools with soap and hot water between animals

For RazorSafe knives, the maker says to wipe the blade, holder and handle after use, soak the holder in warm soapy water to loosen buildup, and dry it fully before you put a blade back in. For conventional blades, AKTI's maintenance guide adds the basics: dry the knife, oil it lightly, and store it somewhere cool and dry.

Outdoor Edge facts

Here's what I could verify outside a store listing:

• Founded: 1988, by David Bloch, per the company's about page
• Home: Colorado since 1988, per the same page
• RazorSafe: introduced in 2013, per the about page
• Owner: Revo Brands, backed by Clearview Capital, per Private Equity International's report of 6 January 2022
• Warranty: the maker says its products are backed by a lifetime warranty; claims need a description and photos of the problem

Write the blade code down, keep a spare pack in the kit, and wash the holder before the knife goes back in the drawer.